From Time To Time - Part Seventeen Jan 21, 2024 by: John Herbert | Series: From Time to Time Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T036_20240121.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 1 Sa 26:11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed…………….. We will continue with the type given through Saul and David. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 21st 2024 From Time to Time – Part 17 1). 1 Sa 26:7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?” 10 David said furthermore, “As the LORD lives, the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. 11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed…………….. Saul and David provide the type for the situation that has existed throughout the length of Man’s Day with respect to Christ and Satan and rulership over this one province in God’s universal Kingdom. Saul as a type of Satan had been rejected as king because of rebellion, and David as a type of Christ was anointed king in Saul’s place. a). But just as David could not ‘stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed’ because ‘the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish’, so the Son that God has chosen to replace him cannot take Satan’s crown until the time that God has appointed for this to happen. A time that is inextricably connected to the Seven Days set out in the first thirty-four verses of Genesis, Days that include the search for a Bride for the Son in the antitype of Genesis Chapter 24, and the repentance and restoration of the sons of Israel. And until that time comes, just as it was with Saul, so Satan will continue his corrupted rule over the earth. b). And we had seen last time that the opportunities that David had to kill Saul provided the means by which he was tested to prove his worthiness to sit on the throne instead of Saul. A test as to whether he would trust in God’s timing and God’s promise or try to make things happen himself outside of that time. And we had seen David’s testing form a type for the ‘testing’ of the Christ ‘forty days and forty nights’ in the wilderness in His face-to-face confrontation with Satan. A confrontation that was not about proof of Christ’s Deity, as Satan readily acknowledged this, but a confrontation to determine whether the Second Man, the Last Adam, the Son of David, was worthy to take that which had been forfeited by the first Adam in the Garden. c). We might keep in mind that throughout the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus consistently refers to Himself as ‘the Son of Man’. A Messianic title, but one that draws us to His humanity rather than His Deity d). And we had finished our study last week with the introduction of the second of the three ‘temptations’ given to the Lord, recorded in – Mt 4:5 Then the devil takes Him with himself into the city set apart for the worship and service of God, and he caused Him to stand upon the wing of the temple, and says to Him, 6 Since you are Son of God by virtue of your participation in the divine essence of deity, hurl yourself down, for it has been written and at present is on record, To His angels He will give a charge concerning you, and upon their hands they will take you up lest at any time you strike your foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said to him, On the other hand, It has been written and at present is on record, You shall not put the Lord your God to an all-out test. [Wuest – Expanded translation] And as we had noted last time, although there would have been many high places that Satan could have taken the Lord to bid Him to cast Himself down, he specifically took Him to the holy city of Jerusalem and to the top of the temple, the place where God has put His name forever – 1 Ki 9:3 And the LORD said to him [Solomon]: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. And again, the enticement surrounds the tension between the Lord’s Deity and His humanity, attempting to put the Father into a position where He would have to act on behalf of the Son outside of His predetermined purpose – Ps 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. This is the verse from Psalms 91 that Satan uses in his enticement, and the thing to remember is that God will always honor His Word but not when it is used in this way, as a solicitation to evil. God will honor His Word when the one relying upon it embraces His Word in faithful obedience. And we might think of it this way – 1 Pe 1:5 [talking of those in pursuit of the Kingdom] who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We cannot demand that God keeps us by His power nor expect it because we are able to quote the verse. And we cannot deliberately put ourselves in a position whereby we would try to force Him to do so. However, if we have faith to the saving of the soul, and submit ourselves to the Word, organizing our lives accordingly, then we will be kept by God’s power, an absolute guarantee, with respect to the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. e). And it is one of the extraordinary features of the Lord’s first Advent that although He is the Word made flesh, as the Second Man, the Last Adam, He submitted Himself entirely to the will of His Father, in complete accordance with that which God has said – Lk 22:41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” As the last Adam, not because He is the second Person of the Trinity, the Lord chose to submit Himself to the will of the Father, that will which is focused on rulership and the Seventh