Paul to the Roman Christians (44): Firstfruit Life of Transformation (2)

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PAUL'S LETTER TO THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS (44)
Analytical Commentary on Romans

 THE FIRSTFRUIT LIFE OF TRANSFORMATION (2)

Copyright © BRI/IMCF 2018 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling,
Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)
CAUTION: BRI Yeshiva notes are not available to the general public. They are not for distribution. They are not for reproduction. The notes may also bear little or no resemblance to the actual audio or video recorded BRI Yeshiva lecture.

Greetings IMCF, friends, students & associates,

The new fortnightly lecture series "Paul's letter to the Roman Christians" in Audio MP3 is available below.
Please reference the written lectures http://www.biblicalresearchinstitute.com/imcforum/index.php?topic=2253.0 also in conjunction with this presentation. The latest Lecture is now available and is entitled:

Paul's letter to the Roman Christians: Lecture 44
http://www.bripodcasts.com/Romans/Lecture44.MP3

"About the Time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the Prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition" -- Sir Isaac Newton

"Don't let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people"
(1 Cor 15.33 God's Word Translation)

"Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals"
(1 Cor 15.33 English Standard Version)

Paul's Letter to the Roman Christians is divided into three major sections. Each of these divisions is marked by a particular therefore. The first two of these divisions are located in Rom 5.1 and Rom 8.1.

"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah" (Rom 5.1).

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Messiah Yeshua" (Rom 8.1).

We shall not rehearse these two divisions as we have covered them quite adequately already. But we locate the third of these "therefore's" at the very start of Romans 12.1 in the present chapter under discussion:

"I beseech you therefore brethren..." or as it ought to read, "I beg of you, therefore, please brethren..."

When we come across the word "therefore" we must needs return to the previous thoughts the apostle has laid out to see what "therefore" is "there for." Certainly he is addressing Christians, brethren. Allow me to quote McClain again.

"When he uses the word therefore, it points back to what has gone before. In the twelfth chapter, where he says, I beseech you therefore, he is pointing back to all that was said before. The word brethren identifies the group to whom these words are addressed. This word indicates that this chapter is for Christians. When you go out and try to get other men to steer their lives according to this chapter, you will encounter difficulty. If you go to a man who is not a Christian and say, If thine enemy hunger, feed him, he resents this and rebels. This appeal is directed to the brethren. It is most essential that we remember that. This is for the Christian and you cannot take the Christian rule of life and apply it to the man who is not a Christian. It is a spiritual impossibility" (Romans, 206).

He adds, "What does he beseech them by? By the mercies of God. Shut your eyes and think back through all those eleven chapters. Mercies! That word sums up all that is contained in those chapters, just mercies upon sinners who did not deserve any mercies. Paul does not talk about what we did. He is just talking about what God did for us. He uses those mercies as a great moral dynamic and spiritual incentive."

Indeed, he does!

"When you have not revealed to people the mercies of God, you have ignored the most powerful moral factor that the world has ever seen. There is the great mistake of modernism. Assuming that we may give them credit for sincerity, and giving them credit for a desire to see the church live on a higher plane of life, still like the blind leaders that they are, they have lost the one motive, the one factor that is powerful enough to get hold of the hearts of men and raise them up to that plane of righteousness where they ought to be. Until sinners have experienced God's mercies, you will get no place. The mercies of God are the basis of all living that is really holy" (ibid., 206,207).

I have often mentioned the work of the greatest evangelist next to Paul in the history of the Christian church, and I speak of John Wesley. He successfully witnessed to Christ in his short life, and evangelised more successfully, than (to that date) any other Christian attempt in reaching the world for salvation. In this age it was Billy Graham who picked up his theme. But Wesley gave his invitation for salvation more thoroughly than any other evangelist because he emphasised mercy and Grace in his entire preaching ministry and (like Paul) ignored any reference to hell as the reward of the wicked. By speaking of -- and explaining -- the mercies of God and the Grace of God toward sinners he captured them in his personal love of God.

John Wesley had no trouble, it seems, applying these principles of Christian behaviour during his converted life. But today we find ourselves in somewhat tremulous and unconfident (sic) circumstances. Christians it appears are amongst the most timid and fear-gripped, confused people in existence anywhere. Many of us are in the grip of unfaith (and yes, it is a word!).

