JUDGES, THE CHURCH AND FORESHADOWING: PART 1
Seen in AARP Publication:
"My wife treats me like a god."
"She worships you?"
"No. She only talks to me when she wants something."
Long ago, we mentioned that Judges foreshadowed the Church even though one of the truths of Christianity has been that the Church was a mystery. Well. it was a mystery but one that was foreshadowed, meaning never openly stated as so much of Christ's life was prophesied and so much of the end times foretold. These following posts form a bridge for our Refreshed Fallen Flesh, the story of the beginning of regeneration and the difficulty involved in all that obedience we've outlined for you, all that warfare, all that's been fought over the years, to the End Times and our arrival in Final Flesh.
Start at the beginning:
1) A Joshua began Israel and a Joshua began the Church.
Joshua and his family were committed to God He fought in God's will and created a kingdom o be ruled by God alone.
Jesus lived his life fully for God and He created twin kingdoms, the one on Earth and the one in Heaven, to eventually be joined forever, but separate now. The current one composed of those with Refreshed Flesh and those in heaven awaiting the completion of the Church they have helped build.
Both were founded by God's will and have been kept going by God's power.
2) The Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the start of the nation and the church.
Recall that God divided the spirit from Moses into the chosen elders of Israel in the wasteland.
Read that the judges were prophets and guided by the Lord in their rulings and actions,
Then recall Pentecost and the indwelling of the Apostles and the believers.
The Holy Ghost was portioned out differently, but He was there acting as he could before the difference: the blood of Christ.
3) Each group was given a mission.
The leaders of Israel from the wasteland onward were told to destroy the tribes that dwelt there. Those tribes worshiped idols were totally involved in the things of the flesh, were tainted in an physically irreversible way. They were the fallen flesh in it's spiritual and physical worst.
The Church has the mission to kill all unbelievers by getting them saved. You say, "What?!" Yes. get people saved and their old self dies and they need to kill it again and again by strengthening their Christian selves.
Did you ever think of it that way?
John MacArthur:
The old man is crucified (Rom. 6:6) and corrupt (Eph. 4:22). What is it that was corrupt in us? It's our Adamic nature, our sin nature; it was our unregenerate self and at conversion it was killed. It is dead. It is gone. People say to me so very often, 'Don't you believe that a Christian has a new and an old man?' and I always say, 'No!' because the old man that was corrupt has been crucified and it is dead and you are a new man. The old man is the unregenerated self. The old man is that which was replaced by the generated man. If you have a new man and an old man then you have a regenerated part and an unregenerated part. In other words, you are half saved and half lost. You're not half regenerated and half unregenerated. You're not a new regenerate man and an old unregenerate man warring against each other. There's a war in there, but it isn't between the old creature and the new creature because you're just a new creature. We don't have a new man and an old man...The old man is the unregenerate self...the new man is the regenerated self, the saved self, the redeemed self...You're a brand new creature (Tape GC 2147 on Colossians 3:9-11, 1976).
But the old man is like a vampire, rising from the grave to feast on the living unless we daily strengthen the new man, as we have said several times before. The new man INSIDE rises to the occasion. So we war every day to resist Satan calling us back.
As before, then we have two missions: salvation and battle.
Picture again the constant warfare in Judges.
They rise, fall into apostasy and the war begins and they rise again to follow God. That warfare presages our own up and down lives.
Seen in AARP Publication:
"My wife treats me like a god."
"She worships you?"
"No. She only talks to me when she wants something."
Long ago, we mentioned that Judges foreshadowed the Church even though one of the truths of Christianity has been that the Church was a mystery. Well. it was a mystery but one that was foreshadowed, meaning never openly stated as so much of Christ's life was prophesied and so much of the end times foretold. These following posts form a bridge for our Refreshed Fallen Flesh, the story of the beginning of regeneration and the difficulty involved in all that obedience we've outlined for you, all that warfare, all that's been fought over the years, to the End Times and our arrival in Final Flesh.
Start at the beginning:
1) A Joshua began Israel and a Joshua began the Church.
Joshua and his family were committed to God He fought in God's will and created a kingdom o be ruled by God alone.
Jesus lived his life fully for God and He created twin kingdoms, the one on Earth and the one in Heaven, to eventually be joined forever, but separate now. The current one composed of those with Refreshed Flesh and those in heaven awaiting the completion of the Church they have helped build.
