Jeff Wickham

Engineer • Bible Teacher • Exploring the interconnected symbols of Scripture that reveal union with Christ.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

- God let Abraham and Sarah go childless.
- God let Joseph be sold into slavery.
- God let Daniel be thrown into the lions' den.
- God let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be cast into the fiery furnace.
- God let Lazarus die.

Before the victory comes the valley.

What valleys are you facing today?

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

@discerningdadd True. I believe the old testament priests foreshadowed believers, and the other Levites foreshadowed pastors, religious teachers, and other administrators. There is a work that they were assigned in supporting the priests, but they were forbidden to do the work of the priests.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

PSA nicely describes Jesus' sacrifice for us, but at least in the way PSA is often superficially presented, it seems weaker in describing our corresponding sacrifice for Him and the way He works in us.

Consequently, some twist PSA to conclude that all that is required for salvation is to believe that Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin. But true belief is so much more. It involves embracing an ongoing lifestyle of surrender to Christ and reliance on Him for strength to do His will.

Because of these potential challenges, I have come to love describing the gospel as union with Christ. The concept of Him abiding in us captures PSA's emphasis on Christ's sacrifice for us. And us abiding in Him fills out the picture, describing our part as living sacrifices.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

@racheljwelcher 1. "Parallels of Christ" shows how Moses' interconnected symbols interpret one another, revealing union with Christ.
2. Christians seeking a deeper, Christ-centered way to read Scripture.
3. I've spent decades organizing these biblical patterns into one coherent framework.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

@ScottRoberts Winning the heart of the girl's father is such a good approach. And I think young ladies should also seek to win the hearts of the young man's parents. If both sets of parents are godly, and if both heartily approve, the chance of a successful marriage increases dramatically.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

Praying for the Holy Spirit is the same as praying for obedience to God's will.

[Jeremiah Knight @iamrjknight]

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not some vague mystical experience where the mind is emptied and emotions take over.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to live under the rule, influence, power, and presence of Christ. The Holy Spirit does not draw attention away from Jesus. He glorifies Christ, makes His Word precious, exposes sin, strengthens obedience, and shapes the life of the believer around the Lordship of Jesus.

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:14).

This is why Paul connects being filled with the Holy Spirit to worship, gratitude, submission, holiness, and a life ordered before God. It is not spiritual chaos. It is Christ centered obedience flowing from a heart governed by God.

“Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

A person filled with the Holy Spirit will not become less biblical, less humble, less self controlled, or less obedient. The Holy Spirit produces the likeness of Christ, not spiritual performance for attention.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Galatians 5:22).

The fullness of the Holy Spirit is not measured by noise, emotion, or claims of power. It is seen when Christ becomes precious, sin becomes hateful, Scripture becomes living, worship becomes sincere, and obedience becomes the desire of the heart.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to have the life increasingly dominated by the presence, truth, and glory of Christ.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

@ScottRoberts When our family visited the Grand Canyon, I grabbed our young kids' hands and we walked up to the guard rail and looked over. Fearful, yes, but it was that same fear that drew us close to gaze at the majesty of the view.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

Indeed.

[Scott Roberts @ScottRoberts]

The greatest problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar.

- Watchman Nee

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

Thought provoking.

[Jeremiah Knight @iamrjknight]

A man can sit in church for years and still never know the Lord.

He can hear sermons, sing hymns, attend meetings, learn Christian language, quote verses, defend doctrine, serve in ministries, and still remain a stranger to the new birth. Church attendance can surround a man with truth, but it cannot raise a dead soul to life. Only God can do that.

“Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

This is one of the most terrifying realities in the visible church. Many have become comfortable around holy things without being made holy by God. They are familiar with sermons but unfamiliar with repentance. They know the sound of prayer but not the poverty of spirit. They speak of Christ but do not bow to Him. They have religion in their habits but no resurrection in their hearts.

“Having a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).

The danger is not merely outside the church. The danger is inside the pew, inside the choir, inside the ministry team, inside the pulpit, inside the home that calls itself Christian while the heart remains unchanged. A man may be known by the church and still be unknown by Christ.

“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

That should make us tremble. Jesus did not warn atheists only. He warned religious people who used His name, claimed spiritual activity, and yet never belonged to Him. Their mouths were full of ministry, but their lives were full of lawlessness. Their confidence was in what they did for Christ, not in whether they had truly been brought to Christ.

“And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).

The new birth is not a mood. It is not a decision card. It is not church culture. It is not being raised in a Christian family. It is not agreeing with Christian morals. It is the supernatural work of God by which a sinner is made alive, given a new heart, brought to repentance, granted faith in Christ, and turned from darkness to light.

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Do not comfort yourself merely because you are near the things of God. Judas was near Christ and perished. The Pharisees searched the Scriptures and rejected the One to whom the Scriptures testified. The Israelites saw mighty works and still hardened their hearts.

