What Shall I Do - Part Twelve Jan 29, 2023 by: John Herbert | Series: What Shall I Do... Audio Study Notes PDF Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 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.” We will continue to look at the things of God and the things of men. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 29th 2023 What Shall I Do…….. Part 12 1). 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.” Jas 3:14 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. We had begun to look for an answer to the question that forms the title to our series by identifying the two types of opposing wisdom, that are presented in the Scriptures. The wisdom brought forth from above, the things of God, and the wisdom brought forth from below, the things of men. This wisdom is said to be earthly, sensual, and demonic, whereas the wisdom from above is pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. The wisdom from above is a bringer of life and the wisdom from below a bringer of death, both with respect to the age to come. And the opposing nature of these two types of wisdom is shown in foundation through the two trees in the Garden: the tree of life, the wisdom from above, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the wisdom from below. And it won’t escape our notice, that ‘death’ with respect to Man’s created purpose came about by eating from the wrong tree. a). And we have seen the necessity for us to make a separation between these two types of wisdom. We have come to see that the wisdom brought forth from above, brought forth out of God, is the Scripture, and as the Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ, it is easy to grasp why that which is brought forth from above cannot be anything other than what we see recorded in James 3:17, it CANNOT have any connection with that which is earthly, sensual, demonic, because of who the Word is – 1 Jn 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 2 Co 6:15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? And this truth is seen after a slightly different fashion in some often-misunderstood verses from 1 John – 1 Jn 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 1 Jn 5:18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. Now, if we read ‘born of God’ as a reference to eternal salvation, then our verses appear to say, that once we have been eternally saved, we don’t sin anymore. And it is seeing verses such as this in this fashion that has caused the leavened teaching that says that we can judge if a person is saved or not by their actions. If they continue to sin, then they can’t have been ‘born of God’. And this gives rise to the statement, ‘They were never really saved in the first place’, or ‘Their salvation didn’t stick’, or ‘Their salvation never travelled from their head to their heart’, or ‘They have lost their salvation and have to be saved all over again’. c). As we revisit some of these things that maybe we once believed, we can now realize that this is the leavened wisdom from below, that is earthly sensual, demonic. d). So, what does it mean, that ‘whoever has been born of God does not sin’? To begin with, let’s stop thinking ‘born’, because of the thoughts it might still trigger in our mind through the wrong use of the phrase, ‘born again’, and let’s think ‘brought forth’ instead. Whoever is brought forth of God does not sin. With this in place we can then compare Scripture with Scripture – Jas 1:18 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 are brought forth of God, by an action of God’s own will, ‘by the word of truth’. We can only be brought forth out of God by the Word of Truth, never the wisdom from below. And because of the inextricable connection between being brought forth and the Word of Truth, we will realize that being brought forth of God is to walk in the Spirit – Ga 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we walk in the Spirit, which we can only do through faithful obedience to the Scriptures, the Word of Truth that has brought us forth from above, then we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, we do not sin. But once we stop walking in the Spirit, once we step outside of the realm of the Word of Truth, then that’s another matter entirely – 1 Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The Word of Truth, the Word made flesh, has no accord with sin, therefore if we abide in this Word, if we abide in Him, and conduct ourselves in harmony with it, in harmony with Him, sin is an impossibility all the while we do so. e). Abiding in the Word of Truth and thereby walking in the Spirit is a function of the process to bring us to spiritual maturity – Ru 3:5 And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.” Eph 4:15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— This is the process that is pictured through the metaphor of the three days’ journey, and through the account of Ruth beating out the grain as she worked in Boaz’s field, and Abraham getting out of his country, his family, and his father’s house. All of which have to do with separation. Separation from the traditions of men to the commandments of God, separation from the leftovers from our Laodicean loitering to the Word of Truth, and separation from our old man, the man of the flesh, to the new man the man of the Spirit. And with respect to the separation between the old man and the new, we read this - Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Col 3:5 ¶ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience……. So then putting