Day, and a world no longer in subjection to angels, and to patiently endure while awaiting the certainty of God’s timing and His faithfulness to His Word– Php 2:5 This mind be constantly having in you. [This is the mind] which is also in Christ Jesus, 6 who has always been and at present continues to subsist in that mode of being in which He gives outward expression of His essential nature, that of absolute deity, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His inner being [that of absolute deity], and who did not after weighing the facts, consider it a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards, this being on an equality with deity [in the expression of the divine essence], 7 but himself He emptied, himself He made void, having taken the outward expression of a bondslave, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His nature [as deity], entering into a new state of existence, that of mankind. 8 And being found to be in outward guise as man, He stooped very low, having become obedient [to God the Father] to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross. 9 Because of which voluntary act of supreme self-renunciation God also supereminently exalted Him to the highest rank and power, and graciously bestowed upon Him the Name, the name which is above every name, 10 in order that in recognition of the Name [all which the Lord Jesus is in His Person and work] which Jesus possesses, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the earth, 11 and in order that every tongue should plainly and openly agree to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord, resulting in the glory of God the Father. [Wuest – Expanded Translation] Ps 110:1 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 2 The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! And we have been charged in exactly the same fashion to have this same mind. And for us to wait with patient endurance for the fulfillment of God’s timing, which we know – Heb 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. And the enticement for the Lord to throw Himself from the top of the Temple in Jerusalem in Matthew Chapter 4, the Holy City, where He will sit on David’s throne, where the Millennial Temple will be built, the place where He has put His name forever and the glory of God will reside, during the Seventh Day, seeks to corrupt and pervert both God’s timing and the Lord’s submission to His Father’s will, seeking to bring division between them. And in this we can find a similarity with how the Lord was reviled as He hung upon the cross – Mk 15:29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” And in the midst of this reviling, in these last moments before He gave up His Spirit, He remained resolute, His will and the Father’s will being one – 1 Pe 2:23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously…….. And what does the Scripture say of us? – 1 Pe 1:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 2). And the third in this triad of ‘temptations’ in the Lord’s face to face confrontation with Satan makes abundantly clear the intent throughout – Lk 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” And here, what we already know is confirmed for us. The god of this age has in his possession and under his jurisdiction ‘all the kingdoms of the world’, which had been delivered to him, of which he says, ‘I give it to whomever I wish.’ The Lord does not challenge Satan with respect to the present rulership of the earth, for this has indeed been delivered to him. And as seen through David and Saul in the type, this was not the time when this would change. But for Satan to say that he could give it to whomever he wished is disingenuous to say the least. We had seen only last week from Daniel 4:17, that it is God alone who places and removes rulers within and over the kingdom of this world. And although we do see Satan in Revelation Chapter 13 giving his power, his throne, and great authority to his son, the man of sin, we will remember that it is God who raises up this same man to fulfill the purpose He has for him and therefore Satan acts in complete accord with God’s purpose. a). And in this temptation to have all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, we will find resonance with the original temptation 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 the natural eye, for the Christ to take possession of the kingdoms of this world and their glory could certainly appear good. And there would be much in these kingdoms that would be appealing to the sight. Just as there was for Lot when he viewed the cities of the plain. And to receive that which He knew was to be His but without the horrors of the cross, certainly has the appearance of wisdom. But this is pure deception. Satan knew that if the Lord bowed down to worship him, then he Satan, would remain in possession of the kingdoms of this world for all time. b). If God, in the person of Son, had as the Second Man, the Last Adam, the Son of David, forfeited the rights of the firstborn by accepting Satan’s offer, then it was game over, but such a thing could never be, For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ Mt 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. Jas 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. We don’t ever engage in a face-to-face confrontation with Satan, however in order to deal with his wiles within the context of those three great enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, the methodology remains the same. Just as Jesus did, so are we to do. And as we remember those angels who minister on behalf of those about to inherit salvation, we might find an additional motivation to do so as we follow the Lord’s example. 