Covenantkeepers - Part 5
By Walter Giddings
August 18, 2024
Featured Scripture: Romans 14:5
Why is Paul the Apostle so willing to let conviction be a personal matter? Are we supposed to adhere to the local body’s Statement of Beliefs? Or is The Bible our Statement of Beliefs? As we are Pilgrims and Strangers here, is the Battle for the mind of Adam?! Was this true for Adam and Eve? Was the Woman fully persuaded to switch Trees, and to eat the Fruit thereof? Did the woman fully persuade Adam to eat the Fruit thereof? Did she get the Fruit from the Tree? Did Adam get the Fruit from Her? Does failure to answer these questions produce confusion! Does “…Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” leave us at the mercy of the Serpent? Or does Paul the Apostle clearly see what is at stake? Is Holy Spirit power of conviction at stake? (Romans 14:5). Should we look at the context of our featured scripture?
5 One man esteemeth one day above
another: another esteemeth every day
alike. Let every man be fully persuaded
in his own mind.
When the Jews were expelled from Rome, many came to Judaea. This occasioned the meeting of Paul and Aquila and Priscilla. At the time Paul wrote to the Church at Rome, the ban was lifted. Many Jews had returned, and insisted the customs of the Law of Moses should be part of the order of the Service. This became a pitched battle! Paul had to remind them “...we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” [Romans 3:9-10] Did they forget the schoolmaster’s lesson? [Galatians 3].
(Romans 14:4). Shall we look at the previous Verse, Verse 4?
4 Who art thou that judgest another
man’s servant? to his own master he
standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be
holden up: for God is able to make
him stand.
Romans chapter fourteen.
“To his own master he standeth or falleth.” Do we allcall Jesus Lord and Master? Can we see how Personal our relationship to Jesus is? “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” [Matthew 10:22].
In Romans 14:4, what makes us “stand”? (2 Corinthians 1:24). How are we even able to endure “to the end”, or persevere?
24 Not for that we have dominion
over your faith, but are helpers of
your joy: for by faith ye stand.
“For by faith ye stand.” Do we stand, or persevere, or endure “by faith”? How do we come to have this “faith”? Look back to Verses 21-22:
p 21 Now he which stablisheth us
with you in Christ, and hath anoin-
ted us, is God:
c 22 Who hath also sealed us, and gi-
ven the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts.
Second Corinthians chapter one.
“God ... hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”
Does this mean we have His Gift of Faith to us, with something, or with Someone?! (Colossians 1:26-27). Have we ceased traveling alone?! And how long has this been kept Secret?
p 26 Even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made manifest to his saints:
c 27 To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Colossians chapter one.
“Christ in you”! How serious is that kind of help and support?! (Romans 8:37). Are we now in Christ and “more than conquerors”?
37 Nay, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him that loved
us.
Romans chapter eight.
“More than conquerors.” How much do we believe [that is, live by] that this is real within us, right now?!
Does the Record show our Forefathers believed this? Did our Forefathers in American Israel live by, or believe, their relationship with Jesus was personal, intensely personal?!! (John 21:20-23).
Who among us recalls the time Peter got nosy, minding someone else’s business?
p 20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth
the disciple whom Jesus loved follow-
ing; [who] also leaned on his breast
at supper and said Lord [who] is he
that betrayeth thee?
c 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus,
Lord, and what shall this man do?
p 22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will
that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee?
c 23 Then went this saying abroad
among the brethren, that that dis-
ciple should not die: yet Jesus said
not unto him, he shall not die; but,
If I will that he tarry till I come,
what is that to thee?
John chapter twenty-one.
“What is that to thee?” Did the disciple that Jesus loved to have a personal relationship with Jesus? How was that Peter’s business?
There are some in local bodies around the Midwest with their noses in the air saying, my relationship with Jesus is so personal, you have no right to rebuke me! “Judge not that ye be not judged.” Are they right? How should we answer that?
We covered this, in part, in Lesson 2 Covenantkeepers! What is our answer?
(1 Timothy 5:1). “Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.” How would we like to be treated? Would we prefer to be “entreat”ed as a father or a brother? Are we all under the 2nd of The Two Great Commandments, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”?
(Leviticus 19:17-18). This is the 1st place in The Scriptures where the 2nd Great Commandment 1st appears:
17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother
in thine heart: thou shalt in any
wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not.
suffer sin upon him.
If we do suffer sin upon our neighbour, because we fail to rebuke him, does that mean we hate him? Does loving our neighbour mean we do not want him to fall into damnation?! Do we want him to be preserved against The Coming Judgment, and not fall into condemnation? Can we hate our neighbour and still be covenantkeepers? Were our forefathers just nosy enough to love their neighbours as themselves?
(Verse 18). Here is the 1st mention of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear
any grudge against the children of
thy people, but thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.
