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Three Phases of Salvation and
The Heart/Mind Connection
Fred R. Coulter—November 6, 2021
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
In-Depth Study Transcript Books with CDs:
- Grace of God
- God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping
- Grace Upon Grace
- Heart Mind Connection
You really need these in the times of trouble that we're facing! The heart and the mind work together; that's separate from the spirit of man.
The spirit of man is the power of God's Spirit for man that God put in there. This keeps everything going.
James 2:26: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, in the same way also, faith without works is dead."
You can't see spirit, you can't feel it, but I think they can see it working when they have these electronic scopes—ultra sound—like they have in hospitals. It shows the brainwaves. It empowers the brain.
But the heart also has neuro-cells. When you think with your heart more than with your mind you will say, 'I feel.' That's true, because you're making an emotional connection with it, rather than a mental: What is it? Define it! This is, 'I feel…'
Let's look and see that there are three phases of being saved, or three phases of salvation.
Ephesians is really a tremendous book to read. It gives us a lot of understanding. Remember, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews and 2-Timothy were all written by Paul when he was in prison. 2-Timothy was written just before he was martyred. Think about how the apostles felt. They all started out doing miracles:
- healings
- preaching
- God opening doors
- moving crowds of people
- bringing them to repentance
To establish the Church! In the first 12 years it went to all the Jews.
Then Peter was the first one to go to the Gentiles, and God had to send him there by vision and instruction. The Jews had a law that you cannot keep company with a Gentile, or even be with them.
That law had to be demolished by God. That's why He chose Cornelius. It says in Acts 10 that Cornelius was a righteous man. Think about that! An Italian uncircumcised! To a Jew that's unthinkable! But God sent an angel to that man, because his prayer was heard by God. Then God sent Peter.
Eph. starts out from where we are when God calls us. This becomes important to never forget.
Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins."
In other words, since all have sinned and come short of the glory of God until they repent and are baptized, they're walking dead in their trespasses and sins. That's why we project forward to the second resurrection at the end of the Millennium why God has that time to offer them salvation. At this time we're going to see that it takes something special for us to come out of this. Only God can do it.
Verse 2: "In which you walked in times past according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air…"
How many people really believe that Satan the devil is deceiving the whole world right now? If you walked up and told all these politicians enacting all of these satanic laws and things that they want to bring about, and say that 'you are an agent of Satan the devil and you are doing his work.' You wouldn't last very long!
"…the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (v 2).
He can affect the spirit of man. The worst of that is possession. Only the power of God can cast out the demons when they're possessed. That's when people give themselves over to it.
- What about little children?
- What about Mark 9?
This father came with young boy and the disciples couldn't cast it out. So, Jesus said, 'How long a time has this been with him? It was casting them into the fire and the water! The father said, 'From childhood.' That's why you need to:
- discipline your children
- understand what they're watching on television and smart phones
Because Satan is pouring through all of those things! That's something! Possessed!
Then there was this Phoenician woman with this awful spirit and she came behind Jesus and was irritating the disciples and they said to Jesus, 'Tell her to go away.' But she kept saying, 'Lord, have mercy.' He didn't answer her, and finally she got right up to Him and said, 'Lord, my daughter is home vexed with a grievous spirit.'
What did Jesus say when she asked Him to cast it out? It's not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs! What an answer to her! Why did He do that? Because He want to see how persistent she was!
She answered: 'Yes, Lord, but even the little dogs lick the crumbs from the table.' Jesus said, 'Great is your faith! Go, your daughter is healed!' Satan is out there and he is real at every level!
"…the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" Among whom also we all once had our conduct…" (vs 2-3).
Think about what Paul is doing here; he's including himself! What made him do all the things against the Church that he did? Satan's spirit behind the high priest and all of those with him to take people out and arrest them and put them in jail and condemn some to death!
So, Paul included himself—we—which is important to understand. All of us were there!
Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind…"
- How many mistakes did that bring about?
- How much sorrow did that produce?
God is going to save us from it!
"…and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world. But God…" (vs 3-4).
What is said of God in relationship to people? God is a heart-knowing God!
- He knows the heart!
- He knows the thoughts!