3). Mt 4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee………………..17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And it is immediately following the Lord’s temptation in the wilderness, where He has shown Himself worthy as the Son of David, the Second Man, the Last Adam, to redeem that which the first Adam had forfeited in the Garden and take the crown as Ruler in the Seventh Day, that we see John the Baptist, the one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to make a people prepared for the Lord, imprisoned, leaving the Lord to take up the proclamation of the Kingdom of the heavens in John’s place. A change of events that could only lead to the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection, that which had already been foreshadowed by His baptism in the Jordan River as this sequence of events began. a). And it was following the Lord’s resurrection and ascension that His ‘Church’ was brought into being on the Day of Pentecost to receive the Kingdom of the heavens rejected by national Israel, and the search for His Bride began. b). And from the life of David, as part of his on-going struggle with Saul, we find a type that deals with the time following the Lord’s ascension as He begins to deal with His Church during the course of the dispensation allotted to them – 1 Sa 22:1 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. David’s ‘escape’ to the cave of Adullam provides a picture of the Lord’s ascension to the right hand of the Father. The Lord’s ascension has also been typified through Joseph being taken to Egypt, a far country, after he is brought up out of the pit, and Moses going to Midian after he had been rejected by his brothers. And it is the same picture provided through the parable that Jesus gave, recorded in – Lk 19:11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. 12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ And in the ten servants who were to do business until the certain Nobleman’s return from a far country, we will find David’s four-hundred men. c). In the sequencing given at the beginning of 1 Samuel Chapter 22, we see that David’s brothers, ‘and all his father’s house’ went with David first, and in this we can see the beginning of the Church that was entirely Jewish – Acts 2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Later, everyone who was discontented gathered to him, and in this broader scope we can see a picture of those who would be called out of the Gentiles to be a people for God’s name – Acts 15:14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. As we look at David’s four-hundred men though, it would not be correct to view them as representative of all Christians, as these four-hundred men had gone to David in anticipation of the day when he would be given the kingdom. And if we look at the church as it exists in these Laodicean days, most are not discontented with the kingdom of this world but readily embrace it and seek to be a part of it. d). In this sense then, the four-hundred men are seen through the types of the Woman taken from Adam’s body – Ge 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Seen through Rebekah – Ge 24:58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” 59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. And seen through Ruth - Ru 2:1 There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And they are found in the individuals from the fourth part of the Parable of the Sower, those who hear the Word of the Kingdom and produce fruit, in Matthew Chapter 13 – 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.” They also picture the Christians who will be recognized as overcomers at the Judgment Seat of Christ – Re 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Those who will receive the salvation of their souls, be adopted as a firstborn son, and make up the Bride for Christ, who will become the Wife of Christ when He completes the redemption of the inheritance and takes the sceptre of rulership. e). And within the overall type of David and his four-hundred men and the cave of Adullam, we know that there was a period of time between the gathering together to David at the cave and the time when David became king in Saul’s place. Within the antitype of this, the period of time between the Lord’s ascension and the time when He becomes King in Satan’s place, contains the two-thousand years of this dispensation. The time during which we are working with a view to becoming one of those pictured by David’s four hundred men. f). And throughout the time of this dispensation many have been called in anticipation of being those who will be called out of the called at the Judgment Seat. 4). And this we know – 2 Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men……… This present time is when we are doing things in this our body of flesh, bone, and blood, with a view to the time in the VERY near future when we will receive a just recompense of reward for what we have done, whether it is good or bad. There will then, in that Day, be only one of two possible outcomes for us – 1 Pe 1:6 In this [the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. And if it is not this then it will be – Heb 10:30 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. This is why Paul, knowing the terror