You Shall Not Go Very Far Away - Epilogue Apr 11, 2021 by: John Herbert | Series: You Shall Not Go Very Far Away Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T047_20210411.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ex 8:28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away……. We will today bring this particular study to conclusion. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 11th 2021 You Shall Not Go Very Far Away Epilogue 1). Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’ ” These words are spoken by Joshua prior to the second generation of Israel entering the land. Joshua’s command is given to ‘the officers’, who then command the people to ‘prepare provisions for yourselves’ for the purpose of possessing the land ‘which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ And this is all seen within a time period of 3 days. a). And as we look at these verses, we can see a type for the Lord’s dealings with His Church with respect to the heavenly land which they are to possess within 3 days. b). Joshua we can see as a type of Christ, and ‘the officers’ as a type of the pastor/teachers given to the Church for a specific purpose – Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; And the purpose of the pastor/teacher is to ‘equip’ ‘the saints for the work of ministry’, with regards to ‘the faith’ and the ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Son of God, in order that those in their care would progress to spiritual maturity and therefore be brought to completion with respect to the salvation of their souls. c). We can also see, as we follow the type in Joshua, that those within the Church have been given a personal responsibility to ‘prepare provisions for’ themselves. To properly receive the spiritual food that is provided for them – Lk 12:42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom…. And this must be done so that those who hear the Word of the Kingdom are fully equipped to be able to possess the heavenly land that is promised to the spiritual descendants of Abraham by faith, those who are ‘in Christ’ – Jas 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Mt 13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! 2). The heavenly land from which rulership over the Gentile nations of the earth will take place during the Millennial Kingdom has been continually occupied by Satan and his angels, both before and after his fall, and continues to this present day. However, for almost 2000 years now, the existence of the Church, a new creation, in possession of the Word of the Kingdom has been conveying a message to the rulers of the darkness of this age that they have not received with joy – Eph 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. 8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship [Lit. dispensation] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. The mystery that had been revealed to Paul was that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel [of the glory of Christ] and the existence of the new creation, coming primarily out of the Gentile nations, proclaiming the Word of the Kingdom, has and is making known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places, the manifold, the many faceted, wisdom of God with respect to this. a). And God’s purpose has already been laid in foundation through the Woman being taken from the Man’s body in Genesis Chapter 2. A purpose that will be fulfilled at the end of this dispensation when the Bride will be removed from the body of Christ, gathered at His Judgment Seat. b). And as we have seen during our previous weeks of study, this is something that Satan knows and something, from the beginning of this dispensation, that he has been trying to prevent using the same method that he employed with the Woman in the Garden – deception. 1 Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Within the typology given to us, where Adam is a type of Christ, it would be obvious that Christ cannot be deceived, but those typified by the Woman, His Church can be – 2 Co 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it! And this of course is exactly what we saw had happened at the beginning of this dispensation with the introduction of the ‘tares’, the sons of the wicked one’, among the Church who had begun to produce fruit with respect to a position of rulership with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom – 1 Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 Ti 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And that which the Spirit has expressly said had been poignantly prophesied in – Mt 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” If we follow the typology that we have already seen from 1 Timothy 2:14, then the woman who hid the leaven in the 3 measures of meal, can only be a reference to the Church. Or we should say, those within the Church, eternally saved Christians, who had given heed to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons – 2 Pe 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words… And as the leavening process has continued its destructive work, so those who were deceived have deceived others also and this has continued throughout the dispensation. c). And all of this brings us to the condition the Church now finds itself in as this dispensation comes to its close – Re 3:16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— With respect to this Laodicean condition concerning the Word of the Kingdom, let’s go back to the original verses that began our weeks of study, taken from Exodus Chapter 8 – Ex 8:27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He will command us.” 28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away……. As we consider these verses, it should be obvious to us that the one typified by Pharaoh, the god of this age, has accomplished that very thing that Pharaoh had desired, he has kept the Church within the boundaries of his kingdom, within his jurisdiction, to prevent those who could enter into the Kingdom of the Heavens in that future Day to possess it, from doing so. Preventing them from going very far away. d). This