Episode 137: God's unchangeable faithfulness

In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy

Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting

mercies which sent you to us, O Christ, the Light of the world

and the life of all. Give us wisdom by your law and

enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge.

Sanctify our souls by Your truth and grant that we may be

obedient to Your words and may fulfil Your commandments at

every hour. O You who enlightens the

rational with the knowledge of Your greatness, do enlight, O my

Lord, our thoughts, that we may meditate upon Your holy and

divine Scriptures at all times. O Lord of all, Father and Son

and Holy Spirit, forever. last episode, we concluded the

Acts of the Apostles of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Chapter 15.

I'd like to go back to our series that we began many moons

ago on the vision of hope, a serious sad programs in the

assumed language. We began studying the book of

Romans, St. Paul's Epistles to the Romans.

We had covered chapters one and two, and then we reverted back

to the studies of the Acts of the Apostles.

Just as a refresher. Well, those who like to listen

to the the two previous chapters, it is in the Assyrian

language. You'll find them on the YouTube

channel, the Church YouTube channel, assyrianchurch.tv.

And if you click on Vision of Hope, you'll find this hundreds

of episodes. They're in the Assyrian

language, but hundreds of episodes on the Gospel of

Matthew, St. Paul's Epistles to the

Galatians. We've covered all of that.

We began Romans and obviously the Acts of the Apostles.

So the the pass to the chapters one and two you'll find in the

Assyrian language. But just as a refresher, just

going back to what we studied in Romans chapter 2, basically

Romans 2 · chapter mention

Saint Paul was writing to the Romans and also referring to the

Jews. He was, he was his writings up

to the Jews as well, because there was Jews in Rome, both the

Gentiles and the Jews. So he's telling the Jews that

boasting based on human ancestry had no place in the Kingdom of

God because they were boasting, you know, just like, just like

Acts of the Apostles chapter 15, there was an issue where they,

the, the, some of the Jews were saying that unless the Gentiles

are circumcised, then they cannot become Christians.

This is after receiving the Holy Spirit.

So we've covered that. If you go and listen to the Acts

of the Apostles chapter 15 on the, on the podcast, you'll have

all those programs there. So Saint Paul is telling the

Jews that you're boasting is, is useless.

It's got no place in the Kingdom of heaven.

And he teaches them that such people really they're not Jews

because they haven't understood the the, the spiritual meaning,

the spiritual message of the covenant that God made with

Abraham. Yes, you know circumcise and you

need to you know 8 day old child needs to be a male needs to be

circumcised or your servants. But there was a spiritual

meaning behind it. It was a spiritual it was a

foreshadowing of a spiritual conclude conclusion or a

spiritual fulfillment which is baptism.

Today having hindsight, we know that our circumcision is

baptism. We have circumcised in baptism.

Just like circumcision entails the spilling of the blood, which

is death, we also die in the waters of baptism, meaning our

heart, our minds, everything stops because that's how some a

person dies. The heart stops speeding.

There's no oxygen to the to the mind, and then the body shuts

down. So spiritually, this is what we

do in the waters of baptism. So when the child is brought out

of the water or the adult is brought out of the water, it's a

new life, new heart, new mind, new soul, new life in Jesus

Christ. So he's telling him that you've

misunderstood it. And if because you've understood

well, you're not really a Jew because you you've missed the

mark. And in reality, those who taught

the commandments themselves, they were strict on the

commandments brokered themselves.

You're not saying Paul says this.

Oh, sorry, Saint Peter says this in chapter 15.

He said, listen, we want to impose these strict commandments

and laws. Our forefathers broke them.

We broke them. So now we don't need to do that

anymore because it is not the will of God.

We are now living in the grace of God.

It's by the grace of God that we have now new life in Jesus

Christ. And because they were breaking

the law, they were enforcing it, but themselves breaking it.

The Scriptures say and Saint Paul says that God claims that

my name is being blasphemed in the Gentiles because of your

hypocrisy. And Christians, this is an

important message. Stop, pull aside, stop

vacuuming, stop washing dishes so put out, put down your your

spoon on your fork and your knife.

Listen, let us be very careful that our hypocrisy does not

'cause the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be blasphemed

without that means outside of the Christendom, those who don't

believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, be very careful.

Sometimes we do become the cause of the name of Jesus being

blasphemed. Not within, not within.

Don't ever say to me, don't ever dare say to me, Oh, you broke my

heart. Oh, you discouraged me a little

bit. Well, you claim to be Christian.