As we read through and study the contents of Romans 12 we are confronted by exhortations to become the very attributes given as descriptors by the apostle to the Gentiles even though these practical admonitions seem to be as straightforward in applicability as the content matter of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Do I need to remind anyone here that we are living, right now, in precarious times? I would not have thought so. Never in the history of the world (with the possible exception of the days of Noah) have we been surrounded by so many different, explosive, appalling conditions and in circumstances on a global scale from which we see NO WAY OUT other than transporting select human beings in an Ark containing specimens of all our vegetation, plants etc to start again with a new colony (like Adam and Eve) on our nearest neighbour in space... Mars. This is not religious speculation brethren. Scientists and humanists are planning just this direct action in order to SAVE our human species. Appalling is not the word for it. There is no word that is satisfactory.

HAVE YOU EVER MET A LAODECIAN?
Have any of us actually met a Laodecian? If we have its not remarkable, for we are living in the end of this age, and such folk as those described in Revelation 3 should be in abundance around us. The question is really: Have we seen him or her reflected in the mirror in our bathroom as we exited the shower, or in our bedroom mirror when we were dressing for the day? What do I mean by a Laodecian?

During the reign of the emperor Nero, John the apostle was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea because he was teaching there was another rival Caesar -- a crucified Jew by the name of Yeshua who was the prophesied Messiah of the Jewish people. The Lord Yeshua channeled Himself into John and dictated seven letters to specific Messianic assemblies that existed along the old Roman mail route in Proconsular Asia (today called Turkey). Each assembly was encouraged by Christ to keep the Faith, and they equally received correction from their Lord. One of these congregations was located in a city called Laodecia.

I have written extensively about the Laodecians in the Apocalypse lectures and also in the Twelve Minor Prophets lectures. Incidentally, they are the most ignored lectures on the BRI/IMCF Members Forum! The fact is, none of us can claim to be an authority on any issue involving prophecy unless or until we familiarise ourselves with the state of mind of the last generation before the coming of the Lord. The Laodecians, spiritually speaking, represent the final generation of Messianic believers on earth prior to the advent of Yeshua -- and they reflect, unfortunately, the worldly MINDSET of the last generation of the world's populace.

Intriguingly, what we find when we search the Scriptures of the Minor Prophets rather than being deeply united as a global body, the Messianic Community is predicted to become deeply DIVIDED. Rather than on fire for God for the salvation of their people Israel and the world at large, some Messianic believers at that time will be surprisingly lukewarm, self-obsessed, and materialistic to the core. Read Revelation 3.14-22, and let its description sink in, brethren. The Laodecian condition should be avoided at all costs.

The prophetic scenario (and this includes the startling predictions made by Christ himself through John directly) reveals God promising to send His intimate family members -- his children -- into Great Tribulation BECAUSE they were lukewarm and were in their hearts and minds neither hot nor cold (Rev 3.16).

These believers -- these Christians -- will be in a scandalous condition of spiritual apathy. There will be no excuse for such insolence toward the self-sacrificial crucifixion of Yeshua the Messiah, because that is exactly what their attitude boils down to: insolence. This means, if we read what is plainly written for our attention, God will not desist until those He sees as Laodecians are wiped out in a Great Travail. It will be character produced through a FIERY travail, if not by their free will, in following the commandments God has given to them to observe.

Understand! In the near future we will watch a restored Nazarene Messianic Judaism take power in Israel. We shall see the restoration of the Throne of David in the years just ahead of us now. We shall see the Jews return enmasse to the Holy Land as a consequence of astonishing prosperity that will abound there. We will see Messianic Assemblies cropping up all over the place and the Ruach HaKodesh poured out upon the believing remnant. We shall also see a rapid collapse of spiritual values within that same body of Messianic Assemblies. The reason? The Assembly of the saints, living in the world with the pressures of society besetting them, cannot help but all too often be (in an entirely natural way) a reflection in a moral and ethical sense of the world that surrounds them. Reflect on the contents of Paul's epistles to the ekklesia in Corinth and the moral problems of the Greek world that plagued it. The messages of the seven assemblies in Revelation will speak especially to the heart of the congregations in EndTime Israel. The principles certainly apply to us in Gentile lands.

