THE THREE CHURCHES Eltham Baptist Church 5th August 2012

No. 385

I dont know about you but there was a time when my Christianity just became plain hard work, mechanical and going through the motions. You ended up doing most things because you didnt want to go to hell. Quiet Times and Bible Readings and going to Church were boring. When the Children of Israel were in Egypt, that was what it was like for them too. Life was just plain hard work. They were in bondage to Pharaoh who was a hard task master. No matter what you did you would never do enough as far as your slave drivers were concerned. When the Jews were under the Law, it was like this for them too, just plain hard Work. They were in bondage and never coming up to scratch for you can't fulfil the law no matter how hard you try. May I suggest that if your Christianity is hard work and boring, that you too are in bondage. But be not discouraged for God has a better way for us all, and it's the way of the Spirit. Have you not read that where the Spirit of God is there is liberty.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17 "that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." Romans 8:21

There needed to be a change for both the Israelites and the Jews in order for them to experience freedom, but change is always hard to take, isn't it? We are all creatures of habit and don't want to shift, but we need to remember that if we stay in a rut long enough it soon becomes our grave. Just as the Israelites needed to come out of Egypt in order to be free and the Jews needed to come out from under the Law to experience grace, so do we Christians need to get out of our religious bondage into the glorious liberty of His Children. In order to be set free from bondage you need to know where you are at now if you want to change, and where you can go to next. So many Christians don't realise they are in bondage. I ask you this question concerning the 3 Churches listed below, "What Church are you in"? The Church of Bondage? The Wilderness Church? The half and half Church? (which is the NT Church), or are you in the Body of Christ the Church of true liberty? In the bible there are 3 Churches mentioned. 1. The Church in the Wilderness (Acts 7:38). 2. The New Testament Church (Matt 18:17) 3. The Body of Christ. (Ephesians 1:22-23) There is a major difference between the Wilderness Church and the Church which is His Body. The Body of Christ is the 3rd Church and the ultimate place to be in, it's that which is perfect. Many want to go back to OT way and adopt Jewish traditions, and put on all the regalia and rituals of the old order but don't realise that it's a place of bondage. So many Christians are locked into the NT Church which is 'half and half', but hardly any Christians live in "The Body," and that is the place of liberty. When you were saved you were placed into the Body of Christ, but many dont know that they are there. When Jesus came He said.
"I have many things to say to you but you are not ready for them yet." (John 16:12)

This is so true for us today, we are not ready for new things. Jesus had to gradually bring His people from one level of thinking into another. The reason He has to be so slow about it was that He knew we are all reluctant to change, because we are not ready for it. There is a tremendous difference between the OT Church and The Body of Christ. There is also a tremendous difference between the Law of Moses and the teachings of Jesus on Grace. Many think that the Epistles teachings on Grace are just too simple and want to colour it with the "Bells and Smells" of the OT dead system, but that doesn't work. In the OT it was all outward show and symbolic of the coming truth that Jesus was bringing to the world. These shadows were preparing the people of God for the real thing, but it was a long and slow process. Jesus wanted to prepare people for "The Lamb of God," (JESUS) and did this by introducing lambs into their religious system of the OT. He wanted to take His people gradually from outward show to the inward things of the heart. He wanted to take them from the shadow of things into the reality of grace. In the law of Moses no one could keep the rules and when they failed they had to offer up an animal. It was all a process of keeping on trying, failing and continually feeling guilty because you couldn't do it perfectly. But there was a better way coming. When Jesus came with the truth, the "Better Way" (Hebrews 10:20), He didn't say, "Stop what you are doing, it's all a waste of time, I am the Lamb of God." He patiently taught His people, preparing them for His death as "THE" Lamb of God and He died on the Passover Day to prove a point. It was all a message, a path, a progress towards a greater truth a new day. God raised up Paul to help His people see this truth, and even the other Apostles didn't get at first. Have you not noticed that the OT is a mass of laws. "Do this, do that, don't do this and don't do that. If you do it wrong or don't do it well you will be punished." Jesus had to take them from that way of thinking into the ultimate truth of His Body. When you look at the epistles you see that Paul is the only one who taught

