O, the Depth of the Riches

By Commie Dunn

The O, the Depth of the Riches is all about leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ and going on unto perfection (Hebrews 6:1). The Hebrew writer instructs us that as soon as we are saved, we should start trying to find out more about our Savior. This is not about the perfection of the flesh but growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. The articles in this book are to facilitate that growing or edifying the saints of God to know more about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As the apostle Paul said, "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:5). How do we stand in the "power of God"? By following the leadership of the Holy Spirit to stand for the truth of God! God wants to be behind our growth and understanding. Paul said to us, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:17-18).

The local assembly that we call a church has become very weak, especially in terms of the spirituality of the saints in those churches. I have seen that with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. Therefore, the blessed Lord God has led me to study and write and share with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The edification of the saints of God is very important to the salvation of the lost. Paul said, "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." So what we learn from the scripture by the Holy Spirit is crucial for God's people.

The Holy Spirit has laid on my heart to strengthen the local church by publishing this book for the spared of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798885406970

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O, the Depth of the Riches

Commie Dunn

ISBN 979-8-88540-696-3 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88540-697-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Commie Dunn

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

My Story

God's Blueprint in the Scripture

God's blueprint in the Scripture

Attributes of God

Before the creation

God's sovereignty

The creation

Creation events

God created both visible and invisible things

The perpetual cycle

Why the prophets prophesied

From the creation of the world

The Election of God

Preface

Introduction

Declaimer

The gospel of Christ

All taught of God

Taught

Heard

Learned

Innocent before God

Jesus's explanation

Buried with Jesus in baptism

God's continuous education

Conclusion

Appendix A

War in Heaven with the Dragon

Satan, the Wicked One

My vision

The serpent

The curses connected

The contrast between the first Adam and last Adam

Dealing with Satan

What was Adam thinking?

Other interesting points about the serpent

The serpent defeated by Jesus

His defeat fulfilled

The Antichrist

Conclusion

Appendices

References

My Story

About the Author, Commie Dore Dunn Jr.

This is my story when Jesus saved me from sin and damnation of hell. This is not your story but mine. The circumstance of your story may very well be different from mine. Jesus Christ, the risen Savior, is the only path to escape the damnation of the eternal lake of fire. Salvation is not by your works but repentance and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the moment I was conceived in my mother's womb, I became an eternal being. From the conception until the day I became accountable for my sin, I was innocent before God. The apostle Paul described this time in our lives when he said, For I was alive without the law once (Romans 7:9a King James Version).

Why was I alive? Paul said, "Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression" (Romans 4:15) When I was innocent before God, it wasn't that there was no sin, but it was that the sin was dormant in my body, hence sin revived.

When the apostle Paul said, But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died (Romans 7:9b), the second part of the stated verse became real to me at the age of fourteen. For the commandment or the law of God, the Lord sent to me by the Holy Ghost, and sin was found, and I died because the Law said, The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:20a).

On a Sunday night, when I was fourteen, I went to church with my oldest sister and her family to a different church than I normally went. The church was called Pleasant View Missionary Baptist Church. By this time in my life, I had never heard the voice of the Lord. I didn't know the preacher nor did I even remember anything about his sermon. During the altar call, a big change took place in my soul and life. I heard the voice of the Lord God. As ignorant and dumb as I was, I knew without a doubt that it was the Lord's voice. At that point, I knew I was lost and on my way to hell. At this moment is when, as Paul said, The commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

I came into the church house a person having never been accountable and I left the same church house a sinner before God, dead in my sin, on my way to hell.

For the next year, my life on the inside of me was complete misery. I was just like the man Saul when Jesus said to him, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 9:5b). The prick is the sting of death. I felt it very strong, and I was so afraid of dying that at night I was scared to go outside. I was afraid that if something happened to me and I died, I would burn in hell. I was under conviction of my sin; and for me, this was the great tribulation.

Davis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church

At the age of fifteen, the local church that we attended was having a weeklong revival. My mother insisted on my younger brother Larry and me to go to the nightly revival services. The church was called Davis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church (pictured below). The pastor was Reverend Sherman Hatfield. The area where the church was located was called Davis Bend. It was about five miles from Barbourville, Kentucky. I learned later the evangelist was a preacher named Reverend Robert Bob Jones. He preached with the power of God. I didn't personally know him nor did I remember what his sermon was about that night.

