What Shall I Do - Part Nine Jan 08, 2023 by: John Herbert | Series: What Shall I Do... Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T043_20230108.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Lk 18:18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit life for the Age?” We will review things we have looked at so far in this series to refresh our memories after the Christmas break. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 8th 2023 What Shall I Do…….. Part 9 1). Lk 18:15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit life for the Age?” We will remember that the title for our current series has been taken from the rich young ruler’s question to Jesus concerning inheriting life for the Age. And through the record of this encounter, we see that the Lord had urged the ‘certain ruler’ to separate himself from his self-focus, his great riches, and instead embrace the child training of the Lord, that which was from God, which would have given him treasure in heaven, and the inherited life that he had asked about. a). And through our weeks of study, beginning with the first Chapter of Genesis, we have seen that separation, in conjunction with child training, is the key to answering the question, ‘What shall I do to inherit life for the Age?’ b). And in one respect, the separation and child training required of everyone who will inherit life for the Age is epitomized in the rich young ruler. There is that represented by the riches of the ruler, the wisdom brought forth from below, doing what is right in our own eyes, and that which is from God, the wisdom that is brought forth from above to train us in righteousness - 2 Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 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. And we had seen these two types of wisdom set side by side in the Book of James – Jas 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And from these verses in James, we had seen that the wisdom from below focuses on self and has its origin in the demonic realm of the present kingdom under Satan, and is therefore in opposition to, and contrary to, the wisdom that comes from God. c). The self-focused wisdom from below will lock the person embracing it into the world system under Satan, whereas the wisdom brought forth from above out of God will have that person focus on the salvation of the soul and rulership in the Age to come. They will look from this world unto Jesus. The person locked into the former will seek his best life now having little care for what is beyond it, but the person embracing the latter will seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, laying aside his life now in favor of the Lord’s child training, to inherit the best of all possible lives in the Millennial Kingdom – Mt 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own life [for the Age to come]? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life [in the Age to come]? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. And it is interesting for us to note that these verses concerning saving or losing one’s life in the present come immediately after the Lord’s rebuke of Peter – Mt 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” And they come immediately before the Lord’s transfiguration on the high mountain in Matthew Chapter 17 – Mt 16:28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And if we put all this together, we see that Jesus made the distinction between the two types of wisdom later recorded by James, in the two contrasting phrases, ‘the things of God’ and ‘the things of men’ [Matthew 16:23]. This is followed by instructions for those who would be mindful of the things of God [Matthew 16:24-27]. With the absolute certainty and inevitability of the coming of His Kingdom, to which all these verses relate, established in the verses which follow [Matthew 16:28 – 17:2]. d). And, again, as we have seen, our embrace of the wisdom brought forth from above, the things of God, the child training of the Lord, or the wisdom brought forth from below, the things of men, that which seems right in our own eyes, will have a profound impact upon what happens to us when the Son of Man comes in His Kingdom. e). And the foundation for this has been succinctly laid out for us through the typology in days one through three in the first Chapter of Genesis. For everyone who would have a part with Christ in His Kingdom, there must be a beginning point where the light shines in the darkness and the two are separated. The redemption of the spirit that brings spiritual life where previously there had only been spiritual death. [Day One] f). Then the possession of spiritual life provides the ability for the one in possession of it, to separate the wisdom from above from the wisdom from below, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, [Day Two] which of itself will allow for a separation between the man of the flesh and the man of the spirit so that fruit for the Kingdom can be produced in resurrection through the leading of the Spirit. [Day Three] 2). We have looked at this process of separation in a previous study through the metaphor of the three days’ journey - 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 have seen in our previous study, the three days’ journey was a literal one for the first generation of Israel but provides a metaphor for us for the complete separation from all things connected with, Satan’s kingdom, that must be made by those who will one day rule with Christ in the stead of Satan and his fallen angels. And we have learned, from the end of v28, that Satan is quite happy for a form and function of religious