I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
The above is Romans 12:1, which comes after we are told of the deep thoughts of the LORD, long hidden, now revealed through what the prior chapter says is by a deliverer come out of Zion, to take away the sin that has caused these ideas/ways to vanish. When the title above tells of this revelation, come by the mercy of God, we understand it is speaking of the sure mercies of David. It describes the one sent to rule in Zion, raised to the throne by the Spirit of Christ in him uncovering the ancient things, which are what removes the sin. As we have seen, it is order restored to God’s house, His family, His children returning to Him, reconciled by minds drawn/led into agreement with His better ideas, those uncovered ending the darkness of following the ignorance of men’s leading.
Romans 11
25 For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
30 For as you in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For who has known the mind of the LORD? or who has been his counsellor?
35 Or who has first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Romans 12
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
What is the “fullness of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:25), speaking of the time that triggers Israel’s (all the family of God who claim His name) wakening, and in the light of Paul just prior saying only an elect remnant remains (Romans 11:5), who themselves only recently awakened from unbelief (Romans 11:30)?
It is referring to now, when the Gentiles believers who are called by God’s name have come to full desolation, just as had occurred in the desolation triggering the coming of the LORD Jesus Christ. It is telling of the world as we’ve seen it in patterns in previous posts, the natural man as Edom, without the Spirit of God, rejecting correction and thereby selling his birthright as the firstborn; and the second Adam, who is the LORD from heaven, who has quickened us to life from among these dead. (see 1 Corinthians 15)
The fullness initiates what is written of Amos 9:11 & 12, which tells of the sure mercies of David: when the LORD as promised raises up one to sit on David’s throne, repairing and reuniting his house: the house under the just one, as planned by God, who will possess the remnant of Edom, and all the heathen.
When Amos is repeated in Acts 15:11 & 12 “the remnant of Edom” are called “the residue of [adam] men” and the heathen are called Gentiles who are called by God’s name. Restoring the order of the house of David, the rightful king of God’s choosing, raising him to throne of Zion, is what recreate the world, reestablishing righteousness from the ashes of what men’s rule and ways have produced.
The desolation of the world has come as in the past, when God’s word, His teaching ideas, the only way into peace and sustainable civilization, are no longer heard. The silence is the famine: the drought by lack of rain: waters from heaven: God’s word understood and accepted, received, as His, which are the water and sunlight that produce life on earth. It is in this context we understand Amos, and the LORD’s telling of the restoration now underway.
The trouble with those who now rule the world, except for the elect remnant, is they think everything is fine the way it is, and God should realize what they have accomplished, and agree with their ideas. They would rather rule in hell, than change their minds and in doing bring the kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven.
Amos 8
1 Thus has the LORD God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what see you? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howling in that day, says the LORD God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O you that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? [They are saying, when will this interruption be done so they can return to their same old unjust ways.]
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 The LORD has sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwells therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, says the LORD God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Your god [the idols you have put in God’s place – by which you judge], O Dan [judgment], lives; and, The manner of Beersheba lives [the oaths you make men take to become part of you corruption]; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
Amos 9
1 I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that flees of them shall not flee away, and he that escapes of them shall not be delivered.
2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
5 And the LORD God of hosts is he that touches the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
6 It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.
7 Are you not as children of the Ethiopians [covered in darkness] unto me, O children of Israel? says the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt [from the land of their captivity – many times]? and the Philistines [the foreigners’ ideas that have invaded] from Caphtor [to rule over you], and the Syrians [those who exalted themselves above God] from Kir [as a wall that keeps God out]?
8 Behold, the eyes of the LORD God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, says the LORD that does this.
13 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper [those bringing in the fruit of the corrupt tree, which shall be plowed under] , and the treader of grapes [of God’s wrath – this word] him that sows [the corrupt] seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt [from the heat of the fires their corrupt ideas have caused – as in 2 Peter 3].
14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says the LORD your God.
The modern church is on fire – fully corrupted, while thinking they will harvest the world into their ways – the same inbreeding ways that have produced the retardation and desolation of the world. This is what was occurring in Acts 15 as Amos 9:11 & 12 is quoted.
In recent posts, we have discussed the kings and the degeneration of the order that began with Solomon’s bringing in foreign ways. We know this initial degeneration quickly resulted in the breach, the separation of Israel from Judah in the next generation. It came under Rehoboam, who when asked to relieve the people’s burden, placed on them by Solomon his father, he instead greatly increased it. This caused the breach, which began by a false king and false priests rising and setting up idols in God’s place. Many generations later, after many kings and priests, the burden and the injustice continued and metastasized into the total desolation of Israel and Judah.
