What Shall I Do - Part Twenty Mar 26, 2023 by: John Herbert | Series: What Shall I Do... Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T054_20230326.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 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... As we consider the question 'What Shall I Do...' we will continue to look at the separation of the old man and the new, this age and the Age to come. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday March 26th 2023 What Shall I Do…….. Part 20 1). 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…. We can see in these verses Paul’s use of contrasting opposites, the loss of what he counts as ‘rubbish’ contrasted to gaining Christ, and his own righteousness which is from the law contrasted to the righteousness which is from God by faith to the saving of the soul. And implicit in these contrasting opposites is leaving behind the one in order to access something exponentially greater in the other. And in these few verses we can see in Paul’s actions the fulfillment of the instructions given to Abraham to get out from his country, from his family and from his father’s house. Here if you will, is Paul’s three days’ journey in microcosm. a). And of necessity we must see in Paul’s journey the constant conflict between his spirit man and his man of the flesh, the same conflict that we also experience – Ro 7 :22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. 1 Co 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man…… This then is the common experience of all who have heard the Word of the Kingdom, the Word of Truth, who are seeking first His Kingdom and the righteousness which is from God by faith; those who receive the ‘rain’ that often comes upon them and are cultivated. And we can take this universal Kingdom seeking experience back to find its origins in the foundation in Genesis – Ge 3:17 ¶ Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." We were all born dead in trespasses and sins and all that is associated with our first birth, because of its connection with Satan’s kingdom, can only bring forth thorns and thistles as this ground has been rejected by God. And we can readily see a parallel here with those who hear the Word of the Kingdom and then produce only thorns and briars because they will not allow for the child training of the Lord, preferring to keep doing what seems right in their own eyes instead; continuing to walk in that connected to their first birth. b). And as the old man and the new man continue side by side together, to go back to the imagery in Genesis, we are to eat the herb of the field and in the sweat of our face we are to eat bread. And in these two we can identify the herbs of Hebrews 6:7-8 and the bread of life, the Word of Truth pictured through eating His flesh and drinking His blood in John Chapter 6. c). And what we will notice once again, is that to eat the herbs of the field and the bread both require work – 2 Ti 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And as we compare Scripture with Scripture, we would know this to be the work of the metamorphosis on the one hand and our own faithful obedience in response to the metamorphosis on the other. The ground must be cultivated, the weeds kept at bay, the seed planted and nurtured. d). And this process is found amidst the constant conflict we encounter between the man of the flesh who can only produce thorns and thistles, and the man of the spirit who is to be fruitful as we eat the bread of life. And the work on our part to keep the old man in his crucified state, is described by the Lord this way – Lu 13:24 "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. And by Paul in the following ways - Ac 24:16 "This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. Php 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The introduction of sin has resulted in a curse, not only on the material creation, but also upon that with which the material creation is connected, our old man, our first birth, through the first Adam. And everything connected to this first birth is unfruitful with respect to our inheritance and can only produce thorns and thistles exactly as God said in Genesis 3. e). Only that which comes from being brought forth from above, as we walk in the Spirit, can produce fruit and this requires consistent, continual work on our part in conjunction with eating the bread of life. f). And working to produce the fruit necessary to accomplish our heavenly calling is essential for us because of two complimentary conclusions that the Scriptures present to us. The first of which we will see in the account of Lot and his wife – Ge 19:17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed." We will remember that Lot and his wife had become embroiled in the affairs of Sodom. And they were told in no uncertain manner to escape to the mountain. Sodom was about to be destroyed and unless they did a U turn with respect to their association with that place, they would be destroyed right along with it – Ge 19:25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt….. 