Shoes as preparation for the gospel of peace
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Mathew Enoch Mount
Sep 27, 2009, 5:24:02 PM9/27/09
to Jesus On the Web
Hello,
I have felt inclined to comment upon dressing our feet with the,
"preparation of the gospel of peace" as it is described as part of
putting on the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:15 (KJV) It has been
said that this verse has much to do with John the Baptist preparing
the way for the gospel of Christ, and so I would like to comment upon
such. As follows I will attempt to expound on the subject, and I will
do this by casting light upon the work of God in the model of
salvation established by the book of Exodus (hopefully you will
consider this helpful for understanding God’s full plan of
salvation). Overall, I hope that you get a blessing by reading this,
and I hope that you do not find yourself despising my methods of
reading the scripture and relaying it as they had been practiced in a
little different from by the early church as evident in books such as
Revelation and the writings of Paul.
First of all the birth of Moses foreshadows the birth of Christ with
the order to kill all the male children of God’s people. Moses
foreshadowed Christ in that he was drawn out of Israel and was raised
in Egypt under the protection of its king (in both cases the king was
unaware). (See Revelation 12) Although Christ is perfect God, the
scripture says that Christ grew in wisdom Luke 2:52 (Christ loosened
the binding upon himself as he grew and thus expressed his deity more
fully) while Moses however sought to learn about his people and thus
came to a time in his life when God revealed himself to Moses.
Moses’s brother Aaron, then joined Moses and God said to Moses, you
will be like God and Aaron your profit (Exodus 4:16), and this shows
both Moses and Aaron foreshadowing Christ and John the Baptist whom
Christ says comes in the spirit of Elijah. Consider also the two
witness in revelation having the powers of Moses and Elijah
(Revelation 11:4-6), and consider as well the transconfigeration of
Christ when Moses and Elijah both appeared Matthew 17:3 (also consider
the two cherubim over the ark of the covenant atonement cover). All
of this shows these two witnesses before the throne of God as like
trees on either side of the river of life (the holy Ghost) that
produce the fruit of the spirit or the twelve crops of fruit
(Revelation 22).
Consider that the scripture both says that God hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, and scripture also says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
Exodus 9:34-10:2 Scripture thus demonstrates both free will and
election working hand and hand, and this parallels Jesus telling
Judas, "do what you are going to do and do it quickly." This also
gives testimony to the free will of Christ as both perfect God and
perfect man to ask his father to take the cup away from him while
doing so without having sinned; moreover, this happened despite the
fact that Christ was predestined by the Father to be crucified. Just
as Christ is in full control of his destiny and we are in full control
of our destiny our destiny has at the same time been completely
predetermined by the Father so that our actions regardless of what we
choose to do can never in any detail escape his plan or
determination. Just as the potter out of one lump has made one pot of
honorable purposes and another for dishonorable purposes (Romans
9:21), so to God has made us for his own purpose.
The plagues of Egypt show us that God makes a distinction between
Egypt and Israel, and he thus makes a distinction between those whom
are his chosen people and those whom are not his chosen people as
scripture says. He does this to make his name great by baring the
objects of his wrath to make his glory known to the objects of his
mercy whom he prepared in advance for his glory. Romans 9:22-23 The
plagues of Egypt also give us a foreshadow of the destruction of
Jerusalem in 72AD as well as the plagues of the earth mentioned in
Revelation when with a mighty hand the witness give their testimony,
"Let my people go" out of the land of slavery into the promise land
that God is giving them to become a nation of priests namely to the
New Jerusalem.
Prior to the Passover the king of Egypt said, "Make sure you do not
appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die."
Exodus 10:28 (NIV) The king of Egypt was correct, because through the
Passover the old nature of living in Egypt (living in the slavery of
sin) died through the blood of the lamb while the new nature emerged.
The Passover thus teaches a calling out of Egypt (out of sin), and it
is the blood of the lamb that causes Egypt to be put to death in us
whom God saves.
The Passover thus occurred as death passed over the door step of all
those whom had the blood of the lamb on their door post, and thus by
our sacrificial Lamb Christ atones for our sins with his blood so that
death my pass over. The last supper thus shows the celebration of
Passover as the twelve eat his blood and drink his flesh so that death
my pass over. The Passover shows that despite the limited knowledge
of God that we all have the blood of Christ as our Passover lamb and
this blood is applied for our salvation and by doing so we are marked
as Israel among Egypt. Overall, the Passover it instituted through
Moses, but communion is instated through Christ our profit, High
Priest, and king (he is God with also the genealogy of Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and David) Matthew 1.
