Last time we
went over some
very general
truths that help
the believer
understand who
he or she is in
Christ.
We are
not the “new
Israel.” We are
like Israel in
that we are also
set aside by
God, but we have
very different
purposes for our
calling. Again,
I will be
pulling heavily
from Clarence
Larkin’s book,
The Greatest
Book of
Dispensational
Truth in the
World.
What the Church
Is Not
The church is
not an
organization,
but a living
organism. An
organization can
be rearranged,
added to or
subtracted from
or otherwise.
But an organism
cannot be
without causing
mutilation or
permanently
destroying the
integrity of the
body as a whole.
This is
why no one who
is truly
born-again can
become unsaved.
Salvation has
always come by
God’s grace
through our
faith. The Law
never saved
anyone, but was
the standard in
which everyone
would be
measured by.
Nationally
speaking, Israel
remained in
fellowship with
God when they
kept the tenants
of the law,
until
Israel/Jews got
to the point
where the
Religion became
more important
than the
relationship.
(See Psalm
51:16-17;
Jeremiah
31:31-34; 1
Corinthians
12:27; Romans
12:5.)
“And I give
them eternal
life, and
they shall never
perish; neither
shall anyone
snatch theout of
My hand.
My
Father, who has
given
them to
Me, is greater
than all; and no
one is able to
snatch them
out of My
Father’s hand.
I
and
My Father are one” (John 10:28-30).
For those of us
in this
dispensation our
eternal
salvation is a
onetime event.
Once you become
“saved” you
cannot become
“unsaved”
because it is
God who does the
changing in us,
not us changing
ourselves.
But we,
like Israel, can
also step out of
fellowship with
God, and
although the
relationship
suffers, our
eternal standing
in the family of
God does not.
In this
Dispensation
(Church Age)
once you are
truly born
again, you
become:
1.
A
new creation-something
new means having
never existed
before and can’t
become un-new (2
Corinthians
5:17; Galatians
6:15).
2.
Sealed by
the Holy Spirit
until the Day of
Redemption,
which is the
Rapture (2
Corinthians
1:21-22;
Ephesians
1:13-14; 4:5).
3.
Jesus promises
that those who
are given to Him
(a new believer)
He will not lose,
nor can he or
she be taken
from Him or God
the Father (John
6:39; 10:28-30).
So to teach that
you can “lose”
your salvation
means that you
can:
A) undo what
God has created
B) Unseal
the Holy
Spirit’s
permanent
sealing,
C) Overpower
Christ by
removing
yourself from
Him and His
Father’s hand.
The Building
As previously
discussed, we
understand that
the body of
Christ is not an
organization,
but a living
organism. But
there is
symbolism found
in the New
Testament that
alludes to the
individual
believer as a
building. Jesus
first compared
His body to the
Temple (although
misunderstood by
the Pharisees)
in that it could
be destroyed
(killed) and
raised up again
in three days
(John
2:19). Paul and
Peter later use
similar
symbolism to the
Christian as
individuals as
both a building
and tent in
relation to
the residency of
the Holy Spirit.
(See 2
Corinthians 5:1;
Ephesians
2:20-22; 2 Peter
1:13-14.)
In the Old
Testament, the
Holy Spirit came
upon the
believing
righteous as a
sovereign act of
God, not because
of what the
believer did, as
was the case
with Samson,
David, and John
the Baptist. But
the Holy Spirit
could also
depart from
someone, as it
did with King
Saul, and later
on King David
feared this
because of his
sin with
Bathsheba and
the murder of
Uriah.
In the Old
Testament, the
presence of God
the Holy Spirit
resided in the
Jewish
Tabernacle and
later in the
Temple as the
Shekinah Glory
dwelling over
the Mercy Seat
of the Ark of
the Covenant
inside the
Holy of Holies.
It is
here that I
believe God
stayed until
John the Baptist
baptized Jesus
Christ
initiating the
beginning of His
three-year
ministry. (See
Judges 13:24-25;
1 Samuel 16:13;
2 Chronicles
5:2,7; Luke
1:15.)
I believe that
when Christ
began His
ministry and was
baptized by John
the Baptist,
the
Holy Spirit
had already
departed the
Temple and was
then manifested
“as a dove”
which filled
Christ the Man
in His three
year ministry.
Upon Christ’s
death, the veil
that separated
the Holy of
Holies from the
rest of the
Temple was torn
in two,
signifying that
God’s covenant
with Israel via
the Temple was
temporarily,
finished.
Both
Jesus and Paul
stated that a
future temple
would exist, and
it would be at
that time again
that the
covenant God had
with the nation
of Israel
(Daniel 9:27)
would continue
on to finish
that last seven
years.
(See
Matthew 24:15;
27:51; 2
Thessalonians
2:4.)
Not the
“Kingdom”
The church is
not the kingdom.
Many
denominations
within
Christendom
claim that
Israel forfeited
her inheritance
and that it was
passed on to
Christian’s.
This is
incorrect and
heretical, and
is known either
as
Supercessionism
or Replacement
Theology. Both
John the Baptist
(Matthew 3:13)
and Jesus
(Matthew 4:12)
came preaching
“repent, for the
Kingdom of
heaven is at
hand.” Jesus
likewise sent
out the 12 and
70 disciples
preaching the
same message of
repentance
because the
‘kingdom of
heaven” was near
(Matthew
10:5-7; Luke
10:1-12).
