CHURCH DEVELOPMENT
By Bishop Marthy
C. Austria, H.U.G. of Christ Fellowship PURE GRACE
I.
Paul
the Apostle’s letter to the Romans.
A.
Paul said quoting the Prophet
Hosea: “As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my
people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye
are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of
Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:”
B.
What was that
people that the Lord would call, which was not his people? According to Hosea: Then said God, Call his name
Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people and I will not be your God.
C.
That people was
the House of Israel, which was formerly, the people of God, but because of her
idolatry (spiritual harlotry) she was
given a writing of divorcement
(Jeremiah 3:8). Therefore, she was no more God’s people – now counted as
Gentiles.
D.
God said that he
will “cause to cease the kingdom of the House of Israel” (Hosea 1:4) but the House of Israel will continue.
E.
But the Lord
said, As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my
people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. He would call them (the House of Israel) “my people
which were not my people.” It means that the House of Israel will be back to
the fold.
Hosea
2: 23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her
that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people,
Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
F.
And Hosea
continues: “Yet the number of the
children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured
nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said
unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the
sons of the living God.”
G.
Even Israel was
no more God’s people in that condition, her
children shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered. And they will be called the Sons of the Living
God. Despite her fallen state, Israel will still increase in number.
H.
As Jesus Christ,
is called the Son of the Living God, these children of Israel, in
identification with the Son of God will be called the Sons of the Living God.
I.
These scattered House of Israel
people in the nations received the Lord Jesus as their Lord God and Saviour who
was rejected by the Jews in the land: “He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name.” (John 1:11,12).
J.
These scattered
children of Israel became as the sand of the sea, which CANNOT BE NUMBERED. As fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham: Genesis 22:17 “That in blessing I will bless
thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven,
and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies”. And of the
prophecy for Ephraim: Gen 48: 19 “he [Ephraim] also shall become a people, and
he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he,
and his seed shall become A MULTITUDE OF NATIONS.”
K.
These children
of Israel became an unnumbered people in the nations – especially Europe. They are the Christian nations that conquered the
world, they without knowing it. The people that Christianized the world and
founded Christian nations such as United States of America, Australia, etc.
These people are among the peoples of the world. But they do no more call
themselves Israelites because they ceased being a “covenant people” since the
time God divorced them. Yes, even though the very blood of Abraham flows in
their veins.
II.
Peter the Apostle’s letter to the scattered
strangers.
A.
The people to
whom Peter wrote were: strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
B.
These people believed
in the gospel and Peter told them:
“But ye are a CHOSEN GENERATION, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, AN HOLY NATION, a PECULIAR
PEOPLE; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
C.
God called them
out of darkness and from blindness.
The word darkness in Greek is “SKOTOS”, “SKOTIA”. God called them from
“SCOTHIA”. The children of Israel were exiled and forgot their identity. They
became “Scythians” or “Scothians” [SKUTHES], the Great Scythian empire. Great
men in horses. Great men of war. God was with them unconditionally. God called
them from being blind, from darkness into light. It means “RESTORATION”.
D.
This letter of
Peter echoed Exodus 19:5-6 “Now therefore,
if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a
PECULIAR TREASURE unto me ABOVE ALL PEOPLE: for all the earth is mine: And ye
shall be unto me a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, and an HOLY NATION. These are the words
which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”
E.
And Peter continues in verse 10
“Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had
not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
This is the fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy about the two children of Gomer:
Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi. Hosea 1:6,9. Lo-ruhamah because: “I
will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel”; Lo-ammi
because: “for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.”
F.
These people to
whom Peter was writing were not a people of God… and had not obtained mercy:
BUT NOW “THE PEOPLE OF GOD” and “NOW HAVE OBTAINED MERCY”.
G.
Peter also told
them: that they “were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the
Shepherd and Bishop of their souls.” (1
Peter 2:25). It echoes Isaiah 53: 6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all.”
H.
It is the
fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy in John 10: 16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this
fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd.”
III.
Paul the Apostle’s Letter to Galatians.
A.
The people to whom Paul wrote.
The Greeks,
Romans, Scythians, Corinthians and Galatians were “ISRAELITES”. They were the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Paul wrote to the Galatians, one of the
peoples to whom Peter wrote. He said in Galatians 6:16 “And as many as walk
according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of
God.”
B.
The Israel of God.
1.
He pronounces blessing upon the Israel of God. We mistakenly call Israel as Jews. Jews are
Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews. Especially in the dispensational
circles who teach two distinct programs: Program 1 – for Israel and Program 2 –
for Gentiles, they are allergic of the world Israel/Israelites for they were
brainwashed that Israelites are Jews.
2.
