Sermons - Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Nine

Jan 16, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: Passover to Tabernacles

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Jn 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

We will continue to look today at the implications for Israel for not believing Moses.

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Sunday January 16th 2022
Passover to Tabernacles
Part 9

1). Jn 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

We have come to know over the years that Jesus is to be found throughout the OT Scriptures, beginning with Moses - Lk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Despite this being so however, the Pharisees and the Scribes could not see the Christ of the Scriptures standing before them at the Lord’s first advent. And this was primarily because His person and work are to be found there through typology, types that can only to be spiritually discerned and, as we have seen, the Pharisees and the Scribes would not see beyond the letter of the Scriptures because their focus was on this world. And if they could not see the Christ and His work in Moses’ writings, then they could not believe that which Jesus spoke to them; specifically, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of the heavens is at hand.’
	a). The signs that Jesus performed in their midst, which pointed to Him, just as the OT types did, were not believed either, neither in terms of what they pictured for national Israel with respect to spiritual healing, nor what they attested to with respect to the identity of the One who performed them – Jn 10:37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

The religious leaders were fastidious in keeping the minutiae of the Law, keeping it to the letter, but beyond this they wouldn’t go – Mt 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

Consequently, the religious leaders were oblivious to the spiritually sick condition of the nation they led. From their perspective, if they could maintain control of the religious life of the people, doing what was right in their own eyes, then all was right with the world, even though it wasn’t. And within a Christian context, we find the same thing to be true as we approach the time of the Lord’s second Advent – Re 3:17 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—

The religious leaders then, thought all was well, not being able to discern what was happening in front of them – Mt 16:1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

The religious leaders refused to receive the One they knew to be the Heir of the vineyard, fulfilling the type from – Ex 2:14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?

But rather than receive the Heir and embrace repentance, they sought to reject Him and maintain the status-quo by keeping His inheritance within their own possession – Mt 21:38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’

The word translated ‘seize’ has more to do with retaining or keeping than of taking from - Jn 11:46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” 49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”

This council of the Pharisees took place soon after the resurrection of Lazarus, a sign which pointed to Israel’s resurrection on the Third Day, which is also the Seventh Day from Adam, which also foreshadowed the resurrection of the Christ. And we can see from the conversation in this council that the nation’s leaders feared they would lose their place as the rulers of the people and feared they would lose their national existence at the hands of the Romans because many of the people were believing in Jesus. As they were not able to discern the signs of the times, they were not able to understand that if they received the Heir for who He was, and exercised faith through repentance, they would not only have regained their rightful status at the head of the nations as God’s firstborn son, in the place of Rome, but also, they would have regained the lost glory and the Kingdom of the heavens would have been theirs; with the signs of the Sabbath fulfilled. The irony is that in AD70 all was lost at the hands of the Romans, the city and the temple were destroyed, the Jewish people dispersed, and the nation ceased to exist as a national entity until 1948, because of the choice they made with respect to the One born their King. The very thing they tried to avoid by putting Him to death.
	b). From the perspective of the Pharisees, offering up the One who had been born their King would placate the Romans so that they could keep their temple and their religious system and their position within it, even if it was to be under Gentile occupation in contravention of the nation’s calling – Jn 11:51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. 53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.

Caiaphas, the high priest that year, spoke prophetically about the Lord dying for the nation, which Jesus did as their Passover Lamb. However, this was something Caiaphas did not speak on his own authority, it was brought forth from above. And although Caiaphas spoke prophetically through the statement he made, concerning One Man dying for the nation, this was not his intention and nor did he prophesy knowingly. From his perspective, his words were political expediency not prophecy. Nevertheless, when John recorded this event in his Gospel, it provided yet another proof as to Jesus’ identity and purpose, to be seen by the Jews in conjunction with the eight signs that he also recorded in his Gospel – 
Jn 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you [eternally saved Jews during the re-offer of the Kingdom]may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

