Sermons - Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

From Time To Time - Part Nineteen

Feb 04, 2024 by: John Herbert | Series: From Time to Time

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Re 2:1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write………..4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

We will continue to look at that which faces those seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness within the kingdom of Satan.

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Sunday February 4th 2024
From Time to Time – Part 19

1). 1 Th 1:2 We are always giving thanks to God concerning all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering unceasingly your work produced and characterized by the faith which is yours, and your toil motivated and characterized by your divine and self-sacrificial love, and your patient endurance under trials which finds its source in your hope which rests in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God, even the Father, 4 since we know, brethren, that you who have always been loved by God and at the present time are the objects of His affection, are the subjects of the divine selection [in which God in sovereign grace selected you out for salvation]………[Wuest Expanded Translation]

What Paul wrote at the beginning of his first letter to the Thessalonians gives a perfect description of those who are by faith working towards the salvation of their souls. And in this we will find great encouragement.
	a). However, we will also remember that it is for the purpose of stopping those things seen in these verses from continuing that the enemy of our soul began working among those called out from the world some two-thousand years ago. Just as we had seen pictured through David’s four-hundred men and the Woman in the Garden it is those who have heard the Word of the Kingdom and are producing fruit for that Kingdom that are the target for Satan’s wiles.
	b). We had seen again last time that the Christ, for obvious reasons, is unassailable by Satan now being in the heavens performing His ministry as High Priest on our behalf, but those who are physically on the earth, within Satan’s kingdom, those of us hearing the Word of the Kingdom in the present, are not. Nevertheless, the Lord has provided the means for our protection from, and victory over, Satan’s wiles through firstly giving us the example from His own experience that we are to follow, just as we saw in the temptation in the wilderness – Jas 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

1 Pe 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

And other examples for us to follow have been provided as well – 
Jas 5:10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

1 Co 4:9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

Not to mention the example of the saints seen in Hebrews Chapter 11 – Heb 11:39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And in conjunction with these examples that we have been given to follow we also have access to the whole armor of God – Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

And the promise that accompanies it – 1 Pe 1:5 who are kept [as by a military garrison] by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

To which we can add the encouragement that we find in – 
1 Co 10:13 A testing time or temptation has not laid hold of you with the result that these have you in their grip, except those to which mankind is continually subject. But God is faithful who will not permit you to be tested nor tempted above that with which you are able to cope, but will, along with the testing time or temptation, also make a way out in order that you may be able to bear up under it. [Wuest Expanded Translation]

And as we know well enough by now, that which allows us to follow the examples set for us, to be victorious in the spiritual warfare, thereby accessing God’s protective power, enabling us to bear up under testing, is having faith to the saving of the soul. Apart from faith to the saving of the soul none of this can be ours.
	c). And so, to summarize for a moment. Our Lord is in the heavens at the right hand of His Father, we are not. Our Lord having overcome Satan’s kingdom through His submission to His Father’s will during His earthly ministry is physically removed from it, we are not. Yet despite our precarious position our Lord has provided us with everything necessary that we may attain victory during the time of our physical presence in Satan’s kingdom also – Ro 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Pe 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

This is remarkable to say the least. And given the abundance of the provision that we have just read about it would seem an impossibility for us not to be successful. But the nature of deception remains such that we are all at risk of it - 1 Co 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

After all we are well aware of the circumstances described in – Re 2:1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write………..4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

And we know what took place in the church in Ephesus that led to them leaving their first love – Acts 20:17 From Miletus he [Paul] sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church………….27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

There was among the Ephesians a double portion of Satan’s wiles, if you will. Firstly, the savage wolves that would come in from outside of the existing congregations in Ephesus after Paul had departed. These would be synonymous with the tares from the Matthew 13 Parables, who for their own personal gain, through deception, would use the flock which the Lord had purchased with His own blood to achieve that end – 2 Pe 2:2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words…….

And secondly, there would be those who rose up within the congregations themselves, ‘men mouthing things which have been distorted and corrupted for the purpose of drawing away the disciples after themselves.’ [Wuest]

That which was proclaimed in Ephesus that caused the Christians there to leave their first love had no connection with faith and was completely apart from the work of the Spirit of truth. That which the Holy Spirit teaches must always concern issues surrounding the salvation of the soul and the coming Seventh Day. It cannot be anything else – 1 Co 2:9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

And that which the Spirit teaches concerning the salvation of the soul and the Seventh Day, can only be understood by the new man who has spiritual life. The old man, the natural man, does not receive the things of the Spirit because by his very nature he is alienated from spiritual life.
	d). Now, it would be good for us the keep in mind that the opposite of this is also true. That which does not emanate from the Spirit of truth but from deceiving spirits instead, that which is distorted and corrupted, being the doctrines of demons, cannot be received by the new man as he is completely separate from anything that does not come from the Holy Spirit. But the natural man, the old man, can readily receive and understand these things, because as we will remember from a previous study, through our old man Satan has something in us. That point of contact, the common ground.
	e). So, to continue with our Ephesian example, that which came to the forefront after Paul’s departure, that which was distorted and corrupt, that which drew the disciples away after the teacher instead of drawing them to the Christ of the Seventh Day, would have been received and embraced through the Ephesians’ old man, setting aside the new man in the process. And as we consider the charismatic and Pentecostal excesses within Christendom today, we can easily see how this pseudo spiritual lie can be embraced so readily by the fleshly desires of its hearers. Even to the extent that those who hear will then actively look for others who will perpetuate their experience – 2 Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

