Turn (away) from your evil ways

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Leave the dimension of darkness
Ezekiel 33:11 "Say to them, says Adonai YaHWeH, I do not rejoice over the death of those who are evil, but I do rejoice in the conversion of their lifestyle. Turn away, turn away from your evil ways, for why should you die, o House of Israel?" (literal translation)
Repentance is an act of will of man, when he turns to God, and is willing to leave his sinful ways. However, it is not merely a deed at the beginning of a life, that seeks renewal through God; but it is an attitude of life for each new day thereafter. We live in a world, wherein the evil one reigns; a world which is under the strong influence of the inspiration, work and management of the evil one and his forces.
Ephesians 2:1-3 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Previously, we all thought, lived and worked in the lusts of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of thoughts/ideas of our own.
Romans 8:6-8 "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

Sins in thought lead to sins in words and to sins in deed
Therefore we could not think and live in the flesh, and at the same time want to live the Christian life: going to church and praying. This is an impossibility, because the true Christian life is a different spiritual dimension than carnal living, thinking and working.
Life in the Spirit and according to His will is the dimension of the light, while carnal living is the dimension of darkness, without God. Therefore the Lord does not hear and see them if he prays unto Him.
Isaiah 59:1-2 "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated (in dimension) between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
Therefore the world does not understand us and considers us odd, weird and mad. Therefore: do not leave the dimension of light, and continue to endure living in, and being repentant unto, God.
1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Our spirit must continue to walk in the light of God's dimension, but we, in the body, still are in this world and its dimension of darkness. Therefore we are to walk circumspectly, and must wash our feet continually in His blood; because, involuntarily, we come into contact with sin.

What do we have to watch out for?
1. In the first place our thinking is defiled, and it must be washed in His blood immediately, because sinful thoughts will become sinful considerations of the heart, and we will thus be stained with that sin. If we remain in the light of God, we will remain in His Spirit and in His love.

1 John 2:10 "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him."

2. Our spirit and soul must continue to walk, live and work in the dimension of light in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and must avoid the dimension of darkness.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
1 Corinthians 7:1 "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman."

3. We must take care that our tongue not speak anymore according to the world's thinking.
Matthew 12:36 "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement."

4. We must also watch not to walk anymore according to the flesh and in the lusts of the world.
1 John 2:15-17 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

a) The lusts of the flesh lead to the sins of the flesh, to sinful lusts, which lead us to idol worship, to sexual sins. Others again make their belly their idol, and live to eat.
b) The lusts of the eyes lead to the sins of the soul, to craving material things, and to money madness, to mammon worship; to living in luxury.
c) The sinful lusts of the spirit lead to haughtiness; to lust for power; to pride of life; to sinful, woman’s vanity.

Let us therefore take care not to walk in these regions of the dimension of darkness, but continue to walk in the dimension of God's light. Let us therefore practise the circumspection/caution of the righteous.
Let us walk in the spirit of John the Baptist, of whom is said in Luke 1 verse 17:
"And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Therefore, continue to think, walk and work daily in the way of life of the repentant unto God. This way we could faithfully obey Him, and continue to walk on the highway of mercy. Then He shall lead us into His heavenly holy place, already here on earth.
Hebrews 4:14-16 "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
In this way the High Priest, our Shepherd, shall, by His Holy Spirit, lead us step by step inwards into the heavenly holy place of God, to our heavenly Father.
John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
He is the only Leader, Who leads us unto eternal life; He alone is the Truth; He alone leads us towards our Father-God, to the almighty, merciful and holy YaHWeH.

By E. van den Worm

Turn (away) from you evil ways

The time of preparation for the marriage of the Lamb of God

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Matthew 25:1-4 "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bride-groom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps."
The parable tells us about the "kingdom of heaven", that is God's kingdom on earth, i.e. the Church. In the last days it will experience a preparation for Jesus' return as Bridegroom of His Church. Everywhere will be heard the cry "Maranatha, Jesus is coming back!"
This coming of the Lord Jesus as Bridegroom of the Churchbride is not His visible return on the clouds of heaven, for this return unto the establishment of the Millennium of Peace will only take place after the anti-christian period. This return will be invisible in and by the Holy Spirit.

