Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. Jn. 10:17

Clearly, the Lord is telling us that His Father’s love for Him is conditioned on His obedience. Since He is and always has been impeccable (unable to not be obedient) the love that His Father has for Him is eternal. Nevertheless, it is conditional. Our God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. (Hab. 1:13). This tells us why our Sin-Bearer had to be forsaken by His Father on Calvary’s tree. Bearing our sins in His body upon that tree, He alone is able to impute to His people a righteousness that would meet the condition of His Father’s love. So that as He is, so are we in this world. This is our boldness before the throne of grace now, and in the day of judgment that is to come. Like Daniel, our comeliness has turned in us into corruption (Dan.10:8). Nevertheless, we have been made perfect through His comeliness which He has put upon us (Ez.16:14) that we might be accepted in the Beloved. (Eph1:6).                                           ~GE

Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. Micah 2:10

What wonderful words of life these are when spoken effectually to the heart of God’s sheep by their Good Shepherd. Goats may be able to lie down in fields of noxious weeds and find their rest. All of God’s sheep hear; Arise and depart, for this is not your rest, it will destroy you.  From the first call of grace to come out of the world and the world’s religions, to the daily exposure of all the false hopes we may imagine to be a refuge, we continually hear, “this is not your rest, it is polluted”. Then to hear our Lord say; “come unto me… Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”                                                                                       ~GE

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures Ps 23:2

When we gather together our hearts desire is for the Lord to enable us to preach Christ in such a way as to give His sheep a place where they can feed to their full and lie down in rest without fear.  The Lord told Peter; “feed my sheep”. What do we feed them? That Bread that came down from heaven. The glorious person and accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed all throughout scripture. Pray for your under-shepherd to declare Him, and pray for the Holy Spirit to make Him known to our hearts. If the Lord is pleased to answer that prayer, then we will be able to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil.                                                                                                     ~GE

The Door is Open

I am the Door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, Jn. 10:9. The Door to heaven is open to “whosoever will” come by Christ. It is an open door, but it is also a very narrow door. No man will be able to say; I wanted to enter, but the door was shut. If any man does not enter in, it is because he is not willing to come by Christ alone. He wants to come in some other way. The Lord calls them thieves and robbers, stealing from Christ His glory in salvation and robbing themselves of any hope of being saved. The Lord said; I am THE Way. There is no other way. Like the door to Noah’s ark, God will shut it one day. Until then it is wide open to all that are willing to come by Christ alone. Those who are willing to come by Christ alone, have been made so by the miracle and power of the new birth. The Spirit and the Bride say; Come, Whosoever will, let him take the water of life Freely. Rev. 22:17.                                                                          ~GE

Christ is Better in every way

Recently in purchasing paint, we had to decide on which level of quality we wanted to buy. The categories were Good, Better, and Best. The Old Testament law required all worshipers to bring their Best before God. It is the God-given desire of every true worshiper to give their Best to the Lord. The problem is our Best is never Good enough. When the Holy Spirit inspired the penman of Hebrews to reveal Christ in the Old Testament laws, types, and shadows, He uses the word “BETTER”. God’s categories of quality are not Good, Better and Best. They are Good, Best and BETTER. We must have a “BETTER sacrifice” built on “BETTER promises” if we are to find a “BETTER hope” of a “BETTER country”. Christ is BETTER than our BEST in every way.                                                                                                   ~GE

Saved

From what do we need to be saved; Sin, Satan, Self? Yes. all of these things are strong enemies, from which we cannot save ourselves. All glory to our Savior who came conquering and to conquer, binding the ‘strong man’ (Satan), and ‘spoiled’ (seized), his house (Rev. 6:2; Matt. 12:29) that we might be saved. However, in the end we need to be saved from the justice and judgment of God Himself. He is the only one that has the power to cast both body and soul into hell. Matt. 10:27 Saved from the wrath that is to come. While in that day, some will be rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 1 Peter 1:8-9, others will cry to the mountains to fall on them that they may be hid from the ‘wrath of the Lamb’, Rev. 6:16. Oh, what a glorious and gracious God we have. Only He could justify sinners without sacrificing His own Holy justice. Back to the first question; From Whom do we need to be saved?  Only God could save us from God.                      ~GE

What About My Sin?