Leviticus chapter nineteen.
Since I seldom look in the mirror, (to make sure my tie is straight) Pastor Jerry had to remind me I am one of the Elders. As a member of the Eldership, am I supposed to set a good example? Who is my Lord and my Master? Who appointed me as a member of the Eldership? Did Pastor Jerry simply recognize me as appointed by Jesus, the Head of the Body? If I start setting a bad example, or even the Perfect Bad Example, will you know what to do?
(Back to Romans 14: 4).
4 Who art thou that judgest another
man’s servant? to his own master he
standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be
holden up: for God is able to make
him stand.
Romans chapter fourteen.
“God is able to make him stand.” Who among us in any flock of sheep is immune from error? Am I immune?! If I commit an error in the pulpit, can you entreat me privately? Do you trust The Holy Spiritto deal with me?!
Did our forefathers set a good example relative to these matters? For those of us who have essentially been robbed of being trained to be citizens of The Republic in The Public Fool System, the historical Evidence is astonishing! And two of the authors we have cited appear to be the most astonishing of all!
Peter Marshall grew up in rebellion against the spiritual legacy of his two famous parents: Peter Marshall, Chaplain of The Senate and his author wife Ca- therine Marshall. In 1961 son Peter entered a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Learning to commit his life to serving a living risen Saviour led him into the ministry, and in time to becoming pastor at the East Dennis Community Church in Cape Cod, and a wide-ranging national speaker.
David Manuel, an editor at a major New York publishing house, “had discovered to his dumbfoundment that God was real,” and that God loved him and had been waiting all of his life for him to know that. It turned his world upside down. Not long after, David sensed that God would have him use whatever writing/editing ability he might have in the service of “His Kingdom”. “On the eve of the first National Day of Repentance to have been called in modern memory” Peter Marshall spoke in the chapel of the Community of Jesus where David and his family were members. That evening Peter read into the record “a few translated excerpts from an obscure volume, Columbus’ Book of Prophecies. It is available only in Spanish, and never published in America.
“It was the Lord who put into my mind
(I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that
it would be possible to sail from here to the
Indies. All who heard of my project rejected
it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no
question that the inspiration was from the
Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with
rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy
Scriptures...
I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have
cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy,
and they have covered me completely. I have
found the sweetest consolation since I have
made it my whole purpose to enjoy His mar-
velous presence. For the execution of the
journey to the Indies, I did not make use of in-
telligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply
the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied...”
(Isaiah 11:14). This apparently is the Prophecy Columbus studied:
14 But they shall fly upon the shoul-
ders of the Philistines toward the
west; they shall spoil them of the
east together: they shall lay their
hand upon Edom and Moab; and the
children of Ammon shall obey them.
Isaiah chapter eleven.
Peter Marshall concluded what Christopher Columbus said about coming here to America: [partial quote].
“No one should fear to undertake any task
in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if
the intention is purely for His holy service...
Oh what a gracious Lord, who desires that
people should perform for Him those things
for which He holds himself responsible!”
David Manuel describes the effect Columbus’ translated words had:
“Stunned amazement swept the chapel audience. Did Columbus really think that way? ...
No mention had ever been made of his faith, let alone that he felt he had been given his life’s mission directly by God. Nor had we suspected that he felt called to bear the Light of Christ to undiscovered land in fulfillment of biblical prophecy, or that he had been guided by the Holy Spirit every league of the way --- and knew it.
Moreover, this was not the wishful thinking of some overly enthusiastic fundamentalist; these were Columbus’s own words --- words that few Americans had ever read before they had appeared in the article Peter had quoted. To David, seated in the audience, the impact of this revelation was staggering. For the thought suddenly occurred to him: What if God had conceived a special plan for America?”
Peter Marshall and David Manuel. The Light and the Glory. Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company., 1977, pp. 17-18.
“What if God had conceived a special plan for America?”
In May of 1975 both men went to Boston to search and research evidence that might confirm God had a special plan for America.
“...there had been others who had felt that
God did have a specific and unique plan for
America. Further browsing in the history
section indicated that the first settlers con-
sciously thought of themselves as a people
called into a continuation of the covenant
relationship with God and one another
which Israel had entered into.
We later discovered that they even felt
that passages in the Bible such as this one
(which was originally addressed to Israel)
applied in particular to them:”
op. cit., pp.19-20.
(Deuteronomy 8:7 and 9-10). Shall we read from our Bibles what our forefathers believed applied to them that Marshall and Manuel quoted?
c 7 For the LORD thy God bringeth
thee into a good land, a land of brooks
of water, of fountains of depths that
spring out of valleys and hills ...
p 9 A land wherein thou shalt eat
bread without scarceness, thou shalt
not lack any thing in it; a land whose
stones are iron, and out of whose
hills thou mayest dig [copper].
c 10 When thou hast eaten and art full,
then thou shalt bless the LORD thy
God for the good land which he hath
given thee.