God's great promises
Scripture promises us great things when the Spirit of Jesus Christ has been able to adopt us as members of the Bride of the Lamb, has been able to add us to the spiritual body of the Bride of the Lamb of God.
1. He then will make us blameless, without spot or wrinkle, and holy.
Ephesians 5:25-27 "...as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

2. This state of holiness, into which the Spirit of Jesus Christ will bring that part of the Church chosen hereunto in the last days, will cause them to escape the grave as they then have become sinless; for people die because they are sinners.
James 1:15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Romans 6:23 “Death is the wages of sin”
As this part of the Church will then have been made without sin, physical death will also escape them, and they will be changed at an appointed time, and put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). This is the glorious hope of all, who have been adopted as members of the Bride of the Lamb,
3. Besides the putting on of great divine glory and strength.
But there are wise ones and fools in the Church of the last days. The wise ones, half of the Church, take with them, besides oil in their lamps (for it is a time of spiritual darkness) also oil in their vessels, namely in their hearts. Oil is the type of the Holy Spirit. Taking oil in the vessel, in the heart, spiritually means: preparing oneself for sanctification; the foolish do not do this. They do wash their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and because of this they have become virgins; but they do not seek sanctification and continue to lead worldly lives.
In this time the opposing satanic power puts the Church into a spiritual sleep.
Matthew 25:5 "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept."
The prophecy of Jesus Christ reads: "They all slumbered, the wise… and the foolish virgins, and fell asleep!" And if anyone should know this, Who better than Jesus Christ, the Divine Word of God Himself.
Joel, too, prophesied this spiritual sleep of the Church for the end-times, and of the Church's "locusts" because of the slumbering sin and tolerance due to the spiritual sleep (Joel 1).
Ephesians 5:14-18 "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit (of Jesus Christ)."
The Word says "Arise from the dead", wake from the sleep of sin, be delivered from the bonds of your sins by the power of Jesus Christ, and by His blood; and be filled with His redeeming Spirit, with His resurrection power.
Matthew 25:6-7 "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps."
This voice that calls out "Go out to meet Him" (Matthew 25:6) means, that we are to rise up from the sleep of death by God's grace, and that we must let His Holy Spirit prepare our hearts and lives for His invisible return as Bridegroom, that He might prepare us for the marriage, and make us blameless, without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).

This call of the Spirit will cause a general reveille (awakening).
Matthew 25:7 "Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps."
They all prepared spiritually for the coming of the Bridegroom, but we read in this prophecy that only half, the wise part, will be adopted as members of the Bride of Lamb, because only they will reach the state of spotlessness.

We must prepare spiritually for this Coming
A child of God once had a vision of an colossal giant. He was lying on the earth and was bound with many worldly bonds of sin by the powers of darkness, and was powerless to get up.
The visionary saw, that he stretch out first one hand, then both hands, to heaven in a cry for help to God. He then received strength and slowly stood up, while the powers of darkness around him fled. He then beat off the dust and the glory of the Lord fell upon him.
He did this in obedience to God's call.
This voice of the Spirit, calling out to us, we also find in Revelation 19 verse 9:
"Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb... These are the true sayings of God."
Partaking (in the spirit) of the supper of the Marriage of the Lamb is sharing the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God, that we might take part in the marriage of the Lamb of God, being without spot or wrinkle.

This call to participation is personal and one may hear it sooner than the other.
We also see in the prophecy of the prophet Daniel in Daniel 2:31-35 and 44-45 that complete deliverance of the power of sin takes place personally and gradually, namely in the time of the ten kings of the restored Roman Empire (the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's statue), in the time of the ten kings of Revelation 17:12-13.
Daniel 2:31-35, 44-45 "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom (God's Kingdom on earth), which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people (except to God's people, His divine Israel), but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain (of sin) without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."
Here one stone is loosed, cut off, completely delivered from sin, from the mountain of sin without hands (without human help). Some think that this one stone is the Lord Jesus Christ, but this is a wrong interpretation, because Jesus Christ, in His life on earth, was never bound to the mountain of sin; moreover, this is an event of the end-time, of the time of the ten kings.
Thus, this stone has to be a sinner from the end-time, who by his faith in the finished work and in the power of Jesus Redeemer, is brought in Jesus' victory; thus overcoming satan and his power of sin, whose heart is cleansed of the chaff of the old person; whereafter he by the power of the Word shares this victory with many others: a mountain of completely delivered Christians, without spot or wrinkle: the Bride of the Lamb of God.
Revelation 12:11 "And they (the victors) overcame him (satan and power of sin) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony (whereby also others will share this victory); and they loved not their (earthly, sinful) lives unto the death (until it is completely dead, already here on earth; so that they may live without spot or wrinkle, faultless; see Ephesians 5:27, already here on earth)."