Prior to
Christ’s
ascension, His
disciples asked
Him a pivotal
question that
often gets taken
out of context.
They
asked,
“Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” You see,
the kingdom was
that Old
Testament
offering by God
to Israel of a
physical,
earthly kingdom,
in which peace
would be the law
of the land, the
lamb would lie
down with the
lion; swords
would be bent
into plowshares
and so on. They
would be the top
nation on the
planet, led by
their Messiah.
But as we know
and as history
has borne out,
the Jews
rejected Jesus’
offer and they
crucified Him,
thereby
postponing the
kingdom. The
disciples were
asking about the
kingdom, because
it had not yet
been revealed to
them that God
had other plans
in place.
While it is true
that the Jews
rejected this
offer of the
kingdom and
ultimately had
their Messiah
murdered, the
offer itself was
one Israel
didn’t have the
authority to
forfeit.
Genesis 15
records that
Abraham was
asked to kill
the animals and
array them for
this blood-oath
to happen, but
then God puts
him in a deep
sleep.
Then God
speaks this
Promise and
Prophecy over
him as he slept.
The oath
was meant to
symbolize that
by the walking
through the
slaughtered
animals
together,
whoever broke
their end of the
oath would end
up like those
slaughtered
animals that
were strewn
apart.
But they
couldn’t break
this covenant,
because they
didn’t enter
into that
contract; God
did, with
Himself on their
behalf.
“And it came to
pass, when the
sun went down
and it was dark,
that behold,
there appeared a
smoking oven
and a burning
torch that
passed
between those
pieces”
(Genesis
15:17).
This was not the
case with the
Mosaic Covenant
(or the Law) in
which
representatives
from all the 12
tribes willingly
entered into at
Mt. Sinai
(Exodus 24:1-8).
So when they
failed to live
up to their end
of the
agreement, God
allowed their
enemies to
overcome them.
In both
instances, the
church was
neither bound by
or inheriting
either blessings
or curses
because the
church did not
yet exist,
because Christ
had not yet come
to earth as a
Man. Jesus
Himself stated…
“And from the
days of John the
Baptist until
now, the kingdom
of heaven
suffers
violence, and
the violent take
it by force. For
all the prophets
and the law
prophesied
until John”
(Matthew
11:12-13).
So the church
could not be the
kingdom, and
neither was it
ever promised an
earthly kingdom.
To which city
does the church
pray toward?
To which
land did God
promise to give
to the church?
The Roman
Catholic Church
would like you
to think its
Rome, but it is
not, neither is
it Jerusalem.
Paul states that
are citizenship
is not here, but
in heaven.
We are to
be like Abraham,
who was looking
toward that city
whose Builder
and Maker was
God. (See
Philippians
3:20-21; Hebrews
11:10.)
What the
Church Is
A mystery,
as explained by
Jesus (in a
parable) and
then as first
revealed to the
apostle Paul.
The apostle
Peter would also
later come to
this
understanding.
(See Matthew 13;
1 Corinthians.
2:7; Ephesians
3:3-11, 5:32;
Colossians 1:26;
1 Peter 1:9-12.)
The bride of
Christ: (2
Corinthians
11:2).
Adam and Eve
were a type of
Christ and the
church.
§
Eve was taken
from out of
Adam’s side.
Genesis 2:21;
Ephesians
5:29-33.
§
The church was
born
(symbolically)
out of the side
of Christ (John
19:34).
§
Eve was created
and presented to
Adam (Genesis
2:22).
§
Christ presents
the church to
Himself
(Ephesians
5:27).
§
Eve was married
to Adam (Genesis
2:24; Matthew
19:4-5;
Ephesians 5:31)
§
Christ will be
married to the
church
(Revelation
19:7-9).
§
The Kingdom of
Heaven is the
“mystery form”
of the church
(Luke 17:20-21;
Romans 14:17, 1
Corinthians
15:50).
Types:
§
Abraham was a
type of God the
Father.
§
Sarah was a
type of Israel
(laughed at the
promise of a
son).
§
Isaac was a
type of Jesus
(Genesis
22:1-19).
§
Eliezer is a
type of the Holy
Spirit (Genesis
24).
§
Rebekah is a
type of the
church (She was
a gentile bride
(Genesis 25:20).
§
Keturah is a
type of restored
Israel (Genesis
25:1-6).
We see this
played out in
the Old
Testament in
type. Israel was
called the “wife
of God.” (See
Isaiah 54:5-8;
Jeremiah 3:1-18;
Ezekiel 16:1-63;
Hosea 2:1-23,
3:1-5), whereas
the church is
seen as the:
“chaste virgin”
to be wed to
Christ. (See 2
Corinthians
11:2; John 3:29;
Matthew
22:1-14.). The
church cannot be
both the
“unfaithful
wife” and the
“chaste virgin.”
“See the gospel church secure,
and founded on a
Rock!
All her promises
are sure,
her bulwarks who can shock? Count her every precious shrine;
tell, to
after-ages tell,
fortified by power divine, the church can never fail.” (CHARLES WESLEY, Scriptural,
Psalm XLVIII)
Emboldened Scripture added by the author for emphasis.