Feb 6 2022
The Lord’s Work – Part 37
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 37
The Lord’s Work – Part 37
Matthew 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
You won’t be rewarded for giving your enemy the world’s water, carnal water. But if give them eternal living water, you will be a child of The Highest, and receive thanks from God.
How do you love your enemy?
Matthew 25:34-36 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Clothe the naked. But you won’t be thanked for clothing them with man’s clothing, but rather for clothing them with spiritual clothing.
Clothe them with righteousness.
Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Give them God’s judgment, so they can judge righteous judgment. This clothes them.
Clothe them with salvation.
Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Without Jesus Christ the world is NAKED.
The saved man needs to give his own clothing to his enemy.
The unsaved man needs to receive that clothing, and put on the clothing of his enemy.
Matthew 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me…
What does the Good Samaritan do?
Luke 10:33-34 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
And who did this? The Samaritan. The enemy!
Visit and heal them that are sick. Give them oil and wine: the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ.
How do you love your enemy? How do you heal the sick? Call him to repentance.
Mark 2:16-17 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
When we call sinners to repentance.. we are healing the sick!
Mark 2:9-12 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
How do you love your enemy?
Matthew 25:34-36 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
You take a stranger… an enemy, and you turn him into a friend. You make him your brother, you bring him into the inn. You take him in to dwell in the house of God. (Only if they bring the right doctrine!!)
Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Ephesians 2:18-19 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Those strangers-enemies, are those that are without Christ. Without of the promised of God to Israel.
The saved are no longer strangers. But they are now counted among the children of God by the blood of the covenant.
Isaiah 56:6-7 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: …
That is how to love your enemy. That is how to take in strangers.
How do you love your enemy?
Matthew 25:34-36 … I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
How do you love your enemy? You free the strangers from their bondage that they were born with.
Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
You give them the Spirit of liberty, and free them from the spirit of bondage.
You go to those in Satan’s prison and you open the prison doors.
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
How do you do that? Is it done carnally? Through Politics? Social Justice? Prison reform? Through force?
Spiritually, men are sitting in darkness, already in the fire of hell. You pull them out of the fire. Was not what Paul and Silas did a figure of what Jesus did. And of what soulwinners do spiritually?
Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
You free the prisoners with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of liberty.
You free the prisoners with the blood of Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
But if you take in the strangers, and free the prisoners of this world, carnally, you have no thanks of the Lord.
How do you love your enemy?
You give them meat (the body of Christ), drink (the gospel), clothing (the righteousness of God), oil (the Holy Spirit), and wine (the blood of Christ). You preach and sing praise which shakes the prison and breaks open the prison doors.
You give to your enemy something that they CANNOT give back.
Luke 14:13-14 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
If we give to them of whom we hope to receive (carnal things to carnal man), we have no reward of God.
But if we give to them of whom we cannot receive – the poor in spirit – them that cannot pay us back, we have an eternal reward.
If we give carnal things, they CAN be recompensed in this world. No matter what you give in this world, it CAN be recompensed. There always the possibility that they CAN be – the poor man could become rich. The empty could become full. The maimed the lame the blind COULD be healed, or COULD hit the lottery, and recompense you in the earth. The sick who you visit now, could be healthy later and could come to visit you while you are sick. The prisoner now, could end up visiting you later, when you are in prison. Its not impossible.
But if we give spiritual things, they CANNOT be recompensed in this life. The only way for us to be recompensed is by God, at our judgment.
Luke 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great…
If you just “do good” once, give/lend just one TRUE good thing, which cannot be recompensed, the Lord owes you a recompense, a great reward. Give to the poor one time. One cup of cold water.
Now think about this… SHOULD we do this physically, carnally? Call the sick and maimed and lame and blind and feed them? Yes. We should. That is a “good work”. Charity is a good work. Feeding and clothing the poor is a good work.
But what if you held a big feast, and called all the homeless in your local city, and all the injured in the local hospital, and you fed all of them with bread and wine.
So you feed them for one day with carnal bread and carnal wine but you don’t give them the gospel. You just fill their bellies, and send them on their way.
Will they not be thirsty again tomorrow?
John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Will they not be hungry again tomorrow?
John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, …
Of course they will. Because you gave them THIS water. The meat which perisheth. Will they still not spiritually still be dead men?
So could that really be what Jesus is commanding us to do? What eternal profit is there to the Lord when we do this carnally? Do you think He will reward us for giving the bread and water that perisheth??