When you claim to be a Christian, that means you are

open to any rebuke, any admonishment, any correcting

harshly, because you should know the life of a Christian.

You should know what it means to be a Christian.

So don't Christians don't ever claim that.

Oh, I was discouraged. Oh, I was turned off by, by what

you said about Jesus Christ. If it's biblical, it's and it's

turning you off, switch it back on.

Great. Because the Bible wants to turn

you off and switch you back on the right way, the correct way,

so that you don't continue your life in, in debauchery, in, in,

in abomination, because you know, you, you feel that that's

how God is. No, no, no, everyone has their

own. Even in Christendom, people have

their own understanding of the, the laws of God.

No, no, they're clear cut. Unless you repent from your

evil, likewise you too shall perish.

Jesus said this, not Jen Art. Jesus plays me to his name.

So what God is saying is in the Gentiles.

My name is being blasphemed and we need to be very careful that

we don't become the cause of the blasphemy blaspheming of the

name of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gentiles and non Christians

and that the only circumcision Paul is telling him the the only

circumcision decision that is of value that you want to talk

circumcision. This is this is, these are the

church by the way, he's writing to the church in Rome.

The only circumcision is that of the Spirit, as I said, of the

heart. An outwardly sign means nothing

by themselves, nothing. You fast because you stopped

the, you know, dairy products and meats and poultry from your

mouth. But your heart has not stopped

in your mind and your eyes and your hands and your ears and

your mouth and your legs have not stopped from evil.

It means nothing. Your fasting becomes a diet, you

come to church, you pray, you praise, you quote scripture,

very scripturally versed and if you don't fulfill the

scriptures, it means nothing. Actually it's more condemnation

because then you can't say I didn't know the Lord will say

no, no, you preached, you were teaching.

That's why Saint James says let not all of you be teachers.

You have a harsh judgement coming upon you, and because

it's an output expression and doesn't have any inward

influence, circumcision, it's been fulfilled already.

The purpose has been fulfilled, and it was fulfilled in Jesus

Christ when 82 was circumcised, right?

So because an outwardly expression alone has got no

value thus far for this, therefore Gentiles do not need

to be physically circumcised because if they do what is

right, it amounts to the same thing we discussed in Acts 15.

That's when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you

receive the Holy Spirit through baptism and your faith and the

grace of God, then it needs to be nothing else you know to be

done when it comes to circumcision.

So let's continue Romans chapter 3 and read on and see how Paul

Romans 3 · chapter mention

is admonishing the Jews and he's going to give him give him a

little bit of a credit as well, because he's he's becoming very

wise. He, he knows something's brewing

between these people. Chapter 3.

Verse one. What then?

He asks himself, These are not Jews.

Asking What then is superiority of the Jew, Or what is the

importance of circumcision? Now by hinting that a Jew is not

one which is merely outwardly, but he or the one which is

inwardly, he has set aside the hearing, the teachings, the name

of the Jews, the circumcision, and all the other particulars

that they would hold on to and boast about.

Just like what Paul said. I was from the tribe of Benjamin

according to the law. I was perfect according to the

law. Hang on.

But Saint Paul says the law is of no use and that the law could

not bring anything, could not bring salvation.

So why were you perfect? Well, what he meant is this.

In the law, one who would commit a sin had to do something, had

to go and offer a sin sacrifice, right?

So that's what Paul is saying, that regardless, even if I sin

not meaning that I'm perfect, I was, I was sinless.

He doesn't say that according to the law, when I sinned, I did

what I needed to do according to the law.

All right, so all these other particulars.

St. Paul is saying that these things

are of no use, and he wisely understands and feels moved by

the Holy Spirit, not knowing their thoughts as Jesus did.

No, no, no, moved by the Holy Spirit, he wisely sees that

there isn't objection that is going to start up and against

this he makes this stance. This is the objection and he

says, well, what use is there then why were we, if these are,

if these things you're saying Saint Paul are not no use to us.

What reason was there for that nation, our nation being called?

What reason was there for circumcision, for the

excruciating pain of a child eight days.

What reason is there to be given of all this?

And Paul answers it. It was a rhetorical question.

Paul answers it much in every way.

Yeah, there's a lot of advantage.

And now he's not boasting about them because he says the Jews

were the first to believe in the words of God.

So hey, this is great, he replies as he did before.