Just as God cut off the heads (or the first born male) of every family
in Egypt but saved the heads of Israel through the blood of the lamb,
so to Christ cut off the heads of the Levitical system and the Jewish
nation while causing the heads of the church to grow and flourish (see
Romans chapter 9 God made us Israel whom are not Israel). After this
was done, the King of Egypt drove Moses and his people out just as the
heads of Jerusalem drove the church out and scattered it. Thus we are
driven out of the land of sin to dwell in the promised land, and for
the Christian this promised land is the New Jerusalem.
Because the Israelites did not have time to prepare their own bread
they had to bring with them the dough from Egypt without any yeast.
The point is that we are to start out of a new lump, and to get rid of
the old yeast of malice and wickedness and such. The yeast that we
receive after the celebration of the feast of unleavened bread is the
teachings of Christ (teachings of Moses for the Israelites), and thus
the kingdom of God is like a woman whom had a little bit of yeast and
added it to the dough until the entire lump was leavened. God thus
blesses us as well with the faith to cause the bread to rise when it
is baked in the furnace (see parable of the talents), and this is like
the mustard seed that starts out as the smallest of all seeds but yet
grows so large that even the angles find refuge in it.
After Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread, the King of Egypt or
(Satan) has us pinned against the sea. Moses raises his staff, and
the waters part just as Christ raises his iron scepter. We go down
into the waters with Christ with death all around us, and thus we go
into the tome of Christ. Pharaoh’s armies follow in this baptism, but
God separates all of Israel from all of Egypt until Israel has safely
passed through the sea (1 Corinthians 10:2). Once the believer is
baptized Satan’s army is destroyed in that person’s life for the
bondage of Egypt has been washed away in the waters of Baptism.
Moses leads the people on the way, just as people take up their cross
and follow Christ. Jethro, Moses’s father in law whom somewhat acts
as a picture of God the Father to Moses as Moses acts as a picture of
Christ says, "you must be the people’s representative before God and
bring their disputes to him." Exodus 18:19 (NIV) The entire way the
people grumble, but God provides for them despite their grumbling
through Moses. Eventually Moses comes to the mountain after listening
to Jethro’s advice, and he receives the covenant of God. Moses thus
ascended the mountain as Christ ascended from the grave after his
death, and Moses brought back the covenant to the seventy or the
Sanhedrin Exodus 24:1-2, and thus the people saw and believed saying,
"we will do all this." Moses thus went back up the mountain for forty
days and forty nights for a great fast just as was the ark of Noah and
the time of Christ in the wilderness, but the people broke that fast
just as the disciples renounced Christ after his death. God said to
Moses, "leave me along so that my anger may burn against them so that
I may destroy them and establish my covenant through you" as Aaron
built the alter to sacrifice to the golden calf saying, "look your God
that lead you out of Egypt." Moses spoke to God saying remember the
promise you made to your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would you
destroy these people so that the Egyptians may say that you lead them
out of Egypt to be destroyed in the desert, and in a similar way
Christ arose to heaven to offer his blood as the sacrifice made by him
the High Priest of God.
Moses thus came down from the mountain and issued the curse of the
law, "if you cannot live by the law, then die by the law" whereas
Christ reversed the curse of the law by it being nailed to the tree
with him. Christ thus arose with a New Covenant in his glorified
flesh and blood. We thus consume his flesh and drink his blood by
belief in him that like every part of the body of Christ, it becomes
his blood that flows through us and thus Christ has imputed his
righteousness into us. We then offer ourselves as living sacrifices
following in his sacrifice, and we become crucified with Christ and
then we raise from the dead with Christ.
The purpose of the entire church in evangelism is that we may all have
our feet dressed in preparedness for the gospel because a time will
come when like Saul on the road to Damascus and like Moses seeing the
burning bush, God will appear to us. The entire purpose of the birth
of Christ is that Christ appeared to mankind, but by seeing they did
not see and by hearing they did not hear. A day comes when God
appears to a person in their life directly, and then he becomes their
teacher just as people called Christ the teacher. Their comes a time
in people’s lives when suddenly those whom have experienced the
teaching of the gospel at church and the reading of the bible suddenly
find that God has appeared to them, and before that time the people
could not see.
