Sermons - Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

What Shall I Do - Part Five

Nov 20, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: What Shall I Do...

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Jn 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is brought forth from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

We will continue this week to look at what it means to be brought forth from above.

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Sunday November 20th 2022
What Shall I Do……..
Part 5

1). Jn 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is brought forth from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is brought forth out of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is brought forth out of the flesh is flesh, and that which is brought forth out of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be brought forth from above.’

We have seen in our past weeks of study that Jesus had made it abundantly clear to Nicodemus that the Jewish people at His first Advent, and this would also apply during the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to the Jews by the one new man during the Acts period as well, could not enter the Kingdom of the heavens on offer to them, unless they believed in Him, unless they believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that this revelation concerning the Lord’s identity could only be brought forth from above, brought forth out of God. And for this to be brought forth from above the individual would have to have made an affirmative response to the message preached, ‘Repent for the Kingdom of the heavens is at hand’.
	a). And Jesus had also told Nicodemus that the individual brought forth from above, receiving the wisdom from above, must be brought forth out of water and the Holy Spirit. Actions seen in conjunction with repentance.
	b). In the conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus had drawn from the scripturally recorded history of Israel, focused on the Red Sea crossing. And we had noted last time how this event reveals a foundational truth that we must also embrace if we are going to enter the Kingdom of the heavens. And to see this truth we can go to – Ge 1:9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

And last time we had dealt with one particular facet of the truth contained in these verses, that which is seen through the separation of the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below; where the individual in possession of spiritual life, as pictured in Day One of the restoration of the material creation, can then distinguish between the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below, pictured in Day Two, and through receiving and believing the wisdom brought forth from above is then separated from the wisdom from below and through a Divine work within him, produces fruit, pictured in Day Three.
	c). And we had compared this foundational truth concerning separation, seen in Day Three, with the Parable of the Sower in Matthew Chapter 13. 
	d). The Parable of the Sower is all about the Christian who hears the Word of the Kingdom, who is sown out into the world, to produce fruit with respect to the entry into the Kingdom. But in the first three parts of this parable, we saw individuals, eternally saved Christians, who for a variety of reasons, were overcome by the wisdom from below, never producing fruit with respect to the Kingdom – Mt 13:18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Because they are unfruitful, and fruit can only be produced after the separation from the wisdom below, we would have to see them as remaining within the waters below the firmament. Because of their own choices the necessary separation does not take place – Re 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Power Point – Slide 1

We are now at the end of this dispensation, and most Christians at this time can still be found ‘beneath the waters below the firmament’, a condition expressed in the way they perceive themselves as opposed to the way God sees them – 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

But the opportunity remains for any Christian to be brought forth from above through hearing His voice, the Word of Christ, the Word of the Kingdom, and opening the door - Re 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
 
And as with the Jews at the Lord’s first Advent, and during the re-offer of the Kingdom in the Book of Acts, repentance, a change of mind, and child training, must take place if that which can then be brought forth from above is to be received and believed, and fruit is to be produced – 
Re 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

And throughout this dispensation, including us at the end of it, individuals have received and believed the wisdom brought forth from above, the Word of the Kingdom, they have heard His voice and opened the door and have been brought forth out of God – Mt 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word [of the Kingdom] and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

To take this back to the Parable of the Sower, there are then, those individuals who understand the Word of the Kingdom, who patiently endure through trial and persecution as they are brought forth from above, who are not overcome by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the pleasures of this life, who are separated from the wisdom from below and through a Divine work within them, produce fruit for the Kingdom.
	e). This is not where the Matthew 13 Parables end of course, but we will pause here for a time so that we can consider another facet of the truth taught through Day Three in Genesis Chapter 1.

2). And so, with this previous facet of the truth established, we can now add another to it from the foundation given in Day Three of the restoration, a truth which is also typified for us in the Red Sea crossing by Israel, that of death, burial, and resurrection. Let’s look again at – 
Ge 1:9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.

We have previously seen ‘the waters under the heavens’, the sea, used to picture the wisdom from below. And we have also seen these same waters in previous studies used to picture the place of death. The place where there is an absence of life with respect to God’s purpose for the Seventh Day – Jon 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he said: “I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, And He answered me. ‘Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice. 3 For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.

And we have also seen these same waters used symbolically to represent the Gentile nations – Isa 60:5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.

And all three of these representations of ‘the waters under the heavens’, the wisdom from below, the place of death, and the Gentile nations, are inextricably connected one with the other. The Gentile nations, by their very nature are separated from God, and can only receive the wisdom from below that is earthly, sensual, and demonic. They have no access to that which is spiritual. And so, separated from the wisdom from above and governed by the wisdom from below under the dominion of the wicked one, the Gentile nations can only be seen in connection with death, with respect to God’s purpose for the Seventh Day.
	a). Through the historical account of the first generation of Israel at the Red Sea, we will remember that they had experienced a vicarious death on the night of the first Passover – Ex 12:12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

God’s adopted firstborn son, the nation of Israel, had, from God’s perspective, died that night. God, in His omniscience had provided and accepted the death of the Passover lambs as a substitute for His son, Israel. But nonetheless, the nation is still to be seen as having died. And having died, they were then buried in the Red Sea, in the midst of the waters, that were a wall to them on the right hand and on the left. They were buried in the place of death. And they were to walk through the waters on dry land, coming up out of the waters on the eastern shore for a specific purpose – Ex 19:3 And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 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.”