of the Lord, persuaded men. Our appearance at the Judgment Seat will be either the time of our greatest joy, a joy beyond anything that we could possibly experience in this life, or it will be the time when we will experience an unimaginable terror, the like of which is beyond our present comprehension. a). It will be one or the other, there is no middle ground here, there are no mitigating circumstances. No nod of the head or a wink of the eye, only a just recompense of reward. We will get exactly what we deserve from our patient endurance and faithful obedience or sadly, our lack of the same – 1 Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Our patient endurance and faithful obedience will result in works equated with gold, silver, and precious stones; these are what will have been done in the physical body that is good. On the other hand, the absence of patient endurance and faithful obedience, a Christian lifetime of living for self, can only result in works equated with wood, hay, and straw; these are what will have been done in the physical body that are bad. b). And at our appearance before the Lord at His Judgment Seat, the individual and his works will be subject to the consuming fire of Judgment. For the Christian whose works endure, who has built correctly on the foundation, producing works equated with gold, silver, and precious stones, that Christian will receive a reward, the reward of the inheritance, the salvation of the soul and this one will rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. c). For the Christian whose works are consumed in the fire, this one will be delivered out of the fire so as not to be totally consumed with their works. But they will come from the fire with nothing. They will be naked and ashamed as they fall into the hands of the living God in a state of abject, terrifying fear. d). This is what the Scripture plainly teaches, and if we have learned nothing else from the past sixteen weeks, it is that God is faithful to His Word. What the Word says is exactly what will take place. There is no doubt about it. e). At this very moment, right now, we are still in the time when works of gold, silver and precious stones can be produced, we are still in the time when we can sow to the Spirit in order to reap age lasting life. But in the smallest particle of time, the twinkling of an eye, we will go from this time to the time of judgment. From Man’s Day when work can be done to the Lord’s Day when no one may work. And this Day is hard upon us. f). Are we ready for when that moment comes? And if not, what will we choose to do? Hide our talent in the ground? Or what? The choice is ours to make while we still have time to make it. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. From Time To Time - Part Seventeen Jan 21, 2024 Speaker: John Herbert Series: From Time to Time Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T036_20240121.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon 1 Sa 26:11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed…………….. We will continue with the type given through Saul and David. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 21st 2024 From Time to Time – Part 17 1). 1 Sa 26:7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?” 10 David said furthermore, “As the LORD lives, the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. 11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed…………….. Saul and David provide the type for the situation that has existed throughout the length of Man’s Day with respect to Christ and Satan and rulership over this one province in God’s universal Kingdom. Saul as a type of Satan had been rejected as king because of rebellion, and David as a type of Christ was anointed king in Saul’s place. a). But just as David could not ‘stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed’ because ‘the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish’, so the Son that God has chosen to replace him cannot take Satan’s crown until the time that God has appointed for this to happen. A time that is inextricably connected to the Seven Days set out in the first thirty-four verses of Genesis, Days that include the search for a Bride for the Son in the antitype of Genesis Chapter 24, and the repentance and restoration of the sons of Israel. And until that time comes, just as it was with Saul, so Satan will continue his corrupted rule over the earth. b). And we had seen last time that the opportunities that David had to kill Saul provided the means by which he was tested to prove his worthiness to sit on the throne instead of Saul. A test as to whether he would trust in God’s timing and God’s promise or try to make things happen himself outside of that time. And we had seen David’s testing form a type for the ‘testing’ of the Christ ‘forty days and forty nights’ in the wilderness in His face-to-face confrontation with Satan. A confrontation that was not about proof of Christ’s Deity, as Satan readily acknowledged this, but a confrontation to determine whether the Second Man, the Last Adam, the Son of David, was worthy to take that which had been forfeited by the first Adam in the Garden. c). We might keep in mind that throughout the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus consistently refers to Himself as ‘the Son of Man’. A Messianic title, but one that draws us to His humanity rather than His Deity d). And we had finished our study last week with the introduction of the second of the three ‘temptations’ given