The believer walks by faith, not by sight. Faith believes what God says when it cannot be seen any other way. The child of God cannot see in any part of their experience that they are “dead to sin”. Rom. 6:2. Sin seems to them to be very much alive. Yet God says that our “old man was crucified with Christ”. Rom 6:6. The Lord tells us to “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” Rom 6:11. Our sin nature will remain with us until we are separated from this body of death. Like an incurable disease, the believers desire and hope are to have its manifested symptoms minimized. God’s medicine for this terminal disease is faith in Christ. The only way sin will be restrained from “reigning in our mortal bodies”, Rom 6:12, is not by the works of the law or the determination of the will. We do not use carnal weapons in a spiritual war. 2 Cor 10:4. It is by looking through the eye of faith to the glorious person and accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not fight to kill sin. We believe God in reckoning it to be in Christ, already dead.                                                       ~GE

Who wrote Hebrews?

Since the penman does not identify himself in the text, many have speculated as to who wrote the book of Hebrews. In the end, it is just that, speculation. Though we esteem highly those “holy men of God moved by the Holy Ghost” who are often identified in other books of the Bible, there is something very wonderful about the unknown penman of Hebrews. Whoever it was, had an extraordinary understanding of the scriptures. The comprehensive clarity of the Old Testament in revealing Christ in this sublime book is unparalleled. I must confess, had I written it, I would not have been able to resist the temptation of putting my name on it. Which brings me to my point. It is a testimony to our own vanity that we would even try to figure out what God intended to be secret and what this inspired writer kept silent. Let us learn a lesson here. Let us resist the temptation of letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing. Let us do what we do as unto the Lord and not unto men. Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. Ps115:1. Oh, how highly we esteem the humility of this dear unnamed brother. We ought not to even speculate who he might be, lest we rob him of this reward.                                                                    ~GE

One Thing

Life in this world is often complicated and confusing. Time and again our flesh has no rest, troubled on every side with fighting without and fears within. 2 Cor. 7:5. The only thing more complicated than our circumstances, our relationships, and our feelings is a free will, works gospel. That is not only complicated but a complete contradiction. Oh, to be able to say with the blind man in John 9; “One thing I know, that, wherein I was blind, now I see.” What exactly does the believer see so convincingly? They see themselves as sinners. Like anyone born blind, they had no idea what it meant to be blind until they were able to see. They see the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Sovereign, Successful, and Sufficient Savior of sinners.  Like Mary, they know that the one thing needful that cannot be taken away, is found at the feet of the One who is The Christ. They know and are sure that He alone has the words of eternal life. Amongst all the confusing voices of this world, they have been given ears to hear His voice and follow Him.                                                                                                             ~GE

When he (Esau) would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he

sought it carefully with tears. Heb. 12:17

For many years this verse struck fear in my heart. Could I, like Esau, seek God’s blessings with tears and yet find no place for repentance? What was the blessing Esau was refused? It is the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. Why could Esau not receive this blessing? Because Esau had “despised” his birthright. Gen. 25:34. The Old Testament birthright clearly pointed to the eternal covenant of grace fulfilled in Christ. Christ Jesus is the FIRSTBORN among many brethren. Heb. 12:23. The entire church of the FIRSTBORN which is written in heaven can only come to God and receive the blessing of His salvation in Christ, their Mediator. Heb. 12:23-24. To cry for the blessing without the FIRSTBORN is to find no place for repentance. All of the Father’s blessings in heavenly places are only found in Christ. Eph. 1:3. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God. 2 Cor. 1:20. How very, very sad it is. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but only God’s redeemed saints will look in faith unto Jesus as the author and the finisher of their faith. Heb.12:2. No, my dear brethren, fear not. Esau, as his name reflects, is that earthy man of the flesh. We who are born of God bear the image of the heavenly.  1Cor.15:47-49. We have no expectations of the blessing, without the birthright of the FIRSTBORN.                                                                        ~GE