In the final analysis, we can only judge circumstances by what we see. God knows the heart, we don't! There are some people who think that they know me. Well, they may know a lot about me, but they don't know me! None of us can say that we really know any of us like God knows us.
- we can love one another
- we can talk to one another
- we can socialize with one another
- we can discuss the Bible with one another
- we can pray for one another
But God knows the heart! That's the most important thing!
Look at what God had to do to call Paul. Here he was triumphantly marching to Damascus with letters of arrest of those Christians in the synagogues who believed in Jesus. Well, when God's ready to do something, He does it! BAM! He knocked Paul down to the ground! Then He blinded him with a light that he couldn't look at.
Now, notice the sudden change in Paul's attitude. Here was:
I'm going to get those people and I'm going to put them in jail. Those who are worthy of death, do them in!
After he was knocked down, he was on the ground and saying: 'Lord, Who are you?' Jesus Whom you persecute! What does that tell you? When we're persecuted, they're persecuting Jesus, as well, because He is in us!
Remember that God says, 'I am with you in all your troubles! Just because you have troubles doesn't mean that God has abandon you. It just means that you have troubles and go to God to help figure out what to do.
"…we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world. But God, Who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us" (vs 3-4).
- How much love does God have?
- How much love power does God have?
You just take the history of the world, beginning with Adam and Eve and everything they did, and you go down through the history of mankind. It's nothing but sin, war and death!
God still loves them to the extent that those who have not committed the unpardonable sin, He will raise back to a physical life. But He doesn't love them in their sins in the way that God loves us when we repent, and the blood of Christ washes away our sins, and we receive the Spirit. That's why we are labeled as:
- the called—we answered it
- the chosen—if you repent God chooses you
- the faithful—unto death
That's what we are dealing with here!
FIRST STEP OF SALVATION—have been saved by grace
Verse 5: "Even when we were dead in our trespasses, has made us alive together with Christ. (For you have been saved by grace.)"
This does not mean eternal salvation all at once. This means that by grace you have been saved from all your sins and trespasses, because you have repented! That's the first step of salvation.
Here's a prophecy, because it has not yet happened, and won't happen until Christ returns and the first resurrection takes place.
Verse 6: "And He has raised us up together and has caused us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." That's a prophecy; that will happen!
- How do we know? Verse 7 tells us!
- Has anybody here been raised up to the Throne of God? That hasn't happened, yet!
Verse 7: "So that in the ages that are coming…" That's when it will take place!
We won't sit on the heavenly things until we're spirit beings. That's the whole goal, but that's in the ages that are coming.
"…He might show the exceeding riches of His grace…" (v 7).
That's quite a thing! The grace of God is marvelous! Stop and think about it for a minute. How many people in the world have God's Spirit? Not very many! Those with God's Spirit have direct contact with God's Spirit to God the Father and Jesus Christ. Because it's done spiritually, you don't see anything. But you:
- believe
- trust
- pray
- study
- keep the commandments of God
Then all of these things become more evident as you go along! That's called growing in grace and knowledge!
Verse 8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this especially is not of your own selves; it is the gift of God."
Think about that! You have faith to a certain degree. What really gives you faith unto repentance and salvation? God's grace!
Verse 9: "Not of works…"
Oh boy! The Protestants love this one. You don't have to do anything. Hold on a minute, you've got to read the whole story. It's like this: If someone came to you and says you won the lottery for $10-million. What would you do with $10-million, and we'll give it to you tax free? You're already spending it in your mind before you get it! But they say, 'You have to sign this…' You sign it and expect to receive it, but they tell you that you haven't yet been selected; read this paragraph. They read an exclusion paragraph, so even though you signed it, it cuts you off.
That's the way Satan works. God doesn't work that way!
Verse 9: "Not of works… [your own works] …so that no one may boast."
Who boasted the most of any man in the whole Bible? Job! Just think what it would be like to meet Job if he made it because of his own works? He would look down on all the rest of us 'slobs'! that's why God had to deal with him the way that He did. Job had to learn a lot of lessons!
SECOND STEP OF SALVATION—are being saved
Verse 10: "For we are His workmanship, being created in Christ Jesus… [it's a spiritual process that God is doing] …unto the good works…"
It says in v 9 not of works, then it says here unto the good works!