The last generation of Christians will live in a time denominated by the materialistic attitude of Laodecia! Paul said that the Minor Prophets were written for those of us "upon whom the ends of the ages have come." They had, therefore, a specific divine relevancy for us today at the end of the age. Before Israel fell, there was a famine of hearing the word of God (Am 8.11,12). In our own day now, people who are lukewarm are not interested in getting the Gospel out to others in order that they also may be saved. Spiritually self-satisfied and self-satiated, they are not interested in witnessing for the salvation of others -- they are far too self-obsessed for that! They are scared to evangelise their fellow human beings. They worry about what their friends or acquaintances may think of them. Mashiach, who died for them -- who died brutally in their place -- takes second best, and plays second fiddle to a carnal humanity headed for destruction unless they repent.  

THE TWO GOSPELS TODAY
There are TWO GOSPELS prevalent in our world today: The GOSPEL of the GRACE OF GOD (which incorporates the Gospel of the Kingdom of God) and the PROSPERITY GOSPEL. And there are two assemblies mentioned in the scroll of Revelation which typify adherence to these two specific Gospels. You may be very familiar with them.

One assembly is called Philadelphia and it is identified by its characterisation of brotherly love and a deep lasting appreciation of the written Word of God (especially the deeper levels of understanding which is termed the Key of David and which levels are largely a matter of being led by the Spirit-Word of that same God).

The other assembly is Laodecia and it is swept up into rank materialism -- consumerism, the saturation of the self with things, and living life by a spirit of competition.

I want all my students to notice this very carefully because to a large extent we believers today are to be categorised by either one or the other. Intriguingly, BOTH Gospels involve a commitment to a GOAL and accommodate to information which, if applied consistently, will yield good RESULTS as far as a satisfying psychology of living is concerned. But the upshot will be that by obeying the one we will be obeying God, trusting in Him in our surrender to His expectations actually growing into the character IMAGE of Yeshua himself, and by obedience to the other we shall be turned into materialistic SLAVES and mere pawns or drones of the Dark Lord.

This becomes most important when we take into consideration the awesome knowledge we are coming to understand, and which we are inculcating, about the reality of our sphere of existence in which we live and move and have our being. THIS KNOWLEDGE IS BALANCED on the edge of a sharp two-edged sword. It's all about understanding, observing and maintaining the balance (Ecclesiastes 3).

While the principles in Rev 2 & 3 certainly apply to us (the principle always applies) recall that these assemblies are to be located in Turkey but are reflections of the Messianic synagogues that will be found in the State of Israel at the End of Days the Minor (and Major) prophets describe Israel at the end of time and most Christians have missed the connection between the conditions that exist prophetically at the End of Days (which are described in the prophets) and the rise of Messianic congregations in that Land.  

Laodecia, the seventh assembly to which the Lord Yeshua has penned his epistle, is the final ekklesia to be mentioned in the Apocalypse. Hosea 2.5-9 certainly describes the spiritual condition of the final generation in the Land of Israel to a tee. The prosperity that will be given to modern Israel by God will be wrongly used by the Jews as they heap upon themselves all that they crave in inordinate desire and they will demonstrate, in two words, extreme avarice. The condition of these seven ekklesias in Revelation in the time of the end reflects mightily the history of the ancient nation of God's people Israel and Judah, and the Minor Prophets describe the final days of future Israel in terms that certainly match the spiritual condition of the Laodecian congregation. For, the end-time Israelis and the pleasure-intoxicated Laodecian Christians (Nazarenes) share a common laid back lukewarm sophistication and self-obsessed organisation trusting in WEALTH and POSITION and POWER.

It is of interest to just about every biblical expositor that the ancient city of Laodecia was known widely for not merely its wealth (and it possessed a great deal of that for Laodecia was the principal banking centre, the hub around which all the financial matters of Proconsular Asia revolved) but for its medical school which boasted world-famed ophthalmologists, and which had developed and utilised an eye-salve which was also world renowned for numerous eye afflictions. Strikingly enough, the Lord Yeshua admonishes the congregation to become aware of their own blindness concerning their spiritual condition. They are described in Revelation as complacent, lukewarm, lacking in fervour and zeal, settled in compromised disobedience. Moreover, industrially they created fine black wool clothing for the Herodian-Roman markets but the Mashiach exhorts them to realise how naked they actually are and advises they urgently access white clothing (Rev 3.17,18).

