The Mystery Of Iniquity Doth Work

The Pilgrims and colonists, who came to this country, were fleeing religious oppression. They came, as the Mayflower Compact said, “for the Glory of God and the establishment of the Christian faith.” The New England Confederation said, “Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to insure the liberties of the Gospel, in purities with peace.”

Our founding fathers all declared, as well as wrote in their memorials, that this was a Christian nation.

In 1892, the U.S. Supreme Court said: “Our law and our institutions must be necessarily based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise, and in this sense and that our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian…this is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation…we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth…THIS IS A CHRISTIAN NATION.”

But now, there have arisen “principalities and powers” that are at war with everything that lends itself to Christianity in our nation. We saw it with the removal of God, the Bible and prayer, from our public schools. There are many social organizations with tremendous financial backing, which gives them great political clout, along with liberal judges, etc., who use the powers of their office to wage war against Christianity.

Some examples: In North Carolina, the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United For Separation of Church and State, obtained a U.S. Circuit Court decision that states even “a solitary reference to Jesus Christ” in invocations before the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners’ meetings could do “violence to the pluralistic and inclusive values…of American public life.” In Texas, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs continues to censor citizens. At the Houston National Cemetery, the word “God” is banned at funerals for veterans. Families are required to submit prayers or religious messages for government approval. The Bible and cross, once placed in the cemetery chapel, are hidden. Funerals are monitored by government officials…AND THE BEAT GOES ON!

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Cursed Be Canaan

Genesis 9:22-27

I. THE CURSE

A. Ham Was The One Who Did The Wrong, Not Canaan His Son, v22. If this was a curse upon the person, rather than a prophetic overview of what the effects of Ham’s attitude would bear on his posterity, then the curse would have just been pronounced upon Ham.

B. Canaan Was One Of The Four Sons Of Ham, Genesis 10:6-20. Why would the curse rest only on Canaan and not on the other three sons? If this was about Ham’s sin creating a subservient race of people, Canaan was the same race as Cush, Mizraim and Phut.

–For example, Egypt is referred to as the land of Ham: Psalm 105:23 & Psalm 106:21-22.

C. “Canaan Shall Be His (Shem’s) Servant”–In What Sense? Did Canaan actually wait on Shem as a household servant? NO!

–Canaan was to be Shem’s servant, not Japheth’s (the Gentiles). But in what sense?

–The nation of Israel descended from Shem. The sense in which Canaan served Shem, is that God subdued Canaan under Israel. The Canaanites were a strong people, until God subdued them before Israel, and gave Israel possession of the Canaanites’ land. Exodus 15:14-16 & Exodus 23:28-33

–This was prophesied, as it was God who made the difference in Israel conquering Canaan: Numbers 21:2, Nehemiah 9:24, Judges 1:27-30, Judges 4:23. This was not about the Canaanites being a subservient race, but about their being conquered by Israel, and their land becoming Israel’s inheritance–this was a judgment of God against the Canaanites because of their iniquity, as well as God’s gift to Israel as their inheritance: Psalm 135:8-12, Zephaniah 2:5-7.

–This curse was a prophetic view of Canaan’s servitude to Israel, as a conquered people, rather than a curse that would make a subservient race unto other Gentile races.

II. IS THIS CURSE GREATER THAN GRACE?
Romans 5:20-21 – Grace is greater than the curse of sin; if the curse of sin is greater than grace, then we are all doomed. Galatians 3:10,13 – The curse of sin was laid upon Christ, and because He bore it all, Galatians 3:14, those under the curse, who accept Christ, come into all the entitlements of Christianity, by grace through faith.

A. In Defining Man’s Relationship Or Standing Before God, God says it all goes back to Adam, not Canaan, or anyone else. Canaan is not a capital figure in how any or some men stand before God, only Adam – Romans 5:12,18,19. In God’s sight, “there is no difference” Romans 3:22-23.

–God sees the whole human race as “one blood”, Acts 17:26,27,30. God sees our sin condition as being that of our human nature, which comes to us inherently and internally from Adam only, and not from any external curse placed upon us due to Ham’s misdeed.

B. The Blood Of Jesus Doesn’t Just Wash One Of Some Guilt, Some Curses, And Leave Others Remaining, But Rather Completely Cleanses Of All Sin & All The Curses Of All Sin: Acts 13:38-39, Isaiah 1:18. Every believer’s standing before God is the same – 2 Corinthians 5:21 – due to the fact it is the standing that Christ gives, the same unto all – Romans 8:32-34.

C. God Is Not A Respecter Of Persons; He Does Not Have A Double Standard In Redemption: Acts 10:15,34,35,43,47,48, Acts 11:18.

–Thus, the inclusion of all; Christ, having died for all, affords all the full benefits of all the New Testament privileges: Ephesians 2:13, Ephesians 3:6, Galatians 3:27-28 – the old distinctions do not apply to membership in the New Testament Church.