to death the deeds of the body and putting to death our members which are on the earth, which are two ways of saying the same thing, describe how the old man is to be separated from the new. It is accomplished by a work of the Spirit as we choose to walk in the Spirit, to be brought forth of God by the Word of Truth. f). What then does it look like to put to death the deeds of the body and to walk in the Spirit? Simply this - Joh 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It will be no great surprise to us to see yet again that it is our faithful obedience to the Word of Truth that will put to death the deeds of the body, that will bring about the separation, as we choose to walk in the Spirit. It is the choice we make to be holy just as He is holy, the process of separation from the lusts that are in the world as we cling to the truth of Scripture, just as Ruth had clung to Naomi. g). And this is just what has been set in foundation for us at the beginning of Genesis. It was God’s Word, ‘let there be light’ that brought light into the darkness on Day One of the restoration. And it is the same Word, who became flesh, who is the light of the world, who was sent to the Jews in the person of Jesus the Christ, who is the same Living Word, the same light, that we have in written form. The same Word, which is alive, who now makes a division between our soul, our darkness, and our spirit, our light as He brings us forth by the Word of Truth - 2Co 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Walking in the light and walking in the Spirit describe one and the same thing. And if we would do this, then according to the Scripture, we will have fellowship with the Lord, we will be likeminded with Him, and ‘the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.’ h). In simple practical terms this brings us again to the choice to conduct our lives in accordance with the Scriptures, by faith, on a day-to-day basis as we are continually filled with the Spirit. And in so doing our ‘old man’ will be the sacrifice that we tie firmly to the horns of the altar in the outer court of the Tabernacle, allowing our hands to be cleansed by the washing of water by the Word as we enter the Holy place, where the light will be found - Ps 24:3 ¶ Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 2). The separation of the old man from the new is a process that is to continue throughout the course of our Christian journey as, by the exercise of faith, we seek to separate ourselves from everything that has a connection through our first birth to the kingdom of Satan; a corrupted soul, a corrupted version of the Word of Truth and a system of corrupted governance all of which Scripture describes as the world and the things in the world, a separation that is exemplified through Abraham getting out of his country, his family, and his father’s house – Ro 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The two facets of this process of separation, separation from that encompassed by the word ‘world’ and the separation of the new man, brought forth out of God, from our old man, who has an inseparable connection to the world and the things in the world through our first birth, go hand in hand together – Eph 4:22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. And the inseparable connection between these two concurrent processes of separation can be seen through the Scriptures we have just looked at. To be separated from the world by choosing not to be conformed to it, as seen in Romans 12:2, is brought about by the renewing of our mind which brings transformation. And putting on our new man so as to be separate from our old man, as seen in Ephesians 4:22-24, is brought about by the same process, being ‘renewed in the spirit of your mind’. a). Simply put then, to separate ourselves from the world and the things in the world, is to separate ourselves from our old man. We cannot do the one and not the other as they are both brought about by the same single process of renewing our mind, being brought forth of God by the Word of Truth, leading to transformation, the metamorphosis. b). We can add more to the verses from Ephesians Chapter 4 by re-visiting some companion verses from Colossians Chapter 3 that will help us with our understanding – Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. To be raised with Christ is to walk in resurrection, to walk in the Spirit, something only possible for the new man, never the old man. And through the new man who is able to understand spiritual truth, we are to ‘seek those things which are above’, which we would know, by comparing Scripture with Scripture, to be His Kingdom and His righteousness, with a view to receiving our inheritance as a joint heir with Christ, to be a crowned ruler, in the Kingdom of the Heavens, the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom. c). And we are to set our mind on the things above, ‘not on things on the earth’. It is the new man, as a result of the renewing of our mind who is set on the things above, but our old man would want to draw us away to set our unrenewed mind ‘on things on the earth’ – Ro 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. There is then the ever-present tension between being focused on the things above that remain in our future, with our spiritual mind, that which is brought forth out of God, and being drawn away by the things on the earth, that which is ever present around us, by our carnal mind. And as we contemplate this tension, let’s not forget this important Scriptural truth, ‘you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ – Ro 6:5 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. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. Our old man was crucified with Christ, he has died and therefore we are no longer slaves of sin, we have been set free from that bondage – Ro 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. The death of our old man has been pictured for us through the type of the death of the firstborn of Israel on the night of the first Passover, and our freedom from sin which accompanies this death is pictured in Israel’s deliverance from Egypt culminating in the Red Sea passage. Once the waters of the Red Sea had opened for Israel to pass through, and then closed behind them again, the waters could never be re-opened to let Israel return to the bondage they had previously been delivered from. This is the picture. d). However, being freed from the bondage of sin does not mean the absence of sin in our life, but rather it marks the availability of choice, a choice that did not exist before, a choice not to be sin’s slave. e). Now in conjunction with the death of the firstborn we will remember that Israel was told - Ex 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. This was the command given to an eternally redeemed people, and symbolically, through the corrupting agent of leaven, pictures the necessity of the on-going process of removing sin from the lives of those who had been eternally saved, following their eternal salvation. f). According to the Scripture, if the Jewish people did not do this then they would experience death, they would be ‘cut off from Israel’. They would not be separated from God because of their eternal redemption, but they would be separated from their inheritance in the land of promise. Something they would never have access to again, because of their failure to do that which God had commanded them. g). If we go back to the verses from Colossians Chapter 3 for a moment, the on-going process of the removal of sin from our lives is presented this way 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Ga 5:24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. On the one hand then, we are to accept, by faith, that our old man has been crucified with Christ which again, we must accept by faith, has set us free from the bondage of sin. And on the other hand, because we now have that freedom through our faith, we can choose to crucify our flesh, to remove sin from our life, as an on-going process throughout the course of our three days’ journey – 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. This is the message of the cross that we have seen to be foolishness to those who are perishing, those who have chosen not to take up their cross and have not made the choice to crucify the flesh, to remove sin from their life, not having accepted by faith what the Scriptures say, but this same message, to those who are being saved, who have chosen to take up their cross by faith, to remove sin from their life, this process, is the power of God leading to salvation. Those who do so are the ones who will find their ‘life’ for the age to come - When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. And we have seen again today, from the Book of Ruth, that this same process of removing the leaven for seven days, and crucifying the flesh, has been given through the type of Ruth beating out the grain – Ru 2:17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. To beat out the grain is a picture of the separation of that which is worthless from that which is of value. And would equally apply to the wisdom from below and the wisdom from above, as it does to the old man and the new. The chaff, that which is worthless, is to be removed, to leave the grain intact – Lk 3:17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” Although what we read in this verse is the recorded words of John the Baptist to the Jewish people, it does serve as a graphic picture of what will happen at the Judgment Seat with respect to the separation of Christians Ps 1:4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. And it is worth noting that the Lord used ‘wheat’ to picture all the faithful, eternally saved in the Luke verse, something He also did in the Matthew 13 parables, in the parable of the wheat and tares, where we are again told that the wheat, the faithful Christian, will be gathered into His barn, will be gathered into His Kingdom. And the reason why wheat is used as the grain of choice, is given to us in – Jn 12:24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for life for the age In these verses from John Chapter 12, wheat is used to picture all of the eternally saved, not just the faithful, but the distinction is then made between the faithful and the unfaithful through the wheat that falls into the ground and dies, and the wheat that doesn’t and remains alone. It is those pictured through the grain of wheat, that falls into the ground and dies, who will have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires, who will have engaged in the process of removing sin from their lives during the course of their three days’ journey, who will be His joint heirs in the Millennial Kingdom. These will be the ones who will have taken up their cross and followed Him, who will have used their freedom from the bondage of sin to choose to become a slave of righteousness, who will be saved by having faith to the saving of the soul – Ro 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and someone has prayed. What Shall I Do - Part Twelve Jan 29, 2023 Speaker: John Herbert Series: What Shall I Do... Category: Sunday Morning Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 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.” We will continue to look at the things of God and the things of men. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 29th 2023 What Shall I Do…….. Part 12 1). 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.” Jas 3:14 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. We had begun to look for an answer to the question that forms the title to our series by identifying the two types of opposing wisdom, that are presented in the Scriptures. The wisdom brought forth from above, the things of God, and the wisdom brought forth from below, the things of men. This wisdom is said to be earthly, sensual, and demonic, whereas the wisdom from above is pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. The wisdom from above is a bringer of life and the wisdom from below a bringer of death, both with respect to the age to come. And the opposing nature of these two types of wisdom is shown in foundation through the two trees in the Garden: the tree of life, the wisdom from above, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the wisdom from below. And it won’t escape our notice, that ‘death’ with respect to Man’s created purpose came about by eating from the wrong tree. a). And we have seen the necessity for us to make a separation between these two types of wisdom. We have come to see that the wisdom brought forth from above, brought forth out of God, is the Scripture, and as the Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ, it is easy to grasp why that which is brought forth from above cannot be anything other than what we see recorded in James 3:17, it CANNOT have any connection with that which is earthly, sensual, demonic, because of who the Word is – 1 Jn 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 2 Co 6:15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? And this truth is seen after a slightly different fashion in some often-misunderstood verses from 1 John – 1 Jn 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 1 Jn 5:18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. Now, if we read ‘born of God’ as a reference to eternal salvation, then our verses appear to say, that once we have been eternally saved, we don’t sin anymore. And it is seeing verses such as this in this fashion that has caused the leavened teaching that says that we can judge if a person is saved or not by their actions. If they continue to sin, then they can’t have been ‘born of God’. And this gives rise to the statement, ‘They were never really saved in the first place’, or ‘Their salvation didn’t stick’, or ‘Their salvation never travelled from their head to their heart’, or ‘They have lost their salvation and have to be saved all over again’. c). As we revisit some of these things that maybe we once believed, we can now realize that this is the leavened wisdom from below, that is earthly sensual, demonic. d). So, what does it mean, that ‘whoever has been born of God does not sin’? To begin with, let’s stop thinking ‘born’, because of the thoughts it might still trigger in our mind through the wrong use of the phrase, ‘born again’, and let’s think ‘brought forth’ instead. Whoever is brought forth of God does not sin. With this in place we can then compare Scripture with Scripture – Jas 1:18 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 are brought forth of God, by an action of God’s own will, ‘by the word of truth’. We can only be brought forth out of God by the Word of Truth, never the wisdom from below. And because of the inextricable connection between being brought forth and the Word of Truth, we will realize that being brought forth of God is to walk in the Spirit – Ga 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we walk in the Spirit, which we can only do through faithful obedience to the Scriptures, the Word of Truth that has brought us forth from above, then we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, we do not sin. But once we stop walking in the Spirit, once we step outside of the realm of the Word of Truth, then that’s another matter entirely – 1 Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The Word of Truth, the Word made flesh, has no accord with sin, therefore if we abide in this Word, if we abide in Him, and conduct ourselves in harmony with it, in harmony with Him, sin is an impossibility all the while we do so. e). Abiding in the Word of Truth and thereby walking in the Spirit is a function of the process to bring us to spiritual maturity – Ru 3:5 And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.” Eph 4:15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— This is the process that is pictured through the metaphor of the three days’ journey, and through the account of Ruth beating out the grain as she worked in Boaz’s field, and Abraham getting out of his country, his family, and his father’s house. All of which have to do with separation. Separation from the traditions of men to the commandments of God, separation from the leftovers from our Laodicean loitering to the Word of Truth, and separation from our old man, the man of the flesh, to the new man the man of the Spirit. And with respect to the separation between the old man and the new, we read this - Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Col 3:5 ¶ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience……. So