Both were founded by God's will and have been kept going by God's power.
2) The Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the start of the nation and the church.
Recall that God divided the spirit from Moses into the chosen elders of Israel in the wasteland.
Read that the judges were prophets and guided by the Lord in their rulings and actions,
Then recall Pentecost and the indwelling of the Apostles and the believers.
The Holy Ghost was portioned out differently, but He was there acting as he could before the difference: the blood of Christ.
3) Each group was given a mission.
The leaders of Israel from the wasteland onward were told to destroy the tribes that dwelt there. Those tribes worshiped idols were totally involved in the things of the flesh, were tainted in an physically irreversible way. They were the fallen flesh in it's spiritual and physical worst.
The Church has the mission to kill all unbelievers by getting them saved. You say, "What?!" Yes. get people saved and their old self dies and they need to kill it again and again by strengthening their Christian selves.
Did you ever think of it that way?
John MacArthur:
The old man is crucified (Rom. 6:6) and corrupt (Eph. 4:22). What is it that was corrupt in us? It's our Adamic nature, our sin nature; it was our unregenerate self and at conversion it was killed. It is dead. It is gone. People say to me so very often, 'Don't you believe that a Christian has a new and an old man?' and I always say, 'No!' because the old man that was corrupt has been crucified and it is dead and you are a new man. The old man is the unregenerated self. The old man is that which was replaced by the generated man. If you have a new man and an old man then you have a regenerated part and an unregenerated part. In other words, you are half saved and half lost. You're not half regenerated and half unregenerated. You're not a new regenerate man and an old unregenerate man warring against each other. There's a war in there, but it isn't between the old creature and the new creature because you're just a new creature. We don't have a new man and an old man...The old man is the unregenerate self...the new man is the regenerated self, the saved self, the redeemed self...You're a brand new creature (Tape GC 2147 on Colossians 3:9-11, 1976).
But the old man is like a vampire, rising from the grave to feast on the living unless we daily strengthen the new man, as we have said several times before. The new man INSIDE rises to the occasion. So we war every day to resist Satan calling us back.
As before, then we have two missions: salvation and battle.
Picture again the constant warfare in Judges.
They rise, fall into apostasy and the war begins and they rise again to follow God. That warfare presages our own up and down lives.
So let's compare and contrast:
http://www.wordsoftruth.net/otbreakdown10judges.htm
A. Settling the land (1:1-36) 1:1 asking for direction- Philippians 4:6
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
(KJV)
1. Judah and Simeon defeat Canaanites in their territories, including those dwelling in the mountains and in the valleys - Hebron, Debar, Kirjatharba, Jerusalem, Zepath, and Gaza (1:1-20) 2. They allowed the defeated people to remain in the land (1:21)
3. The house of Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim) settle the central portion of the land, but allowed some of of the original inhabitants to remain (1:22-30)
4. Asher, Zebulun, and Nephtali settle the northern portion of the promised land, but allow some of the captive people to remain (1:30-36)
This was the victory. Followed by:
B. Spiritual condition of Israel (2:1 to 3:7)
1. An angel rebukes the nation for not driving out their enemies and breaking down the idol altars. The people repent and weep (2:1-5) God reminds the people of the things he did for them. This brings them to repentance as godly sorrow works repentance II Corinthians 7:9-10. 2Co 7:9 Now I am glad, not that you had sorrow, but that your sorrow was the cause of a change of heart; for yours was a holy sorrow so that you might undergo no loss by us in anything. 10 For the sorrow which God gives is the cause of salvation through a change of heart, in which there is no reason for grief: but the sorrow of the world is a cause of death. (BBE)
2. Condition of the tribes during the life and until the passing of Joshua’s generation (2:6-10) 3. The second generation did evil and worshipped idols (2:11-13) Note: Joshua 24:20-24 Jos 24:20 If you are turned away from the Lord and become the servants of strange gods, then turning against you he will do you evil, cutting you off, after he has done you good. 21 And the people said to Joshua, No! But we will be the servants of the Lord. 22 And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have made the decision to be the servants of the Lord. And they said, We are witnesses. 23 Then, he said, put away the strange gods among you, turning your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel. 24 And the people said to Joshua, We will be the servants of the Lord our God, and we will give ear to his voice. (BBE)