30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. Lot and his wife being one flesh provide for us the complete picture for the unfaithful Christian. Lot’s wife was destroyed along with that which was the focus of her attention, Sodom, and Lot we find in a place associated with darkness and shame. And this is the lot of the Christian, even one who has heard the Word of the Kingdom, whose attention is fixed on the things of this world, the things associated with his first birth. g). As the present world system is overthrown, so the Christian fixated upon it, will be overthrown with it, and consequently, during the Millennial Kingdom, will not be found standing before the Lord, but in a place of darkness and shame – Lk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife. Through the typology seen in the account of Lot and his wife we witness the overthrow of the present kingdom under Satan and the fate of every Christian who remains inseparably connected to it. Every Christian then who has not heeded the warning to escape to the mountain, who has not obeyed the instruction, ‘Get out from your country, from your family and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you’, who has not been cultivated by the Word of Truth. h). And in conjunction with this we have a complimentary account given in - 2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 ¶ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness………. Here we see Peter describing the Day of the Lord, the Seventh Day, the Millennial Kingdom, coming suddenly and without warning, coming with unexpected consequences for those who are not prepared for it, just as a thief who breaks into a house in the middle of the night. Peter then jumps from the beginning of the Day of the Lord to the conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom, where we see the earth, the material creation, and the works that are in it, being burned up. i). The Holy Spirit, through Peter, then asks us the question, ‘Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?’ And the reason for this question being asked should be obvious. The material creation, presently under a curse, and the works that are in it, even after the restorative process of the Millennial Kingdom, are to be burned up. They will literally be completely and irrevocably destroyed to make way for the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell. Nothing will remain that has had any connection with sin. And this will be true not only for the material creation but also for all those who will enter into the endless ages, who will reside on the New Earth. None in the endless ages will have a sin nature, and sin will exist no more – Re 20:14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire…………… Knowing that there is nothing connected to the material creation that presently exists which will escape destruction, then why should we now, in anticipation of the Seventh Day and its conclusion, desire to cling to it? Rather, now is the time we should live in holy conduct and godliness by getting out from our country, from our family, and from our father’s house, by completing our three days’ journey, by working in the Lord’s field from the beginning to the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest. 2). To stir ourselves up by way of reminder again this week, let’s go back to the Parable of the Sower for a moment. We will remember that it is those described as being sown in good ground who alone produce fruit - 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." Because those in the good ground alone are the ones who produce fruit, we will realize that verses we have looked at from previous weeks in Hebrews Chapter 6, address the possible consequences for this group only, for those who are producing fruit. Because contextually, we are looking at those who will come into a mature knowledge of the truth, the Word of the Kingdom, and then choose to turn away from that truth. Let’s remind ourselves of the verses - Heb 6:1 ¶ Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of age lasting judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. And here is the call to go on to perfection, to achieve the goal of our calling by moving on to spiritual maturity as we build on the elementary principles of Christ, which we will do if God permits. A phrase we might understand in a similar fashion to, ‘if the Lord is willing.’ a). We see that if anyone comes into a mature understanding of the Word of Truth, the Word of the Kingdom, and then ‘falls away’ from that truth, an action which defines the word apostasy, then having done this they cannot be renewed again to repentance. And this is not repentance on their part, but no change of mind on God’s part. Esau is the type for this. b). And this is the same truth presented again in – Heb 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And as we compare these two sets of Scriptures, we can conclude that ‘falling away’, which is to commit apostasy, is described as sinning willfully. c). Then from the verses from Hebrews Chapter 10 we are told of the outcome for this action, which is described as a fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. And this word ‘adversaries’, because Christians often refer to ‘our adversary the devil’, could lead to a wrong conclusion unless we keep in mind that the context is dealing with mature Christians. And a useful link we can make here is with – Php 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. And this ‘fiery judgment’ that will result in a worse punishment for those Christians at the Judgment Seat who have willfully sinned is something consistently presented elsewhere in the Scriptures - Mt 13:30 'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'" Mt 13:40 "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. Mt 13:49 "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 "and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Joh 