- the works in v 9 are your own works
- the works in v 10 are the good works that God wants you to do
"…that God ordained beforehand in order that we might walk in them" (v 10).
Why do you walk in them? Walking is a process! IF you are being saved, you are walking in the way of the Lord.
Let's see in Col. 1 virtually the same thing, written in a little bit different way with some other interesting facts added into it.
Colossians 1:9: "For this cause we also, from the day that we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."
That come a bit at a time! God doesn't just scoop it out in one big scoop and all of a sudden you know everything about God. NO! He wants you to:
- pray
- study
- look into the Word of God
- walk in His way
That's all part of it!
Verse 10: "That you may walk worthily of the Lord…"
Is say in 1-John 2 that we are to walk also as Jesus walked.
"…unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God… [being saved] …being strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and long-suffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father…" (vs 10-12). Sometimes you ask:
- Why did God call me?
- Who am I?
Look at all the billions of people on the earth
- Who are we that God would call us? But He has!
We probably wouldn't be selected into some of the elite clubs of this world, because after all, we're nothing but 'riffraff' to them. Notice what the Father has done for us:
Verse 12: "Giving thanks to the Father, Who has made us qualified for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the Light."
Isn't that something? Remember what Jesus said, 'There's treasure in heaven waiting for you.' We don't get it now, but we will get it at the resurrection.
Verse 13: "Who has personally rescued us from the power of darkness…"
Tie that in with the first couple of verses in Eph. 2. prince of the power of the air; the power of darkness.
"…and has transferred us unto the Kingdom of the Son of His love" (v 13).
We're not under the jurisdiction of the world in the final analysis. Yes, we have to law abiding and good in the world, that's true. But our standard of living comes from the Kingdom of God as expressed in the Gospel, which is coming from God the Father, and we're going to help bring it to the whole world.
Think about what a great thing that is. That's why God has chosen the people whom He's chosen! To confound the world!A lot of them are going to think: Why did God do that? Because you didn't think enough about God to repent! That's why!
Verse 14: "In Whom we have redemption through His own blood, even the remission of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation" (vs 14-15).
- What does that mean?
- Does that means that Jesus was born and not God in the flesh? NO!
- Is God creating in us His character?
- Are we all a creation of God physically and spiritually? Yes!
We will see that Jesus is the Firstborn of those to be raised from the dead!
- Is that not a new creation?
- Will that not be a new creation when we're raised from the dead?
Yes, of course! It's going to be a spiritual body!
You're not going to come up with the same old rotten body you were buried with! What if some of those have been in the ground for 5,000 years? There's nothing left of them. That's why you have the spirit of man. God is going to put it into a spirit body, a spirit mind, and give us eternal life!
Verse 16: "Because by Him were all things created, the things in heaven and the things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether they be thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all… [that is in eminence, authority and everything] …and by Him all things subsist" (vs 16-17). We'll see that in Heb. 1
(break@30:18)
Verse 17: "And He is before all, and by Him all things subsist."
Hebrews 1:3[transcriber's correction]: "…upholding all things by the word of His own power…" Think about that!
Colossians 1:18: "And He is the Head of the Body, the Church; Who is the Beginning [Christ], the Firstborn from among the dead…"
That answers what it means the Firstborn of all creation; it's the firstborn of all of those created in Christ Jesus.
"…so that in all things He Himself might hold the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell; and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself… [that us and then the whole world and then the universe] …by Him, whether the things on the earth, or the things in heaven. For you were once alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works; but now He has reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, to present you Holy… [this is the 3rd phase/step, at the resurrection] and unblamable and unimpeachable before Him" (vs 18-22).
Showing that salvation is a process; 1-Corinthians 15:1: "Now, I am declaring to you, brethren, the same Gospel that I proclaimed to you, which you also received, and in which you are now standing… [tie in Rom. 5, that we stand in this grace; we stand in the salvation of God] …by which you are also being saved…" (vs 1-2).
This shows that the second step is a process. That's why it says that we are to be faithful unto the end.
"…if you are holding fast the words that I proclaimed to you; otherwise you have believed in vain" (v 2).
THIRD STEP OF SALVATION—shall be saved at the resurrection
The two witnesses were raised after they were dead in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days. Then all of a sudden—think about this—in the midst of everything going on and all the world focusing in on the two witnesses who were dead in the street. They're thinking: Hooray! We finally did it! We finally got rid of them, killed them!
