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Theology

The double promise of Ezekiel: a new heart AND a new spirit

sermonindex Sep 30, 2016

"When the soul truly converted to God yields itself wholly to His control and becomes the living temple of the Almighty Spirit, who henceforth dwells in us, and walks in us, giving us not only a new nature, which we receive in regeneration, but a Divine Guest, a Presence to dwell in that new nature as its controlling guide and Almighty strength.

Then is fulfilled the double promise of Ezekiel: "A new heart will I give unto you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will put my Spirit within you and will cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." Henceforth, we live in the Spirit in a higher sense than even before our conversion. Our life is not only spiritual but divine. Henceforth, it is not we who live, but Christ who liveth in us, and we draw from Him, through the Holy Ghost, every moment, life, and health, and joy, and peace. It is not living through the Spirit, but living in the Spirit. He is the very element of our new existence; before us, behind us, above us, beneath us, within us, beyond us, we are buried in Him, lost in Him, encompassed by Him as by the air we breathe. This is the yet higher mystery of the new life, greater than the new birth. This is the secret which Paul declares was hid for ages and generations, but now made manifest to His saints. "Christ in you the hope of glory."

It is, indeed, an epoch in the soul's existence as wonderful in its measure as when the Son of God became incarnate on earth, when the Holy One crosses the threshold of the heart, and makes the spirit his personal residence, sits down upon the throne of the human will and assumes the government and control of all our being and destiny. Henceforth, we may indeed walk with holy veneration and exalted hope, exultant in joy and triumph as wondering angels declare, "Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, He will dwell with them and they shall be His people; God Himself shall be with them and shall be their God."

A. B. Simpson

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=40102

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docs Oct 18, 2016

Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake

22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

23 I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.

25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.

29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.

30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.

32 I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

The new heart and new spirit that Israel is portrayed as receiving in verse 26 comes after they have been gathered from the nations and brought again to their land. Right after the new heart and spirit of verse 26 the Lord states in verse 27, "I will put My Spirit within you." This apparent reference to the new birth didn't happen after the return from Babylon because Christ had not yet been resurrected and glorified and ascended to the right hand of the Father from where He poured out the promise of the Spirit. And after a brief time of revival and obedience after the return from Babylon the ever chronic tendency to backslide motivated by the presence of sin within and no remedy for it began again as the nation slid into a even greater moral decline up to the time of Christ. I'm thinking therefore there is a future context yet to be seen regarding the fulfillment of these verses as far as Israel is concerned. The new heart and new spirit comes from the Spirit being in them (verse 27) and not just with them and the result is, "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers." Why spiritualize the land as symbolic etc. as many do? Israel will be regathered from the nations once again and a day is coming when they will have the Spirit within as all believers do today. We haven't seen this yet.

Meanwhile, thanks for the good word from A. B. Simpson. Part of the mystery of the gospel and its outworking is that the wonderful new heart and spirit Simpson speaks of would be obtained by peoples and nations outside of Israel while the covenant nation Israel itself would be in exile beginning in 70 A.D. But God ain't through! I believe the context of those verses speak volumes. A obedient people full of the Spirit within will yet live in that land.

Blessings.

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savannah Oct 18, 2016

docs said, "A obedient people full of the Spirit within will yet live in that land."

Here is that land His people will live in;

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

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docs Oct 18, 2016

Abraham, summoned by God and converted from paganism in Ur of the Chaldeans, entered Canaan via Haran and was confronted with more paganism in the land of promise. He explored hisa inheritance from north to south as an unsettled nomadic tent-dweller and, it is reasonable to assume (Deut 18:9-14; 20:17-18), continued to be appaled at its pervasive unholiness that only the future lleadership of Joshua could begin to cleanse. His search for "a better country, that is, a heavenly one" must be understood not according to a GENTILE WORLDVIEW (emphasis mine), but the HEBREW WORLDVIEW (emphasis mine) of the author. Franz Delitzsch's comment on Hebrews 11;16 is important in this regard.