2).  We had also noted last time the parallel between the first generation of Israel hearing but not hearing what God had said and therefore not recognizing the bread, the ‘manna’ He had provided that lay on the ground before them, and the generation alive at the Lord’s first Advent who saw but didn’t see ‘the true Bread’ sent from heaven standing on the ground before them, even though He is to be found throughout the OT Scriptures. And consequently, they were not able to recognize what the signs Jesus performed pointed to. But look at what we see here in – Mt 8:28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Mk 1:21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

In contrast to the nation who had God, to whom had been given the Scriptures that detailed the person and work of the Christ, the demons seen in these verses recorded by Matthew and Mark, knew exactly who Jesus was. And not only did they know who He was, they knew exactly what the sign He performed by casting them out pointed to, and they also knew the connection this sign had with the Sabbath, the Seventh Day. They knew that this sign anticipated the day of Israel’s restoration to the position of firstborn son and consequently the day of their overthrow and destruction - Lk 4:41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

And the only place this knowledge that the demons had could have come from was the OT Scriptures. And knowing the OT Scriptures, the demons were severely perturbed, believing that the Lord had come to torment them ‘before the time’, the time specified for their judgment within the Scriptures – Jas 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

And the demons’ distress over their circumstances when faced by the Christ and the sign He performed on the Sabbath, can only anticipate the distress of the entire demonic world in that future Day when all that has been prophesied about their final outcome with everlasting punishment in the lake of fire will be brought to fulfillment – Mt 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

It is extraordinary to think that the demons both saw and heard that which God’s chosen people did not, despite the oracles of God having been given to them. The demons believed and trembled, the Jewish leaders by contrast did not believe and displayed contempt instead – Jn 9:28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples.

The nation’s religious leaders saw themselves as Moses’ disciples and as we have already seen today, it was Moses who wrote about the Christ, but Moses’ writings were not believed by them as they had no spiritual discernment to see beyond the letter.
	a). And this does of course provide us with an uncomfortable parallel with conditions within Christendom in these last days of this dispensation as we look to the Lord’s return and the resurrection/rapture of the one new man in Christ to His Judgment Seat.
	b). God has provided the way for us to spiritually discern the Scriptures and this He has laid out in the Scriptures themselves. And the Word of the Kingdom, the gospel of the glory of Christ, can be found throughout, beginning in the foundation, from the first verse of Genesis onwards, and yet I suspect that for most of us, when we first heard the Word of the Kingdom, it appeared to be an entirely new teaching.
	c). We know differently now, but for most Christians who have been misled by their pastor-teachers who themselves have failed to see what the Scriptures teach, they only see the letter of the Scriptures and not that which is to be spiritually discerned from them. And as with the Jews, this is primarily because of not understanding and therefore not seeing the types that begin in Genesis Chapter 1, not understanding or seeing the metaphors or the figurative language and most important of all, not beginning where God began and therefore not seeing the significance of the first thirty-four verses of Scripture with respect to everything that follows, never moving beyond the gospel of grace.
	d). And this must all be seen as the outworking of the leavening process described in the Matthew 13 parables. And if we take the parable of the leaven as an example, how many Christians, including ourselves at one time, have been taught and have therefore believed, being misled, that this parable shows the expansion of the gospel of grace throughout the world which will produce the mythical end-time revival throughout the earth that so many speak about?
	e). There is a Scriptural principle, that speaks to this, that has been set out in – 2 Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

These verses deal specifically with circumstances as they will exist during the tribulation after all Christians have been removed from the earth, but they do contain a Scriptural principle that can be applied at any time, whether during Moses’ day, the Lord’s first advent, today or the tribulation. Simply put, any eternally saved individual who continually and consistently does not receive and believe the Word of truth will be allowed to receive and believe that which is a lie instead – Ro 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

And this principle can readily be seen in action through what has come to be accepted as ‘the truth’ within the Church, as a result of the leavening process we spoke of earlier – 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.