practice to take place so long as it takes place within the boundaries of his jurisdiction. Hence the birds of the air being at home in the branches of the mustard tree and the work of the leaven. a). We should see this journey as not just a separation, a moving away, from something, the wisdom from below, but also a journey, a moving towards, something, spiritual maturity through the wisdom brought forth from above. b). And the period of three days speaks of a complete journey. It is a journey made in conjunction with the type given through day three in Genesis Chapter 1 and it is a journey that leads to the literal Third Day, the third one-thousand-year period following the two thousand years of this dispensation, the Millennial Kingdom. This is a journey of separation that we must follow through to its conclusion. We must go ‘very far away’ if we are to receive our inheritance. c). And this journey has been laid out for us in foundation through the experience of Abraham, the one man to whom the promises concerning rulership in the Seventh Day were given, the one man who is the father of all those who are of the faith – Ga 3:9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. We see that God gave Abraham clear instructions concerning what he must do to receive the promise of an inheritance in another land – 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. Now we know, from comparing Scripture with Scripture, that Abraham was already in possession of spiritual life before God instructed him concerning the land of promise – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. We don’t know what time elapsed between Abraham putting faith in God’s provision for his sin and when God spoke to him about his inheritance in the land, but we do know that Abraham’s journey to the land did not begin until after he had heard God’s instructions with respect to it. And if we connect this to what we know from the Matthew 13 parables, God’s instructions to Abraham provide a parallel to, ‘When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom.’ d). Whatever time elapsed after our salvation by grace through faith, it was not until we heard the Word of the Kingdom that our journey towards the land of our inheritance could begin. We had received our spiritual life within a context that spoke nothing of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom and the salvation of the soul, within a context of religious practice exemplified by the birds of the air nesting in the branches of the mustard tree. A leavened environment. And this must be left behind. e). To look at this same thing through Paul’s analogy of a race – 1 Co 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. Our eternal salvation placed us on the start line, so to speak, but it was not until we heard the Word of the Kingdom that we knew that we had been on the start line all along; it was not until we heard the Word of the Kingdom that the starting gun was fired, and our race of the faith began. Or to view this same thing from the perspective of our growth to spiritual maturity, it was only after we began to receive ‘the pure milk’ of the Word, the Word of the Kingdom, that we could grow with respect to the salvation of our soul – 1 Pe 2:1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby [with respect to the salvation of the soul], 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Before hearing the Word of the Kingdom, we probably had a façade of spiritual maturity that came through acts of self-righteousness that we manufactured through the religious practice of the day, something that presented only an outward appearance, a mask that we wore. It is only through desiring and receiving ‘the pure milk of the Word’, the Word of the Kingdom that the inward change of the metamorphosis can take place that will allow us to grow up into all things – 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; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— And if we go back to God’s instructions to Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12 - 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. We will note that there were three specific things which Abraham was told to separate himself from, if he was to receive the land that God would show him as an inheritance: his country, his family, and his father’s house. The number three gives us the completeness of that which is in view, separation. For Abraham this was a literal, physical journey, and a literal separation from that which constituted his life before his calling to the land of promise. f). For us, ours is not a physical journey, although we will physically arrive at our destination, rather, the journey is once again the metaphor used for the complete separation we are to make from everything that would hinder us from going very far away and receiving our inheritance in the Kingdom – Php 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the [out] resurrection from the dead. Not only was Abraham to separate himself from everything connected to his previous life within the kingdom of Satan, pictured through the instructions God had given him, but there was also an eventual separation from his nephew, Lot, who began the journey with him, but whose life was still governed by the wisdom from below – Ge 13:8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. There are three things we are going to note here concerning Lot. Firstly, that he began the journey with Abraham and therefore within the parlance of Matthew 13, he had heard the Word of the Kingdom. And secondly, as with the first three sowings in the parable of the sower, and the parable of