"It must be confessed that we nowhere read of the patriarchs, that they expressed a conscious desire for a home in heaven. The nearest approach to anything of this kind is in Jacob's vision of the angel-ladder, and his wonderful excllamation, "this is the gate of heaven" (Gen 28;17), but even there no desire is expressed for an entrance into a heavenly land, but the promise renewed of future possessiobn of the earthly Canaan. "The land whereon thou sleepest I will give to thee."

Abraham's hope was eschatological, but not in the sense of heaven's superiority to the earth, of the spiritual as superior to the material. Rather, his hope was of a future messianic age, the millennial kingdom in which heaven would be manifest on earth and residence there would be gloriously holy, permanent. George Peters explained this persepective as follows:

"Evidently that which misleads the multitude in this matter is the statement of the apostle (Heb 11:16), that "they desire a better country, that is, a "heavenly." Commentators, as Barnes, Bloomfield, etc., overlooking entirely the "Theocratic" relationship that this country (i. e. Palestine) is to occupy in the Kingdom of God, at once conclude that this "heavenly" country is the third heaven. They forget that this phraseology would not mislead a Hebrew, wo was accustomed to designate the restored Davidic Kingdom a heavenly Kingdom, and the country enjoying its restoration and Theocratic blessings, a heavenly country. The expression does not mean "the third heaven," but something that pertains to, or partakes of, the heavenly, as heavenly vision, body, calling, etc.

(From "Future Israel" - by Barry Horner)

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savannah Oct 18, 2016


Luke 20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;

21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

sermonindex Oct 18, 2016

This was written by David Wilkerson

Unclaimed Promises

The book of Hebrews, which refers to the New Covenant at length, provides this description:

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Hebrews 8:8-13

"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

Hebrews 10:16-17

This summary details the eternal promises of God's incredible New Covenant. So, why is this wonderful truth unsought or ignored by Christians today?

I believe the passage itself provides a key to this oversight. It describes "a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Hebrews 8:8). Many Christian groups have mistaken this verse to mean that the New Covenant applies only to natural Jews, rather than to the spiritual Jews who make up Christ's Body. Modern dispensationalists, for example, interpret this verse as a promise meant only for literal Israel. So they assign its meaning to a coming millennial age.

It is no wonder the New Covenant has remained unclaimed for so long. Yet the truth is, all these promises of the New Covenant are yours and mine, right now. They are for all believing Jews and Gentiles. How do I know this? It is clear from the context of the above passage that the house of Israel refers to spiritual Israel, meaning all who are in Jesus Christ.

"Natural" Israel and "Spiritual" Israel

The word Israel itself, as first used in Genesis 32:28, is filled with spiritual meaning: "And He said, 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.'" Israel was Jacob's regenerate name. It was given to him by God after his carnal spirit was broken and his nature was changed.

In many Bible passages, of course, the word Israel refers to Jacob's natural descendants. In others it points to God's spiritual seed. One example of the latter is Psalm 73:1: "Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart." Here the psalmist is speaking prophetically, distinguishing Israel as people whose hearts have been cleansed - which is possible only through the blood of Christ. The Old Covenant sacrificial system could not cleanse the conscience:

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience - concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances.

Hebrews 9:9-10

The apostle Paul also speaks of Israel as God's spiritual seed. Throughout the New Testament, he distinguishes between two kinds of Israel, one natural and one spiritual. Paul emphasizes that it is not the natural Jew but the person who puts his faith in Jesus Christ who becomes Abraham's spiritual seed:

"They are not all Israel who are of Israel" (Romans 9:6).

"Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7).

"Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed" (Romans 9:8).

"He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God" (Romans 2:28-29).

"This Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children - but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all" (Galatians 4:25-26).

It is clear from these passages that there is a spiritual Israel as well as a natural Israel. Moreover, Scripture reveals that God, through Christ, made His New Covenant with spiritual Israel. The writer of Hebrews says, "Now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).

Am I saying the Lord is finished with natural Israel? God forbid. Many Christians today do not wish to see God's hand moving on natural Israel to fulfill her prophetic role. Yet it was the Jewish people who received the promises and covenants of the Old Testament. In the past sixty generations, we have seen storms arise against this people. Time after time, conquerors have sought to annihilate them. Mobs have set in for the kill. Dictators incarnated by Satan have attempted to wipe out the very history of the Jews. But all these enemies have risen up against them to no avail.