The name Amos means burden, his writing describing the effect of what his name describes: the result of the burden that is never reduced. Amos is from the nine times used Hebrew word ‘amac, which is the word used in 1 Kings 12:11 and 2 Chronicles 10:11 in telling the story of when Rehoboam did not relieve what Solomon “did lade” and “put” upon God’s people at large.
1 Kings 12
3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spoke unto Rehoboam, saying,
4 Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve you.
5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do you advise that I may answer this people?
7 And they spoke unto him, saying, If you will be a servant unto this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants for ever.
8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
9 And he said unto them, What counsel give you that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter?
10 And the young men that were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shall you speak unto this people that spoke unto you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make you it lighter unto us; thus shall you say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.
11 And now whereas my father did lade [‘amac – burden] you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father has chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him;
14 And spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
In Acts 15 we are told of the same burden and its origin in the church, lading those who follow Christ with burdens heavier than those they have escaped (See 2 Peter 2:18 thru 22). As we have seen in previous studies, Solomon’s and those following him, bringing in foreign ways and what it would lead to, are what the LORD is describing as He tells of the swept house (Matthew 12:44), and later of the same end condition of those proselytized into the resulting corruption (Matthew 23:15). The swept house is telling of the nation, the house of the kings, built by David, and the house of God built by Solomon, both affected and corrupted by the burdens brought into them. The end state of these governments is worse than the state before them.
Matthew 12
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost [the Spirit that comes to make us Holy, by leading us into all truth], it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come [because you have rejected holiness and truth].
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from you.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here [and again I say, REPENT!].
42 The queen of the south [the men of Teman – the wisdom and power of God in them – see Habakkuk 3:3] shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here [greater because the one coming, and is now hear, will build {sweep clean} the house and will not bring in foreign ways to corrupt it].
43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
44 Then he says, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished.
45 Then goes he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation [as it now is – in total desolation].
46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
47 Then one said unto him, Behold, your mother and your brethren stand without, desiring to speak with you.
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Matthew 23
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be you called masters: for one is your Master [teacher], even Christ.
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwells therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him that sits thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore you be witnesses unto yourselves, that you are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill you up then the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Truly I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stones them which are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and you would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, You shall not see me henceforth, till you shall say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the LORD.
These men’s creations, their own ideas, are the burdens they, even now, continue to put upon all men; the old keeping them as the status quo, and the young, ignorantly and endlessly wanting, increasing them. The LORD, in Matthew 11, tells us of these ideas He has revealed to us, and speaking of what is revealed is the light burden of those who received them.
Matthew 11
11 Truly I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if you will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come.
15 He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and you have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
21 Woe unto you, Chorazin! woe unto you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
23 And you, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, O Father, LORD of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes.
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in your sight.
27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
28 Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The burdens these men have created have now become the idols they worship. They now think they will proselytize others into worshipping the same corruption. The idols are spoken of in Isaiah 46 as Bel and Nebo, who are the burdens placed upon men, a burden they themselves carry, which has instead carried them, and all who follow, into captivity (again, see 2 Peter 2:18 thru 22).
The LORD then tells of the burden He carries and has carried, the light burden He asks all to take upon them, joining (yoked) with him, as their “reasonable service.” The burden is His people, carrying them into life and now the world into the new birth.
Isaiah 46
1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy laden [‘amac]; they are a burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne [‘amac] by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: [The LORD’s burden is to carry us from the belly of the earth into life – as in Jonah 2, the LORD hears us from the belly of hell, and in mercy carries us into life – as the LORD describes in Matthew 12:40, speaking of His body and when we would return to life on earth.]
4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
6 They [the false preachers, false teachers, and false prophets, who lead My people] lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he stands; from his place shall he not remove [they cannot change]: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble [because they are dead idols].
8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
12 Hearken unto me, you stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
Psalms 21
1 The king shall joy in your strength, O LORD; and in your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
3 For you prevent [go before] him with the blessings of goodness: you set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked life of you, and you gave it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
5 His glory is great in your salvation: honor and majesty have you laid upon him.
6 For you have made him most blessed for ever: you have made him exceeding glad with your countenance.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand shall find out all your enemies: your right hand shall find out those that hate you.
9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
10 Their fruit shall you destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against you: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
12 Therefore shall you make them turn their back, when you shall make ready your arrows upon your strings against the face of them.
13 Be you exalted, LORD, in your own strength: so will we sing and praise your power.