4. God’s anger against Israel (2:14-15) Psalms 106:40-43Ps 106:40 Then the wrath of the Lord was burning against his people, and he was angry with his heritage. 41 And he gave them into the hands of the nations; and they were ruled by their haters. 42 By them they were crushed, and made low under their hands. 43 Again and again he made them free; but their hearts were turned against his purpose, and they were overcome by their sins. (BBE)
5. Though angry with Israel, God raised up judges to deliver them (2:16)
6. Israel would not learn but continued to worship other gods (2:17-19) There is and this was one of a time when God overlooked and forgave the ignorance of idolotry Acts 17:22-31Ac 17:22 And Paul got to his feet on Mars' Hill and said, O men of Athens, I see that you are overmuch given to fear of the gods. 23 For when I came by, I was looking at the things to which you give worship, and I saw an altar with this writing on it, TO THE GOD OF WHOM THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE. Now, what you, without knowledge, give worship to, I make clear to you. 24 The God who made the earth and everything in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, is not housed in buildings made with hands; 25 And he is not dependent on the work of men's hands, as if he had need of anything, for he himself gives to all life and breath and all things; 26 And he has made of one blood all the nations of men living on all the face of the earth, ordering their times and the limits of their lands, 27 So that they might make search for God, in order, if possible, to get knowledge of him and make discovery of him, though he is not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we have life and motion and existence; as certain of your verse writers have said, For we are his offspring. 29 If then we are the offspring of God, it is not right for us to have the idea that God is like gold or silver or stone, formed by the art or design of man. 30 Those times when men had no knowledge were overlooked by God; but now he gives orders to all men in every place to undergo a change of heart: 31 Because a day has been fixed in which all the world will be judged in righteousness by the man who has been marked out by him for this work; of which he has given a sign to all men by giving him back from the dead. (BBE)
7. Canaanites left in the land to prove Israel (2:20 to 3:7) tie this thought to 3:7-8
Jg 3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and put out of their minds the Lord their God, and became servants to the Baals and the Astartes. 8 So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel were his servants for eight years. (BBE)
And recall he gave to offices of the Church for direction and exhortation. Recall believers who went over the line of sin were treated in specific ways of being approached and then expelled of they didn't act in response:
Othniel was a warrior who fought to get a rich wife and then had her ask her father for more land. Ehud was a lefty. Barak was a coward who wouldn't go to war unless a woman joined him. Judge Deborah was that woman. Gideon was the least from the least tribe. Samson was a sex maniac and not very bright.
The Apostles had fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, a collection of no ones and a guy who was trying to kill them all until his conversion.
This sounds like the basis for a couple sit-coms. "Those Crazy Judges." "Me and My Apostles." "This week, Paul accidentally gets stoned."
So begin:
Othniel is important in biblical history as the first judge listed in the Book of Judges. After eight years of bondage to Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, the people cried out to God for help (Judges 3:9). In response, the LORD “raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. The Spirit of the Lord came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died” (Judges 3:9–11).
We find in this passage that 1) Othniel was raised up as a judge and leader in Israel, 2) he defeated the king of Mesopotamia, and 3) Othniel and the Israelites lived in peace following this time. Othniel’s leadership spanned a long time, covering approximately 1350—1310 BC.
Othniel is the first of 12 judges listed in the Book of Judges. His judgeship covered a transitional period connecting the leaders of the past to the leaders of his time. He was related to Caleb, who had left Egypt as a freed slave and entered the Promised Land as a leader.
Note first that the Bible lists 12 Judges as it has 12 Apostles. 12 Tribes.
For our comparison to the church we go to Revelation and the letters to the churches.
These letters can be examined three ways in analysis. First, they are letters to contemporary churches dealing with their strengths and faults. Second, they form composites which hold truths for and revelations very church through the ages, Third, they offer a clipped precise view of Church history through the ages. For example, Ephesus represents the apostolic church.