would give us the broad overview of how matters stand within Christendom at this present time. But what about those today who hear the Word of the Kingdom, who set their hearts and minds upon entering the Kingdom of the Heavens to replace Satan and his angels in that coming Day, and are producing fruit to that end? e). Well, let’s begin by reminding ourselves of that which God has accomplished for us with respect to this. f). We were born into this world ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ Born into a world controlled and dominated by Satan and his fallen angels. And just like those Jews born in Egypt before the Exodus, we were born into slavery to sin, being a slave to the one who is the very epitome of sin itself. And from this slavery there was no escape, until we accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the cross on our behalf. g). As we accepted God’s provision for our sin, the death and shed blood of our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, so we received spiritual life. And as we will remember from the type of the first day in Genesis Chapter 1, the light of spiritual life shone into the darkness of spiritual death and a separation was made between the two, between the soul and the spirit, the old man and the new. h). Consequently, we were delivered from our slavery to sin – Ro 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. And as a result, we are separated from Satan’s kingdom through a change in our allegiance – Col 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love…. And to the change in our allegiance, we can also add this – 2 Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. According to the parable of the Sower in Matthew Chapter 13 we have all been ‘sown’ out into the world, literally into different geographical locations. And no matter which nation we were born into, that nation was at the time of our birth, and remains, a Gentile nation under the rule of the god of this age – 1 Jn 5:19b the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. But because of our ‘new creation’ in Christ, the old things have passed away and all things have become new. We may still be in the same geographical location into which we were born, but we are no longer a part of that Gentile nation. We are now strangers and pilgrims. i). Adam, we will remember, was created to rule, and there was a creation in Jacob for the same purpose, and through creation the Jewish people were totally separate from all the other nations of the earth – Nu 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations. And the same is true for us. We have been created in Christ to rule, and we are no longer to be counted among the nations of the world, as those nations remain under Satan’s control, but because of Christ’s finished work, we can be separate from those nations and the one who rules them from the heavens, being strangers and pilgrims in this present time. The reality of this separation from the land of our birth with a view to our heavenly calling, is to be our mindset and our confession, just as it was for the OT saints seen in - Heb 11:14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. We will realize then, that on God’s part He has done everything possible to facilitate our 3 days’ journey, that we may successfully complete it and possess the land of our calling in the 3rd Day. 3). 2 Pe 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. God then has done His part. We have, through Christ’s finished work on the cross, been separated from the bondage of Satan’s kingdom, we have been separated from slavery to sin and we have been separated from the Gentile nations under Satan’s control in which we live. All for a regal purpose. a). Even though these things are a spiritual reality, they are not necessarily our spiritual experience because our old man remains, the darkness continues to exist alongside the light, sin is ever present with us and we must live in the world under the sway of the wicked one with deception ever present - Ro 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? What we see in this verse from Romans is that the separation brought about through Christ’s finished work on the cross is something we must choose for ourselves. God has made it possible for us to do so; all things have been completed, now we must choose whom we will obey. b). God’s revealed purpose with respect to this are the provisions given through the Word of the Kingdom that we must prepare for ourselves. Which are given to us through the ministry of pastor/teachers as we anticipate possessing the heavenly land in the 3rd Day. c). Either we will choose to be doers of the Word of the Kingdom and not hearers only or we will remain, figuratively, on the banks of the Jordan river without ever crossing over. The proper preparation is paramount. d). Paul, in his dealings with the Corinthian Church, has set in place something that is instructive for us with respect to this – 2 Co 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Paul, in conjunction with the Lord is seen in these verses to plead with the Corinthians that they had not received the grace of God in vain. In other words, that their eternal salvation would not become worthless to them with respect to possessing the Heavenly land because they did not properly prepare the provisions provided for them - 1 Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel [of the glory of Christ] which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. And there are echoes of the Book of Hebrews here – Heb 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness…. And the reason for Paul’s concern for the Corinthians was their lack of movement in the 3 days’ journey because of their embroilment with those whom the Scripture calls ‘unbelievers’ – 2 Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now, let us be careful with this word ‘unbeliever’. It does not refer to the eternally lost, but to the eternally saved who do not believe, who do not have the faith to the saving of the soul, those who are deceived and deceive others and consequently practice lawlessness. e). And in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we can find ample evidence of this very thing among the Christians there – 1 Co 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. 