Understanding One Lord
December 23rd,
2001
MATTHEW 6:19 ¶Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if
therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee
be darkness, how great [is] that darkness! 24 No man can serve two
masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he
will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Let's bow our hearts in
prayer. Dear Father, we come to you this morning sincerely, and in the precious
name of your Son Jesus Christ knowing the great sacrifice He made on our
account, and having trust in that sacrifice, we can now come boldly to Thy
Throne of Mercy, knowing we have an advocate who has met the requirement for
the propitiation of our sins. He is the just One and we are the justified. And
because of this great act of obedience, we can now enter into the Holiest of
Holies, into Your Presence Father, not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by
the shed blood of the just One, our older brother, and Loving Saviour, Jesus
Christ.
Father, we come to you
because we are living in a day when there seems to be so much strife amongst
the brethren and we would ask you to help us and keep us from entering into
that fray. Guide us as we approach thy Word with reverence and sincerity, and
help us to understand not only your Word for this hour, but your order for our
lives as well. And we ask this in the Lovely name of your only begotten Son,
and our eldest brother, Jesus Christ.
In the reading of our text
for today's message, I want to focus all of our thoughts upon a few things
Jesus was telling us in this portion of the Book of Matthew. First of all, we
find Jesus telling us that our focus should be centered on storing up treasure
in heaven, and not here on earth where we cannot hold onto to it. He tells us
that if our goal is to store up our treasure here on earth, it will surely be
taken one way or another. If man doesn't steal it, and if the elements do not
destroy it, surely nature will provide a way for it loose it's value.
Therefore, the main thought of this parable is that we must have our focus
right, or our goals and plans will come to nothing.
20 But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Notice, then Jesus says, 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy
whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee
be darkness, how great [is] that darkness!
Now there is a purpose for
Jesus using these specific illustrations here. Why do you think Jesus uses these three symbols for
destroyers of our earthly treasures? What does the Moth signify? And what does Rust signify? And what
about the thief ?
He said, ¶Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Notice that Jesus lays out three things. 2 of them corrupt and the third
takes away altogether.
I - MOTH: The moth is a small winged insect and it is mostly known for the damage
it does by eating clothes. In the scriptures it usually refers to the wearing
out or a garment, or speaks of the condition of man likened to a garment full
of holes and decay, as though moth eaten.
ISAIAH 51:6 Lift up your eyes
to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish
away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they
that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for
ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 7 Hearken unto me, ye that
know righteousness, the people in whose heart [is] my law; fear ye not the
reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a
garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness
shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. Notice the type between the
people and the old clothing being eaten up and destroyed.
JOEL 2:25 And I will
restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the
caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be
satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously
with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27 And ye shall know that I [am] in the midst of Israel,(Notice this speaks of the
time of His Great Presence in the earth) and [that]
I [am] the LORD your God, and none
else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
ISAIAH 50:4 ¶The Lord GOD
hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word
in season to [him that is] weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth
mine ear to hear as the learned. 5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I
was not rebellious, neither turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the
smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. 7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not
be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I
shall not be ashamed. 8 [He is] present
that vindicates me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who [is]
mine adversary? let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me;
who [is] he [that] shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a
garment; the moth shall eat them up. 10 ¶
Who [is] among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his
servant, that walketh [in] darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the
name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire,
that compass [yourselves] about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire,
and in the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye
shall lie down in sorrow.
II - RUST:
James 5:1 ¶ Go to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for
your miseries that shall come upon [you]. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and
your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and
the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it
were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of
you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are
entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on
the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of
slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned [and] killed the just; [and] he doth not resist
you. 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the
husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient;
stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9 Grudge not one
against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth
before the door.
It is interesting that the
rust is associated with corruption, and the same word that is used as "corrupt"
in Matthew 6:20 is used as the word
"perish" in ACTS 13:41.
"Behold, ye despisers, and wonder,
and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no
wise believe, though a man declare it unto you."