For the New Testament church Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost was either the beginning of God’s appearance in people’s lives
or it was the foreshadowing of it. Paul so strongly believes in this
appearance and unity with God that after he gave the message of the
armor of God he says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my
mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the
mystery of the gospel." Ephesians 6:19 (NIV) The point is that faith
comes from God and from God alone for Christ is the author and
perfecter of our faith, and thus we are to put on the full armor of
God as we are taught by Christ working through man to teach the gospel
until the day comes when God shows himself to us, gives us faith, and
teaches us directly like he did to Moses. When that day comes and as
scripture says the light enters us, we will tread on scorpions and
nothing will harm us (Luke 10)
Thank you,
Mathew Enoch Mount
mmo...@essex1.com
I have felt inclined to comment upon dressing our feet with the,
"preparation of the gospel of peace" as it is described as part of
putting on the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:15 (KJV) It has been
said that this verse has much to do with John the Baptist preparing
the way for the gospel of Christ, and so I would like to comment upon
such. As follows I will attempt to expound on the subject, and I will
do this by casting light upon the work of God in the model of
salvation established by the book of Exodus (hopefully you will
consider this helpful for understanding God’s full plan of
salvation). Overall, I hope that you get a blessing by reading this,
and I hope that you do not find yourself despising my methods of
reading the scripture and relaying it as they had been practiced in a
little different from by the early church as evident in books such as
Revelation and the writings of Paul.
First of all the birth of Moses foreshadows the birth of Christ with
the order to kill all the male children of God’s people. Moses
foreshadowed Christ in that he was drawn out of Israel and was raised
in Egypt under the protection of its king (in both cases the king was
unaware). (See Revelation 12) Although Christ is perfect God, the
scripture says that Christ grew in wisdom Luke 2:52 (Christ loosened
the binding upon himself as he grew and thus expressed his deity more
fully) while Moses however sought to learn about his people and thus
came to a time in his life when God revealed himself to Moses.
Moses’s brother Aaron, then joined Moses and God said to Moses, you
will be like God and Aaron your profit (Exodus 4:16), and this shows
both Moses and Aaron foreshadowing Christ and John the Baptist whom
Christ says comes in the spirit of Elijah. Consider also the two
witness in revelation having the powers of Moses and Elijah
(Revelation 11:4-6), and consider as well the transconfigeration of
Christ when Moses and Elijah both appeared Matthew 17:3 (also consider
the two cherubim over the ark of the covenant atonement cover). All
of this shows these two witnesses before the throne of God as like
trees on either side of the river of life (the holy Ghost) that
produce the fruit of the spirit or the twelve crops of fruit
(Revelation 22).
Consider that the scripture both says that God hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, and scripture also says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
Exodus 9:34-10:2 Scripture thus demonstrates both free will and
election working hand and hand, and this parallels Jesus telling
Judas, "do what you are going to do and do it quickly." This also
gives testimony to the free will of Christ as both perfect God and
perfect man to ask his father to take the cup away from him while
doing so without having sinned; moreover, this happened despite the
fact that Christ was predestined by the Father to be crucified. Just
as Christ is in full control of his destiny and we are in full control
of our destiny our destiny has at the same time been completely
predetermined by the Father so that our actions regardless of what we
choose to do can never in any detail escape his plan or
determination. Just as the potter out of one lump has made one pot of
honorable purposes and another for dishonorable purposes (Romans
9:21), so to God has made us for his own purpose.
The plagues of Egypt show us that God makes a distinction between
Egypt and Israel, and he thus makes a distinction between those whom
are his chosen people and those whom are not his chosen people as
scripture says. He does this to make his name great by baring the
objects of his wrath to make his glory known to the objects of his
mercy whom he prepared in advance for his glory. Romans 9:22-23 The
plagues of Egypt also give us a foreshadow of the destruction of
Jerusalem in 72AD as well as the plagues of the earth mentioned in
Revelation when with a mighty hand the witness give their testimony,
"Let my people go" out of the land of slavery into the promise land
that God is giving them to become a nation of priests namely to the
New Jerusalem.
Prior to the Passover the king of Egypt said, "Make sure you do not
appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die."
Exodus 10:28 (NIV) The king of Egypt was correct, because through the
Passover the old nature of living in Egypt (living in the slavery of
sin) died through the blood of the lamb while the new nature emerged.
The Passover thus teaches a calling out of Egypt (out of sin), and it
is the blood of the lamb that causes Egypt to be put to death in us
whom God saves.
