PRÉCIS ON THE OBEDIENT VS. THE REBELLIOUS HEART: LIFE AND DEATH CHOICES FOR THE LAST DAYS

SCRIPTURE. “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” ― 1 THESSALONIANS 2:13, NKJV

KEY TERM: “WELCOMED.” ‘Dechomai’ [δέχομαι]: “‘To accept or receive [with gladness];’ to take into one’s hands; to receive heartily the Kingdom of God as Living Words; to learn the Gospel; to fully admit with the mind and heart; to [eagerly] approve, embrace and follow the things of the Spirit; i.e., a fervent love for the truth as one would receive an honored guest into the house.”

QUOTATION. “For pre-eminently a Divine Image, resembling God, is the soul of a righteous man; in which, ‘Through obedience to the Commands,’ as in a consecrated spot, is enclosed and enshrined the Leader of mortals and of immortals, King and Parent of what is good, who is truly Law, and Right, and Eternal Word, being the one Saviour individually to each, and in common to all.” ― CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, The Writings of Clement of Alexandria, Vol. 12, 195-198 AD; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘We should receive the Word of God with affections suitable to its holiness, wisdom, truth, and goodness.’ The words of men are frail and perishing, like themselves, and sometimes false, foolish, and fickle; but God’s Word is holy, wise, just, and faithful. Let us receive and regard it accordingly. The Word wrought in them, to make them examples to others in faith and good works, and in patience under sufferings, and in trials for the sake of the Gospel.

‘Murder and persecution are hateful to God, and no zeal for anything in Religion can excuse it.’ Nothing tends more to any person or people’s filling up the measure of their sins, than opposing the Gospel, and hindering the salvation of souls. The Pure Gospel of Christ is abhorred by many, and the faithful preaching of it is hindered in many ways. But those who forbid the preaching it to sinners, to men dead in sin, do not by this please God. Those have cruel hearts, and are ‘enemies’ to the glory of God, and to the salvation of His people, who deny them the Bible.” ― MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK. I have come to understand in the last several years of a very long journey with Jesus Christ that ‘a good heart’ invariably yields good works and life and hope and strength toward others. Conversely, ‘an impure heart’ that is troubled, darkened, confused or rebellious produces only mayhem and harm and ultimately, death. This constitutes the Theology of the Partnership (or Marriage) that takes place between the ‘True Follower’ of Christ and the ‘False.’

It is neatly summed up in the following Doctrinal Statement by PAUL THE APOSTLE:

“So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to ‘work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling’ [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.” ― PHILIPPIANS 2:12-13, AMP

Once again MATTHEW HENRY makes crystal clear still another Doctrine of the Church that has abrogated all personal responsibility for our salvation, loading it on the shoulders of a King who apparently has not yet done enough to save us!

Listen once more to the Welch Sage of Britain, Mr. Henry.

“‘We must be diligent in the use of all the means which lead to our salvation, persevering therein to the end.’ With great care, lest, with all our advantages, we should come short. Work out your salvation, for it is God who worketh in you. This encourages us to do our utmost, because our labour shall not be in vain: We must still depend on the grace of God. The working of God’s grace in us, is to quicken and engage our endeavours. God’s good-will to us, is the cause of his good work in us. Do your duty without murmurings. Do it, and do not find fault with it. Mind your work, and do not quarrel with it. By peaceableness; give no just occasion of offence.” –

TO SUM UP. All of this, beloved, is captured in the lovely phrase from the magnificent devotional by OSWALD CHAMBERS published in 1924, ‘My Utmost for His Highest.’ From which he reflects: “We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be … ‘Spiritual maturity is not reached by the passing of the years, but by obedience to the will of God.’”

Beloved, if it is the last thing I do before leaving this troubled Earth, I will have done all that I possibly can to restore the ‘Divine Command for Obedience,’ the colossally lost doctrine of the Apostate American Church.

May God help us all! Selah.