Psalm 95 (with 3 topics)

Psalm 95 Author anonymous; texted in grape is the passage (v. 11) that is quoted in the N.T. (see Psalms 12 - 18 Psalm 15 2. N.T. Quotes from Psalms B.):

  Come, let Us sing for joy to the LORD; let Us shout aloud to the rock of Our salvation. Let Us come before HIM with thanksgiving & extol HIM with music & song. For the LORD is the Great GOD, the Great KING above all gods.

  In HIS Hand are the depths of the earth, & the mountain peaks belong to HIM. The sea is HIS, for HE made it, & HIS Hands formed the dry land. Come, let Us bow down in worship, let Us kneel before the LORD Our maker; for HE is Our GOD & We are the people of HIS Pasture, the flock under HIS Care.

  Today, if You hear HIS Voice speaking, do not harden Your hearts as Your fathers did at Meribah (Quarreling), as Your fathers did that day at Massah (Testing) in the desert, where Your fathers tested & tried ME, though They had seen what I did. For 40 years I was angry with that generation; I said, 'They are a people whose hearts go astray, & They have not known MY Ways.' So I declared on oath in MY Anger, 'They shall never enter MY Rest.' This was quoted in Hebr 4:3b (which goes on to say, And yet HIS Work has not been finished since the creation of the world)-- put this together with Hebr 11 (the "faith chapter"), which names many that were indeed faithful & concludes with, These were all commended for Their faith, yet none of Them received what had been promised. GOD had planned something better for Us so that only together with Us would They be made perfect. When we become perfect, so do they-- together we enter rest. But the faithless-- their names were blotted out; they blasphemed the Holy Spirit; they are not the surrounding cloud of witnesses-- we just saw the conclusion of the "faith chapter". Ch. 12 begins, Therefore, since We are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses watching/waiting for us to become perfectly sinless, let Us throw off everything that hinders, & the sin that so easily entangles Us, & let Us run with perseverance the race already marked out for Us.

1. Remaining #4 HIS faithfulness-- predetermined 2ndTim 2:11-13 1) If We died with Him, We shall also live HIM; 2) if We endure, We shall also reign with HIM. 3) If We disown (reject-- never receive) Him, HE will also disown us; 4) if We are faithless after receiving HIM, HE will remain faithful, for HE cannot disown himself-- but do not think this is freedom to be faithless-- there is the matter of treasure laid up in Heaven.

2. Reference #1

 A. Our dying & living with Him Roma 6:2-14 We died to sin; how can We live in it any longer? Or don't You know that all of Us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Glory of the FATHER, We too may live a new life. If We have been united with Him like this in His death, We will eventually certainly also be united with HIM in HIS resurrection. For We know that Our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that We should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed & should remain free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, We believe that We will also eventually live with HIM-- meanwhile we live with the Holy Spirit. For We know that since Christ was raised from the dead, HE cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over HIM. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life HE lives, HE lives to GOD. In the same way count yourselves (consider yourself) dead to sin but live as alive to GOD in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in Your mortal body so that You obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts (any parts-- including your brain) of Your body as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer the parts of Your body as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall (should) not be Your master, because You are not under the law, but under grace.

 B. Our sharing & rejoicing with Him Roma 8:15-17 You did not receive a (the) spirit that makes You a slave again to fear, but You received the spirit of sonship (adoption). And by Him the joyful Holy Spirit We cry ABBA, FATHER-- ABBA is FATHER in Aramaic. The Holy Spirit himself testifies with (to) Our spirit of adoption that We are GOD'S Children. Now if We are children, then We are heirs-- heirs of GOD & co-heirs with Jesus Christ, so that if indeed We share in His sufferings now in order that (then indeed) We may also now share (rejoice with Him) in His present Glory. 1stPet 4:12-13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial You are suffering, as though something strange were happening to You. But rejoice that You may participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that You may be overjoyed when His present Glory is more gloriously revealed.

 C. Our disowning Him, His disowning us Matt 10:32-33 Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge Him before MY FATHER in Heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men (throughout life disses every opportunity to receive Me-- thereby blaspheming the Holy Spirit), I will disown him before MY FATHER in Heaven.

 D. Our being faithless, His being faithful Num 23:19 Balaam getting a revelation-- see below, 3. Balaam's Epiphany-- BUT: GOD is not a man, that HE should change HIS Mind. Does HE speak & then not act? Does HE promise & not fulfill? I have receive a command to bless; HE has already blessed them, & I cannot change it. Roma 3:1-4,9,20 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! 1st of all, They have been entrusted with the very Words of GOD. What if some did not have faith? Will Their lack of faith nullify GOD'S Faithfulness? Not at all! Let GOD be True, & every man a liar. What shall We conclude then? Are We Jews any better? Not at all! Jews & Gentiles alike are all under sin. Through the law We become conscious of sin.

 E. Treasure on earth & in Heaven Matt 6:19-20 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust eventually destroy, & where thieves can break through & steal. But store up (which categorically has nothing to do with earning salvation) for yourselves treasures in Heaven-- doing good works before salvation is futile, at least in the sense that the next second you might die (for then the treasure remain on earth), where moth & rust do not destroy, & where thieves do not break in & steal. For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also-- but back to Christians only: Colo 3:1-2 Since, then, You have been raised with Christ, set Your hearts on things above (but of course live on earth), where Christ is seated at the Right Hand of GOD. Set Your minds also on things above, not on earthly things. For You died, & Your life is now hidden (except hopefully God will open blind eyes to the living testimony) with Christ in GOD. When Christ, who is Your life, appears, then You will also appear with HIM in Glory.