The Passover thus occurred as death passed over the door step of all
those whom had the blood of the lamb on their door post, and thus by
our sacrificial Lamb Christ atones for our sins with his blood so that
death my pass over. The last supper thus shows the celebration of
Passover as the twelve eat his blood and drink his flesh so that death
my pass over. The Passover shows that despite the limited knowledge
of God that we all have the blood of Christ as our Passover lamb and
this blood is applied for our salvation and by doing so we are marked
as Israel among Egypt. Overall, the Passover it instituted through
Moses, but communion is instated through Christ our profit, High
Priest, and king (he is God with also the genealogy of Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and David) Matthew 1.
Just as God cut off the heads (or the first born male) of every family
in Egypt but saved the heads of Israel through the blood of the lamb,
so to Christ cut off the heads of the Levitical system and the Jewish
nation while causing the heads of the church to grow and flourish (see
Romans chapter 9 God made us Israel whom are not Israel). After this
was done, the King of Egypt drove Moses and his people out just as the
heads of Jerusalem drove the church out and scattered it. Thus we are
driven out of the land of sin to dwell in the promised land, and for
the Christian this promised land is the New Jerusalem.
Because the Israelites did not have time to prepare their own bread
they had to bring with them the dough from Egypt without any yeast.
The point is that we are to start out of a new lump, and to get rid of
the old yeast of malice and wickedness and such. The yeast that we
receive after the celebration of the feast of unleavened bread is the
teachings of Christ (teachings of Moses for the Israelites), and thus
the kingdom of God is like a woman whom had a little bit of yeast and
added it to the dough until the entire lump was leavened. God thus
blesses us as well with the faith to cause the bread to rise when it
is baked in the furnace (see parable of the talents), and this is like
the mustard seed that starts out as the smallest of all seeds but yet
grows so large that even the angles find refuge in it.
After Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread, the King of Egypt or
(Satan) has us pinned against the sea. Moses raises his staff, and
the waters part just as Christ raises his iron scepter. We go down
into the waters with Christ with death all around us, and thus we go
into the tome of Christ. Pharaoh’s armies follow in this baptism, but
God separates all of Israel from all of Egypt until Israel has safely
passed through the sea (1 Corinthians 10:2). Once the believer is
baptized Satan’s army is destroyed in that person’s life for the
bondage of Egypt has been washed away in the waters of Baptism.
Moses leads the people on the way, just as people take up their cross
and follow Christ. Jethro, Moses’s father in law whom somewhat acts
as a picture of God the Father to Moses as Moses acts as a picture of
Christ says, "you must be the people’s representative before God and
bring their disputes to him." Exodus 18:19 (NIV) The entire way the
people grumble, but God provides for them despite their grumbling
through Moses. Eventually Moses comes to the mountain after listening
to Jethro’s advice, and he receives the covenant of God. Moses thus
ascended the mountain as Christ ascended from the grave after his
death, and Moses brought back the covenant to the seventy or the
Sanhedrin Exodus 24:1-2, and thus the people saw and believed saying,
"we will do all this." Moses thus went back up the mountain for forty
days and forty nights for a great fast just as was the ark of Noah and
the time of Christ in the wilderness, but the people broke that fast
just as the disciples renounced Christ after his death. God said to
Moses, "leave me along so that my anger may burn against them so that
I may destroy them and establish my covenant through you" as Aaron
built the alter to sacrifice to the golden calf saying, "look your God
that lead you out of Egypt." Moses spoke to God saying remember the
promise you made to your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would you
destroy these people so that the Egyptians may say that you lead them
out of Egypt to be destroyed in the desert, and in a similar way
Christ arose to heaven to offer his blood as the sacrifice made by him
the High Priest of God.
Moses thus came down from the mountain and issued the curse of the
law, "if you cannot live by the law, then die by the law" whereas
Christ reversed the curse of the law by it being nailed to the tree
with him. Christ thus arose with a New Covenant in his glorified
flesh and blood. We thus consume his flesh and drink his blood by
belief in him that like every part of the body of Christ, it becomes
his blood that flows through us and thus Christ has imputed his
righteousness into us. We then offer ourselves as living sacrifices
following in his sacrifice, and we become crucified with Christ and
then we raise from the dead with Christ.
The purpose of the entire church in evangelism is that we may all have
our feet dressed in preparedness for the gospel because a time will
come when like Saul on the road to Damascus and like Moses seeing the
burning bush, God will appear to us. The entire purpose of the birth
of Christ is that Christ appeared to mankind, but by seeing they did
not see and by hearing they did not hear. A day comes when God
appears to a person in their life directly, and then he becomes their
teacher just as people called Christ the teacher. Their comes a time
in people’s lives when suddenly those whom have experienced the
teaching of the gospel at church and the reading of the bible suddenly
find that God has appeared to them, and before that time the people
could not see.