Rather, what you are to do is have a feast of the word of God (Jesus Christ the living bread), and call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, bring them into your house to eat of THAT feast.
Feeding the poor is indeed a good work. But don’t labour to do it carnally, to carnal men who can recompense you again in return. Do it to the souls of lost men, which cannot recompense you.
These all are “good works”. But don’t do the figure of the good work, do the true good work!!!
Galatians 6:8-10 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
How awesome is the placement of verse 10? Its not on accident.
You can “do good” to men in the flesh, or in the Spirit. One will reap death, and one life.
You can’t sow to the Spirit by serving men’s flesh. That is what many think: it’s the motivation, right? Wrong! Its not just the reason you are going it. It’s the WHERE. It’s the WHO you are doing good to. To men in the flesh, or to the house of God – the Lord’s children – in the Spirit.
We ought not attempt to do the good to the flesh of our enemies, but to the Spirit – to the spirits/souls of the enemies.
We ought to do good unto all men. We should. But the true good, the especially good, is done to the household of faith. The eternal rewards are given for doing good to the eternal body, the body of Christ, and not the body of flesh.
A man should “do good” in his life, but he can’t do good in truth (and in Spirit), without Christ. Here is how the wise King Solomon said it.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-12 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? … 12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
Solomon said, there is no good in man’s works (in truth), but he should “do good” anyways. Why? Because that is the best that he can do in his life (in shadow).
You SHOULD do good here on this earth. You should do good and right, and live an honest life. And this was the case in the OT too, because that is all that man could do: a shadow of true good, under the law.
The only good man can do in the Earth is in shadow, where man can see you, where man can recompense you.
Solomon’s wisdom in Ecclesiastes is about what is true under heaven. This is what is good “under the sun”. (29 times – all in Ecc.) You should “do good” under the sun. But… everything under the sun is VANITY.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
All the good that you can do under the sun, that you SHOULD do (Ecc 3:12)… its all vanity.
The OT saints could “do good”, but it was only a vain figure. Did they get to go to heaven? No. Were they counted righteous? No. Not by works. But they were counted righteous, justified, by faith.
This is the only time in the OT “good things” are found in a man: King Jehoshaphat.
2 Chronicles 19:3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
King Jehoshaphat was not more righteous than every other man in the Bible. No, but he was the one man that God chose in whom to show the figure of the true “good things”.
The figure in the OT shows the pattern for the spiritual truth today.
If a man prepares his heart to seek the Lord, if he has faith/believes the Lord, the Lord will count him righteous. He will count his things “good things”.
The OT saints could “do good”, but it was not in truth:
Isaiah 48:1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
True good works must be done IN SPIRIT. We can’t do true good in the flesh. It is just not in our nature to be able to do it..
Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
You cannot “do good”. Its not who you are. Its not how you were made.
You can’t change your skin color. You can’t remove your sins.
The only thing you can do is (1) try to cover it up with clothing. Or, (2) you can cut it off. Cut off the flesh.
If you could completely change the nature of your body, then could you also “do good”.
If one were to take away all the sin of his flesh and give himself a perfect, spiritual nature… without spot wrinkle or blemish, then one can “do good”. Then God would say of you “he is righteous”.
Isaiah 41:23-24 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. 24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
I believe this is teaching that no work done in the flesh is either true good or true evil. And if so, that’s a tough pill to swallow. But I think we may need to swallow it. They are all shadows, of good or evil.
Who does true good and true evil then? The gods do. The angels do. The devils do.
True things are done spiritually.
Adam and Eve received the knowledge of good and evil. But does that mean they could DO them? I would guess not!
Jeremiah 10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
What we do in the flesh is not true evil or good. If you will receive it, receive it.
The shadow, the figure, is not true good or true evil. TRUE evil or good is spiritual, and is defined by what spirit is working in it. For a man, true good and evil is defined by what is in, and what comes out of, the heart. What comes out of a saved man’s new heart (his water, his fruit) when he brings forth his things/treasures is good, and what comes out of an unsaved man’s heart (his water, his fruit) when he brings forth his treasures, is always evil.
Feb 13 2022
The Lord’s Work – Part 38
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 38
The Lord’s Work – Part 38
“You say, that verse is talking about idols, Pastor!” I agree. “That isn’t fair for you to use that verse and apply it to men, Pastor!” I disagree.
Psalms 115:4-8 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
If you put any value in your works, you are like an idol. That is what you are like. Like a figure, like a statue. And that is what man’s works truly are: idols. And every one that trusteth in idols, the work of men’s hands, is as lifeless and useless, and incapable of working true good OR true evil, as an idol.