Deuteronomy chapter eight.
“Thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.”
Is it American Israel’s turn to Bless our God?!!
“...they saw themselves as called into their
new Promised Land in order to found a New
Israel, which would be a light to the whole
world. ‘A city set upon a hill’ was how John
Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, put it.”
The Light and the Glory, page 20.
Why did Marshall and Manuel search, research and write this Book, The Light and the Glory? In the unnumbered chapter preceding chapter one, they state their intention:
“…this book is not intended to be a history
textbook, but rather a search for the hand of
God in the different periods of our nation’s
beginnings...it is imperative that we Ameri-
cans rediscover our spiritual moorings.”
op. cit.
“A search for the hand of God in the different periods of our nation’s beginnings.”
Marshall and Manuel’s Bibliography lists 204 separate works, several of which are multi-volume! They wrote that it was like tracking a rich vein of gold through a mountain. And that vein had 4 main characteristics. 1st characteristic:
“First, God had put a specific “call” on this country and the people to inhabit it. In the
virgin wilderness of America, God was making His most significant attempt since ancient
Israel to create a new Israel of people living in obedience to the laws of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.
At first glance, anyone actually believing that would appear to be guilty of supreme arrogance.
In fact, so radical is such a concept that it has to be either the height of spiritual self-righteousness ---
or the truth...there was no question in the minds of the Puritans themselves...In the Exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt, they found a prefiguring of their own circumstances.”
op. cit., pp. 22-23.
Marshall and Manuel quote from Samuel Fisher, Testimony in Truth, 1679:
“Let Israel be...our glass to view our faces in.”
Sacvan Bercovitch. The Puritan Origins of the Ameican Self. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975, page 28.
Marshall and Manuel quote from Bercovitch, Puritan Origins, page 51, in order to say this:
“...the Puritans understood New England to be ‘a type and emblem of New Jerusalem’... we Americans were
intended to be living proof to the rest of the world that it was possible to live a life together which reflected the Two Great Commandments and put God and others ahead of self.”
Marshall and Manuel. The Light and the Glory, page 23.
The two authors’ search for the evidence of God’s plan for America revealed the 2nd characteristic of the rich vein of gold they tracked “through a mountain”.
“Second, this call was to be worked out in
terms of the settlers’ covenant with God, and
with each other. Both elements of this cove-
nant --- the vertical relationship with God,
and the horizontal relationship with their
fellowmen --- were of the utmost importance
to the early comers (as the first Christian set-
tlers called themselves). Concerning the verti-
cal aspect of the covenant, they saw no deline-
ation between the two Testaments, believing
that an unchanging God had written them both.
They saw themselves as being called into a
direct continuation of the covenant relationship
between God and Abraham...”
“And as each church community grew and
became, in effect, a town, these covenants pro-
vided the pattern for the first successful civil
governments in the western hemisphere.
Marshall and Manuel. The Light and the Glory, pp. 23-24.
Marshall and Manuel, identified the 3rd characteristic of the rich vein of gold:
“God did keep his end of the bargain (which
is the third major theme), and He did so on
both an individual and a corporate basis. It is a
sobering experience to look closely at our his-
tory and see just how highly God regarded
what can only be called ‘a right heart attitude’.
One finds long drought broken by a settlement’s
deliberately fasting and humbling itself, turning
back to the God whom they once trusted and had
imperceptibly begun to take for granted. One also
finds instances of one settlement being spared from
Indian attack while another is decimated, when the
only apparent difference seemed to be in their heart
attitude towards God and one another.
op. cit., pp.24-25.
Not just once, but a few times Marshall and Manuel checked themselves in fellowship to avoid a prejudicial view of the discoveries they were making in this “rich vein of gold”. The word prejudicial consists of the prefix “pre” and the word judicial. It transposes directly and easily into the word prejudge. It means the holding of a judgment in a marked absence of evidence to support such!
“Whenever we began to wonder if we might not be ‘shoehorning’ history to fit our presuppositions, we had the recorded beliefs of the settlers themselves as a guide. And in page after page of private diaries or public proclamation, the immediate response to any disaster, human or natural, was ‘Where do we need to repent?’”
“That a drought could be broken, or an Indian attack averted, by corporate repentance is an idea which sounds alien to many Christians today. Yet it was central to the faith which built this country, and is one of the most prominent, recurring themes in the Bible.” op. cit., page 25.
And the authors cite one of the most familiar examples: 2 Chronicles 7:14.
“...the linchpin to God’s plan for America: that we see ourselves, individually and corporately, in a state of continuing need of God’s forgiveness, mercy, and support. And this was the secret of the horizontal aspect of the covenant...from this position, it is impossible to enter into nationalistic pride.” op. cit., pp. 25-26.