For the New Testament church Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost was either the beginning of God’s appearance in people’s lives
or it was the foreshadowing of it. Paul so strongly believes in this
appearance and unity with God that after he gave the message of the
armor of God he says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my
mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the
mystery of the gospel." Ephesians 6:19 (NIV) The point is that faith
comes from God and from God alone for Christ is the author and
perfecter of our faith, and thus we are to put on the full armor of
God as we are taught by Christ working through man to teach the gospel
until the day comes when God shows himself to us, gives us faith, and
teaches us directly like he did to Moses. When that day comes and as
scripture says the light enters us, we will tread on scorpions and
nothing will harm us (Luke 10)
Thank you,
Mathew Enoch Mount
mmo...@essex1.com
Adam Colbert
Sep 29, 2009, 9:33:34 PM9/29/09
to Jesus On the Web
i'm not sure how to respond. i mean, i enjoyed the post, and it was a
wonderful comparison of the Old Israel with the New, but it seems that
you got so enthralled with comparing the two that you bypassed
discussion of having our feet "fitted with the readiness that comes
from gospel of peace." in other words, if you were to print this out
as an essay for distribution, then it would do well and be
sufficiently complete under the heading of, say, "A Comparison of
Moses and Christ." but as it currently stands, it leaves the reader
utterly confused (at least it left me that way) as to why it has the
title which it does. i did enjoy it, though.
wonderful comparison of the Old Israel with the New, but it seems that
you got so enthralled with comparing the two that you bypassed
discussion of having our feet "fitted with the readiness that comes
from gospel of peace." in other words, if you were to print this out
as an essay for distribution, then it would do well and be
sufficiently complete under the heading of, say, "A Comparison of
Moses and Christ." but as it currently stands, it leaves the reader
utterly confused (at least it left me that way) as to why it has the
title which it does. i did enjoy it, though.
mmo...@essex1.com
Sep 29, 2009, 10:45:59 PM9/29/09
to jesus-th...@googlegroups.com
Hello,
The story was Adam that the man at the pulpit at the church that I went to said that he could not understand why the scripture said, "Shoes as preparation for the gospel of peace" instead of, "shoes of the gospel of peace." My point in this entire message to him is that the armor of God that contains the shoes is given in preparation for one day having the gospel enter us and transform us from the inside. In other words Christ was born and most everyone saw him, but only a few whom he revealed himself to really saw him, "remember Peter’s confession" and remember Christ saying, "blessed are you Peter for this was not revealed to you by man but by the father in heaven." Overall, the point is that we do the acts of the faith in putting on the armor of God for the day that the true seed enters us, the light enters us, the holy ghost enters us, God reveals himself to us, and we take the armor out of bed, we wake up, we suddenly become alive, and at that very moment we are off to develop the kingdom of God because we made ourselves ready by putting on the armor.
Eventually however like the 72 Jesus says that they will tread on scorpions and nothing will harm them, and this is because the armor is not just something on the surface, but instead it is something that God put into them that transformed them from the inside out. Saint Paul like Moses was like this in that he did not dress himself in a armor with a superficial nature, but instead what he had inside of him was what was working its way out of him (this is why he said after talking about the armor, "pray for me as well that I may make the mysteries of God clearly known." In other words Saint Paul was preparing children with the armor on the surface, but he was different because what he had was all throughout him. Overall, if God has set you ablaze with the gospel, then the darkness can never harm you because Christ is shining through you and you become much more than just a mirror that only needs a superficial protective layer to protect your reflective paint because instead of being a mirror you become a source of light because the true light unites with you and shines through you.
Thank you,
Mathew Enoch Mount
mmo...@essex1.com
------- Original Message -------
From : Adam Colbert[mailto:adamc...@hotmail.com]
Sent : 9/29/2009 8:33:34 PM
To : jesus-th...@googlegroups.com
Cc :
Subject : RE: Re: Shoes as preparation for the gospel of peace
From : Adam Colbert[mailto:adamc...@hotmail.com]
Sent : 9/29/2009 8:33:34 PM
To : jesus-th...@googlegroups.com
Cc :
Subject : RE: Re: Shoes as preparation for the gospel of peace
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