the wheat and the tares, in Lot we see an absence of fruit production. And thirdly, because of the previous two, there inevitably came a time of contention between Lot and Abraham that could only result in Lot walking away. g). And we of course see this same thing with Ruth and Orpah – Ru 1:16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” Immediately before the verses we have just read, Orpah, a member of the same Jewish family as Ruth, had just gone back to her people and to her gods, Orpah did not want to go very far away. Although she began the journey with Ruth and Naomi, ‘when anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom’, she chose not to make the separation necessary to complete the journey to Bethlehem, but instead she chose to go back to the familiar, to remain within the confines of, and what she perceived to be the safety of, her life as it was before she began the journey. And as we have seen in past weeks, that seen through Orpah as it relates to us, can include the lure to return to the structures and mindsets and pseudo-spirituality of the Laodicean church from which we have come out. h). And what we need to grasp through the accounts of Lot and Orpah is that they do not primarily picture ‘other Christians’, those ‘out there’, but those who have heard the Word of the Kingdom, who at some point have said, ‘I will go’, and then like the rich young ruler have turned away sorrowful because they have not been prepared to lay down their life in favor of the child training of the Lord for rulership in the Kingdom. And the Scriptures confirm what was been our own experience over the years. i). However, for those like Ruth who will cling to the Word of the Kingdom and who like Paul will set aside everything that they may gain Christ, the outcome is certain - Ru 2:11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” Ruth was commended by Boaz because she had gotten out of her country, her family and her father’s house, she had made the three days’ journey, the complete separation from everything connected with her previous life within Satan’s kingdom and the separation from those who chose not to make the journey with her. j). And she was commended because she had been faithfully obedient to Naomi throughout her journey. And as a result, the promise was given to her that the Lord God of Israel would repay her work and give her a full reward – Ru 3:11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. And in Ruth we find the pattern we are to follow. 2 Co 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 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! We have all been betrothed to one Husband and we are in the process of being prepared, as Ruth was, to be presented as a chaste virgin to Christ, that Divine work of the metamorphosis within us as we choose not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind- Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. In Ephesians Chapter 5 this process of preparation is seen as ‘the washing of water by the word’, and implicit in the idea of cleansing of this nature is separation, separation from that which would cause contamination: doing what is right in our own eyes, self-righteous religious practice, the leaven. And if we take this thought back to the verses, we read in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, we will find the work of the tares sown among the wheat, that which is the work of the deceiving spirits and the doctrine of demons. And that which we see from the verses in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, speaks of the inevitable attempt to corrupt the one treasure in our possession, the Word of the Kingdom, through the preaching of ‘another Jesus’, the receiving of ‘a different spirit’ or ‘a different gospel.’ k). And before we attempt to consign these to things that go on elsewhere, let’s just remember that they are all part of the leaven that we were first introduced to. The Jesus who has been brought forth from above within the context of the Word of the Kingdom is much different to the Jesus we were first taught about with respect to both His identity and purpose. The ‘different spirit’ would reference the deceiving spirits. That which is not the Spirit of Truth but the spirit of the antichrist – Ro 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 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.” And the different gospel is everything which is not the gospel of the glory of Christ and has been summed up for us in Ephesians Chapter 4 as ‘every wind of doctrine.’ l). In Christ we have ‘simplicity’, a word that means sincerity of heart with respect to the Word of the Kingdom, without self-seeking and pretense. This should be our default setting through the process of separation leading to spiritual maturity. And on the one hand this brings us back to where we started today with the rich young ruler and the choice he was given, and on the other hand to the craftiness of our enemy in his attempts to deceive, so that our minds would be corrupted, turned away, from this simplicity. That we should return to self-seeking ways and the wisdom from below, and not hold the Word of the Kingdom with sincerity. At all costs, we must separate ourselves from this. And this will be done through the wisdom brought forth from above – Eph 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 1 Jn 5:4 For whatever is born of God [brought forth out of God] overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Jas 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. We will continue with this next time, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. What Shall I Do - Part Nine Jan 08, 2023 Speaker: John Herbert Series: What Shall I Do... Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T043_20230108.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Lk 18:18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit life for the Age?” We will review things we have looked at so far in this series to refresh our memories after the Christmas break. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 8th 2023 What Shall I Do…….. Part 9 1). Lk 18:15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit life for the Age?” We will remember that the title for our current series has been taken from the rich young ruler’s question to Jesus concerning inheriting life for the Age. And through the record of this encounter, we see that the Lord had urged the ‘certain ruler’ to separate himself from his self-focus, his great riches, and instead embrace the child training of the Lord, that which was from God, which would have given him treasure in heaven, and the inherited life that he had asked about. a). And through our weeks of study, beginning with the first Chapter of Genesis, we have seen that separation, in conjunction with child training, is the key to answering the question, ‘What shall I do to inherit life for the Age?’ b). And in one respect, the separation and child training required of everyone who will inherit life for the Age is epitomized in the rich young ruler. There is that represented by the riches of the ruler, the wisdom brought forth from below, doing what is right in our own eyes, and that which is from God, the wisdom that is brought forth from above to train us in righteousness - 2 Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 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. And we had seen these two types of wisdom set side by side in the Book of James – Jas 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And from these verses in James, we had seen that the wisdom from below focuses on self and has its origin in the demonic realm of the present kingdom under Satan, and is therefore in opposition to, and contrary to, the wisdom that comes from God. c). The self-focused wisdom from below will lock the person embracing it into the world system under Satan, whereas the wisdom brought forth from above out of God will have that person focus on the salvation of the soul and rulership in the Age to come. They will look from this world unto Jesus. The person locked into the former will seek his best life now having little care for what is beyond it, but the person embracing the latter will seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, laying aside his life now in favor of the Lord’s child training, to inherit the best of all possible lives in the Millennial Kingdom – Mt 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own life [for the Age to come]? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life [in the Age to come]? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. And it is interesting for us to note that these verses concerning saving or losing one’s life in the present come immediately after the Lord’s rebuke of Peter – Mt 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” And they come immediately before the Lord’s transfiguration on the high mountain in Matthew Chapter 17 – Mt 16:28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And if we put all this together, we see that Jesus made the distinction between the two types of wisdom later recorded by James, in the two contrasting phrases, ‘the things of God’ and ‘the things of men’ [Matthew 16:23]. This is followed by instructions for those who would be mindful of the things of God [Matthew 16:24-27]. With the absolute certainty and inevitability of the coming of His Kingdom, to which all these verses relate, established in the verses which follow [Matthew 16:28 – 17:2]. d). And, again, as we have seen, our embrace of the wisdom brought forth from above, the things of God, the child training of the Lord, or the wisdom brought forth from below, the things of men, that which seems right in our own eyes, will have a profound impact upon what happens to us when the Son of Man comes in His Kingdom. e). And the foundation for this has been succinctly laid out for us through the typology in days one through three in the first Chapter of Genesis. For everyone who would have a part with Christ in His Kingdom, there must be a beginning point where the light shines in the darkness and the two are separated. The redemption of the spirit that brings spiritual life where previously there had only been spiritual death. [Day One] f). Then the possession of spiritual life provides the ability for the one in possession of it, to separate the wisdom from above from the wisdom from below, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, [Day Two] which of itself will allow for a separation between the man of the flesh and the man of the spirit so that fruit for the Kingdom can be produced in resurrection through the leading of the Spirit. [Day Three] 2). We have looked at this process of separation in a previous study through the metaphor of the three days’ journey - 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 have seen in our previous study, the three days’ journey was a literal one for the first generation of Israel but provides a metaphor for us for the complete separation from all things connected with, Satan’s kingdom, that must be made by those who will one day rule with Christ in the stead of Satan and his fallen angels. And we have learned, from the end of v28, that Satan is quite happy for a form and function of religious