Men are just like the idols that they make.
True works, true good or true evil, are the things that proceed out of the hearts.
Psalms 58:1-2 … Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? 2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
It doesn’t matter what comes out of the mouth in the flesh, the heart is working wickedness.
In heart, in spirit, all an unsaved man can work, is evil. It is not in him to do good. Even when he does good in the flesh, he did it while working evil in the spirit.
Isaiah 19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
Man has a perverse spirit in him. And it is the spirit in the man causes the works to be evil, or good. It is the spirit that works.
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
1 Corinthians 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
Revelation 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
You think an evil spirit can’t work “good works” after the flesh? Devils can do miracles! Devils can work good, after the flesh, carnally, naturally. Deceitfully. They look good according to the flesh, in men’s eyes, but they are evil in truth. They are outside of Jesus Christ, they are outside of the work of God, and they result in eternal death.
Jeremiah 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
True good must be done in the spirit, and in understanding. But we don’t have the ability to do good.
Adam and Eve had knowledge OF good, but perhaps.. not knowledge TO DO good.
You say, “what about the Israel in the OT?” Surely they did good works under the law.
Haggai 2:11-14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. 13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
If holy things touch unholy things, they are unclean. If a clean thing touches an unclean thing (a dead thing), it is as unclean as the dead thing itself. So is every work of your hands.
If it comes from the flesh, if it touches the flesh, or the fleshly heart, or the spirit that is in mankind, it is unclean.
“Every work of their hands is evil?” You say, “well that’s just because they were doing evil at the time.”
Jeremiah 32:30-31 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD. 31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
Remember: I didn’t say it, the Lord did. They have only done evil.
You say, well at some time they had to have been doing good and not evil.” I didn’t say it, the Lord did. They have only done evil from their youth, they have only provoked the Lord since they built it.
You say, “what about under Moses?” HA!
Deuteronomy 9:7 Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.
Not during the time of Moses and Joshua, not during the days of the judges, or during the reigns of David, or Solomon, or Hezekiah, or Josiah did they do anything but provoke the Lord and do evil with their hands. And the problem… was the defiled spirit of (no) understanding, which defiled the work of their hands. Their works were done with men’s flesh. They proceeded out of man’s carnal heart.
And if Israel has only done evil, because that is all that comes out of their hearts, then we have ONLY done evil, in the flesh, because that is all that comes out of our hearts.
What is it that comes out of man’s heart? An evil spirit. An idol. The work of our hands!!
Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
The only occurrence of “pure offering”. Used prophetically. Futuristic. This was not present under the law.
You say, “God gave them the law so that they would know how to do good works, right?” Wrong! The law was a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
The law wasn’t the true. It was like school. It was the example, but given to teach the true.
But, the law is a curse, and Christ came to redeem us from the law.
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
The Jews had…
Romans 2:20 … the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
The law showed…
Hebrews 8:5 … the example and shadow of heavenly things, …
The very best things that men’s hands can make…
Hebrews 9:24 … the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; …
The law taught you the form of good things. The form of righteousness. And it was to accuse you and convince you that you CANNOT obey the law. You DO NOT possess true righteousness. You have a need for a righteousness greater than your own.
“Oh well, I obey a lot of the law!” If you offend in 1 point, you are guilty of all!
If you think the law is there to justify you, you do not “hear the law”. The law is bondage. Ye could not be justified by the law of Moses (Acts 13:39). But, man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28).
The law was only a figure of the true. The law does not allow you to do true good.
Romans 7:18-21 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me [its not the motivation!]; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
No matter the motive… every time you WOULD do good, it turns out evil. Why?
It is the law! Because we are under the law of sin, the spirit of bondage working in us, we cannot do true good things. Every work of our hands is a carnal offering: a figure, an idol! Every work of our hands, every sacrifice we may give is under the law, and tainted by the law of sin and death.
Everything that proceeds out of our heart, touches the spirit of sin that is in our evil heart. So no matter what we work in flesh, in spirit.. we work an evil thing. An idol.
You may have knowledge of what a good work looks like, but the law does not allow you to work true good. it does not give you understanding to work true good. It merely shows you the pattern, the shadow of true good.
At the very best, man’s good works are shadows of true good works, figures of the true.
That’s just the origin of man’s works. They come from an evil heart. And they are all counted evil.
That’s just the nature of carnal works. Carnal things are shadows of the true spiritual things.