I believe that the national revival of the state of Israel, and the many supernatural deliverances of that nation, point to an infinitely deep mystery revealing the very hand of God. God still loves the Jews. One day the veil will be removed from Israel, and a remnant, a part of her people, will acknowledge Christ as Lord.

I stand with Paul, who wrote, "They are beloved for the sake of the fathers" (Romans 11:28). "Has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite.... Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:1, 5). The Church has not replaced Israel. It includes both Gentiles and believing Jews.

This New Covenant, however, was not meant for natural Israel - not then, not now, nor in some millennial period. It is meant for spiritual Israel, meaning every Jew and Gentile who is born again in Jesus. It is for repentant believers in Christ alone.

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savannah Oct 18, 2016

Revelation 21
1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, 4and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God.

22And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. 23And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Over emphasis of the physical is pharisaical. Search the Scriptures! Whether it was Jesus discourse with them regarding the temple, His discourse with them about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, or even of birth with Nicodemus, always they missed the spiritual truth Jesus revealed. He said that even His words were Spirit and His words were Life.

Even His sermon on the mount showed them how misguided and blind they were, as they focused merely on the physical. The spirit of the law reaches deeper than flesh and blood. You've lusted, you're an adulterer, you've hated, you're a murderer! You may not have kneeled down before an image, yet you're an idolater in your image-ination!

The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink,Jesus said.

Let's move on from the earthly and natural, to the spiritual and supernatural.

Let's move on from Adam, being of the earth, and onto Christ being from heaven, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.

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docs Oct 19, 2016

/Over emphasis of the physical is pharisaical. Search the Scriptures! Whether it was Jesus discourse with them regarding the temple, His discourse with them about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, or even of birth with Nicodemus, always they missed the spiritual truth Jesus revealed. He said that even His words were Spirit and His words were Life./

Emphasis on the spiritual only is non biblical and sets itsef against the Hebrew world view which is the prism through which the Scriptures were written. Why is the physical creation going to come from under bondage and renewed if the Kingdom of God is spiritual only? The Hebrew world view runs contrary to the notion that only the spiritual is valuable. The spiritual and the physical were seen as exisiting together and complimenting each other. The patriarchs nor the prophets not Jesus nor the early church ever thought of the Kingdom of God as devoid of a renewed earth. The knowledge of God shall cover a renewed earth like the waters cover the sea.

/Let's move on from the earthly and natural, to the spiritual and supernatural./

But the earthly and the natural are not non-spiritual. Then God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good!

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docs Oct 19, 2016

David Wilkerson also said,

"I'm a friend of Israel and always have been. Any blessing on my life and the ministry I've been involved in to alcoholics and addicts over the years I attribute that to and one of the major factors is that I have prayed for and honored Israel. God said He would honor those who honor Israel."

Why would Brother David attribute blessings on his life and minstry to the fact that he has honored Israel which we know is in present state of unbelief? He is actually saying he has been blessed for honoring natural Israel.

Meanwhile,

24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.

25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

28 You will LIVE IN THE LAND that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.

29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.

30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.

32 I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

Living in the land God gave to their forefathers comes right after being given a new heart and new spirit and having the Spirit placed within them (verse 27). You do not get the Spirit within without repenting and placing your faith in Christ. Only repentant believers get this privilege and when the Spirit begins to indwell believers they have become the true seed of Abraham by faith. "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again'" (John 3:5-7). If those lving in the land God gave to their foreathers have received a new heart and spirit and have the Spirit within the they will be TRUE SPIRITUAL ISRAEL. Only the true spiritual sons of Abraham have the Spirit within.

sermonindex Oct 19, 2016

I am not against Israel as a nation or Jewish people as a people. But I do not see God as having any "favorites" any longer except those who are in Christ Jesus. So the promise of the Father is for anyone to receive, Jew or gentile and that promise is for a new heart and a new Spirit. As others have pointed out Gods promise is not a special land or special blessing available due to natural birth, but there is a heavenly land and a spiritual inheritance available to all those who belong to God through Christ Jesus. The terms have been reset, a new covenant enacted and the playing field completely leveled. Jew and gentile are now one and the same in Christ Jesus and the dividing wall has come down! Thank God for the Cross!

