Third Heaven Discourse

Deut 9:6 (NKJV)  "Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people."  It is the nature of God to be gracious. He is exceedingly gracious. Even under the law, He couldn't help but be gracious, how much more in the dispensation of Grace! Oh, God is grace, just as He is love. He is the personification of love, truth, mercy and grace. It is clear from scriptures that even though God gave the Israelites the law - which was meant to be the working or contractual document, as it were, in His dealings with them - He still went outside the strict and ridiculous confines of the law in His dealings with them.  Our reference clearly reveals that it was not the righteousness of the Israelites (adherence to the law of Moses) that made God give them "a land flowing with milk and honey", No, not at all. It was because of His exceeding graciousness. The...

Matthew 5:3 NKJV “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Are you "poor in spirit"? Do you desire to be "poor in spirit"? This is a rhetorical question, but I hope your response is not No. Be that as it may, by the time you are done reading this, I hope you make a commitment to developing a poor-in-spirit attitude if you haven't already because it is an attitude God places a premium on.  Being poor in spirit is one of the  blessed believer attitudes . In short, it is the first Jesus started with in the sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3). Friends, the fact that Jesus released blessings upon the poor in spirit indicates His desire for all believers to manifest such an attitude. The account in Matthew 5 is maybe the only time in the Bible when the word "poor" is used in a positive light. So, clearly, it is something to pay attention to.  So, what does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means to be spiritually hum...

The declarations of blessedness pronounced by Jesus in the sermon on the Mount are altogether referred to as the beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12) . The beatitudes reveal certain attitudes of people for which God blesses them. It clearly reveals the specific corresponding blessing that accompanies the said attitude. The attitudes are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and those who are reviled, persecuted, and are spoken falsely against for the sake of Christ; and the blessings are in the text (Matt 5:3-12). The beatitudes may be considered an acronym for "the believer attitudes". They are notable among other attitudes or virtues in the Bible because Jesus particularly placed blessings on those who exhibit them. Bearing this in mind, they are better referred to as "the blessed believer attitudes" as it were....