Any foolishness you can imagine will likely be accepted within Christian circles, but if the Word of the Kingdom is mentioned, then rejection, ridicule, reviling and persecution will not be far behind.
f). And let us not think that we are immune from the possibility of this principle finding a place in us - 1 Co 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

We know from the Scriptures - Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom……..

And we know that hearing the Word of the Kingdom is more than just receiving the audible sound of the Word of the Kingdom being preached, rather it is hearing with spiritual ears that which is brought forth from above in line with that seen in – Re 3:6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’

That which we are to hear, which is brought forth by the Spirit from above, that which we are to believe, must then find itself expressed through our faithful obedience as we look to the hope that is set before us, in full confidence of its realization - 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.22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

And I am sure that we will remember that there are five interconnected warnings given in the Book of Hebrews that deal with this very subject. Warnings that are for those Christians who have heard the Word of the Kingdom. Warnings that if not heeded, can result in the Christian who has heard the Word of Truth then despising his birthright just as Esau did - Heb 12:16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

And if we go back to the first warning found in Hebrews, we will remember what we are told there - Heb 2:1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him…..

The warnings in Hebrews, and the first step toward despising our birthright, begin with ‘hearing’, with giving or not giving ‘the more earnest heed to the things we have heard’. Both the Jews of the wilderness and those of the Lord’s first advent, had not done this. They had heard but did not hear, they did not give the more earnest heed – Ro10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Heb 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

The things we have heard have revealed the Christ and the coming of His Kingdom, the Word of the Kingdom, and that which we have heard is to be always at the forefront of our remembrance and our thinking. It is to be the central focus for all we do. And if we have heard and if we have given the more earnest heed to these things, we will, like the demons, tremble when we consider what we are about to experience.
	g). We will tremble because of understanding the enormity of that which is promised to us, and we should tremble at the fear of what can be lost and the consequences for us if we are found to be unfaithful. 
	h).  We have all heard but did we actually hear what the Spirit has said through the Scriptures? And this question can be addressed after some fashion, by considering our presence here today - Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

We have something of unimaginable value, ‘our hope’, that which Paul told Titus is ‘that blessed hope’ which is directly connected to the appearing of the glory of our great God who is our Savior, Jesus Christ. And this same hope is seen earlier in the Book of Hebrews to be – Heb 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul…….

Heb 3:6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

The hope we have is to be held with ‘confidence’, with boldness, and with ‘rejoicing’, something we can take pride in, causing us to rejoice because of it. And this ‘confidence’ and ‘rejoicing’ of our hope is to remain steadfast, without wavering, set firmly on the foundation of having faith to the saving of the soul, to the end of our race of the faith in whatever form that takes.
	i). And the embrace of our hope in this way will make us ready to respond to anyone who asks us about this hope - 1 Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear….

With all of this in view, we come back to our presence here today. We are not here just because it is Sunday, we are here because of our hope. We gather together to encourage one another specifically with regards to our hope.
	j). This is to be at the forefront of our minds as we walk through the door, in every conversation we have, in every song we sing. And because of our hope and the great importance there is in encouraging one another in it, and so much the more as we see the day approaching, we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. The word translated ‘forsake’ having to do with leaving behind. 
	k). To ‘leave behind’ suggests carelessness, a lack of focus, or perhaps we could say, not giving the more earnest heed to the things we have heard. And as we have already seen, if a lack of hearing the truth goes on long enough, we may easily receive the lie instead and our drift towards despising our birthright will be underway.
	l). But even now, if this is our experience, all we must do is look to the One who has been lifted-up, look to our High Priest, change our mind, be cleansed from our unrighteousness, and then govern our lives accordingly.  The thought of the consequences for not doing so should cause us to tremble, but if we should still choose not to, then……

We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and if we have prayed.

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Nine

Refresh A Recap from the Sermon

Passover to Tabernacles - Part Nine

Jan 16, 2022

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: Passover to Tabernacles

Category: Sunday Morning

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A Recap from the Sermon