He's telling them that it wasn't of their own doing.

Yes, you believed, but it wasn't of your own doing because what

you did, many didn't believe what you did.

You kept on falling. You kept on grieving the Holy

Spirit of God. But the use, the advantage of

this is what God has done for you, You see, to be called a Jew

bought by God, and to know God's will and to choose the things

which were best. It wasn't of your own doing,

he's saying, but God did it for you.

And because God did it, of course it's advantageous.

And it came not because of your own doing and your own

well-being, but it came of the grace of God.

That means God, that means God did it.

Grace means God has done it, and this is echoing Psalm chapter

Psalm 147, in which King David also rebukes the Jews.

Look at what he says. Has he not done so for all the

nations? Neither has he shown them his

judgments. He hasn't done this for all the

nation, only to you he's done. Moses too does this in

Deuteronomy chapter 4 verses 32 to 33.

Deuteronomy 4:32–33

But ask about the first days he writes that have been before you

from the day that God created the man on the earth from the

ends of heaven and onto the ends of heaven.

If there is one like the like. Sorry if there was the likes of

this great matter or there was anything hurt like this.

If another people heard the voice of God who speaks from

within fire as you heard and you lived, he did it through you.

So of course there is advantage, there is a benefit.

God has done it to you and the words of God, he says were

entrusted to you, meaning that the Jews people don't like

hearing this. Some, some nationalists don't

like hearing this because the Jews had the law put in their

hands. Why?

Why? Because gods thought so highly

of them. He loved them so much He

entrusted them His oracles, his prophecies, his visions, his

revelations, and these came from on high.

It wasn't for them, it wasn't by them, it wasn't because of them,

it was because what God has done.

So everything God does, of course, is a benefit.

Now when it comes to man, what we do, we're going to continue

reading verse 3. For what if some had not

believed? Could their unbelief nullify the

faith of God? What is he implying here?

He's implying that God again entrusted the oracles, his

prophecies, his revelations, the law to the Jews, not that the

Jews entrusted themselves to the.

It wasn't that they asked for it.

No, it's, it's what Paul says, you know, while we were still

sinners, Jesus died for us. We didn't ask.

He came down from him. We didn't go up and knock on

God's door and said, Lord, we need to save it.

Can you send it? No, Jesus came down while we

were sinners and it's the same thing.

It's not that the Jews entrusted themselves.

No, no, no, God did this. And now does that mean that the

unfaithfulness of these people means that God is an it?

Will God's faithfulness be affected by this?

Not at all. He says, no, beloved, when God

commands, when Jesus commands that we must love one another,

when Jesus commands that, we must be, you know, praying for

one another. And within Chrysostom, we don't

do this. We don't love our enemies.

We don't pray for our enemies. We don't feed them.

No, no, no. That doesn't mean God is not

faithful and God is not true. Of course he is.

You know, I always say, yeah, Christians may be bad people.

There are bad people. There are rotten apples in

Christianity. But Christ is glorified, is

holy, is pleasing every hour, every season, at every moment.

Christians. I think Gandhi was quoted saying

this. I don't like the Christians, but

I like their Christ. Well, why didn't you believe?

Maybe he did, I don't know. Maybe some say he repented, but

that we'll leave that to the right judgement of God.

God says no, no, no, let every man be a liar.

God is true, you know, for those who are trying to find, you

know, weaknesses and and and you know errors with God.

Don't do that. You are kicking against the

pricks you are kicking against the the the thorns.

Don't do that. You'll come out second best and

Paul says this to them. Let God be true.

He is true, then none believe in verse four he says, for by it

only God is true, and no man is wholly perfect.

And it is written that you may be justified by your words and

triumph when you are judged, then none believe would the more

justify God. Why?

Why, beloved? Why is it that when, when people

do not, you know, atheists say there is no God, they don't say

I don't believe in God because they say that if we say I don't

believe in God, that means there is a God, but we don't believe

in him. Well, there is a God, beloved,

my beloved atheist friend, there is a God.

I'm not going to go too much into that, but there is a God

and you should come in and and search for that true God.

All right, so just by these people not believing, God is

even more faithful. Why?

He fulfilled his work and his plan.

He still did it. See, whether we believe or not,

Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is our salvation, so

because we don't believe, it doesn't deter and affect the

fullness and the fulfillment and the faithfulness of God.

He has done it. Jesus has died for you and I.

If there were a trial and an examination of the things which

God had done to the Jews and what they had done to him, the

victory would be God's, of course.