Re 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
http://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception-Revelation_Ephesus_Diana_candlesticks
http://www.wordsoftruth.net/otbreakdown10judges.htm
A. Settling the land (1:1-36) 1:1 asking for direction- Philippians 4:6
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
(KJV)
3. The house of Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim) settle the central portion of the land, but allowed some of of the original inhabitants to remain (1:22-30)
4. Asher, Zebulun, and Nephtali settle the northern portion of the promised land, but allow some of the captive people to remain (1:30-36)
This was the victory. Followed by:
B. Spiritual condition of Israel (2:1 to 3:7)
4. God’s anger against Israel (2:14-15) Psalms 106:40-43
5. Though angry with Israel, God raised up judges to deliver them (2:16)
6. Israel would not learn but continued to worship other gods (2:17-19) There is and this was one of a time when God overlooked and forgave the ignorance of idolotry Acts 17:22-31
7. Canaanites left in the land to prove Israel (2:20 to 3:7) tie this thought to 3:7-8
And recall he gave to offices of the Church for direction and exhortation. Recall believers who went over the line of sin were treated in specific ways of being approached and then expelled of they didn't act in response:
2. TOWARD THE CHURCH ITSELF, CHURCH DISCIPLINE RESTORES PURITY AND DETERS OTHERS FROM SINNING.
In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul commands, “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened.” Leaven (yeast) is a type of sin. If you put a small amount of yeast in flour, it spreads throughout the entire lump (5:6). Paul is saying symbolically what he also (5:2, 13) states plainly, that the church needed to remove the sinning man so that the purity of the church would be restored and the sin would not spread any further.
You can see this principle in a family. If the parents do not consistently and impartially discipline a defiant child, very soon the other children learn that there are no consequences if they disobey their parents. The sin of the first child spreads to the others. The same thing happens in a classroom with a teacher who does not enforce discipline. Soon the entire class is out of control. On the government level, if the authorities do not enforce the laws, the whole country soon devolves into anarchy.
In the local church, God has given authority to the elders (Heb. 13:17). Part of their responsibility is to uphold God’s standards of holiness and do all that they can to keep the church doctrinally and morally pure. For example, take a single Christian woman who knowingly disobeys Scripture by marrying an unbeliever. If the elders do not deal with her sin, other single women in the church, who have been waiting on the Lord for a Christian husband, will be tempted to date and marry unbelievers. The biblical standard that believers should only marry believers would be diluted and sin would spread through the church.
If we don’t uphold God’s standards of holiness, it doesn’t take long for the church to become just like the world. Although the city of Corinth was infamous for its sexual promiscuity, this sin went beyond what the pagans practiced (1 Cor. 5:1)! But, it didn’t shock the Corinthian church! They were actually boasting about their acceptance and love toward this man who was intimate with his stepmother (5:2)! The woman was probably not a believer, or Paul would have told the church to remove her as well. But he says that they should have mourned and removed this man from their midst. Sin in other professing Christians should cause us to mourn, not to be tolerant. God would rather that a local church be pure and small than that it be big, but tolerant of sin in its midst.
4) The leaders were far from ones anyone people at that time would have chosen.Othniel was a warrior who fought to get a rich wife and then had her ask her father for more land. Ehud was a lefty. Barak was a coward who wouldn't go to war unless a woman joined him. Judge Deborah was that woman. Gideon was the least from the least tribe. Samson was a sex maniac and not very bright.
The Apostles had fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, a collection of no ones and a guy who was trying to kill them all until his conversion.
This sounds like the basis for a couple sit-coms. "Those Crazy Judges." "Me and My Apostles." "This week, Paul accidentally gets stoned."
So begin:
Othniel is important in biblical history as the first judge listed in the Book of Judges. After eight years of bondage to Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, the people cried out to God for help (Judges 3:9). In response, the LORD “raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. The Spirit of the Lord came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died” (Judges 3:9–11).
We find in this passage that 1) Othniel was raised up as a judge and leader in Israel, 2) he defeated the king of Mesopotamia, and 3) Othniel and the Israelites lived in peace following this time. Othniel’s leadership spanned a long time, covering approximately 1350—1310 BC.
Othniel is the first of 12 judges listed in the Book of Judges. His judgeship covered a transitional period connecting the leaders of the past to the leaders of his time. He was related to Caleb, who had left Egypt as a freed slave and entered the Promised Land as a leader.
Note first that the Bible lists 12 Judges as it has 12 Apostles. 12 Tribes.
For our comparison to the church we go to Revelation and the letters to the churches.
These letters can be examined three ways in analysis. First, they are letters to contemporary churches dealing with their strengths and faults. Second, they form composites which hold truths for and revelations very church through the ages, Third, they offer a clipped precise view of Church history through the ages. For example, Ephesus represents the apostolic church.