What is the Israel of God? It is not the Natural
nation of Israel but the Israelites by blood who believe in Christ (during the
Acts period). Romans 9: 6 -8 says:
“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are
they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which
are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the
children of the promise are counted for the seed.”
3.
The
Israel of God was “the assembly of natural Israelites who believed in Jesus”
and were “born again” Israelites.
John
3:5 “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
John
1:11-12 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
4.
Those Israelites by blood who didn’t believe in
Jesus as Messiah were “true Israelites” but were not saved.
5. Also the true Jew: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;
neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew,
which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:29-29
6. Paul said that a Jew (circumcised
in the flesh) is not a true Jew unless he is circumcised in the heart.
It echoes Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart,
and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.”
a.
Paul
was a Hebrew, of the seed of Abraham, an Israelite and a Jew.
Romans
11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2
Corinthians 11:22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are
they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
Philippians
3:4-6 “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man
thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised
the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of
the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the
church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
b. But he counted all these things
as dung compared to the Christ he now has. Philippians 3:7-9 “But what things were gain
to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith”.
7. Paul blesses the Israel of God,
even those who walk according to this rule:
What’s
that rule? The preceding verse: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” The rule is: in
Christ Jesus, it doesn’t matter if you are of the circumcision [JEWS] or of the
uncircumcision [HOUSE OF ISRAEL SCATTERED]. What matters is that you a Jew [of
the House of Judah] or a Gentile [scattered alienated Israelite] become A NEW
CREATURE.
C.
The New Creature: 2
Corinthians 5:16-17 “Wherefore
henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.” In the New Creature knowing Christ and knowing people
is no more according to the flesh.
1.
How
do people become new creatures? In Christ.
2.
How
to be in Christ? Believe in his name.
3. What happens next?
John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
4. They who received Christ by
believing in his name were BORN AGAIN, – they become
SONS OF GOD [again] not by BLOOD [race] but by GOD [spirit]. (See 1 Peter 1:3).
D.
The Blessing of Abraham.
1.
The Israel of God was the New Creature, the
Christians, the sons of the Living God.
2. In Galatians also, Paul explains
a truth: Galatians 3:13-14 Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of
the Spirit through faith.
3. Christ when he was crucified
[hung on a tree] being made a curse for the Gentiles, redeemed them from the
curse of the law. That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles [THE ALIENATED HOUSE OF ISRAEL] through JESUS
CHRIST.
4.
What
is that blessing of Abraham? It is God’s favour exclusively for him.
Genesis
12:2-3 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name
shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Genesis
17:5-6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of
thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Genesis
22:17-18 “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my
voice.”
5. The token of the covenant with
Abraham: Circumcision of the Flesh. Genesis
17:10-14 “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy
seed after thee; EVERY MAN CHILD among you shall be CIRCUMCISED. And ye shall
CIRCUMCISE THE FLESH of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant
betwixt me and you. And he that is EIGHT DAYS old shall be circumcised among
you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or
bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in
thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and
my covenant shall be in your flesh for an EVERLASTING COVENANT. And the UNCIRCUMCISED
man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be
CUT OFF from his people; he hath BROKEN my covenant.”
6.
In
the New Covenant Israel of God – seed of
Abraham, circumcision was no more of the flesh,
but a spiritual circumcision:
Galatians
6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature.
7.
The Israel of God, The New Creature people, was the
company or the assembly of people who were in Christ: [CHRISTIANS]. Galatians 3:26-29 “For ye are ALL THE CHILDREN OF
GOD by FAITH IN CHRIST Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into
Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew [ISRAELITE IN THE LAND, i.e.
Judahite] nor Greek [GREEK SPEAKING SCATTERED ISRAELITE], there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye [whether JEW/JUDAHITE or
ISRAELITE-GENTILE] are ALL ONE in CHRIST JESUS. And if ye be Christ's, then are
ye ABRAHAM'S SEED, and HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE.” It confirms the fact,
that the true Israel of God are the remnant people of the House of Judah and of the House of Israel
–– who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord God and Saviour. They are the true
sons and daughters of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.
E.
The Two Covenants:
1.
This truth is further explained by Paul in the next
chapter, the 4th Chapter of Galatians about the two covenants.
Galatians 4:22-31
22
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other
by a freewoman.
23
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the
freewoman was by promise.
24
Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the
mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now
is, and is in bondage with her children.
26
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27
For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry,
thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she
which hath an husband.
28
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
29
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after
the Spirit, even so it is now.
30
Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for
the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31 o
then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
2.
The two covenants are:
§ The Old Covenant – Mosaic Covenant.
§ The New Covenant – Christ’s Covenant
3.