Jim and Sally Raines, used with permission

There was another elderly gentleman there named Jim Raines (pictured above with his wife Sally). He was a member of the church. In my eyes, he was a real man of God. From my understanding, he didn't know how to read or write. One thing that he did know was how to follow the Holy Spirit of the Lord God. I remember that it was on a Thursday night; I tried not to go. My mom would not take no for an answer. Now I am happy that I did go!

When the alter call was given and the church began to sing, the one thing that I knew was the Lord God was speaking to my heart very loudly. I knew it was Him too! I had always been very shy as a child and still was as a teenager. To help me over that barrier, the Lord sent Bro. Jim straight to me. The only thing he said to me was, Do you want to be saved? and I said yes. He said, Well, get on up there! meaning the altar. I went and asked the Lord to please save me because I did not want to go to hell. He did too, and I felt like a brand-new person with the weight of sin and condemnation removed from me. Now, that condemnation was gone, and I mean gone! Also, when the Lord saved me, the Holy Ghost baptized me into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and sealed me until Christ Jesus comes back to earth again at the end of this world.

Let it be known that in this one event, two things happened to me: (1) I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin (Acts 2:38), and (2) I was baptized by the Holy Ghost into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27). This event happened in the twinkling of an eye. It was on a Thursday night that Jesus saved my soul from sin. The second great thing that happened was that my younger brother Larry got saved the prior Saturday night. There were also three other neighbor friends that Jesus saved. Praise God!

When Jesus saved me, my outward appearance did not change even thou it felt like it did. The inner man changed completely. I was dead before God, but at the moment, Jesus saved me. My inner man was made alive in Christ Jesus. My inner man became alive with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

At the moment, Jesus saved me. I didn't understand the details of what had happened. I just understood that something major had happened to me, and it was amazingly wonderful! I was dead, but now I am alive; I was blind, but now I see; I was lost, but now I am found! No wonder the four beasts cried, Holy, holy, holy!

Serving the only true and living Almighty God and Christ Jesus

The night that I was saved, my oldest sister and I walked home together. She said to me, Now that you are saved, you should read your Bible every day, pray every day, and go to church every Sunday. And I thought, I can do that. I have had my bad times in my life; but for the most part, I have done what she said. To this day, I love the scripture, the Word of God, with all my heart.

Now that I have been made alive by my Lord, He has set me on a brand-new foundation of the prophets and apostles with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. Now it is up to me to build my life on that new foundation (Ephesians 2:20).

Remember that old bluegrass song I Am Working on a Building? Well, you are working on a building for the Lord, and this is what the world sees when they look at your life that you live in front of them.

Here, Paul admonishes and warns us to build the things that will be able to stand the fire.

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:8–15)

Peter really gives us a great explanation as to what to build on the foundation that God has given us when He saves us from sin.

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:2–11)

Thou I live for many years or just for a short time, I pray that my life will glorify God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The more I learn, the more I'm thankful for what my Lord and Savior has done for me. He will do the same for you!

—Commie Dore Dunn Jr. saved on September 1965

God's Blueprint in the Scripture

By Commie Dore Dunn Jr., April 10, 2020 Editing and Illustrations by Shana R. Dunn Grooms

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

—Genesis 2:1–3

Cranach, L. (1534). Creation-Luther-Bible-1534

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Acts 15:18)

God's blueprint in the Scripture

I am a man that God saved from sin and hell back in September of 1965. If nothing else, the very fact that I am saved tells me I am in God's plan of salvation. God did much more!

Peter called the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) the determinate counsel (Acts 2:23). It was the counsel that made the decisions together, and they were in total agreement. When God told Moses, Let every word be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses, do you think Moses meant that this phrase came from the decision-making of the Godhead? I certainly do! John said this, For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one (1 John 5:7).

