CRUMB 0085 – “COME OUT TO COME IN TO STAY IN”

THE LIVING GOD

PART #007 of “WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD” 

“In Order to Fully Come Into Something, We Would First Need To Fully Come Out Of Something”. 

“And Only When Having Fully Come In Do We Get to Fully Stay In”. 

This is what ‘transition’, leading to progressive growth is all about and that is what life is all about.

We constantly need to progressively “come out” of something in order to “come into” the new thing.

And this process, which can never be bypassed, continues for however long it needs to, till the desired goal is reached.

“Then and only then are we there”.

And this is the admonition of Scripture, which the Apostle Paul lays out in BOLD and CAPITAL in his opening statement in [Hebrews 6:1].

“THEREFORE LEAVING”, let us move on……..

HEAVEN still stands with its doors wide open in this ‘Age Of Grace’ extending its invitation to ‘whosoever will’, to “COME IN”. 

And the Way is only one, JESUS CHRIST.

The Living God

“The Living God” appears no less than thirty times in all of Scripture, four of which are in the book of Hebrews.

These things are serious because we’re dealing with eternity and we’re dealing with the “Living God” as Hebrews puts it.

We are in an area of Scripture where even angels fear to tread.

Because [Hebrews 6] has precipitated more questions in the minds of people than almost any other portion of Scripture.

It is a portion of Scripture that has been totally ‘twisted’ all out of shape, and has caused a lot of people to have a fear that they should not.

On the other hand, we don’t take away the fact that it is a warning to people who may be taking these things lightly.

We’re going to keep repeating that the book of Hebrews is indeed written first and foremost to the Hebrews.

But we don’t count the Book out as being superfluous and of no importance to us. 

And it is certainly not greatly beyond our comprehension.

It’s just like the Old Testament and we treat it more or less in that same vein.

We don’t throw the Old Testament away because it was written for the Jew.

Nor do we cast off the Book of Hebrews because it’s addressed to the Jew.

But on the other hand, to really get an understanding of what Paul is saying here, we have to realize that it is written to Jews.

But as Paul writes to Jews, we as Gentiles can learn so much!

Paul always writes his letters to believers.

Paul never addresses one word to the unsaved world.

BUT, what’s the end result?

It reaches to the unsaved world.

Keeping These Things In Mind

So let us keep in mind these things as we look at these very important verses of Scripture.

Hebrews is written primarily to Jewish believers who have come out of Christ’s earthly ministry.

And they still are not able to comprehend Paul’s Gospel.

What the Apostle Paul is trying to do is show these people that his Gospel is not something totally foreign.

But that it came up through Judaism and the Jewish people.

The new invariably comes out of the old.

It does not just appear out of nowhere.

This is the concept of progressive revelation.

It is all a part of the indispensable process that each one of us cannot bypass and must go through.

“So we have to keep moving on. We don’t stay back there in the elementary things”.

God wants us to get into the deep things of Scripture, because that’s when it gets exciting.

HE wants us to keep increasing in the knowledge of God.

Enlightened And Tasted [Hebrews 6:4]

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift…..”

 We saw in the last [CRUMB 0084] what is meant to be enlightened according to this portion of Scripture.

That there is a possibility for an individual to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit to open their understanding.

They may even have an emotional experience and may walk down the aisle.

They may also do all the various things that churches and denominations require of them.

BUT they never took it on and truly embraced it.

And we saw a perfect example of this when Israel were at Kadesh-Barnea.

For it is in reference to this example that even Scripture admonishes us in the book [Hebrews 4:11].

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief”.

For Those Who Have Tasted

“For it is impossible” for those who………..“have tasted…”

Now what does that mean?

This means that they got a brief understanding.

They tasted but they never took it in and ingested it.

This is what God expects us to do with Paul’s Gospel [CRUMB 0013], not just taste it, not just pick at it.

But we’re to simply embrace, by faith, in that “perfect finished work” of the cross” and just ingest it.

And that’s what a lot of people have never done.

They’ve tasted it, they’ve picked at it, and have had a little bit of an enlightening.

They’ve even had an experience, but they never embraced it.

Hence, they were never saved.

God always makes the first move! We cannot do this on our own.

Evangelistic Endeavours

Several times, in our our evangelistic endeavours, we preach the Gospel of God’s Amazing Grace with many as we have opportunity.

Many unbelievers, from various other religious beliefs and backgrounds have approached Christians.

And they have asked for prayer when they have found themselves or a loved one in trying and testing circumstances.

This especially true in the area of ‘physical healing’, for they have heard that “Jesus heals’.

So we take this God -given opportunity to share God’s Word and Gospel of Grace with them, and then we sincerely pray for their healing.

How often God hears and answers the prayer, and they have received God’s healing touch.

And this healing is ‘not a sign and wonder’, it is simply a ‘taste of God’s Goodness’ that they have received from HIM.

BUT that is as far as most of them go, before they return to their own way of life, idolatry or religion.

They have been ‘enlightened’ with God’s Word, and have ‘tasted’ and experienced HIS Goodness, but have not embraced God’s ‘free offer’ of Salvation.

God will always enlighten us and give us a taste of His Goodness, but it’s up to us to lay hold of and fully embrace it.

HE will never force Himself upon us and infringe our free will to choose.

And this is what Paul means when he says, “and this we will do, if God permit” [Hebrews 6:3].

And that is why when we stand before HIM one day; we will do so, “without excuse” [Romans 1:20].

Partakers Of The Holy Spirit

“For it is impossible for those…….. who were made ‘partakers’ of the Holy Spirit”.

Paul continues, referring to these Jews who have been ‘enlightened’, have ‘tasted’ and were also “made partakers of the Holy Spirit”.