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docs Oct 19, 2016

/I am not against Israel as a nation or Jewish people as a people. But I do not see God as having any "favorites" any longer except those who are in Christ Jesus./

I won't labor the point much longer here but those portrayed in Ezekiel 36:26 who have received a new heart and new spirit are those also who have the Spirit within (verse 36:27). To have the Spirit within with a accompanying new heart and new spirit means one belongs to Christ Jesus which means more than natural birth is needed to inherit the promises.

/As others have pointed out Gods promise is not a special land or special blessing available due to natural birth, but there is a heavenly land and a spiritual inheritance available to all those who belong to God through Christ Jesus./

The promise of a Savior to come to bless all families of the earth was made side by side with a promise of a eternal land inheritance. Along with a Savior, the everlasting covenant has always included a land promise. The Savior now in the heavenly "land" who is Lord over all of our spirtitual inheritance in the heavenlies is also going to return to EARTH.

22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

23 I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.

25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.

29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.

30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.

32 I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

It's undeniable I believe from these verses that a nation will be regathered from the nations and brought back to their own land and given a new heart and spirit and the Spirit of Christ placed within them. THEN, they will live in the land God gave to their forefathers. The promise of a new heart and new spirit should not be lost and separated fronm the overall context of Ezekiel's writings which also concern a certain people living in a land on the earth. If the playing field has been leveled and all are equal it shouldn't bother believers if fellow believers in Christ weil one day live in a particular land under the rule of their and our own Messiah. When one member is honored all are honored. Since they will have the Spirit within (Ezekiel 36:27) they will therefore be TRUE SPIRITUAL ISRAEL living in the land just as those today who have the Spirit within are true spiritual Israel. If we have the privilege of a new heart and spiri and the Spirit within now it should not bother the all are now equal believing body that they will have it then.

Thank you for your OP. I just don't believe the true context of the new heart and new spirit being given is always remembered. This context is what I have tried to point out.

Thank you and blessings bro.

sermonindex Oct 19, 2016

David, I am not sure why you are trying to bring land or Israel into AB Simpsons message here? Why is this so important to you? Are you Jewish or are you a messianic Jew or into Jewish roots theology/practices ? I am not attacking you but I am interested to know what is driving you to steer this ship in that direction?

The other matters you brought up are a completely different subject matter and while they are important to some people I really could not care less what happens to this world and who gets what piece of dirt. Jesus is all I care about and the inheritance that My Father has for me and all those in Christ is to become like Him. These are the true riches, the true inheritance and nothing else compares.

D
docs Oct 19, 2016

/but I am interested to know what is driving you to steer this ship in that direction?/

The total context of the verses that Simpson crafted his message from. Praise the Lord for what he wrote. Praise Him exceedingly. Those passages from Ezekiel are one of my favortie set of scriptures and it's been my experience that many make reference to them but many times skip over the context of who they are specifically speaking of. I just thought I might point out the context of the verses. A people regathered from the nations and brought again to their "own land" are those to be given a new heart and spirit and the Spirit within.

/I really could not care less what happens to this world and who gets what piece of dirt./

Well, Jesus will return to this world and to the people and nation He ascended from. It seems hard to not care about this and this world since it it this world He will return to.

Anyway, I just am struck by the context of Ezekiel's words. Havinga new heart and spirit and the Spirit within and living in a land afterwards are foremost in his inspired words. I am willing to let it lie though and am not a messianic Jew nor part of any Hebrews roots movement. Thank the Lord for everything Simpson wrote of.

sermonindex Oct 19, 2016

Thanks for clearing that up brother...I have seen too many good men get embroiled in that Hebrews roots stuff only to have their focus removed from Christ and sadly they and their innocent families get tripped up pretty badly.

Btw, I was not referring to the people of this world, just the dirt...the stuff we walk on lol. Jesus has no need for it and never should anyone else who is in Him. Again you keep driving the narrative towards including this rock and who gets which bit at the end of days, that should not concern us one wit brother, seriously. I don't care who gets the dirt...they can have it all lol. As I said before I don't care for any of that stuff and the subject matter is irrelevant to my life, all I care about is Lord and how to please Him. I can't remember who said it but I recall a quote once along the lines of "I would not mind if I had to spend all eternity in hell as long as the Lord was there with me".

