October 14, 2006

• Bible Study – PASTOR THEODORE VAN DYKE,JR.

  Pastor Ted spoke at a men’s retreat last weekend. Women were invited to the breakfast that kicked off the retreat, and after breakfast Pastor Ted spoke. This event was attended by many local churches.

  We first prayed Daniel 2. Then Pastor Ted mentioned that we are to pursue God’s agenda, not man’s agenda.

  In the Bible there are certain numbers that are repeatedly used. These numbers, if you study every occurrence of them seem to have certain meanings. He gave us the following meanings.

  14 – Spiritual progression
  13 – Rebelion
  12 – Foundation/Christ
  11 – Disintegration – Adam & Eve
  10 – Completion of the flesh/10 commandments
   9 – Judgment (10 lepers, one came back, 9 did not judge themselves & return to give thanks).
   8 – Circumcision, new beginning
   7 – Completion
   6 – Man/Beast
   5 – Grace through faith
   4 – The wholeness, whole earth
   3 – Spiritual Maturity, raised up on the third day
   2 – Witness
   1 – Unity.

  Three times the number 120 is used in the Bible.
   1. In reference to Noah
   2. Moses was 120 years old when he died
   3. The Upper Room there was about 120 people, and the flesh came to an end.

  In this day and age God is going to bring more things to light. He is going to reveal the hidden idols of our lives. These hidden idols are going to be exposed by the Spirit of God. And many in the church are going to be told to “Drop Dead.” – Before you get too upset, that drop dead means to die to the flesh. When we become changed we drop dead to the things of the past and become new creations In Christ.

  Many people think that the church is going around saving people. The Church isn’t doing the saving. The church is the Witness, the Body of Christ. People will witness the death of the flesh in us, see the changes in us, and then realize that Jesus changes people.

  God works in cycles. The cycle is: begin –> end–> begins again

  In Noah’s day people were eating, drinking, marrying, doing all ordinary things, then came the floods. After the floods receded, again people were eating, drinking, marrying, and doing ordinary things.

  Today in the Church much of what is preached is Man’s Doctrine – and it is passed down to the following generations. But much that is passed down is not God’s, but man’s agenda. Pastor Ted talked about the prophets who went around saying, “Peace, peace” and there was no peace. There will come a day when all flesh will come to an end.

  Pastor Ted asked the people at the breakfast (from many different churches in the area), why there are more than 450 different denominations (or as he said Demon-ations). That if the churches were to preach the Word, there would be many different interpretations of the same scripture, based on the particular viewpoint of the denomination. This leads to confusion, and God is not a God of confusion. Many pastors (and there were many pastors at this breakfast) are preaching carnal sermons and calling them spiritual.

  Many will come to Jesus at the end and say, Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

  In many of the churches today there are counterfeits of the real relationship with God. Some choose what seems to be right in their own minds. This is not a good witness to Christ. There are parents who spend tons of time in the church and the devil has their children.

  Why did Adam and Eve partake of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. There were two trees in the Garden, the tree of Good and Evil and the tree of Life. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God by eating of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – most probably the fruit looked good to them, appealing and attractive. Unlike the tree of life (Jesus)  which Isaiah 53:2 points out, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

  They would have desired the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because that would make their flesh look good. If I eat of the tree of Life I must do what I maybe don’t want to do, I must obey God. Knowledge puffs up. Many have lots of information (lots of Bible knowledge and facts) but no revelation. They have knowledge without understanding.

  Peter had the knowledge of Jesus, recognized Him as the Messiah, but denied Christ three times, and spoke heresy to Jesus telling Him not to go to the cross. We have to be careful about what we do with the knowledge that we have.

  Then we turned to Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.

  Pastor Ted stated that signified meant symbolized. Much of Revelation is symbols, and God not only gives the symbols but the interpretation of the symbols.

  It is no accident that John was a fisherman – and Jesus called him out to be a fisher of men. The Sea is not just a physical sea, but the sea of humanity – and John would fish and pull out certain ones from the sea. John is sent at one point to the Island of Patmos. An island is a part of land that is out of the water, but surrounded by the sea. God, when He created the earth separated the water from the dry land.

  When Moses led the people from Egypt, they crossed on dry land, but then went into the wilderness. God did not take Moses from Egypt and immediately place Him in the Promised Land. We all go through the wilderness in our spiritual walks – it is there that we get tempted (like Jesus got tempted after 40 days in the wilderness), it is there that God forms our spiritual muscles. God will use these wilderness experiences for His glory.

  We must remember that many are called, but few are chosen. It was there on the Island of Patmos that John was chosen to write the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

  Revelation 1:9-10 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet.

  Notice that John was in the Spirit – and he saw things that were spiritual, that represented spiritual truths.

  Revelation 1:11-12 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and “What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: To Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band…..v.16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

  Who is the Alpha and the Omega?- Jesus. John was to write what He saw and send it to the seven churches.

  Revelation 1:18-20 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
  

  Now we know a bit more about those lampstands and stars – the lampstands are the seven churches and the stars are angels of the seven churches (messengers – and on earth the messengers are the pastors and prophets of the churches).