practice to take place so long as it takes place within the boundaries of his jurisdiction. Hence the birds of the air being at home in the branches of the mustard tree and the work of the leaven. a). We should see this journey as not just a separation, a moving away, from something, the wisdom from below, but also a journey, a moving towards, something, spiritual maturity through the wisdom brought forth from above. b). And the period of three days speaks of a complete journey. It is a journey made in conjunction with the type given through day three in Genesis Chapter 1 and it is a journey that leads to the literal Third Day, the third one-thousand-year period following the two thousand years of this dispensation, the Millennial Kingdom. This is a journey of separation that we must follow through to its conclusion. We must go ‘very far away’ if we are to receive our inheritance. c). And this journey has been laid out for us in foundation through the experience of Abraham, the one man to whom the promises concerning rulership in the Seventh Day were given, the one man who is the father of all those who are of the faith – Ga 3:9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. We see that God gave Abraham clear instructions concerning what he must do to receive the promise of an inheritance in another land – 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. Now we know, from comparing Scripture with Scripture, that Abraham was already in possession of spiritual life before God instructed him concerning the land of promise – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. We don’t know what time elapsed between Abraham putting faith in God’s provision for his sin and when God spoke to him about his inheritance in the land, but we do know that Abraham’s journey to the land did not begin until after he had heard God’s instructions with respect to it. And if we connect this to what we know from the Matthew 13 parables, God’s instructions to Abraham provide a parallel to, ‘When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom.’ d). Whatever time elapsed after our salvation by grace through faith, it was not until we heard the Word of the Kingdom that our journey towards the land of our inheritance could begin. We had received our spiritual life within a context that spoke nothing of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom and the salvation of the soul, within a context of religious practice exemplified by the birds of the air nesting in the branches of the mustard tree. A leavened environment. And this must be left behind. e). To look at this same thing through Paul’s analogy of a race – 1 Co 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. Our eternal salvation placed us on the start line, so to speak, but it was not until we heard the Word of the Kingdom that we knew that we had been on the start line all along; it was not until we heard the Word of the Kingdom that the starting gun was fired, and our race of the faith began. Or to view this same thing from the perspective of our growth to spiritual maturity, it was only after we began to receive ‘the pure milk’ of the Word, the Word of the Kingdom, that we could grow with respect to the salvation of our soul – 1 Pe 2:1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby [with respect to the salvation of the soul], 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Before hearing the Word of the Kingdom, we probably had a façade of spiritual maturity that came through acts of self-righteousness that we manufactured through the religious practice of the day, something that presented only an outward appearance, a mask that we wore. It is only through desiring and receiving ‘the pure milk of the Word’, the Word of the Kingdom that the inward change of the metamorphosis can take place that will allow us to grow up into all things – 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; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— And if we go back to God’s instructions to Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12 - 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. We will note that there were three specific things which Abraham was told to separate himself from, if he was to receive the land that God would show him as an inheritance: his country, his family, and his father’s house. The number three gives us the completeness of that which is in view, separation. For Abraham this was a literal, physical journey, and a literal separation from that which constituted his life before his calling to the land of promise. f). For us, ours is not a physical journey, although we will physically arrive at our destination, rather, the journey is once again the metaphor used for the complete separation we are to make from everything that would hinder us from going very far away and receiving our inheritance in the Kingdom – Php 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the [out] resurrection from the dead. Not only was Abraham to separate himself from everything connected to his previous life within the kingdom of Satan, pictured through the instructions God had given him, but there was also an eventual separation from his nephew, Lot, who began the journey with him, but whose life was still governed by the wisdom from below – Ge 13:8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. There are three things we are going to note here concerning Lot. Firstly, that he began the journey with Abraham and therefore within the parlance of Matthew 13, he had heard the Word of the Kingdom. And secondly, as with the first three sowings in the parable of the sower, and the parable