Painting by Gustave Doré. Conversion of St. Paul The Apostle.
Whom is the ‘virtuous woman’ reckoned after? Is it through genealogy, and therefore earthly inheritance; is it of ethnicity, or through moral attainment of excellent character, or has the holy scripture of God, called his house through faith in the righteousness of God? Surely, Ruth was of Moab, and not born in Israel, nor is anything said of her parents, or of her bloodline; being raised without knowledge of the Word of God, or of his promises therein.
The Lord proclaiming in the first chapter of the book of John, speaks of they whom have been made virtuous. The Lord, clearly establishing an immutable declaration in gospel according to Saint John, 1:12–13, “but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
And also, the Holy Spirit setting forth a clear understanding of the holy personification of this ‘his Word,’ naming it Jesus the Christ, saying, “and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth,” finishing the fulfillment of the law of God, which is Truth, that without Righteousness, adherence to the law is vain, being the work of the flesh, and that human will without the grace of God, “for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, (John, chapter 1:17).
Virtue then, is of God; it is the gift of God; a mercy of the Lord’s graciousness. For he can harden a heart, and he can move the heart, inclining it to turn unto him; setting all at liberty to answer his call through the Spirit of His Word, but whom shall turn and engage this their heart, a he asks us in the book of Jeremiah? Whom shall take hold of the strength of God and make peace with him? It is they who have been preordained with good works to walk in these; whom having a different heart; that heart of God, “out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry, (Jeremiah 30:19),” “and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God, (Jeremiah 30:22).”
It is not in us to turn to God, but it is the work of the Spirit of God to inline our hearts unto him, beginning the effectual point of translation from darkness of soul unto the lightheartedness of God, whom has called us to be after the likeness of his Sun, Christ Jesus, by whom all things remain, and by whom his house is called to its feet.
Therefore, did Ruth cleave unto Naomi: she did not break through unto new enlightened reasoning through her own will, but the Lord memorialized her life that his purpose be established, for he shall have mercy upon whom he shall have mercy. Thus far, as he accomplished with Ruth, he accomplished in Saul who became Paul, turning this his heart into a living Spirit, replete with understanding, and Paul, having been a diligent scholar of the Hebrews, being well-versed in the Word, and having been in the presence of Jesus on the road to Damascus, was born again, — though this second time, born, not after the flesh, as the good Lord explained to Nicodemus the Rabbi, but in Spirit was he born; his life also a virtuous memorial unto the purpose of the Lord.
“Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for when, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow anymore at all, (Jeremiah 31:12).”
The Lord our God, gracious, loving and kind, plenteous in mercy, and willing that all be saved has made an inheritance unto himself of sons and of daughters, called not after the goodness of their earthly families, but after the grace of God, a seed royal, righteous in Spirit, having called us unto better things than the work and toil and troubles and snares of this life; having given us liberty from the wanting of those that do not serve God’s purpose in us; things devoid of godliness, and the seeking after the temporal satiation of our flesh that leads to estrangement from the heart of God, but that we attain unto the quietness and peace of God, being born again with an eternal power of an endless life; our minds being changed through the polishing of our souls through The Word Of God whom is Christ our Lord. The virtuous woman then, memorialized in plurality as the ‘mother’ of the saints,; yea, not a singular woman of flesh, but ‘she’ is the City of God, and her name is also Zion; called the bride of Christ; not after an earthly marriage, begetting thereafter earthy children, but after the manner of the ‘husbandry’ of the Holy Shepherd, who is the Bridegroom, Jesus; who cares for the lambs of God, and has given his life as a sacrifice of mediation, openly triumphant over death and the deceit of sin, having become cursed upon the cross, showing his power of an endless life, that we can have a sure hope in the promises and all the gifts that he bestows with all graciousness and godly strength, being virtuous himself whom the God the Father (Jehova) is one with, having declared him his only Son, therefore making him fit to be the right propitiation that was necessary to lead captivity captive, having said that if he is lifted up above the earth, (as he was lifted up once on the cross, and then ascended unto the Father), he shall pull all unto him. For the burden of humanity is great, having no hope, but seeing Jesus, whom was crucified and lives, seeing that there is hope; that there was one, in a certain place, whose good works declare the Father, and who has raised the dead, healed the blind, the lame, the diseased, the deaf, mute and voiceless, exorcised they whom were under the control of Satan’s finite power, and whom has glorified God, pointing the way unto him who has the power of an endless life.