to the Lord, recorded in – Mt 4:5 Then the devil takes Him with himself into the city set apart for the worship and service of God, and he caused Him to stand upon the wing of the temple, and says to Him, 6 Since you are Son of God by virtue of your participation in the divine essence of deity, hurl yourself down, for it has been written and at present is on record, To His angels He will give a charge concerning you, and upon their hands they will take you up lest at any time you strike your foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said to him, On the other hand, It has been written and at present is on record, You shall not put the Lord your God to an all-out test. [Wuest – Expanded translation] And as we had noted last time, although there would have been many high places that Satan could have taken the Lord to bid Him to cast Himself down, he specifically took Him to the holy city of Jerusalem and to the top of the temple, the place where God has put His name forever – 1 Ki 9:3 And the LORD said to him [Solomon]: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. And again, the enticement surrounds the tension between the Lord’s Deity and His humanity, attempting to put the Father into a position where He would have to act on behalf of the Son outside of His predetermined purpose – Ps 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. This is the verse from Psalms 91 that Satan uses in his enticement, and the thing to remember is that God will always honor His Word but not when it is used in this way, as a solicitation to evil. God will honor His Word when the one relying upon it embraces His Word in faithful obedience. And we might think of it this way – 1 Pe 1:5 [talking of those in pursuit of the Kingdom] who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We cannot demand that God keeps us by His power nor expect it because we are able to quote the verse. And we cannot deliberately put ourselves in a position whereby we would try to force Him to do so. However, if we have faith to the saving of the soul, and submit ourselves to the Word, organizing our lives accordingly, then we will be kept by God’s power, an absolute guarantee, with respect to the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. e). And it is one of the extraordinary features of the Lord’s first Advent that although He is the Word made flesh, as the Second Man, the Last Adam, He submitted Himself entirely to the will of His Father, in complete accordance with that which God has said – Lk 22:41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” As the last Adam, not because He is the second Person of the Trinity, the Lord chose to submit Himself to the will of the Father, that will which is focused on rulership and the Seventh Day, and a world no longer in subjection to angels, and to patiently endure while awaiting the certainty of God’s timing and His faithfulness to His Word– Php 2:5 This mind be constantly having in you. [This is the mind] which is also in Christ Jesus, 6 who has always been and at present continues to subsist in that mode of being in which He gives outward expression of His essential nature, that of absolute deity, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His inner being [that of absolute deity], and who did not after weighing the facts, consider it a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards, this being on an equality with deity [in the expression of the divine essence], 7 but himself He emptied, himself He made void, having taken the outward expression of a bondslave, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His nature [as deity], entering into a new state of existence, that of mankind. 8 And being found to be in outward guise as man, He stooped very low, having become obedient [to God the Father] to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross. 9 Because of which voluntary act of supreme self-renunciation God also supereminently exalted Him to the highest rank and power, and graciously bestowed upon Him the Name, the name which is above every name, 10 in order that in recognition of the Name [all which the Lord Jesus is in His Person and work] which Jesus possesses, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the earth, 11 and in order that every tongue should plainly and openly agree to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord, resulting in the glory of God the Father. [Wuest – Expanded Translation] Ps 110:1 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 2 The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! And we have been charged in exactly the same fashion to have this same mind. And for us to wait with patient endurance for the fulfillment of God’s timing, which we know – Heb 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. And the enticement for the Lord to throw Himself from the top of the Temple in Jerusalem in Matthew Chapter 4, the Holy City, where He will sit on David’s throne, where the Millennial Temple will be built, the place where He has put His name forever and the glory of God will reside, during the Seventh Day, seeks to corrupt and pervert both God’s timing and the Lord’s submission to His Father’s will, seeking to bring division between them. And in this we can find a similarity with how the Lord was reviled as He hung upon the cross – Mk 15:29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” And in the midst of this reviling, in these last moments before He gave up His Spirit, He remained resolute, His will and the Father’s will being one – 1 Pe 2:23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously…….. And what does the Scripture say of us? – 1 Pe 1:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 2). And the third in this triad of ‘temptations’ in the Lord’s face to face confrontation with Satan makes abundantly clear the intent throughout – Lk 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” And here, what we already know is confirmed for us. The god of this age has in his possession and under his jurisdiction ‘all the kingdoms of the world’, which had been delivered to him, of which he says, ‘I give it to whomever I wish.’ The Lord does not challenge Satan with respect to the present rulership of the earth, for this has indeed been delivered to him. And as seen through David and Saul in the type, this was not the time when this would change. But for Satan to say that he could give it to whomever he wished is disingenuous to say the least. We had seen only last week from Daniel 4:17, that it is God alone who places and removes rulers within and over the kingdom of this world. And although we do see Satan in Revelation Chapter 13 giving his power, his throne, and great authority to his son, the man of sin, we will remember that it is God who raises up this same man to fulfill the purpose He has for him and therefore Satan acts in complete accord with God’s purpose. a). And in this temptation to have all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, we will find resonance with the original temptation 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 the natural eye, for the Christ to take possession of the kingdoms of this world and their glory could certainly appear good. And there would be much in these kingdoms that would be appealing to the sight. Just as there was for Lot when he viewed the cities of the plain. And to receive that which He knew was to be His but without the horrors of the cross, certainly has the appearance of wisdom. But this is pure deception. Satan knew that if the Lord bowed down to worship him, then he Satan, would remain in possession of the kingdoms of this world for all time. b). If God, in the person of Son, had as the Second Man, the Last Adam, the Son of David, forfeited the rights of the firstborn by accepting Satan’s offer, then it was game over, but such a thing could never be, For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ Mt 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. Jas 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. We don’t ever engage in a face-to-face confrontation with Satan, however in order to deal with his wiles within the context of those three great enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, the methodology remains the same. Just as Jesus did, so are we to do. And as we remember those angels who minister on behalf of those about to inherit salvation, we might find an additional motivation to do so as we follow the Lord’s example. 3). Mt 4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee………………..17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And it is immediately following the Lord’s temptation in the wilderness, where He has shown Himself worthy as the Son of David, the Second Man, the Last Adam, to redeem that which the first Adam had forfeited in the Garden and take the crown as Ruler in the Seventh Day, that we see John the Baptist, the one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to make a people prepared for the Lord, imprisoned, leaving the Lord to take up the proclamation of the Kingdom of the heavens in John’s place. A change of events that could only lead to the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection, that which had already been foreshadowed by His baptism in the Jordan River as this sequence of events began. a). And it was following the Lord’s resurrection and ascension that His ‘Church’ was brought into being on the Day of Pentecost to receive the Kingdom of the heavens rejected by national Israel, and the search for His Bride began. b). And from the life of David, as part of his on-going struggle with Saul, we find a type that deals with the time following the Lord’s ascension as He begins to deal with His Church during the course of the dispensation allotted to them – 1 Sa 22:1 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. David’s ‘escape’ to the cave of Adullam provides a picture of the Lord’s ascension to the right hand of the Father. The Lord’s ascension has also been typified through Joseph being taken to Egypt, a far country, after he is brought up out of the pit, and Moses going to Midian after he had been rejected by his brothers. And it is the same picture provided through the parable that Jesus gave, recorded in – Lk 19:11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. 