1 Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? 1 Co 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you……6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? What we see in the verses from Chapter 1 is the presence of divisions and contentions within the body, which can only be there because they had not come to the unity of the faith, they were not of the same mind. And the reason for this can be seen in Chapter 3 where their carnality would only allow them to receive the milk of the Word rather than meat. Consequently, the provisions they had to prepare for themselves would not be sufficient to see them cross the Jordan and possess the land. f). Also, in Chapter 3 we see the presence of sectarianism. ‘I am of Paul’, I am of Apollos’, the manifestation of carnality that comes out of having only a ‘gnosis’ rather than ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Son of God. And finally, in Chapter 5, sexual immorality rears its head again, that which is not even named among the Gentiles, the unsaved in this context. g). Here in Corinthians, we can find a parallel with the second half of Romans Chapter 1, which we had studied some weeks back. These verses from Corinthians are not about judging one another, as doing so would demonstrate our own carnality, rather they are about the condition of the Church at the end of this dispensation – a Church divided by contentions, filled with sectarianism, embracing a level of sexual immorality through its love affair with the world that should not even be named, let alone be practiced. And it is with respect to this that we are commanded 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and with the command comes a glorious promise, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” h). Chapter 7 then begins – 2 Co 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The command has been given; within 3 days we will possess the heavenly land that God is giving us to possess. The ‘officers’ have gone through the camp declaring ‘prepare provisions for yourselves’ – Php 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Our 3 days’ journey is nearly at its end and the distance we have put between ourselves and all that is associated with Satan’s kingdom will be determined by the level of preparation we have made on the one hand, and will be seen in our Lord’s response to us at His Judgment Seat on the other. i). Although the night is now far spent and the Day is at hand, there remains time to come out from among them and be separate and not to touch that which is unclean so that we can claim the promises of 2 Corinthians 6:17b-18, that we might possess the land of our calling and realize the purpose for our salvation. j). Let it not be said of us that we have received the grace of God in vain. If we remain and the Lord is willing – we will continue next time. You Shall Not Go Very Far Away - Epilogue Apr 11, 2021 Speaker: John Herbert Series: You Shall Not Go Very Far Away Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T047_20210411.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ex 8:28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away……. We will today bring this particular study to conclusion. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 11th 2021 You Shall Not Go Very Far Away Epilogue 1). Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’ ” These words are spoken by Joshua prior to the second generation of Israel entering the land. Joshua’s command is given to ‘the officers’, who then command the people to ‘prepare provisions for yourselves’ for the purpose of possessing the land ‘which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ And this is all seen within a time period of 3 days. a). And as we look at these verses, we can see a type for the Lord’s dealings with His Church with respect to the heavenly land which they are to possess within 3 days. b). Joshua we can see as a type of Christ, and ‘the officers’ as a type of the pastor/teachers given to the Church for a specific purpose – Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; And the purpose of the pastor/teacher is to ‘equip’ ‘the saints for the work of ministry’, with regards to ‘the faith’ and the ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Son of God, in order that those in their care would progress to spiritual maturity and therefore be brought to completion with respect to the salvation of their souls. c). We can also see, as we follow the type in Joshua, that those within the Church have been given a personal responsibility to ‘prepare provisions for’ themselves. To properly receive the spiritual food that is provided for them – Lk 12:42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom…. And this must be done so that those who hear the Word of the Kingdom are fully equipped to be able to possess the heavenly land that is promised to the spiritual descendants of Abraham by faith, those who are ‘in Christ’ – Jas 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Mt 13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! 2). The heavenly land from which rulership over the Gentile nations of the earth will take place during the Millennial Kingdom has been continually occupied by Satan and his angels, both before and after his fall, and continues to this present day. However, for almost 2000 years now, the existence of the Church, a new creation, in possession of the Word of the Kingdom has been conveying a message to the rulers of the darkness of this age that they have not received with joy – Eph 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. 