Virtue being then a holy thing, and not of commendation amongst ourselves, or through our works without the grace of God in us, was seen in Ruth, of whom the holy brethren of ancient Bethlehem-Ephratah (also memorialized), recognized, they having the Spirit, seeing her as having the Spirit, calling her a virtuous woman; the purpose of the Lord being fulfilled for the ages to come, that we understand through the scriptures, the seed of Abraham are they of the Spirit, and not they of the flesh; not they of ethnicity, or of bloodline, or of the will of their ingenuity devoid of God. For the good Lord our God is not mocked, nor fooled, and we all are in his sight, and in the sight of his angels at all times; he, — knowing the intents of our heart, and the thoughts of our mind, hardens whom he will, and turns with mercy at his pleasure and according to his purpose.
“And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, not according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God, (Ezekiel 20:44).”
Hence, their are the ‘daughters of women’ and the ‘sons of men,’ and there are the sons and daughters of Jerusalem, that is from above. The daughters of women, these are not of the Spirit, and their careless ways are hard-hearted and tend to fierceness of character without grace, whereas the sons of men are the sons of Adam, according to scriptural understanding, and both of these are earthy, as were Adam and Eve, being blinded by the prince of this world, whom is the Father of Lies, Satan. But the sons and daughters of Jerusalem, the City of God, — these are not the sons and daughters of they whom have dead spirits; having received something better, an inheritance of an everlasting life with God, having God in them, and they being in God, and being one with God and his Christ; these are the suns of God, and of the brethren of Jesus, the Son of God, because God has called them, having first called Abraham righteous, and not Terah, his father, as righteous, but Abraham has the Lord glorified with a living Spirit, for he shall have mercy upon whom he shall have mercy, and his grace shall bless us with faith in the power of his oath, that by two immutable truths, the Lord, who cannot lie, establishes a sure promise, giving virtue unto his house, calling them faithful and true.
Therefore, he has called his people to be ye separate from the ways and manners and aspirations of they whom are dead in spirit. For scripture tells us that we were also in that condition until the Lord called us, and some he called while in the womb, as was Jeremiah and John the Baptist, and some he has called at the end of their earthly life, as it was for the malefactor crucified next to Jesus, but all whom are called and turn, these shall be glorified, being justified and sanctified entering into the life of God as his saintly inheritance, a virtuous people.
But they whom are the daughters of women and the sons of men shall not understand, and as they have hated Jesus, they shall dissemble and hate the royal seed also, for they have not the grace of the Lord, and they therefore care not for those things which are from above, counting them as foolishness, and of no value or profit to there life, and thus, they shall not lean on the wisdom of God, which is his Word that speaks of the Spirit of the Word, and so their works are dead works unto themselves, and they do call the world after them, which is memorialized as Babylon and Egypt and Sodom and Gomorah, seeking the satiation of the flesh while being estranged from the Truth of God; having no understanding, twice dead (Jude 1:12), being sensual (Jude 1:19) and given to fornication, which is ungodly, and their love waxing cold, given to murmuring, envying, and gainsaying, coveting, altogether begetting strife; having no peace, and not willing to heal after the manner of God who has called them to peace, but instead, “prating” against the sons and daughters of God with malicious words that devour (Jude 1:10). Such as these are not the sons and daughters of Jerusalem, and their ways follow the fashion of this world, and they are confederate in being aliens to God and to all that is good and upright, making their own righteousness to lean upon which is no righteousness at all, and is no meekness unto God at all, and no communion with Jesus, whom they openly would crucify again, that they may have their earthly desires, consuming their integrities, leaving themselves ‘saltless,’ and with seared consciousness, which are past feeling, and so, they are easily driven to darkness by the prince of this world, whom God shall destroy, together with death and sin.
Now unto they whom have received the Light of God, be of good cheer and strengthen yourself in Jesus, who is that Word and the Spirit of that Word, that you may have understanding of the life the Lord has set before you, that you may no more consider the spoiling of your integrity, nor of your flesh, nor of finding life in being sensual, for all these things take your peace and joy away after; for God has something better for his treasures; a glory like none other, having called us to be strong in Spirit and closer to his Excellency, and to be a captains of the people of God. How shall you then turn back and give way to the ways, and doings, and paths and fashions of the daughters of women and the sons of men whom are blind of mind and dead in spirit, causing you and them to stumble upon Jesus Christ?
Be at peace then and have faith in God, reading and praying, that you may have understanding of the good works the Lord has set for you to walk in, that his purpose may be readily accomplished through you, that you not grieve the Holy Spirit in you, causing schism within you with confusion. That Holy Spirit in you being the half of you, calling your mind to conform to the glory of the Spirit of Christ, as the daughters and sons of Jerusalem, the virtuous house of the Lord with all strength and power to endure in the love of God, seeing the living water, which is his Spirit, flowing through you, causing joy and peace, and love in you. The Lord having called us gods also in meekness unto Christ, that we not behave ourselves as beasts, and not allowing others to use us as such; for the Lord God having called us turned our blindness into sight, that we are before the throne of God at all times.
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