then putting to death the deeds of the body and putting to death our members which are on the earth, which are two ways of saying the same thing, describe how the old man is to be separated from the new. It is accomplished by a work of the Spirit as we choose to walk in the Spirit, to be brought forth of God by the Word of Truth. f). What then does it look like to put to death the deeds of the body and to walk in the Spirit? Simply this - Joh 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It will be no great surprise to us to see yet again that it is our faithful obedience to the Word of Truth that will put to death the deeds of the body, that will bring about the separation, as we choose to walk in the Spirit. It is the choice we make to be holy just as He is holy, the process of separation from the lusts that are in the world as we cling to the truth of Scripture, just as Ruth had clung to Naomi. g). And this is just what has been set in foundation for us at the beginning of Genesis. It was God’s Word, ‘let there be light’ that brought light into the darkness on Day One of the restoration. And it is the same Word, who became flesh, who is the light of the world, who was sent to the Jews in the person of Jesus the Christ, who is the same Living Word, the same light, that we have in written form. The same Word, which is alive, who now makes a division between our soul, our darkness, and our spirit, our light as He brings us forth by the Word of Truth - 2Co 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Walking in the light and walking in the Spirit describe one and the same thing. And if we would do this, then according to the Scripture, we will have fellowship with the Lord, we will be likeminded with Him, and ‘the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.’ h). In simple practical terms this brings us again to the choice to conduct our lives in accordance with the Scriptures, by faith, on a day-to-day basis as we are continually filled with the Spirit. And in so doing our ‘old man’ will be the sacrifice that we tie firmly to the horns of the altar in the outer court of the Tabernacle, allowing our hands to be cleansed by the washing of water by the Word as we enter the Holy place, where the light will be found - Ps 24:3 ¶ Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 2). The separation of the old man from the new is a process that is to continue throughout the course of our Christian journey as, by the exercise of faith, we seek to separate ourselves from everything that has a connection through our first birth to the kingdom of Satan; a corrupted soul, a corrupted version of the Word of Truth and a system of corrupted governance all of which Scripture describes as the world and the things in the world, a separation that is exemplified through Abraham getting out of his country, his family, and his father’s house – Ro 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The two facets of this process of separation, separation from that encompassed by the word ‘world’ and the separation of the new man, brought forth out of God, from our old man, who has an inseparable connection to the world and the things in the world through our first birth, go hand in hand together – Eph 4:22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. And the inseparable connection between these two concurrent processes of separation can be seen through the Scriptures we have just looked at. To be separated from the world by choosing not to be conformed to it, as seen in Romans 12:2, is brought about by the renewing of our mind which brings transformation. And putting on our new man so as to be separate from our old man, as seen in Ephesians 4:22-24, is brought about by the same process, being ‘renewed in the spirit of your mind’. a). Simply put then, to separate ourselves from the world and the things in the world, is to separate ourselves from our old man. We cannot do the one and not the other as they are both brought about by the same single process of renewing our mind, being brought forth of God by the Word of Truth, leading to transformation, the metamorphosis. b). We can add more to the verses from Ephesians Chapter 4 by re-visiting some companion verses from Colossians Chapter 3 that will help us with our understanding – Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. To be raised with Christ is to walk in resurrection, to walk in the Spirit, something only possible for the new man, never the old man. And through the new man who is able to understand spiritual truth, we are to ‘seek those things which are above’, which we would know, by comparing Scripture with Scripture, to be His Kingdom and His righteousness, with a view to receiving our inheritance as a joint heir with Christ, to be a crowned ruler, in the Kingdom of the Heavens, the wisdom from above, the Word of the Kingdom. c). And we are to set our mind on the things above, ‘not on things on the earth’. It is the new man, as a result of the renewing of our mind who is set on the things above, but our old man would want to draw us away to set our unrenewed mind ‘on things on the earth’ – Ro 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. There is then the ever-present tension between being focused on the things above that remain in our future, with our spiritual mind, that which is brought forth out of God, and being drawn away by the things on the earth, that which is ever present around us, by our carnal mind. And as we contemplate this tension, let’s not forget this important Scriptural truth, ‘you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ – Ro 6:5 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. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. Our old man was crucified with Christ, he has died and therefore we are no longer slaves of sin, we have been set free from that bondage – Ro 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. The death of our old man has been pictured for us through the type of the death of the firstborn of Israel on the night of the first Passover, and our freedom from sin which accompanies this death is pictured in Israel’s deliverance from Egypt culminating in the Red Sea passage. Once the waters of the Red Sea had opened for Israel to pass through, and then closed behind them again, the waters could never be re-opened to let Israel return to the bondage they had previously been delivered from. This is the picture. d). However, being freed from the bondage of sin does not mean the absence of sin in our life, but rather it marks the availability of choice, a choice that did not exist before, a choice not to be sin’s slave. e). Now in conjunction with the death of the firstborn we will remember that Israel was told - Ex 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. This was the command given to an eternally redeemed people, and symbolically, through the corrupting agent of leaven, pictures the necessity of the on-going process of removing sin from the lives of those who had been eternally saved, following their eternal salvation. f). According to the Scripture, if the Jewish people did not do this then they would experience death, they would be ‘cut off from Israel’. They would not be separated from God because of their eternal redemption, but they would be separated from their inheritance in the land of promise. Something they would never have access to again, because of their failure to do that which God had commanded them. g). If we go back to the verses from Colossians Chapter 3 for a moment, the on-going process of the removal of sin from our lives is presented this way 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Ga 5:24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. On the one hand then, we are to accept, by faith, that our old man has been crucified with Christ which again, we must accept by faith, has set us free from the bondage of sin. And on the other hand, because we now have that freedom through our faith, we can choose to crucify our flesh, to remove sin from our life, as an on-going process throughout the course of our three days’ journey – 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. This is the message of the cross that we have seen to be foolishness to those who are perishing, those who have chosen not to take up their cross and have not made the choice to crucify the flesh, to remove sin from their life, not having accepted by faith what the Scriptures say, but this same message, to those who are being saved, who have chosen to take up their cross by faith, to remove sin from their life, this process, is the power of God leading to salvation. Those who do so are the ones who will find their ‘life’ for the age to come - When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. And we have seen again today, from the Book of Ruth, that this same process of removing the leaven for seven days, and crucifying the flesh, has been given through the type of Ruth beating out the grain – Ru 2:17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. To beat out the grain is a picture of the separation of that which is worthless from that which is of value. And would equally apply to the wisdom from below and the wisdom from above, as it does to the old man and the new. The chaff, that which is worthless, is to be removed, to leave the grain intact – Lk 3:17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” Although what we read in this verse is the recorded words of John the Baptist to the Jewish people, it does serve as a graphic picture of what will happen at the Judgment Seat with respect to the separation of Christians Ps 1:4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. And it is worth noting that the Lord used ‘wheat’ to picture all the faithful, eternally saved in the Luke verse, something He also did in the Matthew 13 parables, in the parable of the wheat and tares, where we are again told that the wheat, the faithful Christian, will be gathered into His barn, will be gathered into His Kingdom. And the reason why wheat is used as the grain of choice, is given to us in – Jn 12:24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for life for the age In these verses from John Chapter 12, wheat is used to picture all of the eternally saved, not just the faithful, but the distinction is then made between the faithful and the unfaithful through the wheat that falls into the ground and dies, and the wheat that doesn’t and remains alone. It is those pictured through the grain of wheat, that falls into the ground and dies, who will have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires, who will have engaged in the process of removing sin from their lives during the course of their three days’ journey, who will be His joint heirs in the Millennial Kingdom. These will be the ones who will have taken up their cross and followed Him, who will have used their freedom from the bondage of sin to choose to become a slave of righteousness, who will be saved by having faith to the saving of the soul – Ro 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and someone has prayed.