The passage of the children of Israel through the Red Sea was through an act of the Divine will, ‘I brought you to myself’, and given the symbolism seen in this, beginning with death and burial, this is Israel in resurrection. And it is Israel in resurrection to whom God spoke from the mountain. The wisdom that was brought forth from above that revealed the status God had planned for them, ‘a special treasure…above all the people’, and His purpose for them through that status, ‘You shall be to me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation’.
	b). But the attainment of their status among ‘all the people’, and the fulfillment of God’s purpose for them, was conditional, ‘If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant…’
	c). As the children of Israel stood on the eastern shore and watched the waters of the Red Sea return to destroy the Egyptians, so they had been delivered from the wisdom from below, the wisdom of the Egyptians that had held them captive; they had been delivered from the place of death in which they had been buried, and delivered from the Gentile nations, of which Egypt is a type. And through God’s resurrection power they could then choose to walk in newness of life, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them in faithful obedience to their inheritance in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to fulfill their purpose as God’s firstborn son to rule at the head of the nations within a Theocracy.
	d). They had the choice to receive and believe – Ex 19:8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

Both the first and the second generation had the same choice – 
Jos 24:14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” 16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 17 for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

And in accordance with the choice that was made, as we look to the type given in the Third Day in Genesis Chapter 1, fruitfulness should have followed.
	e). However, if we just look at the parable of the vineyard that Jesus gave to the nation’s religious leaders as one example, we can see that producing fruit is not what happened – Mt 21:33 “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 34 Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35 And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

And when the Son of the owner came in search of fruit in His vineyard, what did He find? Again, the Scripture tells us – Mt 21:18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you in this age.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

The fig tree in these verses symbolizes the nation of Israel. And when Jesus came to the nation looking for fruit in relation to the Kingdom being offered, He ‘found nothing on it but leaves’. And because of the nation’s fruitless condition, the Lord made the statement that national Israel would produce no fruit in this age.
	f). The age to come though, the Millennial Kingdom, will be another matter entirely. In that coming Day when national Israel will turn from the wisdom from below to the wisdom from above – Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

When they will be raised from the place of death and removed from the midst of the Gentile nations – Hos 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.

Jer 16:14 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.

When all of this takes place, then that which is seen in the foundation will come to pass – Ge 1:9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.

Ge 25:1 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

But the heavenly realm of the Kingdom that had been offered and re-offered to national Israel can never be theirs as they had failed to produce the fruit necessary. Producing fruit necessary for entering the Kingdom of the heavens has been passed to another, the one new man in Christ – 
Mt 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.

3). And as we have previously seen, all must begin with the individual passing from death to life - Acts 16:30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

Here in the account of the Philippian Jailer, we can see the process once again. It begins with, ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…’ There must be faith in the substitutionary death and shed blood of Another on our behalf – Eph 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together……

If we go back to the account of the Philippian Jailer, we firstly see belief on the Lord Jesus Christ, just as it is laid out at the beginning of Ephesians Chapter 2. ‘Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him’. Here then is the wisdom brought forth from above, the Word of the Kingdom, now accessible to the one who has spiritual life. And in conjunction with this Word, ‘immediately he and his family were baptized.’
	a). And within the ordinance of baptism, we find the symbolic representation of that which Jesus had said to Nicodemus – Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Taking us to the foundational truth see in Day Three in Genesis Chapter 1 and typified in the Red Sea crossing.
	b). For the Christian then, coming from beneath the waters of baptism pictures resurrection, a sovereign act of the Divine will – 
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, 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.

Our old man, the man of the flesh, the firstborn, is buried in the place of death and the new man, the man of the spirit is raised to walk in newness of life, to be led by the Spirit to the land of his inheritance, the Kingdom of the heavens.
	c). It is the new man, the man of the spirit who is separated from the wisdom from below, pictured in the baptismal waters, who is now to be the recipient of the wisdom brought forth from above as he is continually brought forth out of God. And the one continually brought forth from above has also been separated from the Gentile nations – 
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.

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 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.

Through that pictured in baptism then, the Christian is raised from the place of death, separated from the wisdom below and removed from the Gentile nations. And if we go back to that pictured in the Third Day in Genesis Chapter 1, then producing fruit for the Kingdom is what must follow….if.

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

What Shall I Do - Part Five

Refresh A Recap from the Sermon

What Shall I Do - Part Five

Nov 20, 2022

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: What Shall I Do...

Category: Sunday Morning

Refresh
A Recap from the Sermon