It says that they sent gifts to one another and the whole world can see it. After three and a half days, here's what happened:
Revelation 11:12: "And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, 'Come up here!' And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise."
Isn't that something? Think about what they're going to be thinking! Just when you think you have won it all, it's taken away from you! That's a good one for God!
Verse 13: "And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were filled with fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming immediately. Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity'" (vs 13-15).
We'll all be raised—this is covered on Pentecost—and you get the book God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days, and read it there. This is the ultimate goal for us:
- the resurrection
- marriage of the Lamb
- coming back to the Earth with Christ
- He—the Father and Christ—are going to give the rulership of the world to all the saints and patriarchs and apostles
Think about that! The whole world!
Revelation 20:4: "And I saw thrones…" We're going to have a new name, a crown, and there will be many thrones; all under Christ!
"…and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given to them; and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and those who did not worship the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark in their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (v 4).
The last part of v 5 says: "…This is the first resurrection."
That will be when we will have been saved! Accomplished, past tense, fact!
Verse 6: "Blessed and Holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection…"
It doesn't say that about the second resurrection! And certainly not the resurrection of the wicked.
"…over these the second death has no power…." (v 6). We're going to live forever!
Stop and think about that! God is giving us something that everybody on the earth wants. They don't want to die. But the only way you're going to live forever is through Jesus Christ and God the Father! That's what the whole goal is!
"…But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (v 6)—and that is just the start!
Let's see some other things that we need to know. How are we going to get there? Here's the process that God is doing in being saved. We finished the first part: we repented a were baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God. Now we're growing in grace and knowledge. So, we're all in that second phase of being saved! That's when Christ is going to be formed in us.
This is what god is doing; He's developing the character of Christ within us by His Holy Spirit through His grace. You cannot separate salvation from grace!
Galatians 4:18: "Now, it is right to be zealous in a right thing at all times, and not only when I am present with you."
In other words, we're to be the same all the time. We're not every Sabbath to put on our Sabbath face and come in to impress the elder how great we are so you might become a deacon. Remember that in the past? You are to do this when nobody is around!
Verse 19: "My little children, for whom I am again laboring in pain until Christ has been formed in you."
That's what God is doing with His Spirit and His Laws. Let's see the ultimate of it; then we will see that the mind and the heart work together. {note our In-Depth study: Heart/Mind Connection.
I've mentioned that neuro-cells in the mind are the same as in the heart. You can't have just the mind without the heart. The heart is that which works with the mind so you have love. We're to walk in the works that God has foreordained that we should walk in them. There are two parts to that, which we will look at. Here is the first part:
Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you…"
This is something that you have to be willing to cooperate with God concerning. It isn't going to happen automatically. You have to let it be done to you through God's Spirit! That's done through love and grace, and all the good qualities that we are to have!
"…which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, although He existed in the form of God… [he was God (John 1:1)] …did not consider it robbery to be equal with God" (vs 5-6).
Look at the humility of Christ! Think about this:
- What have you and I been asked to give up?
- What is the ultimate that we really give up? Ourselves to God!
Verse 7: "But emptied Himself…"
That means that He divested Himself of everything that He was as God to become a pinpoint of life, to be begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary. Think on this:
Isn't that a whole lot more than God has ever asked of us? Then He became a human being and He knew what was going to happen to Him. That He was going to be sacrifice, scourged and crucified. That only His blood could forgive human sin. Why only His blood? Because He made us all! Every one of us!
We all came from our mother and father, and going back and back to Adam and Eve. God made us through the power of His creation through pro-creation with father and mother.
"…and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant; and being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (vs 7-8).
This is where we get the grace of God from! But God's grace is so great that He wants us to have the mind of Christ! That's quite a thing to figure.
HEART-MIND CONNECTION
- How is He going to do that? He gives us the begettal of His Spirit!
- What's going to happen when we have the Spirit of God?
The Holy Spirit of God unites with our spirit so that we now can develop the mind of Christ.
- How is that done? Through the continuous flowing of God's Spirit to us and the Word of God!
We combine the two of those together and we live by God through His Spirit guided by His laws and commandments.