12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ And in the ten servants who were to do business until the certain Nobleman’s return from a far country, we will find David’s four-hundred men. c). In the sequencing given at the beginning of 1 Samuel Chapter 22, we see that David’s brothers, ‘and all his father’s house’ went with David first, and in this we can see the beginning of the Church that was entirely Jewish – Acts 2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Later, everyone who was discontented gathered to him, and in this broader scope we can see a picture of those who would be called out of the Gentiles to be a people for God’s name – Acts 15:14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. As we look at David’s four-hundred men though, it would not be correct to view them as representative of all Christians, as these four-hundred men had gone to David in anticipation of the day when he would be given the kingdom. And if we look at the church as it exists in these Laodicean days, most are not discontented with the kingdom of this world but readily embrace it and seek to be a part of it. d). In this sense then, the four-hundred men are seen through the types of the Woman taken from Adam’s body – Ge 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Seen through Rebekah – Ge 24:58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” 59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. And seen through Ruth - Ru 2:1 There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And they are found in the individuals from the fourth part of the Parable of the Sower, those who hear the Word of the Kingdom and produce fruit, in Matthew Chapter 13 – 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.” They also picture the Christians who will be recognized as overcomers at the Judgment Seat of Christ – Re 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Those who will receive the salvation of their souls, be adopted as a firstborn son, and make up the Bride for Christ, who will become the Wife of Christ when He completes the redemption of the inheritance and takes the sceptre of rulership. e). And within the overall type of David and his four-hundred men and the cave of Adullam, we know that there was a period of time between the gathering together to David at the cave and the time when David became king in Saul’s place. Within the antitype of this, the period of time between the Lord’s ascension and the time when He becomes King in Satan’s place, contains the two-thousand years of this dispensation. The time during which we are working with a view to becoming one of those pictured by David’s four hundred men. f). And throughout the time of this dispensation many have been called in anticipation of being those who will be called out of the called at the Judgment Seat. 4). And this we know – 2 Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men……… This present time is when we are doing things in this our body of flesh, bone, and blood, with a view to the time in the VERY near future when we will receive a just recompense of reward for what we have done, whether it is good or bad. There will then, in that Day, be only one of two possible outcomes for us – 1 Pe 1:6 In this [the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. And if it is not this then it will be – Heb 10:30 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. This is why Paul, knowing the terror of the Lord, persuaded men. Our appearance at the Judgment Seat will be either the time of our greatest joy, a joy beyond anything that we could possibly experience in this life, or it will be the time when we will experience an unimaginable terror, the like of which is beyond our present comprehension. a). It will be one or the other, there is no middle ground here, there are no mitigating circumstances. No nod of the head or a wink of the eye, only a just recompense of reward. We will get exactly what we deserve from our patient endurance and faithful obedience or sadly, our lack of the same – 1 Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Our patient endurance and faithful obedience will result in works equated with gold, silver, and precious stones; these are what will have been done in the physical body that is good. On the other hand, the absence of patient endurance and faithful obedience, a Christian lifetime of living for self, can only result in works equated with wood, hay, and straw; these are what will have been done in the physical body that are bad. b). And at our appearance before the Lord at His Judgment Seat, the individual and his works will be subject to the consuming fire of Judgment. For the Christian whose works endure, who has built correctly on the foundation, producing works equated with gold, silver, and precious stones, that Christian will receive a reward, the reward of the inheritance, the salvation of the soul and this one will rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. c). For the Christian whose works are consumed in the fire, this one will be delivered out of the fire so as not to be totally consumed with their works. But they will come from the fire with nothing. They will be naked and ashamed as they fall into the hands of the living God in a state of abject, terrifying fear. d). This is what the Scripture plainly teaches, and if we have learned nothing else from the past sixteen weeks, it is that God is faithful to His Word. What the Word says is exactly what will take place. There is no doubt about it. e). At this very moment, right now, we are still in the time when works of gold, silver and precious stones can be produced, we are still in the time when we can sow to the Spirit in order to reap age lasting life. But in the smallest particle of time, the twinkling of an eye, we will go from this time to the time of judgment. From Man’s Day when work can be done to the Lord’s Day when no one may work. And this Day is hard upon us. f). Are we ready for when that moment comes? And if not, what will we choose to do? Hide our talent in the ground? Or what? The choice is ours to make while we still have time to make it. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.