—Matthew 28:19-20 – Any and all who believe the gospel, are under God’s command to be baptized; and all who believe and are baptized, are to be taught to observe all things that Christ commands, which necessarily includes the right and privilege of New Testament Church membership. There is no such thing as God saving someone, but denying them the opportunity to be baptized and become a part of the New Testament Church, because of some curse of Canaan being upon them. Thus, the Ethiopian eunuch was saved and baptized and went on his way back to his country as a witness of what great things Christ had done for him, Acts 8:37-39.

—1 John 2:2 – The blood of Jesus Christ is what gives the believer their entitlements, not the curse of some sin. Romans 10:12

**A Canaanite Was One Of The Twelve Apostles! Matthew 10:2-4

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Principle Before Passion

“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censor, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. Leviticus 10:1-3

God’s call unto those involved in upholding the sanctity of God’s order, was to put principle before passion. Aaron respected that call, and did not let his grief over the death of his two sons override the need to respect their deaths as being a righteous act of Divine judgment for their transgression.

There is no doubt that Aaron, being their father, could have let his passion get the best of him, unto going off the deep end by lashing out with bitter and harsh words that would vent his feelings of grief.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them” Numbers 20:12. Thus, God will not even excuse His faithful servants for allowing their passion to override correct principle. Moses let his passions get the best of him and it disqualified him from leading Israel into the possession of the promised land. “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” James 1:20

When it comes to taking our stand for the truth, Christ requires that we honor the principles of God’s Word above our human passions – “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37-38

If we do not honor God’s principles over human passion, then every hurt we feel to our pride and self-esteem, may very well throw us aside from standing with and for the truth. In all our dealings, whether secular or spiritual, there is always the need to deny ourselves, in order to keep ourselves in line with honoring what is right above all else.

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Proverbs 25:28

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We Are Not To Harbor Self With Excuses

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26-27

This is not a command to hate people. It is not speaking of hating in the deliberate, malicious sense, but in the indirect sense–the sense of denying all that would interfere with or come between our following the Lord.

An example of this could be Abraham’s response in following God’s order to offer up Isaac (Genesis 22, Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham could have let his feelings for his son forbid his obedience to God. But he did not. His faith in following the Lord refused the constraints of paternal love.  What he did was not driven by any ill will towards his son Isaac, but rather he acted on the hope and expectations of pure faith.

Fleshly relations, or associations, will afford conflicts of interest with respect to following Christ. Human feelings about our obligations to fleshly relationships, has the propensity to excuse oneself from following the Lord, to attend to fleshly relations. Thus, we have to deny the dictates of human feelings when and where these conflicts arise, to determine the will of God. Instead of being drawn away from doing God’s will because of the constraints of fleshly love, we are to have a hatred for anything that becomes an object that seeks to prevent our following the Lord, which includes our fleshly relations.

The principle of discipleship is that we develop a personal, spiritual constitution that requires that we obey and follow the Lord, no matter what the conflict of interest, even if it be ourselves.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” (Luke 9:24)  No matter what the personal cost in the short term for following the Lord, it will reap a bountiful harvest in the long term. But to lack the faith to put God first, seeking to save ourselves any personal losses, will backfire with both a failure in this life and an eternal loss.

God honors those who honor Him, 1 Samuel 2:30. To cave into our circumstances, rather than having done all to stand, will not only short circuit Divine favor, but it will wean us away from being dedicated to the Lord. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation.” Hebrews 2:3

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Cain vs. Abel

CAIN: Being a sinner, death stood between Cain and God. But in Cain’s offering, there was no recognition of that fact. Neither was there a presentation of an innocent, sacrificed life, to meet the claims of Divine righteousness (Romans 3:20-22) or to answer to Cain’s condition as a sinner.

Cain treated God as if He were altogether such an one as himself–one who would accept the sin stained fruit of a cursed earth, offered by one who was no more than a sinner.

Cain’s response bore record that he was not seeking God’s mercy and grace, but was guilty of sinful presumption.

Cain’s worship is the belief that if you do the best you can and offer the best you have, that it will warrant your being accepted by God.

Cain’s worship is the belief that God receives certain men for their goodness, rather than believing that salvation is the free gift of God’s grace to the unworthy sinner.

ABEL: His offering demonstrated that as a guilty sinner, he was deserving of the judgment unto death of his substitutionary sacrifice. He manifested his belief in the fact there was such a thing as a sinner placing the death of another between himself and the judgment for the guilt of sin.

His offering typified that only through the offering of the innocent, righteous life, would God’s demands for righteousness be met (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Hebrews 11:4 tells us that through Abel’s sacrifice, he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.

God did not bear witness to Abel, but to Abel’s sacrifice, as that which fixed the ground of Abel’s peace and acceptance before God.

THUS, ETERNAL SECURITY! Since the grounds of a sinner’s acceptance is Christ’s offering, then God would have to reject Christ’s offering for a sinner to lose their salvation.

Full, perfect, unqualified justification by faith only, makes God everything and man nothing; and man does not like this, and it causes his countenance to fall and draws out his anger.

Had Abel been accepted on his own merits, Cain’s anger would have had some foundation. But since Abel was accepted on the merits of his sin offering, it was the enmity of Cain’s sinful pride against that offering, that caused his reaction.

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