Moses wrote, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And he also said, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him" (Genesis 1:26–27). As you can see, Moses, in verse 26, used the term God in the plural form and, in verse 27, in the singular form. Verse 26 is referring to the Godhead, and verse 27 is referring to the one performing the creation. Christ Jesus, the Son of God, was one that created everything.

Let's zero in on some of the things that surround God's plan for the universe and the human race. The Holy Spirit has shown me things that are contained in His Word. I want to share them with you.

Let's discuss what we know.

Attributes of God

Before we can go any further, we must look at some of the attributes of God. Although there are many more than just six, these would be at the top of the list of attributes. Below is a brief summary of these six.

Aseity means God's self-existence and His self-sufficiency.

The aseity of God means God is so independent that He does not need us. It is based on Acts 17:25 where it says that God neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing (KJV).

Omnipotence means all-powerful. Monotheistic theologians regard God as having supreme power. This means, God can do what He wants. It means He is not subject to physical limitations like man is. Being omnipotent, God has power over wind, water, gravity, physics, etc. God's power is infinite or limitless.

Omnipresence means all present. This term means that God is capable of being everywhere at the same time. It means His divine presence encompasses the whole of the universe. There is no location where He does not inhabit. This should not be confused with pantheism, which suggests that God is synonymous with the universe itself; instead, omnipresence indicates that God is distinct from the universe but inhabits the entirety of it. He is everywhere at once.

Omniscience means all knowing. God is all knowing in the sense that He is aware of the past, present, and future. Nothing takes Him by surprise. His knowledge is total. He knows all that there is to know and all that can be known.

Sovereignty means that God is the supreme authority, and all things are under His control. God is the sovereign Lord of all by an incontestable right [as the] Creator, owner and possessor of heaven and earth. Sovereignty is an attribute of God based upon the fact that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, has absolute right, and has full authority to do or allow whatever He desires. The protestant position is described in the Westminster Confession of Faith, which states, God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will freely and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass.

Trinity means three persons in one: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Support for the doctrine of the Trinity comes from several verses in the Bible, the New Testament, such as the great commission of Matthew 28:19: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Also, 1 John 5:7 (KJV) reads, There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.

Before the creation

When you are talking about omniscience of God and sovereignty, all-knowing and complete control, respectably, that brings us to the subject of predestination and foreknowledge of God. Both are for God only to know and manage. It is for us to understand that this belongs only to the Godhead.

The apostle Paul said this concerning God choosing us: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will (Ephesians 1:4–5). When Paul said, According to the good pleasure of his will, this would be the same thing where Moses wrote in Genesis 1 and said, God saw that it was good." In other words, God saw that His will was accomplished, and it pleased Him.

Some folks believe that because God has predestined who will be saved and who will not, then the saints don't need to evangelize the world. This belief is totally wrong.

Although it is true that God has predestined us that are saved, this knowledge is only for God and not mankind. Mankind doesn't know who will be saved and who will not be saved. So the church is commissioned to go into the world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. So they that repent and believe the gospel of Jesus shall be saved. After people are saved by His grace, then we can know our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. All the saints have the same Spirit of God. When a saint does or says something by the Holy Spirit, then we can bear witness with their spirit. Here is how Paul said, The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16).

On the day of Pentecost, Peter was preaching the gospel of Christ to the lost Jews that had gathered there. He told them, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain (Acts 2:23). Peter made a huge statement when he said, Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. The statement tells us it was decided before the foundation of the world, before the creation. Paul would later agree with Peter because he said, Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Hebrews 4:3).

When the apostle Paul was encouraging the Romans, he said, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:28–30). Paul was telling them God's life plan for a saved person.

Paul told the Ephesians how God, before the foundation of the world, had set a time wherein the saved, or children of God, would be gathered into one, which means the body of Christ or the church. Paul said, "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Ephesians 1:10–11). Here, Paul was telling the Ephesians, and now he is telling us how God predetermined by the counsel of the Godhead before the creation of the world.

The Lord God Almighty created everything, and the scripture does give us a little insight on what He may have determined and purposed in doing His will. God created a plan for the entire universe, the earth, and each of us from the beginning of time until the end of time. He even created a lifelong plan for each individual, and He was extremely detailed. Jesus said, But the every hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30). God created the DNA or the blueprint