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 1Co 3:15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Now as we begin to examine the ‘willful sin’, that which causes the spiritually mature Christian to turn away from the Word of the Kingdom, producing thorns and briars whose end is to be burned, let us remind ourselves of something concerning sin - Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Sin and unbelief are synonymous, and it is unbelief that will cause us to depart from the living God, to commit apostasy, and sin/unbelief, is deceitful. d). Sin/unbelief is by its nature deceptive, and the deception it brings is always with regards to one thing - Ge 3:1 ¶ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said………….4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. It brings a challenge to the Word of Truth to entice us to rely on what seems right in our own eyes instead. And as we consider this, let’s set in place this verse from – Eph 5:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. The husband is head of the wife, is a statement we can take all the way back to the Garden and the serpent’s deception of the Woman there. Adam, created first, was the head of the Woman, his wife, and the Woman, handling the Word of God apart from her husband came under the serpent’s enticement and usurped her husband’s headship in doing so leading to the fall of Man. It was stepping down from her high calling to assume a role that was not hers that allowed the entrance of sin. e). Now, let’s look at the second statement in Ephesians 5:23, ‘Christ is head of the church’. In this relationship, Christ is the head, not ‘the church’, and should Christians handle the Scriptures, apart from their Head, then they would be guilty of usurping Christ’s headship. This is no small matter, particularly as we look at the type with Adam and the Woman. f). And why does unbelief offer such a deceitful enticement? The answer is found in the Garden – Ge 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate………. To engage in the willful sin is to exchange the wisdom brought forth from above with the wisdom brought forth from below. It is to speak the same as the devil rather than speaking the same as God. This is to stand away from the truth deliberately and intentionally and perpetuate the lie. And this would have been what the ‘tares’ did at the beginning of this dispensation – Mt 13:37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. Ju 1:10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. And let’s remind ourselves once again, that in the time in which we live, it is only those who have heard the Word of the Kingdom and have come into an ‘epignosis’ knowledge of it who are in a position to be able to stand away from it. A sobering thought perhaps. g). And to stand away from the Word of Truth, thereby denying the Seventh Day, can be seen in what the Scriptures have to say about the works of the flesh as recorded in - Ga 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The key word for us in these verses is ‘practice’, a word that means to perform repeatedly. We are dealing with a habitual lifestyle then where the works of the flesh are continually evident rather than the leading of the Spirit. And the catalogue of behaviors in these verses have an inseparable connection with the present kingdom under Satan and are rooted in this world under a curse, the same world which is scheduled for destruction. And to consistently walk in the flesh rather than the Spirit, having gained an ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Truth, is to deny the Seventh Day by focusing entirely on the present and self-gratification rather than the coming Kingdom and self-denial. h). To stand away from the Truth, to choose to apostatize, leaves nowhere to go but to the wisdom brought forth from below, that which is earthly, sensual, demonic. And the Scripture is unequivocal in saying that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the heavens. 3). The example of the works of the flesh is an obvious one for us to see, but there is a danger for us in it as well, as it is possible for us to deceive ourselves into thinking we are OK, because we can check off those works of the flesh listed in the catalog and say, ‘I don’t do that’. a). But sin/unbelief is more subtle in its deceptive work within us than the blatant items listed in the works of the flesh. And with this in mind we can set the stage through the example of Esau - Ge 25:32 And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?" 33 Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day." So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. Simply, Esau was hungry, Jacob had a pot of stew, and Esau was willing to give up his birthright to satisfy his hunger. And what does the last sentence of our Scripture say about it? Thus Esau despised his birthright. As part of our process towards maturity we need to fully understand the magnitude of what our birthright is, and to come into an understanding of how that which is offered through it, is the greatest privilege that the God of the universe could bestow upon His creation. If we don’t grasp the significance of this, it becomes easy to consider the rights of the firstborn to be of marginal value in the overall scheme of things and therefore nothing to be overly concerned about. Once we understand the enormity of the rights of the firstborn, we would pluck out our eye and cut off our hand to get it – not literally of course. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. What Shall I Do - Part Twenty Mar 26, 2023 Speaker: John Herbert Series: What Shall I Do... Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T054_20230326.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 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... As we consider the question 'What Shall I Do...' we will continue to look at the separation of the old man and the new, this age and the Age to come. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday March 26th 2023 What Shall I Do…….. Part 20 1). 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…. We can see in these verses Paul’s use of contrasting opposites, the loss of what he counts as ‘rubbish’ contrasted to gaining Christ, and his own righteousness which is from the law contrasted to the righteousness which is from God by faith to the saving of the soul. And implicit in these contrasting opposites is leaving behind the one in order to access something exponentially greater in the other. And in these few verses we can see in Paul’s actions the fulfillment of the instructions given to Abraham to get out from his country, from his family and from his father’s house. Here if you will, is Paul’s three days’ journey in microcosm. a). And of necessity we must see in Paul’s journey the constant conflict between his spirit man and his man of the flesh, the same conflict that we also experience – Ro 7 :22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. 1 Co 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man…… This then is the common experience of all who have heard the Word of the Kingdom, the Word of Truth, who are seeking first His Kingdom and the righteousness which is from God by faith; those who receive the ‘rain’ that often comes upon them and are cultivated. And we can take this universal Kingdom seeking experience back to find its origins in the foundation in Genesis – Ge 3:17 ¶ Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." We were all born dead in trespasses and sins and all that is associated with our first birth, because of its connection with Satan’s kingdom, can only bring forth thorns and thistles as this ground has been rejected by God. And we can readily see a parallel here with those who hear the Word of the Kingdom and then produce only thorns and briars because they will not allow for the child training of the Lord, preferring to keep doing what seems right in their own eyes instead; continuing to walk in that connected to their first birth. b). And as the old man and the new man continue side by side together, to go back to the imagery in Genesis, we are to eat the herb of the field and in the sweat of our face we are to eat bread. And in these two we can identify the herbs of Hebrews 6:7-8 and the bread of life, the Word of Truth pictured through eating His flesh and drinking His blood in John Chapter 6. c). And what we will notice once again, is that to eat the herbs of the field and the bread both require work – 2 Ti 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And as we compare Scripture with Scripture, we would know this to be the work of the metamorphosis on the one hand and our own faithful obedience in response to the metamorphosis on the other. The ground must be cultivated, the weeds kept at bay, the seed planted and nurtured. d). And this process is found amidst the constant conflict we encounter between the man of the flesh who can only produce thorns and thistles, and the man of the spirit who is to be fruitful as we eat the bread of life. And the work on our part to keep the old man in his crucified state, is described by the Lord this way – Lu 13:24 "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. And by Paul in the following ways - Ac 24:16 "This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. Php 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The introduction of sin has resulted in a curse, not only on the material creation, but also upon that with which the material creation is connected, our old man, our first birth, through the first Adam. And everything connected to this first birth is unfruitful with respect to our inheritance and can only produce thorns and thistles exactly as God said in Genesis 3. e). Only that which comes from being brought forth from above, as we walk in the Spirit, can produce fruit and this requires consistent, continual work on our part in conjunction with eating the bread of life. f). And working to produce the fruit necessary to accomplish our heavenly calling is essential for us because of two complimentary conclusions that the Scriptures present to us. The first of which we will see in the account of Lot and his wife – Ge 19:17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed." We will remember that Lot and his wife had become embroiled in the affairs of Sodom. And they were told in no uncertain manner to escape to the mountain. Sodom was about to be destroyed and unless they did a U turn with respect to their association with that place, they would be destroyed right along with it – Ge 19:25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt….. 