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

The question is not, “Have I been in church?” The question is, “Have I been born again?” Do I hate the sin I once protected? Do I love the Christ I once resisted? Do I bow to the Word I once ignored? Do I grieve over my corruption? Do I run to the cross? Do I bear fruit that only grace can produce?

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3).

A church seat cannot save you. A Christian family cannot save you. Baptism cannot save you. Ministry cannot save you. Knowledge cannot save you. Morality cannot save you. Only Christ can save sinners, and the man who belongs to Christ will not remain dead in the very sins from which Christ came to deliver him.

“They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him” (Titus 1:16).

So let every churchgoer tremble kindly before God. Let every professing Christian examine himself in the light of Scripture. Let no one hide behind years of attendance while the soul remains untouched by grace.

It is better to be disturbed now than damned later.

It is better to question false peace than to hear Christ say, “I never knew you.”

Religion can place you among the people of God.

Only the new birth can place you in Christ.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

@iamrjknight This >>> "The Bible does contain depths we will never exhaust, but its depth is not found by escaping the text. It is found by bowing before what God has actually said."

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

@iamrjknight Repentance is a way of life. I like how Paul phrases it in that Romans 8:13 verse, "If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." It is a daily battle, but if we cooperate with God, He will help us grow.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

Salvation is not merely a transaction.

It is union.

Not just Christ for us—
but Christ in us, and us in Him.

This may be one of the most concentrated truths in Scripture:

“Abide in Me, and I in you.”

New article:
https://t.co/Svrs21MS5i

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

The Passover lamb's blood on the doorposts corresponds to the sin offering's blood on the four horns of the altar. Thus, the altar is a door. Just as the people sheltered in the Passover house, we must shelter in the true altar - in Jesus. To abide in this altar, we must allow ourselves to be consumed by Him. And He abides in us as we consume Him in the form of His Spirit-filled teachings. Yes, we come as unworthy, but He cleanses us both from our past guilt and our lifestyle of sin.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

If a servant wanted to serve his master forever, they were to take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his earlobe with an awl. He became a living sacrifice of sorts - pierced, yet alive. Similarly, the altar of burnt offering was located at the doorway of the tent of meeting. The sacrifices were slain there. So I believe at least one of the Old Testament sacrifices represents humans giving themselves to God as living sacrifices.

This goes along with Mount Sinai representing an altar, and none of the Israelites were to go up and see God, lest they die. In the reality to which this points, to approach God, we must die, just as Paul said - "I die daily." Our surrender to God is likened to a death. He consumes us. This is how we abide in Him. And at the same time, we consume Him in the form of His teachings. This is how He abides in us.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

@Toneskeee It is the direction of our hearts. Are we seeking to know and do God's will, depending on Him for strength, or are we seeking to do our own will? We are liable to make mistakes along the way, but there will also be growth in our obedience to Christ.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

The problem with the sinner's prayer is that people think that if you sincerely say it one time, you are forever and eternally saved. But Jesus said, "Abide in Me." The word abide conveys the sense of an ongoing relationship. The Israelite cities of refuge foreshadow this reality. Whoever committed manslaughter was to flee for safety to one of those cities and abide in it. If he left that city, he was again at risk of judgment. Likewise, if we abide in Christ (which means we practice a lifestyle of pressing on in ever deeper surrender to Him), our sins become His sins and His death can justly count for us. But if we cease to follow Him and determinedly pursue our own will over His will, He will one day separate us from His body.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

"Invest in what you believe in."

Heavenly treasure never loses value. It pays back many times over. This is an investment truly worth making.

What do you believe in?

[Rabbi Brian Samuel @rabbriansamuel]

@disclosetv I sold my bitcoin at 83K at a loss and put that money elsewhere. Ultimately, I don't understand bitcoin, and I fail to see a true use case for it. Maybe it will go to a $1M. I don't know. But I appreciate the @elonmusk strategy: Invest in what you believe in.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

Another amazing aspect of this promise is that it referred to a single descendant. According to Galatians 3:16, that one descendant was Jesus. But a few verses later Paul reveals that if we have put on Christ, then we are that descendant. Jesus, the single seed, is composed of many parts. (Galatians 3:27-29) He is the head, but we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

Growth often happens slowly. Mature Christians around her should help her take the next steps in her living sacrifice to Jesus, just as the priests helped the penitent offer their burnt offerings - first the blood, then certain internal organs, then the rest of the body after certain washings.

The wheat and the tares must grow together until the harvest.

[Jeff Wickham @JeffreyNWickham]

I do believe that God wants us to keep the 4th commandment, just as He wants us to keep the other nine. And He wants us to go beyond the mere letter of the law to the spirit of it. Just as we should not even hate our brother in our hearts, so we should refrain from thinking our own thoughts, but dwell on God's purposes on the Sabbath.

However, I also believe there are many true-hearted believers who have fully committed to seeking out and obeying God's will, depending on Him for the power, and who at the same time are confused on this issue. As this issue becomes clear to them, it will be their joy to step forward in obedience to His will. For them, this is one of those sins that James talks about that does not lead to death. It is not a willful disobedience.