Yeah, God use them. God send them all the prophets.

God gave them the law, but they did not accept it.

And some rebuked and some rejected God.

The emphasis is this and, and it's quoted in Psalm.

And he quotes Psalm 51. For, for be it only God is true,

and no man is holy, perfect as it is written.

Psalm 51 four that you may be justified by your words and

triumph when you are judged. I mean to that as approval to

these God has fulfilled God is judge just because you don't

believe it doesn't hinder the fulfillment and the faithfulness

of God. God, on His part, did

everything. So today, beloved, so today,

let's bring it home. God has brought salvation by his

grace. That means he did it.

This is grace. God has done it.

Hence Ephesians 289 For it is by His grace that we have been

saved through faith. That means God has done it.

We've been saved through faith. If we believe, and this faith

was not from, you see, all right, He's saying we've, we, we

believe, but that's not your faith.

What does that mean? It doesn't make sense.

This faith, meaning not your faith, God's faithfulness, is

already done it because it's not because what you did, but it is

the gift of God, not of works. Lest anyone should boast.

God did it, not you. God has already done it and

doesn't mean that you don't need any more works because if you

continue reading it, yes it is. We need works and that salvation

is to all beloved, to all within the new Israel, the Church.

The new Israel is the church. Now if some are unbelieving,

some are disobedient, and rejecting God's faithfulness

will not be effective. Reject God, don't believe in

God, deny the existence of God. That will not affect God's

faithfulness. For the for the atheist, for the

for the Confucius, for the Gnostic, for the that haven't

received God through Jesus Christ, he's still faithful.

When you receive his son, you will reap from the gifts.

He is faithful. So just because you don't

believe God doesn't close shop and say, you know what I'm

getting out of here. That's it.

People not believing no Two Timothy 213 And if we believe

him not, he abides in his faithfulness, for he cannot deny

himself. He is love, He is.

His love is always abound, always.

God is love. His love is always being poured

and made available for those who journey and receive it.

Unlike the so-called gods of the world, all these Pagan gods,

they are not faithful in their essence.

They are not faithful in their promises.

They do not abide anywhere. They're not omniscient.

They're not omnipotent. They're not omnipresent.

They are idle, dumb, dumb, dead, rotten, finished, gone.

But our God, beloved, is the true God.

All the other gods of the world are idols of the Gentiles are

idol. They come to naughty in the

course of time. Nature takes effect.

God is not affected by nature, by time, is not bound by that.

But all the other gods are. That's why they're not around.

But the God of all praise be to His name through Jesus Christ,

being one and only, being undeniable and true, is

faithful. He is always the same and

unchangeable. He is not misleading in His

essence or His promises. So just because you Jews didn't

believe and now I'm telling you, Saint Paul says that what was

then has no effect now. There's no, there's no profit

for you through that. And you can't say, well, what

was the use then God did it. Of course it was the the the

prophet the the fruit of his what the fruit of what God did

in the Old Testament was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus

Christ. And again Saint Paul writes in

one Thessalonians 524 faithful unchangeable is he who calls you

who also will do it. Some bells are ringing and they

should be ringing Christians. You should be right now so, so

puffed up spiritually, so encouraged by these words

because when you read Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8, all these

Hebrews 13:8

words that Saint Paul was saying prior to me reading you this

verse now are now going to be befitting for Jesus Christ.

Jesus the Christ he is yesterday, today and forever.

Praise me to his name because he is God, faithful and

unchangeable. Unchangeable.

So regardless, sometimes it annoys me.

We think that because we do this, because we do that,

because we don't receive, because we don't accept that God

is affected. God is not affected.

No, no, no. And when we say what use is

there for me when Jesus is asking me to turn the other

cheek, to sacrifice, to humble myself to, to, to, you know,

forgive those who do me wrong, What use then is there because

we see that there's no use in this world.

No way because we go from persecution to persecution.

No, no, no, God is faithful. Jesus is faithful when he said

humble yourself. There is a reward that's going

to be fulfilled when the Lord returns and we enter the Kingdom

of of heaven. Just write just like the the

oracles of God in the Old Testament will fulfilled all in

the Lord Jesus Christ. What we do today, what we

fulfill today, the promises of Christ today will be fulfilled

in the Kingdom of heaven, eternal life with the Lord and

Savior Jesus Christ. Praise be to his name now and at

all times and forever. Amen.

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