30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. Lot and his wife being one flesh provide for us the complete picture for the unfaithful Christian. Lot’s wife was destroyed along with that which was the focus of her attention, Sodom, and Lot we find in a place associated with darkness and shame. And this is the lot of the Christian, even one who has heard the Word of the Kingdom, whose attention is fixed on the things of this world, the things associated with his first birth. g). As the present world system is overthrown, so the Christian fixated upon it, will be overthrown with it, and consequently, during the Millennial Kingdom, will not be found standing before the Lord, but in a place of darkness and shame – Lk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife. Through the typology seen in the account of Lot and his wife we witness the overthrow of the present kingdom under Satan and the fate of every Christian who remains inseparably connected to it. Every Christian then who has not heeded the warning to escape to the mountain, who has not obeyed the instruction, ‘Get out from your country, from your family and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you’, who has not been cultivated by the Word of Truth. h). And in conjunction with this we have a complimentary account given in - 2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 ¶ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness………. Here we see Peter describing the Day of the Lord, the Seventh Day, the Millennial Kingdom, coming suddenly and without warning, coming with unexpected consequences for those who are not prepared for it, just as a thief who breaks into a house in the middle of the night. Peter then jumps from the beginning of the Day of the Lord to the conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom, where we see the earth, the material creation, and the works that are in it, being burned up. i). The Holy Spirit, through Peter, then asks us the question, ‘Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?’ And the reason for this question being asked should be obvious. The material creation, presently under a curse, and the works that are in it, even after the restorative process of the Millennial Kingdom, are to be burned up. They will literally be completely and irrevocably destroyed to make way for the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell. Nothing will remain that has had any connection with sin. And this will be true not only for the material creation but also for all those who will enter into the endless ages, who will reside on the New Earth. None in the endless ages will have a sin nature, and sin will exist no more – Re 20:14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire…………… Knowing that there is nothing connected to the material creation that presently exists which will escape destruction, then why should we now, in anticipation of the Seventh Day and its conclusion, desire to cling to it? Rather, now is the time we should live in holy conduct and godliness by getting out from our country, from our family, and from our father’s house, by completing our three days’ journey, by working in the Lord’s field from the beginning to the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest. 2). To stir ourselves up by way of reminder again this week, let’s go back to the Parable of the Sower for a moment. We will remember that it is those described as being sown in good ground who alone produce fruit - 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." Because those in the good ground alone are the ones who produce fruit, we will realize that verses we have looked at from previous weeks in Hebrews Chapter 6, address the possible consequences for this group only, for those who are producing fruit. Because contextually, we are looking at those who will come into a mature knowledge of the truth, the Word of the Kingdom, and then choose to turn away from that truth. Let’s remind ourselves of the verses - Heb 6:1 ¶ Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of age lasting judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. And here is the call to go on to perfection, to achieve the goal of our calling by moving on to spiritual maturity as we build on the elementary principles of Christ, which we will do if God permits. A phrase we might understand in a similar fashion to, ‘if the Lord is willing.’ a). We see that if anyone comes into a mature understanding of the Word of Truth, the Word of the Kingdom, and then ‘falls away’ from that truth, an action which defines the word apostasy, then having done this they cannot be renewed again to repentance. And this is not repentance on their part, but no change of mind on God’s part. Esau is the type for this. b). And this is the same truth presented again in – Heb 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And as we compare these two sets of Scriptures, we can conclude that ‘falling away’, which is to commit apostasy, is described as sinning willfully. c). Then from the verses from Hebrews Chapter 10 we are told of the outcome for this action, which is described as a fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. And this word ‘adversaries’, because Christians often refer to ‘our adversary the devil’, could lead to a wrong conclusion unless we keep in mind that the context is dealing with mature Christians. And a useful link we can make here is with – Php 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. And this ‘fiery judgment’ that will result in a worse punishment for those Christians at the Judgment Seat who have willfully sinned is something consistently presented elsewhere in the Scriptures - Mt 13:30 'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'" Mt 13:40 "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. Mt 13:49 "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 "and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Joh 