As John wrote this Nero was about to pounce upon them like a roaring lion and devour them.

It is exhortative for all of us who name the Name of Mashiach to realise that this Community at Laodecia preached Christ but he was not in any of the assemblies. Tragically, he is outside the assembly and knocking on their door to be allowed entrance (Rev 3.20). He wants above all else to be spiritually intimate with them to enjoy a meal together and to share a chalice (or two) of wine with them but they are locked into a party mode, wild music playing, and Yeshua is on the outside trying desperately to be heard.

Above all else the Lord loved to banquet. He was always "the life of the party." The Laodecians erroneously thought the Saviour was in their midst. Their view of Yeshua left a great deal to be desired considering that they, by their attitudes  and works (fruits), had locked him outside so he couldn't interfere in their lifestyle of consuming.

Ancient King David was wholehearted. Like his forefather before him, the Greater Son of David -- Our Lord Yeshua -- had a heart that beat HOT in his breast. So much was this the case that his own disciples said that the ZEAL of His Father's House has BURNED HIM UP. But in contrast, the Christians in Laodecia had tried to hold on to God with one hand and to hold on to the Herodian society with the other. Of course, it cannot be done. Yeshua said, Not one household slave is able to keep on rendering a slave's service to two masters, for either the one he will hate and the other he will love, or to one he will hold firmly, and the other he will despise. "You are not able to keep on serving God and riches" (Lk 16.13 Kenneth Wuest Translation, with correct Greek tense).

Let us not overlook the fact that Yeshua, while he has strongly rebuked the Laodecian Community threatening to vomit it out of his mouth --  along with spiritual peas and carrots (invariably associated with vomiting purges!) -- he is pictured as striving with it because of his genuine love for his people and his desire for them to repent of their worldly ways in spite of all it has become. Rubbing shoulders too familiarly with the modern Herodians is like dancing with the Devil. There is no way any of us can dance with the Devil and not get burned.

What a tragedy the Laodecians are missing out on the exciting warmth of Yeshua's company and the enormous good fun that can be ours in his presence.

[SPECIAL NOTE: There is, of course, another level of reference when dealing with the seven ekklesias that we need to appreciate, and that is that the seven assemblies reflect the present Christian mindscape or seven degrees of CONSCIOUSNESS which may very well identify our own stage of spiritual growth in a collective as well as individual fashion. Our concurrent new series of lectures entitled THEM & US will rework Apocalypse lecture 71 into a vitally new framework for THEM & US lecture 4. So the question is: Which state of SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS are we?]

The fact is most people live accidentally. They do not live with purpose. They do not live objectively. They do not participate in life by giving all they possess to life. The Laodecian Christians failed to grasp that life really is worth living. The believers who resided in the vicinity of the Herodian pleasure palaces of Laodecia and Hierapolis had not taken charge of their life. They lived accidentally. They were entirely content with the hand life had dealt them. They were lacking in ambition to pursue any goal including a change in their life's circumstances and consequently failed to alter their course of destiny. They did not live deliberately. But they certainly enjoyed the MISERY that each day brought forth. They had to have enjoyed being in a spiritual and intellectual swamp because that is how Mashiach described them. "You do not know that you are...." They didn't know and they didn't care to know.

Yes, I said they were wallowing in their misery. They did not realise they were miserable: But Yeshua had said that they were naked, blind, destitute in extreme poverty, wretched and... miserable. Now these were not pagans to whom the Lord had addressed his epistle. They were Christians. They had been born again. They had been justified. They had been cleansed in the precious blood of the Passover Lamb. They were God's very own sons and daughters. God had chosen them, ordained them, granted them spiritual gifts and imparting to them EVERLASTING LIFE. And God expected them (as he expects us today) to bring forth FRUIT to "measure up" as best we can in producing results of transformed character in our life. Living a life set on pleasing God the Father ought to be at the forefront of our mind at all times.

But Paul describes Christians in our day and age a little differently to what God the FatherMother Anochi would have preferred to see them ENJOY.