Hebrews 8:10: "'For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days,' says the Lord: 'I will give My Laws into their minds, and I will inscribe them upon their hearts… [because you can't have love and the other characteristics of God with just the mind; you must have the heart] …and I will be their God, and they will be My people.'"
Let's see how He does this. We're going to see that the heart and the mind connect.
Hebrews 10:15: "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after He had previously said… [this is taken from the Old Testament] …'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord…" (vs 15-16).
How are you in covenant with God. The only way that you're in covenant with God to be under grace is to be: repentance and baptism—full emersion in water—because Christ died. You are going to His sacrifice and be conjoined to it, and that makes a covenant.
What is the difference between a covenant and a testament, like last will and testament?
A testament you can change anytime you want to, because the one who is dying or going to die and changes the will to give what the inheritor should have had to someone else. That's legal!
A covenant is entirely different. A covenant requires a death pledge, and most people don't know it, but that death pledge was given by God to Abraham (Gen. 15).
When two parties make a covenant, which you do when you're baptized—called the New Covenant, and this is why you have to be baptized by full immersion in water—that is your death pledge! That means that since Christ already died for our sin and is willing to forgive us our sins, He wants us to be in covenant with Him so that we will be faithful.
Once you're in covenant you can't change the terms of the covenant! Or you die, because you pledged your death!
That's how important that baptism is! You can't change your mind after that and say, 'Oh well, I'll run off and do something else.' You better hope you can repent before Christ returns or you might not have good news coming your way.
Here's how He does it, v 16: "'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord…. [of the life, death and resurrection of Christ and the beginning of the Church] …'I will give My Laws into their hearts…"
That's why we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and being! You can't have love without heart!
"…and I will inscribe… [that's the work that is going on in our mind; we are to do the good works foreordained] …them in their minds" (v 16). God will write them in our mind:
- when we come to Him
- when we pray to God
- when we study His Word
- when we live by it
He's writing it in our mind and heart!
Verse 17: "And their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again." They're gone as far as the east is from the west!
Verse 18: "Now, where remission of these is, it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices for sin"—animal sacrifices!
Let's see the good works of the heart! Good works of the mind associated with the heart are associated with the commandments of God. But what does God put into our heart that must be from the heart, combined with the mind and not just the heart alone, or the mind alone.
Galatians 5:22: "But the fruit of the Spirit…"
Fruit comes from work. If you have a crop, you're not going to have any fruit unless you tend to it. Same way with the Spirit of God. You must have the good works of God of the mind, and here are the ones of the heart. It's like a coin, there are two sides.
"…is love…" (v 22). This ties in with the 1st commandment and it starts with all your heart; this is what God wants, and this is by grace.
"…joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control…" (vs 22-23).
All of those are the works of the heart! But those can't function without the works of the mind and the Laws of God.
1-Timothy 1:4: "Nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which lead to empty speculations rather than to edification from God, which is in faith. Now, the purpose of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and genuine faith" (vs 4-5).
That's quite a verse! Think about everything that's there. We need a pure heart.
- How do we do that? Through repentance, and repentance still continues after we're baptized!
- Why? God is developing the character in our mind and heart!
These are the good works!
Let's look at some things concerning the heart. Prov. 4 is what we need to do. This is quite an admonition that we're given here, especially in the world we are living in. Next time you turn on your television, turn off the sound and watch what they're doing, especially with commercials. The human mind can remember something that occurs in a flash of a second. Look at how many things they are doing with commercials.
If you have children, know what they're watching, because Disney is the greatest liar in the world. He presents the funny side of Satan. Satan love comedy. Why? Because he can introduce sin at an early age.
We have about four companies that Disney owns: ABC, Disney, Hulu and ESPN; that's a whale of a lot of stuff! Think about all the movies that they advertise. They're all death and destruction!
- What do you do?
- What is it that we need to discipline ourselves to do?
Proverbs 4:18: "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more to the perfect day."
- You grow in grace and knowledge
- You have God's Spirit, which is:
- Light
- Truth
- Understanding
- Love
Verse 19: "The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble. My son…" (vs 19-20).
Think of this as God the Father talking to us; son or daughter. Remember that the first 10 chapters of Prov. are from David, who is talking to Solomon, and he failed this.