Man’s good works… are “good”.. but only after a figure. They are fake, reprobate. And God will reject them as fake.
This is strong meat.
Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
We have to divide good from the figure of the good. We have to divide true good, from the figure of good. We have to divide the good. You ever heard anyone teach that? Well… I believe its Scriptural.
Here is the first mention of “good” in the whole Bible.
Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
That thing, that very first thing that God created that was “good”? It was immediately DIVIDED.
We have to find the light, find the good, find the truth, and divide it.
Nothing that has a shred of darkness in it can be “good”. Nothing that has a shred evil in it can be good. Good is divided away from the evil, the fake, the fraudulent, the reprobate.
We have to divide the light from the darkness.
We have to divide the true light from the carnal pattern of light.
We have to divide the Light of this world, from the light of this world.
We have to divide the true good, from the figure of good.
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One correction to make:
“worketh good” – 1 time
“worketh right*” – 0 times
That was incorrect!
“worketh good” – 1 time
“worketh right*” – 3 times
We saw the “worketh good”. That said that God would reward:
Romans 2:9-10 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
But somehow I messed up the search or recorded the “worketh right*” wrong and missed the opportunity to show you all three of the occurrences.
While I don’t believe these go against the doctrine that I’ve taught, I need to correct my mistake, and I need address each one. One or two could be considered a bit difficult to understand, so I want to make sure you’ve seen them. Because if they were presented and taught incorrectly, they could be used to deceive people into believing man’s works are true good works, that they are acceptable to God, that men could be saved by their own works, or that our works play a role in our salvation. So we need to look at each one.
#1
Psalms 15:1-2 … LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
That is perfectly in line with what we’ve been teaching. The only people worthy to dwell in God’s home are the righteous. And the righteous are not the wicked. The Righteous are not sinners.
If someone “worketh righteousness” in truth, they are righteous – born of God – as righteous as Jesus Christ.
Walking uprightly, and working righteousness, and speaking the truth in the heart, these are equivalent in the same person: the righteous. So then do you know who the righteous are? The wise. Those that hear the word of God and keep it (in their hearts). Those that receive the truth – the gospel of Jesus Christ.
#2:
Isaiah 64:5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
With no context, the false prophets, the false brethren would teach that God gives salvation to those that “worketh righteousness”.
First of all, this is OT, so in a way, after the figure, this was true for them. If they feared the Lord and followed the law the Lord would “save” them. But their salvation was not like ours.
Second of all, the context is important. The OT salvation was not the true. It was not truly working righteousness. But for the saved it is true. And we can see that this righteousness is not a reference to the righteousness of the law, or “man’s righteousness”. We see this clearly, from the context.
Isaiah 64:4-6 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. 5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Whoever is working righteousness, the Lord has prepared for them. Fitted them. He has furnished him, supplied him with something. Those that work righteousness have been saved, and given the things that God has prepared for His people (living water, everlasting bread).
But man’s righteousness is nothing but filthy rags.
So this instance of “worketh righteousness” does not say that OT saints worked righteousness in truth. It says that they did NOT. But we could perhaps say that it teaches that, 1 – those that waited on the Lord in the OT, working righteousness after the figure, under the law, would be provided with spiritual things. BUT, what we know to be true, and how we should understand this, is, those that “worketh righteousness”, are the righteous, who have been given eternal life and true righteousness. They are the righteous. They are saved, they do not sin, and they do not fade/die.
The NT cross reference for Isaiah 64 is in 1 Corinthians 2. Here we can understand what is given to those that “worketh righteousness”.
1 Corinthians 2:1-9 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. … 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: … 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
These things which are prepared for and given to them that worketh righteousness are spiritual things. Things that must be taught, known, and spoken. The gospel of Jesus Christ.
For the OT saints their only hope was to do right after the figure and to have faith in their resurrection by the Lord, to wait on the Lord for salvation.
But no OT saint did true right. They did figures, while in truth, the figures were nothing but filthy rags.
However, the promise is that if a man will fear the Lord and seek the Lord, he will find the Lord.
For those that wait on the Lord, the Lord has prepared spiritual things for them, which things were hidden in the OT, but today are known, taught and spoken.
If a man will fear the Lord and seek the Lord, the Lord will bring near those things (living water, the gospel, eternal life) to give to the man through the Spirit revealing the word of God to a man.
The only good man’s righteousness was good for was to be temporarily preserved until God could bring near true righteousness, which is only given by grace through faith.
In fact, this is in the manner in which the third and final occurrence appears.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, Good Works • 0