  But in order to get a more complete understanding of the lampstands, you also have to think about where they are mentioned in other places in the Bible. One prominent place that they are mentioned is the lampstand in the inner court of the Temple. In the Temple, you first went to the altar of sacrifice in the outer court, and then washed, before you entered the inner court. In the inner court were many things, a table of shewbread, the lampstand, oil, and incense burner. These things are symbols of Jesus – shewbread is the body, the oil is the Holy Spirit, incense is the prayers of the saints, and the lampstand – Jesus is the light of the world. It was here that the Priests ministered to God on a daily basis, then once a year one who was properly prepared went behind the veil to offer up sacrifice for sins. If the Priest was not properly prepared he would die.

  Our flesh is like a veil too, that prevents us from seeing the deep things of God. Jesus has died once for all, and now we can boldly enter the Holy of Holies, and see the deep things of the Spirit. God is going to destroy all flesh, and we will be accountable to the Word of God that we have heard.

  God is responsible for creation, we are accountable to His Spirit. When Peter denied Jesus, Peter was given the chance to answer “Do you love (agape) me?” Three times Jesus asked Peter that, and Peter’s answer “Yes Lord, I love (Phileo) you.” The Love that God and Jesus has for us is not of this world – it is Agape (1 Corinthians 13 love), we can at best Phileo in the flesh. It takes God to help us agape Him.

  In the Word, the community of Christians met in unity, and showed spiritual maturity.

  Peter established the first church. Paul then got caught up in the Spirit, had a remarkable conversion and then his ministry reached the Gentiles.

  When we are born again, God starts dealing with our flesh, and at times it is painful, as Pastor Ted says, “It hurts so good.” But God needs to break down the strongholds of the flesh, because we need to live by the Spirit of God. Those whom God loves, He rebukes. He will use the Fire of the Spirit to burn out those fleshly strongholds.

  We often want to hide like Adam and Eve – naked, and inappropriately dressed . God came and rescued them, showed them the sacrifice needed for disobedience, and dressed them.

  When we are in Christ, we die every day to ourselves and our flesh. And the church needs to get rid of those denominational tags. When God looks at us, he sees red, for we are covered by the blood of Jesus, and God sees One Body.

  Revelation 2:2-4 (To the church at Ephesus – the Loveless Church) I know your works, your labor, your patience and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars, and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

  Jesus is our first love. So many want people to come and prophesy over them, wanting the nice things. But when God prophesies over you, he not only tells you nice things, but will also show you where you are lacking, and that doesn’t “feel” so good. God calls us, and we then go into the wilderness. Satan comes to tempt us in the wilderness. God created us to be representatives of God in the world, so that when people see us, they know how God wants them to be. When we get tempted, take the tiniest step beyond the line, it closes the door to the movement of the Spirit. There are those who speak tongues, but there are tongues that are spoken in the Spirit, and there are also false tongues -spoken from the flesh. we are not to be deceived.

  When John is in the Spirit, he sees two angels and falls down to worship them. The angels quickly tell John not to worship them, but to worship God.  Too many of us worship the messengers instead of God. It is God who is to be worshipped.

  All flesh must die, and all doctrine that does not line up with the Word of God must die. What matters is Jesus Christ.

  Everybody has a gift, but that gift is to be used to give God the glory. That can only happen when we die to ourself.

  Remember when Moses asked to see God’s Glory. God told Moses that if Moses saw His face He would die, He put Moses in the cleft of the rock (Jesus), and Moses was able to see the afterglory – the hindparts of God’s glory. In order to do that, He had to follow God.

  Pastor Ted pointed out that while the missionary movement is important, that so often we are concerned about going all over the world when our own neighbors and neighborhoods are going to Hell. Missionary work begins at home.

  When someone sees you die to yourself, that gives glory to the Lord. When we do not gossip, when we do what is pleasing to God, then the whole world is filled with glory.

  When Nebuchadnezzar was angry because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to worship him, he had them cast into the fiery furnace. They answered him, Daniel 3:17-18 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king; but if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

  The three (spiritual maturity) showed spiritual maturity by trusting in God in the face of death and refusing to obey the king’s desire for them to worship false gods. They were able to go in the fire, and were even joined by a fourth, walking around the fire with no sign of scorch marks or smell of smoke. Those who threw them in burnt up in the intense heat of the fire. What is not of God will be destroyed in His fire. But they chose to trust God, and He delivered them from the fire.

  John 21:18 (Jesus talking) Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger you girded yourself and walked where you wished, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.

  When we are young spiritually, we do things in our own understanding. As we mature, we know that God orders our steps, and we may have to go where we don’t want to go. The milk of the word is good for us at the beginning, but as we grow in God, we desire the meat of the Word.

  There is a warfare going on inside of us – our flesh wants to take charge and God is telling our flesh to “drop dead”. Our old self is useless to God, He needs us to be obedient to Him, and to do His will. To die to our fleshly desires.

  Martyrs die in the flesh, but we are to die TO the flesh. We get caught up in rituals, eating false doctrines, believing everything we hear from others, but we need to hear what God is saying. To understand the types and shadows that are represented in His Word. To have the invisible made visible. What we see on the earth in the natural is a type and shadow of what is in the Spiritual.

  When God fishes you out of the water and puts you on dry land, He doesn’t want you to go back into the water. You can be pulled back to where you came from if you disobey God. We have to repent, go back to where we have fallen, and begin to do what God has told us to do.

  If God calls you or chooses you, no man can hinder that. Keep the focus on Christ. Do His will and give Him the glory.

  Hope you enjoyed this. Pastor Ted continued in greater detail about these thoughts on Friday. Tomorrow I will put up Friday’s study, covering the new things not touched on in this talk.

  Have a blessed night!

  Heather

  • 7:13 pm
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