8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship [Lit. dispensation] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. The mystery that had been revealed to Paul was that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel [of the glory of Christ] and the existence of the new creation, coming primarily out of the Gentile nations, proclaiming the Word of the Kingdom, has and is making known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places, the manifold, the many faceted, wisdom of God with respect to this. a). And God’s purpose has already been laid in foundation through the Woman being taken from the Man’s body in Genesis Chapter 2. A purpose that will be fulfilled at the end of this dispensation when the Bride will be removed from the body of Christ, gathered at His Judgment Seat. b). And as we have seen during our previous weeks of study, this is something that Satan knows and something, from the beginning of this dispensation, that he has been trying to prevent using the same method that he employed with the Woman in the Garden – deception. 1 Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Within the typology given to us, where Adam is a type of Christ, it would be obvious that Christ cannot be deceived, but those typified by the Woman, His Church can be – 2 Co 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it! And this of course is exactly what we saw had happened at the beginning of this dispensation with the introduction of the ‘tares’, the sons of the wicked one’, among the Church who had begun to produce fruit with respect to a position of rulership with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom – 1 Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 Ti 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And that which the Spirit has expressly said had been poignantly prophesied in – Mt 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” If we follow the typology that we have already seen from 1 Timothy 2:14, then the woman who hid the leaven in the 3 measures of meal, can only be a reference to the Church. Or we should say, those within the Church, eternally saved Christians, who had given heed to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons – 2 Pe 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words… And as the leavening process has continued its destructive work, so those who were deceived have deceived others also and this has continued throughout the dispensation. c). And all of this brings us to the condition the Church now finds itself in as this dispensation comes to its close – Re 3:16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— With respect to this Laodicean condition concerning the Word of the Kingdom, let’s go back to the original verses that began our weeks of study, taken from Exodus Chapter 8 – Ex 8:27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He will command us.” 28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away……. As we consider these verses, it should be obvious to us that the one typified by Pharaoh, the god of this age, has accomplished that very thing that Pharaoh had desired, he has kept the Church within the boundaries of his kingdom, within his jurisdiction, to prevent those who could enter into the Kingdom of the Heavens in that future Day to possess it, from doing so. Preventing them from going very far away. d). This would give us the broad overview of how matters stand within Christendom at this present time. But what about those today who hear the Word of the Kingdom, who set their hearts and minds upon entering the Kingdom of the Heavens to replace Satan and his angels in that coming Day, and are producing fruit to that end? e). Well, let’s begin by reminding ourselves of that which God has accomplished for us with respect to this. f). We were born into this world ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ Born into a world controlled and dominated by Satan and his fallen angels. And just like those Jews born in Egypt before the Exodus, we were born into slavery to sin, being a slave to the one who is the very epitome of sin itself. And from this slavery there was no escape, until we accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the cross on our behalf. g). As we accepted God’s provision for our sin, the death and shed blood of our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, so we received spiritual life. And as we will remember from the type of the first day in Genesis Chapter 1, the light of spiritual life shone into the darkness of spiritual death and a separation was made between the two, between the soul and the spirit, the old man and the new. h). Consequently, we were delivered from our slavery to sin – Ro 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. And as a result, we are separated from Satan’s kingdom through a change in our allegiance – Col 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love…. And to the change in our allegiance, we can also add this – 2 Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. According to the parable of the Sower in Matthew Chapter 13 we have all been ‘sown’ out into the world, literally into different geographical locations. And no matter which nation we were born into, that nation was at the time of our birth, and remains, a Gentile nation under the rule of the god of this age – 1 Jn 5:19b the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. But because of our ‘new creation’ in Christ, the old things have passed away and all things have become new. We may still be in the same geographical location into which we were born, but we are no longer a part of that Gentile nation. We are now strangers and pilgrims. i). Adam, we will remember, was created to rule, and there was a creation in Jacob for the same purpose, and through creation the Jewish people were totally separate from all the other nations of the earth – Nu 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations. And the same is true for us. We have been created in Christ to rule, and we are no longer to be counted among the nations of the world, as those nations remain under Satan’s control, but because of Christ’s finished work, we can be separate from those nations and the one who rules them from the heavens, being strangers and pilgrims in this present time. The reality of this separation from the land of our birth with a view to our heavenly calling, is to be our mindset and our confession, just as it was for the OT saints seen in - Heb 11:14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. We will realize then, that on God’s part He has done everything possible to facilitate our 3 days’ journey, that we may successfully complete it and possess the land of our calling in the 3rd Day. 3). 