Re 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
http://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception-Revelation_Ephesus_Diana_candlesticks
Each letter is introduced with a part of the description of Christ in Revelation 1. Here, Jesus walks among the candlesticks demonstrating His abiding presence.
The name Ephesus means "desirable." There was much that was commendable about the Christian Church here in Ephesus. It had patience and good works, and had tested the false teachers and had remained faithful to the truth. The Ephesian Christians hated the "deeds of the Nicolations," a group who sought accommodation with the pagan world and discounted obedience to God's law.
However, by John's day, before the end of the century, the first stages of disunity were creeping into the Church, provoking the admonishment, "Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou has left thy first love" (Revelation 2:4).
Ephesus as well. We know this letter as the book of Ephesians and we learn much about this church from his epistle. Paul beseeches the Ephesian Christians to live worthy of their calling to serve God (Ephesians 4:1-2). He explains to them afresh what it means to have put on Christ (Ephesians 4:17-24). His warning to "grieve not the holy Spirit" (Ephesians 4:30) is an indication of the intensity of the battle for the soul.
Paul calls the Ephesians back to unity (Ephesians 4:3-6), and admonishes them not to sin but to walk in love and the light of the Gospel (Ephesians 4:26). These same sentiments are expressed in Revelation's letter to Ephesus:
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent (Revelation 2:5).
Each of the letters to the seven churches ends with an encouragement to overcome and each church is told of a special blessing they will experience in heaven. The church members of Ephesus are given one of the joys that await all of God's redeemed when they reach heaven:
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).
Prophetic Application
The Ephesian church represents the first century after Christ. The Church had grown into a force to be reckoned with, and Christianity was starting to challenge the religions and ideological institutions of the day.
The apostle Paul remained in Ephesus for more than two years on his third major journey, and his preaching led to a major conflict between the Gospel and the worship of Diana. This preaching turned many away from idol worship, upsetting silversmiths who specialized in the manufacture of idols (Acts 19:26).
Satan can’t stand when souls are taken from his sphere of influence. The rapid spread of Christianity in the first century AD served to escalate the conflict between Christianity and paganism and the inevitable consequence was persecution.
The great pagan religions had been set up by Satan to counterfeit the plan of salvation and to deny access to the world's Redeemer. It has always been Satan's strategy to either force or deceive people to accept the counterfeit rather than the true.
In Ephesus, Christianity struck a blow to the worship of Diana, the Mother of the gods. It is noteworthy that the modern-day equivalent, the worship of Mary as the mother of God, finds its root in Ephesus. In 451 AD, at the Council of Ephesus, the Roman Catholic Church bequeathed the title "Mother of God" to Mary, thus reviving the ancient cult in a modern garb.
Ephesus like early Israel was filled with idolatrous worshipers and they were not about the task of "killing them" by converting them just as Israel was not about the task of ACTUALLY killing them
The first judge took the message to heart and Ephesus in it's first time had taken the message to heart but lost it after Paul left even as Othniel's section of Israel lost it's commitment when he died.
From J. Vernon McGee
1. "I know thy works." We need to understand that He is speaking to believers. The Lord Jesus does not ask the lost world for good works. For example, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). In Romans 4:5 Paul says, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Christ is talking to His own. After you are saved, He wants to talk to you about good works. He has a lot to say about this subject. In Ephesians 2:8-10 we read, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Paul could write to Titus, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate" (Titus 1:16). Someone has said, "The Christian ought to be like a good watch-all gold, open-faced, well-regulated, dependable, and filled with good works." The Lord Jesus is saying to the church in Ephesus, as Paul had said, "…be filled with the [Holy] Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). And Paul went on to tell them what they could do as Spirit-filled believers. And now the Lord Jesus commends them for their good works.
2. "I know…thy labour." What is the difference between work and labor? The word labor carries a meaning of weariness. In the gospel record it says that Jesus became wearied with His journey. That was the weariness which Ephesian believers experienced. They suffered weariness in their labor for Him.
3. "I know…thy patience." Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
4. "How thou canst not bear them which are evil." They would not endure evil men.
5. "Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." They tested everyone who came to Ephesus claiming to be an apostle. They would ask them if they had seen the resurrected Christ, and they soon found out whether or not they were really apostles. If they were not, they asked them to leave town. The Lord Jesus commended them for testing men, and I feel this is more needed today than it was even then.
