March 15, 2007

• Uncovering Buried Treasure by Pastor Ted Van Dyke

  Heather’s note, this is a challenging study for me, and I am sorting it out, but wanted to share it as it was presented on Wednesday.

  Pastor Ted started out by asking what you need to do if you are going on a treasure hunt, and some of the comments were, follow clues, read a map, dig, have proper tools. He also pointed out that a rich treasure is not displayed out in the open, but hidden.

  It is the same with the treasures buried in the Bible. God wants the Body of Christ to go to the next level, not just attend Bible studies, speak in tongues, praise and worship music, but to look for the treasures that He has provided for us. As we move toward God, He will move toward us.

  So many do not understand the process of spiritual growth. We are called to be saints of God. When we give our life to Jesus we are not fulfilled saints, but we begin the path that brings us more and more in line with Jesus. First we have faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God, then we become believers and begin to Believe all that Christ says, we become part of the Body of Christ, the brethren, and part of the house of God. We continue to grow and learn more of His word, then we become disciples, and then we are called to be sent forth, set apart for the work of the ministry.

  A disciple is a learner of the Word, a follower of Christ. We learn to pick up the cross and follow Him. Remember if we love God, we will keep His commandments. To be a disciple of Christ means that we abide in Him and He abides in us. It is a process, and we are learning to be In Christ.

  If we don’t understand the process, we can get distracted by our circumstances.

  Jeremiah 18:1-4  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

  When we are changed in Christ, there is destruction of the old, and stuff in us dies. We are changing from the natural man to the spiritual man. The vessel in the Potter’s (Jesus’) hand is marred, and needs to be destroyed, the flesh and our carnal way of thinking needs to be destroyed. For flesh and blood do not enter into the Kingdom of God.

  Jesus died for our sins some believe that all our sins are eradicated when we get saved. Not so, for we do continue to sin. Jesus covered the sin of the World, but we still have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, making our lives come more in accord with God’s word. All of us still err and do not do all that God has commanded.

  Pastor Ted pointed out that the creation account in Genesis fits our inner being as well. That the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the earth. When we were in sin we lived in darkness, and certainly not in the form God intended for us. When Jesus came into our lives then we had light, just like God created light in the world. The Light of God destroys anger, the spirit of rejection, abandonment, bitterness, etc. We are all fleshly creatures, and as such will die. What is of the flesh in us will die and be re-shaped by the Potter’s Hand. (Heather’s note, this reminds me of Pastor Don pointing out that so many want to see God’s face, and not His hand in our situations, but His hand is necessary.)

  Notice in the fourth verse that it says that the Potter took the marred vessel and made it into another vessel as it seemed good to the Potter. There is a plan for our lives. We may not understand that plan, but that does not mean that it doesn’t exist. We are responsible for everything we are. Sometimes we give satan too much credit.

  The book of Job tells us that God told satan what he could and couldn’t do to Job. Satan does not have free reign on the earth. Sometimes, when God wants something to change in our lives, he sends someone who loves you, and they end up hurting you so that the changes you need to make are made. Sometimes he permits satan to sift us.

  Marriage is a Covenant, not a contract. When situations get tough in our lives, we cannot walk out on covenant relationships. The world wants us to think that our covenant relationships are contracts that can be broken at will, but that is not the nature of a covenant relationship. God tells us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments, His covenant with us. The devil wants us to think that it is ok to break the commandments and covenants. If we do break them, God is not required to cover us with His protection when we are out of covenant with Him, and that gives satan the freedom to act in our lives. We need to get back into the covenant relationship with God so that we have firm footing to stand against satan.

  Jeremiah 18:5-6  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!”

   Whatever we are going through in our lives, we are still in His hand. We are grafted into the vine of Israel, we are the Spiritual Israel.

  Pastor Ted pointed out that a potter uses a wheel – we will keep returning and returning to the same spot, the same cycle until we are shaped perfectly by the Potter. There are two dimensions going on in our lives, NATURAL TIME where things flow in order one from another, and INSIDE OF THE TRUTH. The big wheel is the TRUTH, and our little wheel is the natural time going around. The little wheel is where we are shaped, and as we get more and more perfectly formed we move toward the outer wheel.

  Sometimes we are so happy to be “good people.” But the world also has good people who do not know God. We are wanting to step beyond just being a good person, to reflecting the divine nature of God.

  Pastor Ted then asked us where the treasure was, and finally we came to the verse that points out that we are treasures in earthen vessels. Our body is the earthen vessel, so if we are treasure hunting, we have to look within to what God has placed in us.