IN THE LAST DAYS PERILOUS TIMES WILL COME
Paul wrote: "You must understand this, that in the last days perilous times involving enormous stress will come. For people will be lovers of themselves and their money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of religious godliness but denying its power. AVOID THEM! For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate silly women, weak in nature and spiritually dwarfed -- overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of sensuous desires who are always being instructed and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people, of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, also oppose the truth. But they will not make much progress, because, as in the case of those two men, their folly will become plain to everyone"  (2 Timothy 3.1-9).

Yes, the counsel given to believers from God again makes its appearance in respect of Them & Us. God says to His people in this present and final 21st century to avoid them. The Living Bible makes it even clearer:

"You may as well know this too, Timothy, that in the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian. For people will love only themselves and their money; they will be proud and boastful, sneering at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them, and thoroughly bad. They will be hardheaded and never give in to others; they will be constant liars and troublemakers and will think nothing of immorality. They will be rough and cruel, and sneer at those who try to be good. They will betray their friends; they will be hotheaded, puffed up with pride, and prefer good times to worshiping God. They will go to church [having a form of godliness] yes, but they won't really believe anything they hear. Don't be taken in by people like that. They are the kind who craftily sneak into other people's homes and make friendships with silly, sin-burdened women and teach them their new doctrines. Women of that kind are forever following new teachers, but they never understand the truth. And these teachers fight truth just as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. They have dirty minds, warped and twisted, and have turned against the Christian faith. But they won't get away with all this forever. Someday their deceit will be well known to everyone, as was the sin of Jannes and Jambres."

This is most certainly where we are today! There can be no argument against such a proposition. The reality of such a world stares us in the face each and every day of our lives. And what does God encourage us to do... even command us to do? "Avoid them." Yes, avoid them. Do not become friends with them. Don't attempt to rub shoulders with them. Because if you do you set a very low standard of accomplishment for yourselves when you already know full well that God has set the bar very high indeed, and He expected you to reach it. The Ruach HaKodesh -- the very precious holy Spirit of God -- will not occupy a divided mind. If IT indwells you rest assured IT will place you in a position where either IT (or, HE) or THEM will be the centre of your adoration, of your worship. Who what presently OCCUPIES your mind? This question is a most imperative one to contemplate.

We have seen how God's Spirit is leading us out of the world. We already BELONG to another KINGDOM, and that dear brethren and students is the KINGDOM OF GOD. Our citizenship is in the heavens wrote Paul in Philippians 3.20.

When we are born in this life to our mother and father's joy (well, at least in most cases) we are born into the Kingdom of this world, this present evil age over which the Dark Lord (2 Cor 4.4) instigates his dictatorship in racial matters, cultural ideologies, global values, religious persuasions and political practices (1 Jn 2.16; Lk 4.6).

But the holy Spirit releases us, through the shed blood of Yeshua the Messiah, INTO a New Age by virtue of a New Birth, preparing us for the New Creation that awaits us in the wings but made available ONLY to those who are Firstfruits -- prepared and qualified in this life by the renewing of their minds (Rom 12.2) to be adequate to inhabit it as New Creatures (2 Cor 5.17; Rom 6.16; Eph 2.1-4; Phil 3.18,19). Sadly, there are people who have opposed our ministry over decades who value this world and its tantalysing elemental spirits more than the truth of God which states unequivocally that those demonic forces are to be utterly condemned and rejected along with the world system they inhabit and presently, temporarily control. They themselves who are subtly manipulated by archons have a form of godliness as Paul wrote to Timothy, but they are not separate from this world system but thoroughly engage with it -- they may go to church religiously and thus appear to be political citizens of the heavens when in fact no rebirth has ever taken place within them (Mt 7.21-23). So identical will they appear that only the angels of God will be qualified to know the difference (Mt 13.24-30, 36-43).

