Joshua and Judges: The allotment of the land, part 17 - Predestination; Jos 14-17.

Title: Joshua and Judges: The allotment of the land, part 17 - Predestination; Jos 14-17.  

 

Announcements / opening prayer:  

 

Fallen man is in disunion with God, himself, and others. In essence all fallen men are Pharisees at some level and they seek salvation in their own definition of good when true good is only found in the person of Christ.  

 

Fallen man therefore is blind though he thinks he sees. If he were to understand that he was blind, i.e. a hopeless sinner, then he would see his need for a Savior, which for every man, this very thought occurs at salvation.

 

LUK 10:17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

 

LUK 10:18 And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

 

LUK 10:19 "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.

 

LUK 10:20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."

 

LUK 10:21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight.

 

LUK 10:22 "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." 

 

LUK 10:23 And turning to the disciples, He said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,

 

LUK 10:24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them."

 

Christ came as light into the world so that everyone who believes in Him would not remain in darkness.

 

The believer has been set apart from the world's knowledge of good and evil and sanctified in the truth, the true good, which he can see and understand and walk in, and he is sent into the world to reveal it. The believer becomes the light of the world and the salt of the earth in revealing the truth of the good that is in Christ.

 

Christ did not immerse Himself in the petty squabbles of man's knowledge of good and evil.

 

LUK 12:13 And someone in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."

 

LUK 12:14 But He said to him, "Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbiter over you?" 

 

LUK 12:15 And He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

 

LUK 12:29 "And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying.

 

LUK 12:30 "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.

 

LUK 12:31 "But seek for His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you.

 

LUK 12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

 

LUK 12:33 "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys.

 

LUK 12:34 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

LUK 16:14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him.

 

LUK 16:15 And He said to them,  "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God."

 

Truly, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, MAT 5:3.

 

MAT 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

 

MAT 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

 

MAT 5:15 "Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house.

 

MAT 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

 

What the world may see in the disciple is the good works or heavenly works which manifest Christ and are far higher than the works of good from fallen man.

 

JOH 17:13 "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

 

JOH 17:14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

JOH 17:15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

 

Keeping us from evil is not isolation from it, but from the influence of it, which is akin to thinking and walking in the divine good of fruit and the will of God.

 

JOH 17:16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

Our life is his and so our life must be in conformity to His image. He was not nor is in the mud pit of man's knowledge of good and evil. His gospel is of heaven, His salvation and His truth are of heaven and His good is God's good. All of this the believer is given and can now reside since he is in union with Christ.

 

JOH 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

 

JOH 17:18 "As You did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

 

JOH 17:19 "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

 

JOH 17:20 "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;

 

JOH 17:21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You didst send Me.

 

The believer, restored to unity with God from his fallen state, in also restored to unity with his fellow man and with himself.

 

At our fall we blamed one another and blamed God. A disunion could not be more apparent. Think of our world in which there are many competing ideas of what constitutes good and evil amongst various groups. These groups that differ in human ideology, how to they treat one another?

 

JOH 17:22 "And the glory which You hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;