Remember John 1:17 “For THE LAW [the Old Covenant]
was given by Moses, but GRACE AND TRUTH [the New Covenant] came by Jesus Christ.”
4. The Old Covenant was a Covenant
made by God with the People of Israel through Moses. Exodus 19:5-6
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye
shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is
mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These
are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”
5. God found fault with them – in
that old covenant – and they brake the covenant, so he promised to make a new
covenant again with Israel – but now with the divided
kingdoms, the two houses: Jeremiah 31:31-32 “Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel, and with the house
of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;
which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the
LORD”.
6. Repeated in Hebrews 8: 8-9 “For
finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because
they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.”
F.
The
New Covenant.
1.
The
New Covenant [Contract/ Agreement] is this:
“After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write
it in their hearts; and will be
their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man
his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall
all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD;
for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
(Jeremiah 31:33-34)
2.
Descriptions
of New Covenant.
·
New
nature. 2 Peter 1:4. God’s law [Torah] – Old
Testament commandments, statutes and judgments – put in the inward parts, the
hearts of the Israelites. Ezekiel calls this: “a new heart” and “a new spirit”
that naturally, cheerfully and willingly “obey” and “walk in God’s
statutes” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
·
New Birth. The lost Israelites
became God’s people (again). “Born again” (Isaiah 66:8).
·
Fear of the Lord.
Knowledge of God fills the earth [the people of God] (Isaiah 11:9). It means
they seek the Scriptures, obey them and teach them to people just like what
Ezra did. (Ezra 7:10).
·
Eternal Redemption.
Justification, forgiveness of iniquities and remembrance no more of sin.
3.
This time he said, he will make a new covenant with
the House of Israel [10 Lost tribes
scattered abroad – who became part of THE GENTILES] and with the House of Judah [2 Tribes in the land of Judah – THE
JEWS].
G.
The
New Covenant and The New Testament:
1.
When
did that happen? When Christ died, he made the New Covenant with his blood.
Hebrews
12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews 8:6
But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the
mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
2.
And
not only the new covenant, but also the new testament he made:
Hebrews 9:15
And for this cause he is the mediator of the
new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might
receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.
Hebrews 9:16
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the
testator.
Hebrews 9:17
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth.
3.
This new covenant was better than the old covenant.
Hebrews 8:6
But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the
mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Hebrews
8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that
which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
4. This new covenant was to be an
everlasting covenant. Age-abiding covenant.
Hebrews 13:20
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Ezekiel 37: 26
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting
covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my
sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
5.
The
ministers of that New Testament.
2 Corinthians
3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the
letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
6. The Old Covenant was made by God
with the ancient people of Israel. The New Covenant was made by God with the
remnant of that people Israel – the remnant
of the House of Judah [Israelites that were in the land] and the remnant of the
House of Israel [Israelites that were
scattered – swallowed up: among the Gentiles - Hosea 8:8]. And these two houses
were reunited and reconciled to God and one another through the Cross of
Christ.
7.
The
Remnants, Believers of Jesus in Both Houses are called the HOUSE OF GOD, THE
CHURCH OF GOD. 1
Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up A SPIRITUAL HOUSE, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
H.
The One Stick.
1.This is
fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:16-17
16
Moreover, thou son of man, take thee ONE STICK, and write upon it, FOR JUDAH,
and for the children of Israel his companions: then take ANOTHER STICK, and
write upon it, FOR JOSEPH, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of
Israel his companions:
17
And JOIN THEM one to another INTO ONE STICK; and they shall become ONE in thine
hand.
2.He continues in vv.21-22 And say
unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will
take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and
will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will
make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king
shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall
they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
3.God said, he will take the
scattered children of Israel among the nations [gentiles], and join them
together with the remnant of Judah (Jews) in their own land [Jerusalem]. It is not the natural city of Jerusalem but the
Jerusalem which is above, the heavenly Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem. It is
spiritual.
4.One King shall
be king to them all [JESUS CHRIST] and they shall be no more two nations or two
kingdoms. But they will be only ONE.
5.This prophecy
was fulfilled in the New Testament times as portrayed by Paul and Peter in
their epistles.
6.The children of Israel were
declared “Not God’s people”, were scattered among the nations [Gentiles] and
became “GENTILES”. They became “aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel” and “strangers from the covenants of promise”. They
experienced all these. They lived as Gentiles. And after that, God brought them
back to the fold, now as “SONS OF THE LIVING GOD”. They were no more strangers
and foreigners but are “FELLOW-CITIZENS”.
7.Why did all these happen to them?
To give us “GENTILES” an example and a pattern.
That we like them who were before “strangers” can now be PART OF THE FAMILY OF
GOD, by GRACE through FAITH in the Messiah, Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be all the glory in the church “throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:21)
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