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By E. van den Worm

Give Jesus your heart

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For a threshingfloor, for the personal purification of your old man/person, in order that you do not fall under His judgment.

2 Samuel 24:20-25 "And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee. And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."

God came with judgment over Israel on account of the sin of the census, which David had organized. It was a sin of pride of life. God answered this committed sin by sending pestilence over Israel, as a result of which 70,000 Israelites died.

In these last, sinful days God's anger will, in ever increasing measure, also come over the world and unrepentant Christianity. God's wrath is to come over The Netherlands too; this country that leads the world with its sinful laws, such as the laws of the homosexual marriage, euthanasia and other wicked practices.

David had to appease God's wrath with a burnt offering which he was to bring on Araunah's (or Ornan's) threshingfloor. A burnt offering is a voluntary sacrifice and is a type of the voluntary offering we have to bring to God for the deliverance of our sinful heart and life on the basis of Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary, in order that we no longer should live under His burning wrath, and that we might be protected from His judgments.
A burnt sacrifice had to be completely burned to ASHES. Nothing was to be left. This means NOTHING is to be left of our sinful heart and life. Everything has to be burned away in the Fire of God's Holy Spirit if we want to escape His judgments.
In 1 Corinthians 5 verses 6-8 it is written: "a little yeast (sin) will spoil the whole dough (new life)." All sin must be burned in the Fire of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 3:11-12 "I (John the Baptist) baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor (of our heart and life), and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

On a threshingfloor chaff was separated from the corn/wheat. Chaff is the type of the old, sinful, natural life we have to lose to Jesus; and corn/wheat is the type of the New, Divine life we will receive from Jesus. We have to be completely delivered from our natural, i.e. sinful being: the sinful state of the natural man/person.

Ephesians 2:1-3 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

1 John 2:15-17 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

A person consists of body, soul and spirit. The sins of the body (flesh) are: the desires (lusts) of our flesh which we commit with our five senses and which we then misuse and make as many idols of. The sins of our soul are the desires of the eyes: the pursuit of luxuries, property, money and wealth; of material things.

The sins of the spirit are: the pride of life, pride, arrogance, conceit, dominance over other people. We have to lose all these sins to Jesus by confessing them, by surrendering them to Him.

We find bible verses that deal on this subject in:

Proverbs 28:13-14 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief."

Isaiah 59:1-2 "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The need of deliverance from the sinful nature.

Besides confession and surrender/subjection we also have to undergo the working of His Spirit's Fire. It is necessary, but not enough, for the deliverance of our sins, to believe in His offer and in His power to deliver from sins.

John 3:36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

It is also necessary, but not enough, to have ourselves immersed in His death and resurrection through the (water)baptism. Our redemption from sin does NOT happen AUTOMATICALLY after we have done all these things. We also have to be willing to be baptized in His Fire by the Holy Spirit.

We did read Matthew 3:11-12; we will now go to Malachi 3:1-4:

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years."

Our surrender, as Arauna's (or Ornan's), is to be complete (100%), in order that He burn away our old life unto the foundations thereof.

Isaiah 61:8 a "For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering (namely a burnt sacrifice that is not completely burned up)..."

A milder statement than the burning in His Fire, is the washing in His Blood, but this, in fact, means the same thing. We are to undergo voluntarily the Spirit of purification, because we have a free will and God will not go against this free will of ours. We are to carry/bear our cross voluntarily; this means: we must be willing to die to our personal sins, which sins we are to overcome in Jesus' strength.

Jesus defeated satan through His sacrifice on the cross, He gained the victory over him, but we have to overcome our personal sins and our sinful life ourselves with the help of Jesus, and on the basis of our faith in His sacrifice on the cross. For this purpose we are to take up our cross voluntarily; this means we are to be willing to die to our sinful being.

Luke 9:23-25: "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?"

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By E. van den Worm