about the Body. He understood that the Body is a far better place to be in. In the Body, it is not your strength anymore, as it was in the Law but the life of Christ coming into play. This is actually Christ's body which you can only be part of if you die. To appreciate that you're in the Body, you have to realise it's no longer works anymore as it was under the Law, but Grace. Something else now empowers you here in the Body. To give you an example. My hand does not struggle to be and do what my hand is meant to do for the instructions come from my head. My life blood is flowing through it, and my mind guides my hand. It's not struggling to be my hand, nor is it thinking maybe it should be a foot, for it delights to do 'my' will. So should it be for you in the Body of Christ, for it's a delight to do the will of God and not a constant struggle. It's true for those who are truly resting in His Body and it's easy to be there. Matthew 11:30 Being a Christian should be a natural experience, because you were designed for it before the foundation of the world. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love: " Ephesians 1:3-5.

God has chosen you before the foundation of the world, even before Satan came onto the scene, that you should be Holy, and not to be a sinner. You are designed to be a Saint not a Sinner. The reason you have a struggle to understand this is not because it's a lie, but that the Devil has blinded your mind to the truth. You need to change your thinking, your stinking thinking. When Jesus came He didnt say. The OT is a load of Junk, just drop it all. He did things gradually, everything had to be built on a new truth. "Line upon line, precept upon precept." There was a transition, a co-mingling to bring the OT Church from its bondage into freedom, and the Grace of the Body of Christ. The bridge was the NT Church. This Church was the one that existed up until Pentecost and unfortunately it went beyond. It had problems with relating to Gentiles, and the issue of circumcision, eating laws and days of worship, just to name a few bondages. Even the Apostles didn't understand where Jesus was going too in His teachings or where He was taking them, for they were all originally part of the NT Church. Even when the Spirit came upon them and the true Church began, they still didnt realise the truth. They didnt realise who they were in Christ, so God had to raise up the Apostle Paul to get the message across. We see this problem illustrated when Jesus dropped such bomb shells as in John 6: 53-54 Many of His disciples turned away at this point, for it was just too much for them. There had to be some major changes in their thinking and attitude towards God, on how they were now going to please Him. He was bringing them into His Grace which is the complete opposite of works. It's not what we have been trained to do all our lives. We are all used to Works. Works is like this..."If you do so and so I'll bless you. If you dont, youll be punished" With Grace, its because Jesus did so and so that He will bless you, not because of what you can do. He also gives us the gift of His Life to empower us to be who we are meant to be, and do what we are meant to do. We say that we know Grace, but our actions can often contradict and betray us. When new converts come, we say to them that they must do this or that and try to make them like us... clones. But often forget that the Body has many different parts and many different jobs to do. Many of us are still in the "Wilderness Church" and are legalistic in our ways. There are many who are mixed up in the NT Church and are half and half.... Works and Grace. There are so few who understand The Body. Many think of it as a type of team effort, which is only a part of the truth. Mormons and the JWs are all good at team effort, but they are not in "The Body". You must be Born Again to be in the Body. The Body Church is far different to the Law Church. It's a position that can't be earned. Did my hand earn favour with me in order to be where it is? Did my toe get promoted to being a nose for good behaviour. The parts of my body are chosen by God and are very happy to be in that place. They have no thoughts of wanting to be anywhere or anything else, for they are just glad to be part of me. They are not strong in themselves for if you were to cut them off they don't work anymore, they have no strength in themselves, their strength comes from the Body. Their whole purpose is for the Body and not for themselves. So it is with the True Church, their strength comes from Christ, and they are happy to be part of the Body, delighting to do His will, and cant exist without Him. They are not jealous of others or in competition with others either! We are placed into the Body of Christ by faith, by God. We are joined to Christ by one Spirit. We're Born Again, and are New Creatures in Christ, and it's not of ourselves. Our life is now lived by faith. Christ in me, I in Him. His life is in me and it's the only life accepted by God. Its the only life we are to have.
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

What Church are you in? Are you in The Wilderness Church which is a Church of Law and Bondage? Are you in the NT (New Testament) Church which is a Church of transition....half and half? Or are you in His Body, delighting to do His will. Youre most likely already there but you dont know it for the Devil has blinded your mind to the truth and you think you can still please God by your Works. Receive Gods

Grace, the Gift of His Body and reckon yourself dead to the world by faith. Romans 6:11