of the wheat and the tares, in Lot we see an absence of fruit production. And thirdly, because of the previous two, there inevitably came a time of contention between Lot and Abraham that could only result in Lot walking away. g). And we of course see this same thing with Ruth and Orpah – Ru 1:16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” Immediately before the verses we have just read, Orpah, a member of the same Jewish family as Ruth, had just gone back to her people and to her gods, Orpah did not want to go very far away. Although she began the journey with Ruth and Naomi, ‘when anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom’, she chose not to make the separation necessary to complete the journey to Bethlehem, but instead she chose to go back to the familiar, to remain within the confines of, and what she perceived to be the safety of, her life as it was before she began the journey. And as we have seen in past weeks, that seen through Orpah as it relates to us, can include the lure to return to the structures and mindsets and pseudo-spirituality of the Laodicean church from which we have come out. h). And what we need to grasp through the accounts of Lot and Orpah is that they do not primarily picture ‘other Christians’, those ‘out there’, but those who have heard the Word of the Kingdom, who at some point have said, ‘I will go’, and then like the rich young ruler have turned away sorrowful because they have not been prepared to lay down their life in favor of the child training of the Lord for rulership in the Kingdom. And the Scriptures confirm what was been our own experience over the years. i). However, for those like Ruth who will cling to the Word of the Kingdom and who like Paul will set aside everything that they may gain Christ, the outcome is certain - Ru 2:11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” Ruth was commended by Boaz because she had gotten out of her country, her family and her father’s house, she had made the three days’ journey, the complete separation from everything connected with her previous life within Satan’s kingdom and the separation from those who chose not to make the journey with her. j). And she was commended because she had been faithfully obedient to Naomi throughout her journey. And as a result, the promise was given to her that the Lord God of Israel would repay her work and give her a full reward – Ru 3:11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. And in Ruth we find the pattern we are to follow. 2 Co 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 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! We have all been betrothed to one Husband and we are in the process of being prepared, as Ruth was, to be presented as a chaste virgin to Christ, that Divine work of the metamorphosis within us as we choose not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind- Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. In Ephesians Chapter 5 this process of preparation is seen as ‘the washing of water by the word’, and implicit in the idea of cleansing of this nature is separation, separation from that which would cause contamination: doing what is right in our own eyes, self-righteous religious practice, the leaven. And if we take this thought back to the verses, we read in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, we will find the work of the tares sown among the wheat, that which is the work of the deceiving spirits and the doctrine of demons. And that which we see from the verses in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, speaks of the inevitable attempt to corrupt the one treasure in our possession, the Word of the Kingdom, through the preaching of ‘another Jesus’, the receiving of ‘a different spirit’ or ‘a different gospel.’ k). And before we attempt to consign these to things that go on elsewhere, let’s just remember that they are all part of the leaven that we were first introduced to. The Jesus who has been brought forth from above within the context of the Word of the Kingdom is much different to the Jesus we were first taught about with respect to both His identity and purpose. The ‘different spirit’ would reference the deceiving spirits. That which is not the Spirit of Truth but the spirit of the antichrist – Ro 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 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.” And the different gospel is everything which is not the gospel of the glory of Christ and has been summed up for us in Ephesians Chapter 4 as ‘every wind of doctrine.’ l). In Christ we have ‘simplicity’, a word that means sincerity of heart with respect to the Word of the Kingdom, without self-seeking and pretense. This should be our default setting through the process of separation leading to spiritual maturity. And on the one hand this brings us back to where we started today with the rich young ruler and the choice he was given, and on the other hand to the craftiness of our enemy in his attempts to deceive, so that our minds would be corrupted, turned away, from this simplicity. That we should return to self-seeking ways and the wisdom from below, and not hold the Word of the Kingdom with sincerity. At all costs, we must separate ourselves from this. And this will be done through the wisdom brought forth from above – Eph 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 1 Jn 5:4 For whatever is born of God [brought forth out of God] overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Jas 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. We will continue with this next time, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.