6. "Hast borne…for my name's sake hast laboured." For His name's sake they were bearing the Cross. They preached Christ. They believed in the virgin birth of Christ; they believed in His deity; they believed in His sacrificial death and resurrection. And they paid a price for their belief.
7. "And hast not fainted." More accurately, it is "hast not grown weary." What does He mean by this? Earlier He said that they had grown weary, and now He says they have not grown weary. Well, this is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith. I can illustrate it by what Dwight L. Moody once said when he came home exhausted after a campaign and his family begged him not to go to the next campaign. He said to them, "I grow weary in the work but not of the work." There is a lot of difference. You can get weary in the work of Christ, but it is tragic if you get weary of the work of Christ.
These seven words of commendation, which the Lord Jesus gave to the local church at Ephesus, also apply to the period of church history between Pentecost and A.D. 100, which the Ephesian church represents. Now He has one word of condemnation:
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. (Revelation 2:4)
They had lost that intense and enthusiastic devotion to the person of Christ. It is difficult for us to sense the state to which the Holy Spirit had brought this church. He had brought the believers in Ephesus into an intimate and personal relationship to Jesus Christ. He had brought them to the place where they could say to the Lord, "We love you." This may seem like a very unimportant thing to us today, but their love for the Lord was very important to Christ. He was saying to the Ephesians, "You are leaving your best love." They hadn't quite departed from that love, but they were on the way. It is difficult for us in this cold, skeptical, cynical, and indifferent day in which we live to understand this. The world has intruded into the church to such an extent that it is hard for us to conceive of the intense, enthusiastic devotion the early church gave to the person of Christ. The early church first went off the track not in their doctrine but in their personal relationship to Jesus Christ.
Ephesus was a great city, and it had many attractions that were beginning to draw believers away from their first love for Jesus Christ. This was the church that became so potent in its evangelism in that area of about twenty-five million people that even the Roman emperors and the nobility of that day had an opportunity to hear the gospel. In that area there was such a mighty moving of the Spirit of God that it has probably never been duplicated since.
(And, like in Judges we see the waves of Apostasy rise up.)
My friend, a personal relationship is all-important. We are so involved in methods — I am rather amused at some of the Band-Aid courses which are being offered-and they are making Band-Aid believers. Generally, the course is some little legal system that gives you certain rules to follow and certain psychological patterns to observe which will enable you to solve all your problems. They try to teach you how to get along with yourself (that's a pretty big order!), with your neighbors, and especially with your wife. All of those relationships are very important, and a great many people think that if they can follow a few rules, they will have the key to a successful Christian life. My friend, let me put it in a nutshell by asking one question: Do you love Jesus Christ? I don't care what your system is, what your denomination is, what your program is, what little set of rules you follow, they will all come to naught if you don't love Him. Although some systems are better than others, almost any system will work if you love Christ. An intimate relationship with Christ will make all of your relationships and all of your Christian service a joy.
So we have the pattern established for both the nation and Church. A beginning in strength. A choice to follow God, the generation directly afterward taking over and following the leaders left by THE Leader. The ones who walked with him. The Law in the form of Moses giving it's power to Joshua and the Law itself giving it's footing to Jesus, Law coming from God.
With that one significant difference. When we watch Israel behave, it has the external Law and the Prophets directly talking to them, something God could have accomplished today by putting prophets in charge of every country and having them talk the Word to everyone. He could have vanquished the idol worshipers and done what was needed by himself, but he added the one element making the Church forever different. He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit IN the people, all the people. Keep that in mind to the end of this blog as we continue the discussion next time.
So we have the pattern established for both the nation and Church. A beginning in strength. A choice to follow God, the generation directly afterward taking over and following the leaders left by THE Leader. The ones who walked with him. The Law in the form of Moses giving it's power to Joshua and the Law itself giving it's footing to Jesus, Law coming from God.
With that one significant difference. When we watch Israel behave, it has the external Law and the Prophets directly talking to them, something God could have accomplished today by putting prophets in charge of every country and having them talk the Word to everyone. He could have vanquished the idol worshipers and done what was needed by himself, but he added the one element making the Church forever different. He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit IN the people, all the people. Keep that in mind to the end of this blog as we continue the discussion next time.
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