This word “partaker” does not mean that which Paul refers to in [Romans 8:11], where one is “indwelled by the Holy Spirit”.

He talks about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in several other parts of his epistles.

The descriptive term of course, then used would be “indwell”.

For once the Holy Spirit indwells someone, HE is permanently present and “NEVER LEAVES” [Ephesians 1:13-14].

But the Word “partaker” is different, it was just someone ‘called alongside to help’.

It was one who was a participant, a sharer, or a fellow partner. And it was just that.

The Holy Spirit didn’t really envelop these Hebrews.

HE couldn’t, for they had not yet fully “come out” of their old religion of Judaism and “come into” Grace.

“LAW” has no place in the vicinity of “Grace”.

An Old Testament Example Of “Partaker”

King Saul in the Book of 1 Samuel is one of several examples of “partaker”.

Was King Saul a true believer?

Let’s see what Scripture has to say about him.

He is one of the typical candidates that Hebrews 6 is talking about.

He was enlightened and he spent a period of time under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but it never registered.

And he ended up turning his back on everything.

Most of you reading this would know the story, how that Samuel went and found Saul of the Tribe of Benjamin.

He was a big, tall, good-looking fellow, and Samuel anointed him King of Israel as directed by the THE LORD.

“It is worth to ‘interestingly note’ that Paul, who was ‘Saul of Tarsus’ came from the same lineage of this King Saul”.

He too was from the Tribe of Benjamin [Philippians 3:5].

“Was that a coincidence”?

We don’t think so, for it was all according to Divine plan, providence and purpose.

And The Spirit Of The LORD [1 Samuel 10:6-7]

“And the Spirit of the LORD (the Holy Spirit) will come upon thee…..”

“Come upon thee” here once again, does not mean, “indwelling”.

In the Old Testament, God put His Spirit on those, when a specific purpose or mandate was to be carried out.

There aren’t many, approximately five or six, and King Saul was one of them.

And if that person were disobedient, the Holy Spirit would then leave.

But that is not so with believers in this “Age of Grace”.

Having been once “indwelled”, the Holy Spirit FOREVER remains.

Nobody in in the Old Testament was ever “indwelled” by the Holy Spirit, only “came upon”.

Turned Into Another Man

“…..And thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.”

In other words, Saul is going to be different than he was before.

“And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee”.

Do we see how that there was a specific purpose of God?

SO what God tells Saul here sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

But let’s see what happens in [1 Samuel 13:9].

For here just a little while later, Saul is told to wait for Samuel.

And of course, the enemy is approaching, and Saul gets impatient.

He doesn’t wait for Samuel and he does something that he had no business doing.

“And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.”

Did he have any business doing that?

No! That was the job of the priest.

But what’s he doing?

He’s assuming his own importance.

That’s not Spirit led, Saul is acting in the flesh.

Now look what Samuel says to Saul when he gets there and this burnt offering sacrifice has just been done.

The Consequence Of Foolishness [1 Samuel 13:13-14]

“Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee”.

Wow!

Samuel tells Saul that the LORD would have, “established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever”.

“BUT NOW”, and all because of one act of disobedience, “thy kingdom shall ‘NOT’ continue:…”

This showed that Saul was not really what he thought he was.

Now, let’s see what happens as Saul moves on through the next forty years of his life and reign.

Even a novice in Scripture would know that this is something that a man of God would never, or at least should never do.

And now look at what Saul does in [1 Samuel 28:7].

Seek Me a Woman

“Then Saul said unto his servants, Seek me a woman that has a familiar spirit…….” 

Samuel is dead and in the grave by this time.

So what is Saul looking for here?

A fortune-teller and a soothsayer.

He was delving into witchcraft, which was totally forbidden in Israel.

“That I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said, to him, Behold there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.”

He sought her out, because he wanted help to determine how he should handle things at hand.

And he thought the best way would be to bring up Samuel out of his grave so he could talk to him.

We can’t explain this situation, but we know that in some way or another, Samuel appeared.

The Bitter End [1 Samuel 31:3-4]

Now let’s see the end of this man who became a rebel.

This man Saul was anointed King of Israel.

He had the Spirit of God upon him.

And then it wasn’t long until he took things in his own hands that he shouldn’t have done.

Then he goes another step down.

Instead of going to ask of God, he turns to witchcraft by going to a soothsayer, and a fortune-teller.

So now, here’s his end.

“And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers”.

“Then said Saul unto his armour bearer, ‘Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith”.

His pride, whatever was left, would not give in, “lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me”.

“But his armour bearer would not; for he was sore afraid”, after all, Saul was the King of Israel.

“Therefore, Saul took a sword, and fell upon it”.

What did he do?

He committed suicide and that was his end.

And yet, here is a man that began as a “partaker” with the Holy Spirit.

Scripture in [1 Samuel 28:16] conclusively tells us, “The LORD had become Saul’s enemy”.

For after it’s all been said and done, that’s what it’s all about!

 

Click [Here] for PART #008 of “Where Angels Fear To Tread”

 

 

 

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

About Joshua David Mukerji

A life filled with depravity, a conscience hardened and seared as with a hot iron, with eyes filled with tears on a road leading to nowhere, with an amputated spirit, devoid of any meaningful hope or purpose, moving on like a ship on a tumultuous sea without a sail, the author, from out of nowhere, has an encounter with a Living God that would radically change his life. With an infallible Hope imputed into his spirit, he moves on. Not claiming to have got there yet, but one thing he does: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, he presses on with this Hope that will never fail. If you feel you somehow or in some way connect with any part of this, stick around. There are messages of True and Living Hope coming your way. You ‘will’ get there yet!!!
View all posts by Joshua David Mukerji →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.