Verse 20: "My son attend to my words; incline your ear to My sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart" (vs 20-21).
That's where God wants it written. From out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks! What you are in your heart and mind, that's what we are. Everything else doesn't count. All the physical possessions around you are only a reflection of what your need and what you have done or accumulated, whatever.
Verse 22: "For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh."
In the New Testament to your spirit, and the Spirit of God that is in you!
Verse 23: "Above all… [keep this as a #1 priority in everything] …guard the door of your mind…"—also meaning your heart, because the heart and mind work together. In other words, for certain things, you've got to shut the door! You can't let it be pried open.
"…with diligence… [you can't let up and give in] …for out of it are the issues of life" (v 23). That's quite a statement!
Let's see how God wants our heart. Let me encourage you to do this. Get a concordance and put in the key word and it will tell you. That's how Mike Dunn told me how man ifs there were in the Bible—1,745.
- You know what? All of them apply to us!
- Why? Because we are the variable, not God, He doesn't change!
Psalm 101:1: "I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O LORD, I will sing praise. I will behave myself wisely in a blameless way. O when will You come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart" (vs 1-2).
I don't know what a perfect heart is, except it has to be the perfection that comes from God only, which probably includes a whole lot of things. There are actually hundreds of places that talk about the heart. We're just looking a few to see what we need to do.
Here's what all of this does for us, and this is the point where conversion needs to come to while we are being saved:
Psalm 108:1: "O God, my heart is fixed…
- you're not 'wishy-washy' anymore
- you're not pleasing to both sides of evil anymore
Your heart is fixed to God!
Psalm 119:10: "With all my heart I have sought You…"
If we have this kind of attitude, just think how God will view that when He looks down and sees the whole world going totally crazy! That's going to be something!
"…O let me not wander from Your commandments" (v 10).
- heart/commandments
- mind/commandments
Verse 11: "Your Word I have laid up in my heart…" All the Word of God!
Think about that! How do we achieve this? Through study every day!
"…so that I might not sin against You" (v 11).
Psalm 111:1: "Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart in the council of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the LORD are great, sought out by all those who have pleasure in them" (v 1-2). What are the works of God?
- Works of the heart (Gal. 5:22)
- Works of the mind? Commandments of God
Verse 3: "His work is glory and majesty, and His righteousness endures forever."
He's going to give us glory and majesty as spirit beings! Just think what it's going to be like when we all assemble together. I don't know what it's going to be like, but I think about this every once in a while when I read parts of the book of Revelation.
It talks about myriad of angels praising God! If you think that certain choirs really inspire you, what's it going to be like when we hear myriads of angels singing and we sing with them? What a thing that's going to be!
Verse 4: "He has made a memorial for His wonderful works… [the Sabbath Day] …the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. He has given food to those who fear Him…" (vs 4-5).
The most important food we have is spiritual food! That's what Jesus said to Peter: feed My flock!
Verse 6: "He has declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations…. [we're going to rule the world] …The works of His hands are Truth and justice… [we're the works of His hands] …all His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever; they are done in truth and uprightness" (vs 5-8).
There's nothing wrong with anything of the Word of God!
Verse 9: "He sent redemption unto His people; He has commanded His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name."
Verse 10—here's the blessing that comes: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.
By Grace:
- you have been saved
- you are being saved
- you shall be saved
Three phases of salvation through grace!
Scriptural References:
- James 2:26
- Ephesians 2:1-10
- Colossians 1:9-17
- Hebrews 1:3
- Colossians 1:18-22
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
- Revelation 11:12-15
- Revelation 20:4-6
- Galatians 4:18-19
- Philippians 2:5-8
- Hebrews 8:10
- Hebrews 10:15-18
- Galatians 5:22-23
- 1 Timothy 1:4-5
- Proverbs 4:18-23
- Psalm 101:1-2
- Psalm 108:1
- Psalm 119:10-11
- Psalm 111:1-10
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Acts 10
- Mark 9
- 1 John 2
- Romans 5
- John 1:1
- Genesis 15
Also referenced:
In-Depth Studies with CDs:
- Grace of God
- God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping
- Grace Upon Grace
- Heart/Mind Connection
Book: God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days by Fred R. Coulter
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 11/10/21
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