BEING GOD OR SHARING THE DIVINE NATURE?
Both Rav Shaul (Paul) and the priestly Yochanan (John the apostle) were aware that the end of days would see this world constellating in its adoration and worship around the politically manicured final Antichrist or man of sin (as Paul described him). We are already in the end of the age. The emissaries of Christ spoke of their own day as the last time (1 Pet 1.5; 1 Jn 2.18), and the last times (1 Pet 1.20; Jude 18), the last days or last period (Heb 1.2; 2 Pet 3.3; Jam 5.3; 2 Tim 3.1) and latter days (1 Tim 4.1). Of course, as we grasp today two thousand long years later, these epistles taken in their context of the period in which they lived and wrote (and considered to be in their time as already very close to the second advent of their messiah) makes the coming of the Lord increasingly imminent. What do we witness occurring around us in our world today? People multitudes infected and afflicted with the virus of narcissistic personality disorder a powerful descriptor announced by Paul in our opening text of 2 Timothy 3.1-9. We have finally entered the aeon of the ME generation. It's a time in which man thinks that he has discovered that he is GOD! This has been bequeathed to us by modernism and contemporary so-called New Age gurus, motivational speakers and authors and philosophers to name a few: Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Ram Dass and others. Until the late 19th century (and even into the 20th century) some writers and biblical expositors tried desperately to explain away or to dismiss the apocalyptic notion that humankind as predicted in the scroll of Revelation would end up in the worship of another mere human being, variously termed the Beast or the Antichrist. They produced prolific works that attempted to focus our attention on our human nature as the Beast and more lately have connected the dots between TV and personal computers to the image of the Beast -- the Beast presumably being the carnal mind of man.

Still, having said this, there has been a monumental shift in the world (especially the western academic world) heralding us into this direction foretold two thousand years ago (as in the case of John's Apocalypse) and two and a half thousand years ago as in the case of the writings of Daniel. As one my favourite lecturers Alva McClain puts it:  

"But already there are certain tendencies appearing in the world of scholarship and religion which are leading definitely in this direction. First, there is the popular doctrine of the finite God. Second, there is the identification of this God with the soul, or social consciousness, of humanity. And third, there is a growing recognition of the high value of symbolism in religion. These tendencies finally can lead to but one end: Let the world once come to identify God with humanity, and the next logical step will be the apotheosis of some great representative of humanity as a symbol of God. And the coming... [man of sin]...will be the greatest man (save One) the world has ever seen. For that matter, men have always been able to find reasons for worshiping themselves. Godet, writing about fifty years ago, pointed out that the theological system of the Antichrist could be summed up in three propositions: 1. There is no personal God without and above the universe. 2. Man is himself his own god -- the god of this world. 3. I am the representative of humanity; by worshiping me, humanity worships itself. More than ever in our day we may see the rapid development of this humanistic religion, which will reach its consummation in the blasphemous claims of the [coming] beast. But, thank God, even in his awful day, there will be some who will refuse to bow the knee" (Alva McClain, Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks, 1940).

LAST AGE OF MESSIANIC CHRISTIANITY -- APOSTASY
A number of inclusions in the letters in the Messianic Scriptures candidly declare the condition of Messianic Christianity at the end of the age. Consider the following (note them and study them as time allows): 1 Tim 4.1-3; 2 Tim 3.1-5; 2 Tim 4.3,4; Jude 1-25; 2 Pet 2.1-22; 2 Pet 3.3-6; James 5.1-8; Rev 3.14-22. Every single one of these texts speaks loudly of stark apostasy. There is nothing encouraging in these descriptors to suggest the glee of God. Nothing!

Indeed, the formidable J. Dwight Pentecost wrote his thoughts down on the subject of apostasy. They are interesting. Note the following:

"This condition at the close of the age is seen to coincide with the state within the Laodicean Church, before which Christ must stand to seek admission. In view of its close it is not surprising that the age is called an evil age in Scripture" (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology, 1958, 155. Emphasis mine).

The sad fact is that the Messianic believers during this present period and into the beyond will be expressed as being in denial of nine major realities of God's expectations toward His creations made in His divine Image.

1. They will deny God as a living presence in their way of life (Lk 17.26; 2 Tim 3.4,5)

2. They will deny that Yeshua, as their Lord and Saviour, is to return in their lifetime (2 Pet 3.3,4)

3. They will deny Messiah the right of making judgments in their world and life (2 Pet 2.6)

4. Some will question, and even deny, that Yeshua clothed himself in the likeness of sinful flesh in coming to earth to save humankind (1 Jn 4.3)

5. There will be an active denial of The Faith in order to save their own skin or to accord with the acceptance of their friends in this evil world (1 Tim 4.1,2; Jude 3,4)

6. They will deny biblical authority as pertaining to the choice of the Spirit in matters of spiritual doctrines, gifts and administrations (2 Tim 4.3,4; 3.5)

7. They will compromise on moral issues and deny the absolutes of the biblical revelation (2 Tim 3.1-8,13; Jude 18)

8. They will deny others the same liberty Christ equally gave them (1 Tim 4.3,4)

9. Lastly, but not least by far, is the fact that they will deny the separated life -- they will deny that Them & Us exists in the Mindscape of God (2 Tim 3.1-7).