2). The church in Ephesus, however, was not the only church community being turned from the truth to the lie – Ga 1:6 I am marvelling that in such a manner suddenly you are becoming of another mind and deserting from Him who called you in the sphere of Christ's grace to a message of good news diametrically opposed to the gospel, 7 which message is not an alternative gospel. Only, there are certain ones who are troubling your minds and are desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ. [Wuest Expanded Translation]

That which was happening in the churches in Galatia saw Jewish brethren teaching there, that in order to receive the salvation of their souls the ‘Gentile’ Christians in Galatia had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. And this had had an extraordinary effect upon those ‘Gentile’ Christians who heard it - Ga 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

What we see here is another facet to that which we know from the Matthew 13 Parables, that tares had been sown among the wheat, false teachers among those who had heard and understood the Word of the Kingdom, to the end that they would be deceived into no longer producing fruit for the Kingdom. And here within the Book of Galatians we can gain insight into this.
	a). Twice, Paul called the Galatian Christians ‘foolish’, not the same word used to describe the ‘foolish’ virgins, but a word that means ‘unwise’, and by implication, unwise through the exercise of the fleshly nature.
	b). And the reason why they were ‘unwise’ was that they had become ‘bewitched’, literally, they had become fascinated by that which was false, leading them in a direction away from faith to the saving of the soul, away from the work of the Spirit in their lives, 3…….Having begun by means of the Spirit, now are you being brought to spiritual maturity by the flesh? [Wuest]

And from the evidence of the Galatian verses we have read it is clear that the Christians there had received false teaching concerning circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses. That which had begun for them by faith through the Spirit had turned away from that faith to the legalistic keeping of the Law and circumcision as the way to bring them to spiritual maturity, to the salvation of the soul. But what does the Scripture say? Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, [of Moses] which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Ga 5:3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

And it is within this context that we find some familiar verses – Ga 5:7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump……….16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Ga 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.

And so, as a new creation in Christ, who had hindered the Galatian Christians from obeying the truth? At first glance we might think it was the false teachers who hindered them. But this would not be correct.
c). Rather there was then among the Galatians, an innate desire to embrace a box checking demonstration of righteousness, the dos and don’ts, that would be proof of a righteous life, exemplified through the outward sign of circumcision. An outward conformity to a set of rules that was not capable of bringing their faith to completion – Ga 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Heb 7:19 for not even one thing did the law bring to completion; but a bringing in to take its place of a better hope [does], by means of which we are drawing near to God. [Wuest]

And this desire for conformity to a set of rules could only come from the old man, not the new man, and it was through the old man that the deception to be circumcised and keep the law had come. Replacing the work of faith by the Spirit to an inward transformation with something that was purely an outward appearance.
	d). So why would those Christians in Galatia who had received the Word of truth, who had been taught the gospel by Paul, the gospel that he had received from the Lord Himself – Ga 1:11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Why would those in Galatia be susceptible to a teaching that would be contrary to the faith? In one respect the answer is simple, it would be for the same reason that the Woman was deceived 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.

3). For those in Galatia, being circumcised and keeping the Law had the appearance of wisdom as it came from Jews who would no doubt present the Lord as a circumcised Jew as well. It gave a tangible means of measuring ‘righteous’ living as opposed to the intangible ‘metamorphosis’ by faith. And as with the Woman in the Garden, what they were told was not checked against the source, the gospel given to Paul – Ga 2:3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

When Paul had gone to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus, Titus had not been compelled to be circumcised because Paul did not yield to the pressure of false Jewish brethren ‘even for an hour’, so that the truth of the gospel of glory might continue untainted.
	a). Paul’s resolute defense of the gospel of glory in this way is in stark contrast to the actions of Peter and others when faced with ‘Jewish’ pressure of another sort – Ga 2:11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

When it comes to the Word of the Kingdom there can be NO compromise. And here we see Paul withstanding Peter ‘to his face’ because he played the hypocrite to appease the Jews who had come from James, causing the other Jewish ‘Christians’ with Peter to do the same, even influencing Barnabas along with them.
	b). And in this action of pleasing man by Peter and the Jews with him rather than being faithful to the Word, we will find an echo of events in the wilderness with Aaron and the golden calf – Ex 32:21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” 22 So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.” 25 Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the LORD'S side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

Aaron had compromised the Word that God had spoken because of fear of the people, and Peter had compromised the Word of Truth for exactly the same reason. And the compromise to please others rather than standing by faith upon the truth, came from only one place. The old man.
	c) Fear is the companion of the old man and faith is the companion of the new.
	d). And all of this will bring us back to events in the life of Saul that through their typology, provide profound spiritual truth for us –
1 Sa 15:1 Samuel also said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD. 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ” 4 So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.

The Lord, through Samuel, had given Saul very specific instructions, Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’

This is what God had said and it required Saul’s faithful obedience to see it through without fear or compromise – 1 Sa 15:7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

But what do we see? Saul and the people spared Agag and ‘all that was good’ because they ‘were unwillingly to utterly destroy them’. Despite the Lord’s clear instructions to do so. Saul’s action in doing this was completely contrary to faith, contrary to believing that which God had said. And this is his explanation for doing so – 1 Sa 15:12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

There are two things we will note from these verses. Firstly, following his attack on the Amalekites Saul ‘set up a monument for himself’. And secondly, he disobeyed the Word of the Lord to placate the people. It becomes evident that Saul was more concerned about how he was seen by the people, than what God required of him – 1 Sa 15:30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.”

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

From Time To Time - Part Nineteen

Refresh A Recap from the Sermon

From Time To Time - Part Nineteen

Feb 04, 2024

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: From Time to Time

Category: Sunday Morning

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A Recap from the Sermon