D
docs Oct 19, 2016

/Btw, I was not referring to the people of this world, just the dirt...the stuff we walk on lol. Jesus has no need for it and never should anyone else who is in Him./

If Jesus has no need for it why do the scriptures present the fact that upon the return of the Messiah that the earth and nature will be renewed and become free from its bondage and brought into glorious liberty? Why will Christ rule over the earth if He has no need for it? Why has the Kingdom of God become so divorced from the earth in the view of many when Christ will return to the earth?

/Again you keep driving the narrative towards including this rock and who gets which bit at the end of days, that should not concern us one wit brother, seriously./

Respectfully, I couldn't disagree more that it shouldn't concern any of us. It concerned God enough to inspire Ezekiel to speak and write of it. I don't want to turn a blind eye to that part of scripture. God drove the narrative. The subject matter is spoken of extensively throughout scripturer and has always been part and parcel of the blessed hope of the church.

I think I'll hush now. I've said enough.

Thank you.

sermonindex Oct 20, 2016

Its all good David you can have all the dirt you want then when the Lord returns...go for it brother!

sermonindex Oct 20, 2016

Yes when he returns to........... Jerusalem, the mount of olives of all places. What a coincidence.

Zechariah 14

3 Then the Lord will go forth and and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.

4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

sermonindex Oct 20, 2016

Every thread on SI doesn't have to turn into a discussion about end times and Israel. I was hoping we could have a healthy and edifying discussion of the subject matter of Simpsons message.

Here is more of what he said:

"This is the meaning of Christianity; it is the breath of a new nature; it is the translation of the soul into a higher universe and a loftier scale of being, even introducing it into the family of God Himself and making it a part of the Divine nature. This is indeed a stupendous mystery, and a bestowment whose glory may well fill our hearts with everlasting wonder, as we cry with the adoring apostle, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!"

Not by adoption merely are we thus admitted to the Father's house, but by actual birth; from the very bosom of the Holy Ghost, as from a heavenly mother, has our new spirit been born; just as literally as Jesus Christ Himself was born of the eternal Spirit in the bosom of Mary. So it might be said of every newborn soul: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Beloved, do we thus live in the Spirit? This is everlasting life."

sermonindex Oct 20, 2016

And then the passage which led up to the "double promise" quote. I found this particular section very intriguing and his words are probably very troubling to some. What do you think? Do you agree with what AB Simpson is saying below?

"To live in the Spirit is also to be baptized of the Holy Ghost, and have the Spirit as a Divine person living in us. There is something higher than the new birth, namely, the entering in of the Comforter, in His personal fullness and glory, to dwell in the consecrated heart and abide there for ever. Jesus was born of the Spirit in Bethlehem, but He was baptized of the Spirit thirty years later on the banks of the Jordan; and this made all the difference which we trace between His quiet years at Nazareth and His public ministry in Galilee and Judea. From that time there were two persons united in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The Holy Ghost, as a Divine person, was united with the person of Jesus Christ, and was the source of His power and the inspiration of His teaching; and He constantly represented Himself as speaking the words and doing the works which the Spirit in Him prompted.

And so there is in the believer's life a similar experience, when the soul truly converted to God yields itself wholly to His control and becomes the living temple of the Almighty Spirit, who henceforth dwells in us, and walks in us, giving us not only a new nature, which we receive in regeneration, but a Divine Guest, a Presence to dwell in that new nature as its controlling guide and Almighty strength.

Then is fulfilled the double promise of Ezekiel..."

The full sermon is here: https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=40102

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AbideinHim Oct 20, 2016

This post is filled with such glorious and awesome truths of the new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is hard for me to understand why we have to have a theological debate on what it is saying.

Praise God that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us. He wants total control of our being. A. B. Simpson says it so well.
"When the soul truly converted to God yields itself wholly to His control and becomes the living temple of the Almighty Spirit, who henceforth dwells in us, and walks in us, giving us not only a new nature, which we receive in regeneration, but a Divine Guest, a Presence to dwell in that new nature as its controlling guide and Almighty strength."

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