2 Pe 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. God then has done His part. We have, through Christ’s finished work on the cross, been separated from the bondage of Satan’s kingdom, we have been separated from slavery to sin and we have been separated from the Gentile nations under Satan’s control in which we live. All for a regal purpose. a). Even though these things are a spiritual reality, they are not necessarily our spiritual experience because our old man remains, the darkness continues to exist alongside the light, sin is ever present with us and we must live in the world under the sway of the wicked one with deception ever present - Ro 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? What we see in this verse from Romans is that the separation brought about through Christ’s finished work on the cross is something we must choose for ourselves. God has made it possible for us to do so; all things have been completed, now we must choose whom we will obey. b). God’s revealed purpose with respect to this are the provisions given through the Word of the Kingdom that we must prepare for ourselves. Which are given to us through the ministry of pastor/teachers as we anticipate possessing the heavenly land in the 3rd Day. c). Either we will choose to be doers of the Word of the Kingdom and not hearers only or we will remain, figuratively, on the banks of the Jordan river without ever crossing over. The proper preparation is paramount. d). Paul, in his dealings with the Corinthian Church, has set in place something that is instructive for us with respect to this – 2 Co 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Paul, in conjunction with the Lord is seen in these verses to plead with the Corinthians that they had not received the grace of God in vain. In other words, that their eternal salvation would not become worthless to them with respect to possessing the Heavenly land because they did not properly prepare the provisions provided for them - 1 Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel [of the glory of Christ] which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. And there are echoes of the Book of Hebrews here – Heb 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness…. And the reason for Paul’s concern for the Corinthians was their lack of movement in the 3 days’ journey because of their embroilment with those whom the Scripture calls ‘unbelievers’ – 2 Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now, let us be careful with this word ‘unbeliever’. It does not refer to the eternally lost, but to the eternally saved who do not believe, who do not have the faith to the saving of the soul, those who are deceived and deceive others and consequently practice lawlessness. e). And in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we can find ample evidence of this very thing among the Christians there – 1 Co 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. 1 Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? 1 Co 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you……6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? What we see in the verses from Chapter 1 is the presence of divisions and contentions within the body, which can only be there because they had not come to the unity of the faith, they were not of the same mind. And the reason for this can be seen in Chapter 3 where their carnality would only allow them to receive the milk of the Word rather than meat. Consequently, the provisions they had to prepare for themselves would not be sufficient to see them cross the Jordan and possess the land. f). Also, in Chapter 3 we see the presence of sectarianism. ‘I am of Paul’, I am of Apollos’, the manifestation of carnality that comes out of having only a ‘gnosis’ rather than ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Son of God. And finally, in Chapter 5, sexual immorality rears its head again, that which is not even named among the Gentiles, the unsaved in this context. g). Here in Corinthians, we can find a parallel with the second half of Romans Chapter 1, which we had studied some weeks back. These verses from Corinthians are not about judging one another, as doing so would demonstrate our own carnality, rather they are about the condition of the Church at the end of this dispensation – a Church divided by contentions, filled with sectarianism, embracing a level of sexual immorality through its love affair with the world that should not even be named, let alone be practiced. And it is with respect to this that we are commanded 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and with the command comes a glorious promise, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” h). Chapter 7 then begins – 2 Co 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The command has been given; within 3 days we will possess the heavenly land that God is giving us to possess. The ‘officers’ have gone through the camp declaring ‘prepare provisions for yourselves’ – Php 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Our 3 days’ journey is nearly at its end and the distance we have put between ourselves and all that is associated with Satan’s kingdom will be determined by the level of preparation we have made on the one hand, and will be seen in our Lord’s response to us at His Judgment Seat on the other. i). Although the night is now far spent and the Day is at hand, there remains time to come out from among them and be separate and not to touch that which is unclean so that we can claim the promises of 2 Corinthians 6:17b-18, that we might possess the land of our calling and realize the purpose for our salvation. j). Let it not be said of us that we have received the grace of God in vain. If we remain and the Lord is willing – we will continue next time.