These nine denials are to dominate the future thinking of the Messianic congregations in Israel and globally. But brethren, there are already indications these views are right now invading the few Messianic assemblies in existence coming into their perceptions from an utterly apostate church.

TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESS
In closing, McClain concurs with us in our pursuit for the separated life. He notes, in his commentary on Romans 12...

"Do not be conformed to the age. There is nothing so hateful and abominable in the eyes of God as for the Christian to conform himself according to the present age, an outward age which does not truly represent the new nature in purity nor permanence. This age is an evil one and a passing order of things. If you conform yourself to this age, you will pass away with it" (Romans, 208).

Paul presses on with his intention to create a desire within others (to which result his teaching ministry was appointed) to begin a monumental transformative energy release from our subconscious which would ultimately express itself in an eventual powerfully positive EXTERNAL MANIFESTATION. The end result would be that "you have proved" that the will of God in your calling and election was good, and acceptable and perfect all along. Paul persuasively argues for God's manifest love as apparent in that love expressing itself as good, acceptable, and perfect.

It is GOOD. It may not seem like it sometimes. But if GOD IS LOVE, then GOD IS GOOD, always GOOD, so then His will is good also.

It is ACCEPTABLE. If God's will is acceptable to GOD it ought to be acceptable to US. God is a Self-satisfied Creator. God's will is therefore satisfying.

It is PERFECT. I have been through trials in my past that would make some of our student's skin crawl if I shared some of it with them (rest assured I have no intention of doing so). I sometimes felt that my prayers brought all kinds of horrendous things down on my head which were the very opposite of what I was asking of God. Sometimes when I prayed it was like putting my head into the wide-opened mouth of a lion. It appeared that everything started to go wrong after I prayed. But the Scripture tells me to trust that God knows what He is doing in my life, and in yours too. God's will, I am assured, is PERFECT. It is entirely capable of SUCCESS in every venture. This is due to the fact that God knows the end from the beginning.

WORKSHOP: Having now read this latest lecture scan all the attributes and expectations of God for His freewill human replicas, and realise that ALL these descriptors exemplify GOD'S OWN DIVINE NATURE AND CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES. For, God is full of humility as He predicts, serves us (and the rest of humanity at various levels), teaches and exhorts us. God also gives, guides, administers, shows mercy, is beneficent and compassionate especially in respect of the Firstfruits whom HeShe accepts and loves intimately as a Parent.

These characteristics specifically mentioned by Paul for Christians to adopt in this chapter are the direct opposite of what people regard as constituting God's Divine Nature. We shall never accept, nor will we tolerate, any teaching about God which besmirches Divine GRACE. This includes any teaching of eternal torment. THIS is what Romans 12 is all about: Paul's exhortation for Christians to live out God's desire for each of us to aim to inculcate patterns of service via a program of nurturance in the daily renewing of our minds by creating new neural pathways in the brain through our behaviour -- acting as if -- to better permit and allow (in our free-will) the HOLY SPIRIT of God greater GRACE-ORIENTED productivity within our personality and natures.

CONCLUSION
"I beg of you, therefore, please brethren, in view of the aforementioned mercies of God, to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical Temple worship for you. In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the present world system. Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed" (Rom 12.1,2).

This summation of Romans 12.1,2 is compelling indeed. Alva McClain, Kenneth Wuest and Marvin Vincent all recognise the real truth of the matter.

(1) The basis of holy living is revelation.

(2) The method of holy living is consecration.

(3) The consequences of holy living is transformation.

That is the GOAL, not just for the Firstfruits in God's plan of Salvation, but for the entirety of the universe TRANSFORMATION back from sheer illusion of MATERIALISM and into the Divine Consciousness of God.

THIS CONCLUDES LECTURE 44