WHO ARE THE SAINTS?
(PART I)
Due 33:2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
Psa 16:2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;
Psa 16:3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
Act 9:13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Act 9:32 And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda.
The passages above are from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. They identify the people of God as saints. We see from these passages that laws were made for the saints. We see where the saints are; they are on the earth. We see that the saints were being persecuted in Jerusalem and we see that in the days of Peter there were some saints living in Lydda.
These passages tell us that saints are not individuals on whom the title was bestowed after their death, for the good works they did while they were alive. They show us that saints are individuals who live by God’s laws, delight in Him and seek to do His will. Saints also suffer persecution as a result of their beliefs and the way they live their lives for God.
Israel, the chosen people of God, were the same people referred to as saints in the scripture in the Old Testament.
Psa 148:14
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints;
even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the
LORD.
Hannah, in 1 Samuel 2 spoke of how the Lord protects His saints. In 2nd
Chronicles 6 as King Solomon dedicated the temple he admonished the
Children of Israel before whom he stood by saying, “let the saints
rejoice in goodness”. (Fullstop should be inside the quote) David in
Psalm 16 said that the good things that he would do, would be done for
the saints who are on earth. Over and over in the Psalms, King David
reminds the “saints” to praise the Lord, to fear the Lord (either insert
the word AND or use a comma) to love the Lord. Then the saints who
have made a covenant to serve and worship the Lord are admonished to
come together for this purpose.
In the Daniel 7, the prophet receives a vision where he sees the saints taking over the kingdom, he sees the saints being persecuted, but ultimately they repossess the kingdom and rule and reign with Christ. Hosea in chapter 11 speaks of the faithfulness of the saints in the house of Judah. Then, finally, in the book of Zechariah, chapter 14, the Lord when He sets foot on the Mt. of Olives, will not come alone, but His saints will be with Him.
Stay tuned for the New Testament scriptures regarding the saints!