A Grant of Land: But in this covenant the central promise was concerning land. All the land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his seed for an everlasting possession. And then the seal of the covenant, —circumcision, — was given, — a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith. This shows that the land of Canaan was to be possessed only by faith. And here we have a practical lesson as to the possession of things by faith. Many people think that a thing that is possessed by faith is only possessed in imagination. But the land of Canaan was a real country, and was to be actually possessed. Possession of it was to be gained, however, only through faith. This was indeed the case. By faith the people crossed the river Jordan, and “by faith the walls of Jerico fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.” But of this we shall have more hereafter.
Abide with Jesus awhile. Tarry with Him awhile. Abide with Him the rest of your life, why not? Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 NASB. Jesus invites all who are weary of all the troubles and trials of this world, who are weary from their burdens, worries and guilt, to take His rest, to take His yoke upon them, because His burden is easy, and His burden is light. The yoke of love that Jesus offers you dear reader is much easier than struggling with your problems by yourself. It is a hard thing to try to order your steps and make all the right decisions and do all the right things and not make a mess out of your life. Or worry about how you can make your life a success. But Jesus can take all your worries about not being good enough, smart enough, or strong enough to succeed, and help you fight the good fight to receive the crown of righteousness in the end, if you will give all of these worries to Him. 2 Timothy 4:7-8. No reason to worry about failure. No reason to be afraid or be in bondage to addictions or sin anymore, because Jesus came to set you free, dear reader! He came that you might be free! Free from guilt, worry and shame and from the fear of failure. “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36 NASB. This is what Jesus promised to you dear reader and all who will “come” and allow Him to make them free. If He makes you free, ye shall be free indeed!
“Then another came, saying, `Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.' He said to him, `I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?' And he said to those who stood by, `Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.' (And they said to him, `Lord, he has ten pounds!') `I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'" Luke 19:20-27 RSV. Jesus’ words here apply to all who make the claim of being one of God’s people and have been in the church or the synagogue for years, who are not doing enough or anything at all to help others or show them how much He or His Father love them. They are ‘worthless servants’, ‘worthless slaves’. They knew what their master required of them, but did nothing about it. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8 KJV. Did you know that everyone is a ‘slave’ or a ‘servant’ to someone or something?
“Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children; and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sarai.” Gen. 16:1, 2. This was the great mistake of Abraham’s life; but he learned a lesson from his mistake, and it was recorded to teach that lesson to all. In the first place, we should learn the folly of man’s trying to fulfill the promises of God. God had promised to Abraham an innumerable seed. When the promise was made, it was beyond all human possibility that Abraham should have a son by his wife, but he accepted the word of the Lord, and his faith was counted to him for righteousness. This in itself was evidence that the seed was not to be an ordinary seed, but that it was to be a seed of faith.
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’” John 14:23 NASB. ‘If any man loves Me, he will keep my word.’ Is this really true? How can anyone doubt what Jesus said? But many today doubt whether they need to obey God, sometimes out of ignorance or because they were taught this way, not realizing that Jesus and His Father are one. John 10:30. Many don’t really understand everything He said, and have heard other parts of the New Testament taken out of context, or misinterpreted to say something different than what He taught. Therefore many are in fact doubting what Jesus said is true, whether they realize it or not! The truth of the matter is that if they don’t want to obey God, they cannot keep Jesus’ word either, because His word is really His Father’s word, as we learned in Part 1. Because only God is good (Luke 18:19), the only way they can be good is if they get the Holy Spirit. And since the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God (Acts 5:32), if they don’t want to obey God, they cannot have the Holy Spirit. This means that they cannot keep Jesus’ word either, because none of us are good, and the only way anyone can be good is if God helps them to be good through His Holy Spirit. But in this article, Part 2, we want to break it down further for you, especially if you are still undecided by what it means to keep Jesus’ word and whether God’s commandments are Jesus’ commandments or not. One thing is true that you can’t deny, that if you want to be born from above and filled with the Holy Spirit, you must want to keep Jesus’ word. Because if you love Him you will keep His word, and He and His Father will come to you and make their abode in you. This is how you become born again!
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’” John 14:23 NASB. This text is the watchword of our ministry, White Raiment Evangelism. Do you love Jesus? Then discover what Jesus meant when He said, ‘If any man love Me, he will keep My word.’ What is the source of Jesus’ words that we are to keep? Jesus declared, “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment [the Father’s commandment] is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me." John 12:49-50 NASB. So what is the source of Jesus’ words according to what He said? They are the Father’s words. ‘The Father gave Jesus a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.’ God’s words are eternal life, therefore Jesus spoke just as His Father told Him. Think about that. Did Jesus say anything that was His own word and not from the Father?
The fifteenth chapter of Genesis contains the first account of the covenant made with Abraham. “The word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Notice the statement that God said that He Himself was Abraham’s reward. If we are Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Heirs of what? — “Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” Rom. 8:17. The same inheritance is mentioned by the Psalmist: “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.” Ps. 16:5. So here again we have a link to connect all God’s people with Abraham. Their hope is nothing else but the promise of God to him.
"Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20:12 KJV. The responsibility of keeping this commandment is not just for children and youth, but for parents as well! In Part 1 of this article, we showed that we are living in the last days now, and that there is a great problem with disobedience to parents, and the children or youth despising and mocking them. There are many problems in society in these last days, including rebellion, which often develops out of disobedience to parents. Now we want to present some of the problems with the entertainment and music media, and how it relates to the Fifth Commandment. In addition to portraying or promoting sin and violence, they also sometimes portray disobedience and violence against parents, and of course rebellion against God. They are training the children and youth to disobey God and sin greatly, making them unfit for Heaven and society. Since parents are given the responsibility of training their children up to obey God and love Him, this is a very big deal! The Entertainment Media is counteracting what parents should be teaching their children! Because of this and because God has commanded everyone to honor their father and their mother, it is also necessary to show the responsibility of the parents’ to teach their children to obey them and God, and to be a good citizen; to treat others the way they should be treated. Yes, it’s not just the children’s fault for disobeying and rebelling against their parents, God and society, but in many cases the parents are to blame too. If nothing is done about Hollywood‘s influence in your family, your job as a parent too teach your children the truth of how to be happy and be saved is in vain. And we will show that even though you are saved by grace, God still wants you to love Him supremely, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which includes honoring your father and your mother. There are children, youth and adults who can still be saved from the pit of ruin the devil has planned for them. It is not yet too late! In this article we will also appeal to your heart, and help you to know what to do, to help yourself and your children or youth before it’s too late. We want to show you the start of the solution to these problems: it always starts and ends with God, because no one can ever save themselves, much less their family. Only God can do this, if you willingly cooperate with Him.
Everywhere Abraham went, he built an altar to the Lord. As you read this, remember that the promise that all nations should be blessed in Abraham, specified even families. The religion of Abraham was a family religion. The family altar was never neglected in his household. This is not an empty figure of speech, but comes from the practice of the fathers to whom the promise was made, and of which we are partakers if we are of their faith and practice. An Example for Parents: God said of Abraham, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Gen. 18:19).