  Jesus also told his disciples that when the end days would come people would be saying there is Christ, or there, or there, and Jesus told us to stand fast, to not go chasing after the false christs. The Kingdom of Heaven is within us, within our earthen vessels. We can’t see the Kingdom of God with our eyes, as it is within us.

  When we pray, Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

  Pastor Ted pointed out that the Kingdom come is on EARTH, as it is in Heaven. Jesus walked on earth in a human body for a time. His vessel (body) at the time was seen by many people, but most did not recognize Jesus for the treasure that He was. Those who were able to see the treasure that He offered, had to dig for those treasures, to die to themselves, and to their old way of thinking. To make such changes is uncomfortable for us (as Pastor Ted joked, “It scares the hell out of us.” We do want anything from hell outside of us).

  Psalm 51:5-6 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part. You will make me to know wisdom.

  You can be an Einstein and still not get into the Kingdom of God, for what God wants is TRUTH in our inward parts, the hidden parts. We are looking for spiritual truth behind the book knowledge. The Rhema word which will never leave you, for it explodes inside and illuminates your Spirit. It is a Spirit to Spirit learning that goes far deeper than intellectual knowledge. When we receive Rhema knowledge, the flesh in us dies. We need to be prepared to die to self.

  Someone mentioned Adam and Eve. It is not surprising that they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for it LOOKED good to the senses. The tree of life (Jesus) in the garden is not flashy. They went for what looked good. They wanted to be like God. And the tree of knowledge of good and evil appealed to their senses. But God wants us to worship in Spirit and in Truth. He wants us to enter in to worship with Him, in Him, and He ministers to us as individuals. None of us are at the same level spiritually, so God reaches to us where we are. Sometimes when He ministers to us, it doesn’t look or feel good, but the fruit of His ministering to us is good and abundant. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil led to death.

  Someone brought up a Bible verse she was studying that day that seemed to speak to this teaching, Philippians 3:14, 18-20 (14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus  (18-20) For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

  Pastor Ted pointed out the word “belly” and pointed out that Jonah was in the large fish’s belly for three days. Inside of us are two natures, the natural man and the spiritual man. There is a battle inside of us, and we seek to destroy the worldly in us. It is a battle between light and darkness.

  John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

  Jesus is the Word, and before anyone of us was created, He was there. Christ is the hope of glory, He is the foundation of the Word, and His Word is in us, created us. We need to get over the idea that Heaven is out there, and realize that Heaven is also here on earth. Jesus is on the earth and in Heaven. We need to look for the hidden treasure.

  If we are not obeying His Word, we are not His disciples in Deed. We can’t do the work of ministry if we are not obeying God, for we are not then set apart from the things of the world. We can’t straddle two realms, the spiritual and the material, the natural and the spiritual. For a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. We are not to be double minded.

  Matthew 6:19-21 (Jesus speaking) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

  Love God so much, because you know Him. Love Him that you can trust Him no matter what your circumstances seem to indicate. Know that He is truth and He is trustworthy. Then we can have patience in our CIRCUM – STANCE (circum implies circle – stance) When we know the nature of God, we can have Patience (part of the fruit of the Spirit),  and continue to the end of the situation, knowing that God has things in control. God knows the intent of our heart, and as we love God, we move closer to intimacy (INTO -ME- SEE).

  We can believe God when He says that He will never leave or forsake us. When we hold onto that truth the devil cannot destroy you no matter what he throws your way. And we need to keep the perspective that we are laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven, permanent treasures, not fleeting ones like we have on earth.

  Just like in Jesus’ time, people are still looking for signs and wonders. We don’t need a sign and a wonder to know that Jesus is here now. If Jesus did not come into me when I got saved, then I can’t overcome darkness. If we are to wait until Jesus comes to banish the darkness, why did He send the Holy Spirit and power to help us? If we have to wait until we die for the Kingdom, why did He send the Holy Spirit now? If He didn’t come we couldn’t have been changed, given a new mind in Christ. God spoke this before the foundation of the world, and whatever we deal with, we endure to the end of it. We stand in faith until you have overcome. Keep standing in faith no matter the outward circumstances. Keep standing, because in one split second Eternity will meet our earthly time and a change will happen. We won’t know when it will happen, just like the brides did not know when the groom will come, but we need to be ready for when the change occurs. Like a breath of God.

  I am going to continue this tomorrow so that the lesson is not long. Have a blessed day.

  Heather

  • 8:39 pm
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