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 1Co 3:15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Now as we begin to examine the ‘willful sin’, that which causes the spiritually mature Christian to turn away from the Word of the Kingdom, producing thorns and briars whose end is to be burned, let us remind ourselves of something concerning sin - Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Sin and unbelief are synonymous, and it is unbelief that will cause us to depart from the living God, to commit apostasy, and sin/unbelief, is deceitful. d). Sin/unbelief is by its nature deceptive, and the deception it brings is always with regards to one thing - Ge 3:1 ¶ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said………….4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. It brings a challenge to the Word of Truth to entice us to rely on what seems right in our own eyes instead. And as we consider this, let’s set in place this verse from – Eph 5:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. The husband is head of the wife, is a statement we can take all the way back to the Garden and the serpent’s deception of the Woman there. Adam, created first, was the head of the Woman, his wife, and the Woman, handling the Word of God apart from her husband came under the serpent’s enticement and usurped her husband’s headship in doing so leading to the fall of Man. It was stepping down from her high calling to assume a role that was not hers that allowed the entrance of sin. e). Now, let’s look at the second statement in Ephesians 5:23, ‘Christ is head of the church’. In this relationship, Christ is the head, not ‘the church’, and should Christians handle the Scriptures, apart from their Head, then they would be guilty of usurping Christ’s headship. This is no small matter, particularly as we look at the type with Adam and the Woman. f). And why does unbelief offer such a deceitful enticement? The answer is found in the Garden – Ge 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate………. To engage in the willful sin is to exchange the wisdom brought forth from above with the wisdom brought forth from below. It is to speak the same as the devil rather than speaking the same as God. This is to stand away from the truth deliberately and intentionally and perpetuate the lie. And this would have been what the ‘tares’ did at the beginning of this dispensation – Mt 13:37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. Ju 1:10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. And let’s remind ourselves once again, that in the time in which we live, it is only those who have heard the Word of the Kingdom and have come into an ‘epignosis’ knowledge of it who are in a position to be able to stand away from it. A sobering thought perhaps. g). And to stand away from the Word of Truth, thereby denying the Seventh Day, can be seen in what the Scriptures have to say about the works of the flesh as recorded in - Ga 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The key word for us in these verses is ‘practice’, a word that means to perform repeatedly. We are dealing with a habitual lifestyle then where the works of the flesh are continually evident rather than the leading of the Spirit. And the catalogue of behaviors in these verses have an inseparable connection with the present kingdom under Satan and are rooted in this world under a curse, the same world which is scheduled for destruction. And to consistently walk in the flesh rather than the Spirit, having gained an ‘epignosis’ knowledge of the Truth, is to deny the Seventh Day by focusing entirely on the present and self-gratification rather than the coming Kingdom and self-denial. h). To stand away from the Truth, to choose to apostatize, leaves nowhere to go but to the wisdom brought forth from below, that which is earthly, sensual, demonic. And the Scripture is unequivocal in saying that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the heavens. 3). The example of the works of the flesh is an obvious one for us to see, but there is a danger for us in it as well, as it is possible for us to deceive ourselves into thinking we are OK, because we can check off those works of the flesh listed in the catalog and say, ‘I don’t do that’. a). But sin/unbelief is more subtle in its deceptive work within us than the blatant items listed in the works of the flesh. And with this in mind we can set the stage through the example of Esau - Ge 25:32 And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?" 33 Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day." So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. Simply, Esau was hungry, Jacob had a pot of stew, and Esau was willing to give up his birthright to satisfy his hunger. And what does the last sentence of our Scripture say about it? Thus Esau despised his birthright. As part of our process towards maturity we need to fully understand the magnitude of what our birthright is, and to come into an understanding of how that which is offered through it, is the greatest privilege that the God of the universe could bestow upon His creation. If we don’t grasp the significance of this, it becomes easy to consider the rights of the firstborn to be of marginal value in the overall scheme of things and therefore nothing to be overly concerned about. Once we understand the enormity of the rights of the firstborn, we would pluck out our eye and cut off our hand to get it – not literally of course. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.