James speaks of it as a
vanishing away. JAMES 4:14 Whereas ye know not
what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour,
that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
The last of these words that
Jesus describes as the means by which the people shall perish is the word…
III - THIEF: The Scripture speaks of a
thief as someone who steals, and destroys. It is not a very positive image.
JOHN 10:1 ¶ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber. Notice the thief comes up
some other way than the only provided way. Doors are the only provided way of
entry and yet Jesus says the mark of a thief is that they will come in some
other way. In fact in the book of Matthew we are told as story by Jesus about
the man who came to the wedding supper some other way. If he had come in
through the door he would have been given a wedding garment, but this one came
in another way and Jesus told us that those who come in the other way are there
to steal. Their motive is not right. They have come for another Purpose, or as
the Apostle Paul said, they have another Gospel and therefore another Spirit.
MATTHEW 22:10 So those servants
went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found,
both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11 And when the
king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding
garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not
having a wedding garment? (How did you get in here, not having on a wedding
garment?) And he was speechless. 13 Then said the
king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him]
into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many
are called, but few [are] chosen.
In John chapter 10 Jesus
tells us the motive of the Thief is one of destruction and killing.
JOHN 10:9 I am the door: by
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find
pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it]
more abundantly.
Now, we also know that Jesus
tells us the motive operandi of the thief is to come when least expected,
because it is the object of the thief not to be caught stealing for fear of the
punishment for so doing. Therefore a thief moves best during times of darkness
in order to conceal his real plans.
I THESSALONIANS
5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are
all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness.
Now, in getting back to the
parable that Jesus tells us in Matthew 6: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
We have seen how that a wrong focus will bring a wrong result. And
in this parable Jesus uses the eye as being full of light in contrast to the
eyes being in darkness. Let's read again verse 22: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (Now,
Jesus is not telling us to pluck out one of our eyes so we have but one eye,
but what He is telling us is that we should have a single focus in coming to
the Kingdom of God. And if we have any desire to store up treasure in heaven,
there must be a single focus in doing so.) 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole
body shall be full of darkness. (Notice the association with evil
and darkness to the sight. In other words, we have already seen that the thief
comes by night, and so does the moth. Therefore darkness is associated with the
correct atmosphere to bring froth death and destruction.) If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how
great [is] that darkness! (Notice that Jesus is telling us that if what we see is darkness,
then we are not seeing at all. And then he concludes by saying) 24 No man can serve
two masters: (Now the word Jesus uses here for two masters is
the same Greek Word Paul uses for Lord. Therefore, Jesus is saying, man can
serve Two Lords!) for either he will hate the one,
and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon.
Now, the Two Lords Jesus is
speaking of here are diametrically opposed to each other. For He tells us one
of these Lords is God Himself and the other is wealth. He is telling us that
you can not strive to serve God properly if you are striving to become wealthy.
Now, I would like to take this thoughts on not being able to serve two Lords,
one step further. But in order to do so, we will need to read from Who is this Melchisedec, paragraph 98.
Paragraph 98 WHO
IS THIS MELCHISEDEC. 65-0221E When the theophany, Moses seen Him, Exodus
33:2, He was a theophany. Moses wanted to see God. He'd heard His
voice, heard Him talk to him, seen Him in a bush there with a big Pillar
of Fire. And he said, "Who are You; I want to know Who You are?"
Moses said, "If You'll let me see You... I'd like to see Your face."
He said, "No man can see My
face." He said, "I'll put My hand over your eyes, and I'll pass by.
And you can see My back, but not My face." See? And when He did, it was
the back of a Man; it was theophany. Then the Word that come to Moses, I AM;
that was the Word. The Word came to Moses in the form of a Pillar of Fire in a
burning bush, the I AM. As the Word from the theophany, He came to Abraham as a Man under the oak
tree. Now, look at there.
101
There came a Man to Abraham, three of them, and set down under an oak
tree, three of them. And notice, after He talked to Abraham - Why did He come?