“From this position [a state of continuing need of God’s forgiveness, mercy, and support] it is impossible to enter into nationalistic pride.”
Does the faster the balloon of the Hot Air of our Pride rise, the faster it Blows up?!
Marshall and Manuel’s 4th characteristic of that rich vein of purest gold under the mountain is this:
“Yet in the early days of our history, it is astonishing to see how few people it took to begin a cycle of repentance, followed by the return of God’s Grace. And so this was the final major theme we found: that when a group of people, no matter how small or ordinary, was willing to die out to their selfish desires, the life which came out of that death was immeasurable, and continued to affect lives far into the future.” op. cit., page 26.
(Galatians 5:1). Marshall and Manuel quote this verse (page 357)!
Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free,
and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage.
Galatians chapter one.
Marshall and Manuel’s conclusion from 204 separate histories of our forefathers:
They also understood that this freedom was not licensed to do as they pleased, but freedom to do the will of God. In short, they chose to live by what we, their modern descendants, have tended to ignore --- Paul’s strong warning to the Galatians a dozen verses further on: [Galatians 5:13-14]
“...do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
In other words, the true measure of our commitment to Christ is revealed in the horizontal aspect of our covenant...we prize our personal independence too much to truly covenant with them. And yet, if we are ever to break out of our self-centeredness and become one body, this is what we must do.
... to care enough for one another to help each other grow out of self and mature in Christ.
For in Christ, we are called to be our brothers’ keepers.”
The Light and the Glory, page 357.
“In Christ we are called to be our brothers’ keepers.” (Genesis 4:9) Here in Genesis we have a missing person’s case!
9 And the LORD said unto Cain,
Where is Abel thy brother? And he
said, I know not: Am I my brother’s
keeper?
Genesis chapter four.
(1 John 3:12). Why did Cain murder Abel? What was his motive?
12 Not as Cain who was of the wic-
ked one, and slew his brother. And
wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil, and his
brother’s righteous.
First John chapter three.
Verse 13 reads, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” (Proverbs 29:27). Is there unending war between the wicked and the righteous?
27 An unjust man is an abomination
to the just : and he that is upright in
the way is abomination to the wicked.
Proverbs chapter twenty-nine.
Does “abomination” mean utterly filthy disgusting? Is this what makes our families, friends, and neighbours our 2nd Greatest Enemy? Are family and friends our 1st Mission Field? In this minefield is God alone in possession of the map showing the location of the mines? Are family and friends the 1st to persecute us?
Bibliography
Romans 14:5
“ .. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”
Romans 14:5. Conviction...a personal matter.
Romans 14:4. “To his own master he standeth or falleth.”
2 Corinthians 1:24. “Not for that we have dominion over your faith.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22. “God...hath also sealed us.”
Colossians 1:26-27. this secret: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Romans 8:37. “more than conquerors through Him.”
John 21:20-23. “what is that to thee?”
1 Timothy 5:1. “Rebuke not an elder.”
Leviticus 19:17-18. “thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour.”
Back to Romans 14:4. “God is able to make him stand”
Columbus’ Book of Prophecies. “He comforted me with...inspiration from the Holy Scriptures.”
Isaiah 11:14. “they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west.”
Peter Marshall and David Manuel. The Light and the Glory. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company., 1977. pp. 17-18. “What if God had conceived a special plan for America?”
Op. cit. pp. 19-20. “thought of themselves as a people called into a continuation of the covenant relationship with God and one another which Israel had entered into.”
Deuteronomy 8:7 and 9-10. “thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land”
Op. cit. page 20. “they saw themselves as called...to found a ‘New Israel’”
Op. cit. page 20. “this book is...intended to be...a search for the hand of God in...our nation’s beginnings.”
Op. cit. 22-23. “a New Israel of people.”
Sacvan Bercovitch. The Puritan Origins of the American Self. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975. page 28. “Let Israel be...our glass to view our faces in.”
Marshall and Manuel. The Light and the Glory. page 23. New England: “a type and emblem of New Jerusalem.”
Marshall and Manuel. The Light and the Glory. pp. 23-24. “these covenants provided the pattern for the first successful civil governments in the western hemisphere.”
Op. cit. pp. 24-25. “how highly God regarded a right heart attitude.”
Op. cit. p25. “Where do we need to repent?”
Op. cit. pp. 25-26. “Impossible to enter into nationalistic pride.”
Op. cit. page 26. “how few people it took to begin a cycle of repentance.”
Galatians 5:1. “freedom to do the will of God.”
Op. cit. p 357. “we are called to be our brothers’ keepers.”
Genesis 4:9. “Where is Abel thy brother?”
1 John 3:12. “And wherefore slew he him?”
Proverbs 29:27. “he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”
