the Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Seventeen - G Oct 13, 2019 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T001_20191013.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Hey 12:5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: We will continue to look at the child training of the Lord today. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday October 13th 2019 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 17G ‘What More Shall I Say?’ 1). Heb 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. We had seen last time that laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us in order to run our race of the faith with patient endurance is inextricably connected to submitting ourselves to the child training of the Lord. a). And again, as we have seen, the purpose for the child training is to bring many sons to glory – Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The joy set before the Lord, for which He patiently endured the cross and despised the shame, is the Day when He will rule over the Kingdom presently in the hands of Satan with the many sons whom He will have prepared and have brought to glory. b). And as we know the Lord cannot take the kingdom from Satan and establish His rule apart from those many sons being identified at the Judgment Seat. c). And with the identification of those sons at the Judgment Seat the One who is the ‘captain of their salvation’ will then be made ‘perfect’, He will be made complete. d). Just as Adam was incomplete without the Woman, who was a part of his body, and would not be in a position to rule apart from her, so our Lord remains incomplete, with respect to the requirements for rulership in the 7th Day, apart from the many sons. The many sons from Hebrews and the antitype of the Woman from Genesis are synonymous. e). And the many sons are brought to glory ‘through sufferings’ – their sufferings bring them to glory thereby making complete the ‘captain of their salvation’, so that rulership can then take place when the kingdom is taken from Satan – Ro 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. And our suffering, that which we are to patiently endure, is also inextricably connected to the child training of the Lord - Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. And the suffering which we are to patiently endure which is ‘painful’ is poignantly revealed through the experience of the Lord in the shedding of His blood – Lu 22:41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, [severe mental struggles and emotions] He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. That which caused the Lord’s ‘agony’ here is evident, ‘not My will, but Yours, be done.’ And this will be our ‘agony’ also – Ga 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. This is a continuous internal struggle that we are engaged in as our faith is tested – will we choose our will, or the Lord’s will? And to be brought face to face with that choice is where we find the child training of the Lord. – Ga 4:30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” f). And then there is the ‘suffering’ that comes from outside of us – Heb 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself………… Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, There is the inevitable suffering that must come our way from other Christians who reject the word of truth – 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. And then there will be others, Christians or otherwise, who will reject us because of the way we now choose to live – 1 Pe 4:3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. Mt 13:21…..For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, And through these external sources our faith is also tested, and here again we will find the child training of the Lord. And the Lord is very clear about the experience we will have – 2 Ti 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But let’s also be encouraged in the midst of this - Ro 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 2 Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1 Pe 4:12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 2). We had seen last time through the foundational type seen in Abraham that the child training of the Lord appears in conjunction with a journey – Ge 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” God’s instructions to Abraham to ‘get out of’ his country, his family and his father’s house have purpose. And this purpose goes beyond just seeing the land that God would show him. Ultimately it has to do with ‘all the families of the earth’ being blessed – something that still awaits that future Day – Ge 22:15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, And we had seen last time that Abraham’s literal journey from the land of his birth to the land of his inheritance serves as a metaphor not only for his spiritual journey to maturity, but for ours also. And during the course of his journey we can witness the events by which he was child trained through faith testing. a). We might remember the incidents with the Pharaoh in Egypt and Abimelech where Abraham pretended Sarah was his sister. The delay in Haran, the separation from Lot, the promises given, the meeting with Melchizedek, the birth of Ishmael, the destruction of Sodom etc. And to all of these events we can apply – Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. From the type of Abraham, we can see that the testing of his faith began after his eternal salvation. We know from Hebrews that – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. Only those who have passed from death to life, those who are eternally saved, can act ‘by faith’. And so, the type is set that the testing of faith can and will only come after eternal salvation. b). In the same way we see that Ruth made the decision to make the journey to Bethlehem after the death of her Jewish husband – picturing the death of Christ, and therefore eternal salvation, for the faithful Christian. c). And the same thing is seen with Rebekah, who is offered the choice to go with Abraham’s oldest servant because she is a member of Abraham’s family – family membership in the type being an allusion to eternal salvation – Ge 24:4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” And exactly the same thing is seen to be true for Israel prior to their departure from Egypt. And as it was for Abraham, Ruth and Rebekah, so it would be for Israel – the departure from the land of their birth was to be for a specific purpose – Ex 3:8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. The beginning point of eternal salvation for Israel is of course the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs and this takes place while Israel is still in Egypt and, following the foundational types, this must be in place before anything else can happen. d). Then from the type in Exodus extra detail is added to that which we have previously seen. In Exodus it is not eternal salvation of itself that begins the journey to the land of promise, although that journey cannot take place without it – Ex 14:22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The death of the firstborn had taken place in Egypt, and God’s adopted firstborn son, Israel, who had died that night was buried in the place of death pictured through them going into the midst of the Red Sea. e). Because of the substitutionary death of the Passover lambs and the appropriation of the blood, Israel had passed from death to life and could not therefore remain in the place of death – resurrection power comes into view. f). So, Israel came out of the Red Sea to stand on the eastern bank, but the Egyptians who were without the substitutionary death of the Passover lambs were consumed – Ex 14:28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. Within the historical account all of Israel who came out of Egypt stood on the eastern bank with their sin nature intact. But the spiritual truth given to us through the type seen in the historical account is that, that which dies through the substitutionary death is the first born, the man of the flesh, the old man. g). And this ‘old man’ who has no connection with resurrection power, is to remain in the place of death whereas the new man, the man of the spirit is to be raised by resurrection power to walk in newness of life. And it is only the new man, raised to newness of life who can then make the journey to the land of promise. h). The man of the flesh, like the Egyptians in the Red Sea, cannot escape the place of death, and is therefore completely incapable of making the journey. Ex 19:4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” And the waters of the Red Sea returning to their former place symbolically represents Israel being completely separated from all that had gone before. All that is associated with the dead and buried ‘old man’. This is the same idea as Abraham having to ‘get out’ of his country, his family and his father’s house. Or Ruth leaving her father and mother and the land of her birth. Or Rebekah leaving her family to go with Abraham’s oldest servant. i). This then pictures a complete separation from a life in the flesh to a life in the spirit; from a life of unbelief to a life of faith. And as we have already seen, such a separation will always bring persecution from those who do not make the same choice. j). That pictured through Israel’s burial in the Red Sea within our own context is seen through the symbolism of baptism – Ro 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, Only the Christian then who experiences that pictured through baptism is then in a position to make the journey. For the Christian who doesn’t have this experience, they remain eternally saved but never leave Egypt. These would be the same Christians as Hebrews classifies as illegitimate and not sons, who do not submit themselves to the child training of the Lord. i). The importance of separation from a previous way of living through death, burial and resurrection as symbolized in baptism is the reason why the message of repentance when the Kingdom of heaven was at hand at the Lord’s first advent was accompanied by baptism – Mt 3:5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 3). So significant is this separation seen through the symbolism of baptism to seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness, to making the spiritual journey to maturity, that the Lord rebuked Nicodemus for not understanding it – Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born [brought forth out of] of water and [brought forth out of] the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Jesus was talking to an eternally saved Jew, who had already experienced the death of the firstborn, a Pharisee, who was ‘the teacher of Israel’ about events from Israel’s history under Moses, events that are subsequent to the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs, the death of the firstborn, events that Nicodemus would have an intimate knowledge of. And this conversation is in the context of the offer of the Kingdom of the Heavens to Israel. a). Being brought forth out of water takes us to Israel passing through the Red Sea; and being brought forth out of the Spirit takes us to the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that led Israel to the border of the land at Kadesh Barnea – Ex 40:37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. That which the Lord told Nicodemus provides an irrefutable truth set out in the typology of Israel’s history that applies to every Christian – without being brought forth out of water and the Spirit you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Only the Christian who keeps the old man in the place of death, allowing the new man to walk in resurrection power, making the separation with his previous life; who will then follow the leading of the Spirit will find entrance into the Kingdom rule of Christ as a joint heir – 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. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. We all have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth if we choose to follow His leading – this is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night from a Christian perspective. And as with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, the Holy Spirit, if we are submitted to Him, leads us in only one direction – to the land of our inheritance. b). And the leading of the Spirit and the child training of the Lord should be seen as one and the same thing. c). Let’s just put this together one more time – In Romans 8:14 we saw that as many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God and in Hebrews 12:7, we learned that if we patiently endure child training the Lord deals with us as with sons. And we can then add to this the following verses - 2 Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [Lit. ‘God breathed’ is God’s breath, God’s Spirit], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, Col 3:16a Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom……. And not surprisingly, that which we see here with regards to separation through the symbolism of baptism and the leading of the Spirit for the purpose of rulership were set in place in the foundational type for the restoration of the ruined creation seen in Genesis Chapter 1. But this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing. the Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Seventeen - G Oct 13, 2019 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T001_20191013.