Abraham, being the one with the promise and the message of the coming son, and
also He was God's Word prophet that was trusting God's Word, calling anything
contrary as though it wasn't. See how perfect the Word is? The Word came to the
prophet. See, there was God in a theophany, and the Bible said the Word
comes to the prophet.
And
here was the Word in the theophany... Now, you say, "Was that God?"
Abraham said it was. He said His name was, He called Him Elohim. Now, in
Genesis 1 you find out, "In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and
the earth." In Genesis 18 we find out that Abraham called this Person that
set there and talked to him, and could tell him the secrets of his heart, tell
him what Sarah was thinking behind Him, Abraham said, "It is Elohim."
He was in a theophany form. You get it?
103
Notice, after... Now, we find out that He was then in the theophany
form. He called Him, "Lord God, Elohim." Now, in Genesis 18 we
find that that is true. Now, notice, Abraham... There was three of them
together, but when Abraham met the three, he said, "My Lord." But
when Lot down in Sodom, two of them went down there; and Lot saw two of them
coming, and he said, "My Lords." See, what was the matter? The first
place Lot was not a prophet (That's right.), or neither was he the messenger of
the hour. So he didn't have any revelation of Him. It's exactly right. Lot
could call them "Lords," a dozen of them, he could still said,
"Lords," but no matter how many Abraham saw, it was still one Lord.
There is God; this is the Melchisedec. Notice, after the battle was
over, Melchisedec served His victorious child Communion (Think of that.), part
of Himself. Now, we want to see here, in type here is in view the Communion.
After the battle He gave of Himself, because the Communion is part of Christ.
And after the struggle is over, after you've done got yourself whipped out,
then is when you partake of Christ, become part of this Being. You get it?
Now, I hope that you caught
what brother Branham said here. He said, There was
three of them together, but when Abraham met the three, he said, "My
Lord." But when Lot down in Sodom, two of them went down there; and Lot
saw two of them coming, and he said, "My Lords." See, what was the matter?
The first place Lot was not a prophet (That's right.), or neither was he the
messenger of the hour. So he didn't have any revelation of Him. It's exactly
right. Lot could call them "Lords," a dozen of them, he could still
said, "Lords," but no matter how many Abraham saw, it was still
one Lord.
Now, I know that when
Brother Vayle was very emphatic in his presentation about the Godhead, he made
a statement that there are Two Lords, and this just about blew the whole camp
of Malachi 4 out of the boat and into the water. Now, I know what he said, and
why he said it. But for the majority of people who have straddled the doctrine
of the Godhead, between Oneness and the correct understanding of One God having
a Son, and this Son was not "God the Son," but he was
"The Son of God".
And for those people who were along for the ride, it caused them to
either pay attention or go off into an ism. Now, Brother Vayle was not saying
there are Two Lords as if to mean there are Two Gods. Neither did He say there
are two Lords as if we should worship Two. We are to worship God the Father,
through His Son. For no man can access the Father except through His Son. Jesus
said himself, "no man can come unto My Father but by me. JOHN 14:6 Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me.
Now, what brother Vayle was
trying to get across was this: The word "Lord" means Master,
and can be used in various ways so we must be ever so careful as to what we
mean when we speak in terms of Lord. He even mentioned Abraham being called
"Lord", by Sarah, and referenced Jesus as Lord of the
Church, but reiterated that God is Lord over all, as he will be in the New
Jerusalem when the Pillar of Fire will be above all and then the Lamb, etc.
Now, we know that the book
of Acts tells us that Jesus was made both, "Lord", and
"Christ'.
ACTS 2:34 For David is not
ascended into the heavens: but he (David) saith himself, The
LORD (This is the Same One Lord that Paul speaks of in Ephesians
chapter 4) The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35
Until I make thy foes thy footstool. (Now, you might be asking which
One of these Lords is God and who is the other, but the answer comes in the
next verse) 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel
know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have
crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now if He was made
Lord then he was not Lord to begin with. And then we must ask, "how
was He made, Lord?" and the answer is by God placing everything under
his feet. And How was he made Christ? When God entered into Him.
Notice, Jesus was anointed with the Holy
Ghost. ACTS 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that
were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Brother Branham speaks of
God anointing Jesus with Himself in the sermon entitles, JESUS
CHRIST THE SAME 55-0806 031 And when Jesus, a carpenter's Son, physically speaking, when
He come to the earth here that's all He was known of, and the day that when
John baptized Him, God a vindicated Him. God spoke from the heavens. John saw
Him coming in the form a dove, and said, "This is My beloved Son in Whom
I'm pleased to dwell." The right translation there is, "In whom I
am pleased to dwell in." Jesus immediately anointed with God, He
was just a man till that time, but now He becomes the God-man.
In the Message, ELISHA
THE PROPHET 56-1002.2E E-21,
brother Branham said, "And Jesus, the
baptism He had was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which was in Him, that come
on Him at the river Jordan after He was baptized in water. John bare
record; he seen the Spirit of God like a dove coming upon Him. And notice. Then
when he went up, he sent back the same robe that he was wrapped in: the Holy
Ghost upon the Church.
Now, certainly we all
understand that the Apostle Paul said, "there is One Lord, and One
Faith." And we are fully aware that if he said One Lord, then He
meant "One Lord". It is not a doctrine of Two, but it
is an understanding how God could use another vessel and completely reflect
himself through that Vessel without that vessel taking any sort of preeminence
whatsoever. And that is why Paul said what he did in 1 Corinthians 15
where he placed Jesus over us, but God over Jesus.
I CORINTHIANS
15:24 Then cometh the end, when he (The Son of God)
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he (God)
shall have put down all rule and all authority and
power. 25 For he (God) must reign, till
he (God) hath put all enemies under his (Son's)
feet.
26
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he (God) hath put all things under his (Son's) feet. But when he (God) saith all things are put under him, (His Son) it is manifest that he (God Himself) is excepted, which did put all things under him (His
Son). 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto
him (The Son of God), then shall the Son
also himself be subject unto him (God, his Father) that put all things under him (The Son), that God may be all in all.
EPHESIANS 2:13 But now in Christ
Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 ¶ For
he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall
of partition [between us]; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
[even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in
himself of twain (TWO) one new man, [so] making peace;
Now, here is the key to our
understanding the Father and the Son. Here is the key to all we desire in our
relationship to the Father and his Son. It all lays right here in these few
words. for to make in himself of twain
(TWO) one new man, [so] making peace; Paul says here of
Jesus, "for in the making from Two beings into One man, Jesus Christ, is
what brought peace between God and Man.
Then it is the One God Who dwelt in His Son, and the Oneness between
that Father and His Son, Dwelling in Him brought Peace between God and His
other children. Then if the Godhood of God, or even a portion of that Godhood,
or God-life is in us, it is a coming together of Two beings, God and us that
brings us into this beautiful relationship between our Father and ourselves.
Again, in LUKE 11:33 we hear Jesus tell the parable of the
candlestick. No man, when he hath lighted a candle,
putteth [it] in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick,
that they which come in may see the light. 34 The light of the body is the eye:
therefore when thine eye (source of light, or if thy focus) is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when
[thine eye] is evil, thy body also [is] full of darkness. 35 Take heed
therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body
therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of
light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.
Now, what I want to leave
you with this morning is this. Jesus said, "when
thine eye (source of light, or if thy focus) is single, thy whole body also is full of light"; and
Brother Branham made a very similar statement when he said, "but no matter how many Abraham saw, it was still one Lord.
"
Now, what I am driving at is
this. It does not matter what vessel the Lord God, (Elohim, the Self existent
One uses). He appeared in the Burning bush, he appeared in the pillar of Fire,
and in the Pillar of Cloud, and in the Rock in the Wilderness, and in His Son
Jesus Christ, and in This Melchisedec, and Moses, and Paul and William Branham
to a certain extent. The fact is, that it does not matter what the conduit was
that God used or spoke through, it was still God doing it. Why? That God, may be all in all.
1
Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him (The Son of God), then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him (God,
The Father) that put all things under him (His
Son), that God may be all in all.