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Hey 12:5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: We will continue to look at the child training of the Lord today. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday October 13th 2019 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 17G ‘What More Shall I Say?’ 1). Heb 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. We had seen last time that laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us in order to run our race of the faith with patient endurance is inextricably connected to submitting ourselves to the child training of the Lord. a). And again, as we have seen, the purpose for the child training is to bring many sons to glory – Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The joy set before the Lord, for which He patiently endured the cross and despised the shame, is the Day when He will rule over the Kingdom presently in the hands of Satan with the many sons whom He will have prepared and have brought to glory. b). And as we know the Lord cannot take the kingdom from Satan and establish His rule apart from those many sons being identified at the Judgment Seat. c). And with the identification of those sons at the Judgment Seat the One who is the ‘captain of their salvation’ will then be made ‘perfect’, He will be made complete. d). Just as Adam was incomplete without the Woman, who was a part of his body, and would not be in a position to rule apart from her, so our Lord remains incomplete, with respect to the requirements for rulership in the 7th Day, apart from the many sons. The many sons from Hebrews and the antitype of the Woman from Genesis are synonymous. e). And the many sons are brought to glory ‘through sufferings’ – their sufferings bring them to glory thereby making complete the ‘captain of their salvation’, so that rulership can then take place when the kingdom is taken from Satan – Ro 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. And our suffering, that which we are to patiently endure, is also inextricably connected to the child training of the Lord - Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. And the suffering which we are to patiently endure which is ‘painful’ is poignantly revealed through the experience of the Lord in the shedding of His blood – Lu 22:41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, [severe mental struggles and emotions] He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. That which caused the Lord’s ‘agony’ here is evident, ‘not My will, but Yours, be done.’ And this will be our ‘agony’ also – Ga 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. This is a continuous internal struggle that we are engaged in as our faith is tested – will we choose our will, or the Lord’s will? And to be brought face to face with that choice is where we find the child training of the Lord. – Ga 4:30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” f). And then there is the ‘suffering’ that comes from outside of us – Heb 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself………… Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, There is the inevitable suffering that must come our way from other Christians who reject the word of truth – 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. And then there will be others, Christians or otherwise, who will reject us because of the way we now choose to live – 1 Pe 4:3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. Mt 13:21…..For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, And through these external sources our faith is also tested, and here again we will find the child training of the Lord. And the Lord is very clear about the experience we will have – 2 Ti 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But let’s also be encouraged in the midst of this - Ro 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 2 Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1 Pe 4:12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 2). We had seen last time through the foundational type seen in Abraham that the child training of the Lord appears in conjunction with a journey – Ge 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” God’s instructions to Abraham to ‘get out of’ his country, his family and his father’s house have purpose. And this purpose goes beyond just seeing the land that God would show him. Ultimately it has to do with ‘all the families of the earth’ being blessed – something that still awaits that future Day – Ge 22:15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, And we had seen last time that Abraham’s literal journey from the land of his birth to the land of his inheritance serves as a metaphor not only for his spiritual journey to maturity, but for ours also. And during the course of his journey we can witness the events by which he was child trained through faith testing. a). We might remember the incidents with the Pharaoh in Egypt and Abimelech where Abraham pretended Sarah was his sister. The delay in Haran, the separation from Lot, the promises given, the meeting with Melchizedek, the birth of Ishmael, the destruction of Sodom etc. And to all of these events we can apply – Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. From the type of Abraham, we can see that the testing of his faith began after his eternal salvation. We know from Hebrews that – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. Only those who have passed from death to life, those who are eternally saved, can act ‘by faith’. And so, the type is set that the testing of faith can and will only come after eternal salvation. b). In the same way we see that Ruth made the decision to make the journey to Bethlehem after the death of her Jewish husband – picturing the death of Christ, and therefore eternal salvation, for the faithful Christian. c). And the same thing is seen with Rebekah, who is offered the choice to go with Abraham’s oldest servant because she is a member of Abraham’s family – family membership in the type being an allusion to eternal salvation – Ge 24:4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” And exactly the same thing is seen to be true for Israel prior to their departure from Egypt. And as it was for Abraham, Ruth and Rebekah, so it would be for Israel – the departure from the land of their birth was to be for a specific purpose – Ex 3:8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. The beginning point of eternal salvation for Israel is of course the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs and this takes place while Israel is still in Egypt and, following the foundational types, this must be in place before anything else can happen. d). Then from the type in Exodus extra detail is added to that which we have previously seen. In Exodus it is not eternal salvation of itself that begins the journey to the land of promise, although that journey cannot take place without it – Ex 14:22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The death of the firstborn had taken place in Egypt, and God’s adopted firstborn son, Israel, who had died that night was buried in the place of death pictured through them going into the midst of the Red Sea. e). Because of the substitutionary death of the Passover lambs and the appropriation of the blood, Israel had passed from death to life and could not therefore remain in the place of death – resurrection power comes into view. f). So, Israel came out of the Red Sea to stand on the eastern bank, but the Egyptians who were without the substitutionary death of the Passover lambs were consumed – Ex 14:28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. Within the historical account all of Israel who came out of Egypt stood on the eastern bank with their sin nature intact. But the spiritual truth given to us through the type seen in the historical account is that, that which dies through the substitutionary death is the first born, the man of the flesh, the old man. g). And this ‘old man’ who has no connection with resurrection power, is to remain in the place of death whereas the new man, the man of the spirit is to be raised by resurrection power to walk in newness of life. And it is only the new man, raised to newness of life who can then make the journey to the land of promise. h). The man of the flesh, like the Egyptians in the Red Sea, cannot escape the place of death, and is therefore completely incapable of making the journey. Ex 19:4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” And the waters of the Red Sea returning to their former place symbolically represents Israel being completely separated from all that had gone before. All that is associated with the dead and buried ‘old man’. This is the same idea as Abraham having to ‘get out’ of his country, his family and his father’s house. Or Ruth leaving her father and mother and the land of her birth. Or Rebekah leaving her family to go with Abraham’s oldest servant. i). This then pictures a complete separation from a life in the flesh to a life in the spirit; from a life of unbelief to a life of faith. And as we have already seen, such a separation will always bring persecution from those who do not make the same choice. j). That pictured through Israel’s burial in the Red Sea within our own context is seen through the symbolism of baptism – Ro 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, Only the Christian then who experiences that pictured through baptism is then in a position to make the journey. For the Christian who doesn’t have this experience, they remain eternally saved but never leave Egypt. These would be the same Christians as Hebrews classifies as illegitimate and not sons, who do not submit themselves to the child training of the Lord. i). The importance of separation from a previous way of living through death, burial and resurrection as symbolized in baptism is the reason why the message of repentance when the Kingdom of heaven was at hand at the Lord’s first advent was accompanied by baptism – Mt 3:5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 3). So significant is this separation seen through the symbolism of baptism to seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness, to making the spiritual journey to maturity, that the Lord rebuked Nicodemus for not understanding it – Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born [brought forth out of] of water and [brought forth out of] the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Jesus was talking to an eternally saved Jew, who had already experienced the death of the firstborn, a Pharisee, who was ‘the teacher of Israel’ about events from Israel’s history under Moses, events that are subsequent to the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs, the death of the firstborn, events that Nicodemus would have an intimate knowledge of. And this conversation is in the context of the offer of the Kingdom of the Heavens to Israel. a). Being brought forth out of water takes us to Israel passing through the Red Sea; and being brought forth out of the Spirit takes us to the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that led Israel to the border of the land at Kadesh Barnea – Ex 40:37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. That which the Lord told Nicodemus provides an irrefutable truth set out in the typology of Israel’s history that applies to every Christian – without being brought forth out of water and the Spirit you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Only the Christian who keeps the old man in the place of death, allowing the new man to walk in resurrection power, making the separation with his previous life; who will then follow the leading of the Spirit will find entrance into the Kingdom rule of Christ as a joint heir – 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. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. We all have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth if we choose to follow His leading – this is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night from a Christian perspective. And as with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, the Holy Spirit, if we are submitted to Him, leads us in only one direction – to the land of our inheritance. b). And the leading of the Spirit and the child training of the Lord should be seen as one and the same thing. c). Let’s just put this together one more time – In Romans 8:14 we saw that as many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God and in Hebrews 12:7, we learned that if we patiently endure child training the Lord deals with us as with sons. And we can then add to this the following verses - 2 Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [Lit. ‘God breathed’ is God’s breath, God’s Spirit], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, Col 3:16a Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom……. And not surprisingly, that which we see here with regards to separation through the symbolism of baptism and the leading of the Spirit for the purpose of rulership were set in place in the foundational type for the restoration of the ruined creation seen in Genesis Chapter 1. But this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing.