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Listen to our new Liberty Church Podcast! "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
TWO TREES: Ge 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life represents Jesus. ‘I am the way the truth and the life’ ‘In him was life, and that life was the light of men’.1Jn 1:4 Life was in the tree, life in Jesus. It tells us in Corinthians: It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.1Cor 1:30 Jesus brings spiritual wisdom He is the tree of life and He gives us wisdom See Pr 8:22-35 Joh 1:1 (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning) The tree of life is JESUS, tree of life, wisdom Pr 3:18 ‘Wisdom is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and blessed is every one that retains her’. Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Man knows more than he understands. Knowledge... Known facts that have been acquired by learning and possessing information. Knowledge is dependant on data. Knowledge is flawed by conception. Trial and error can increase knowledge The human conscience relies upon knowledge about what is right and wrong and that is what determines and controls thought and behaviour. Fruit of knowledge of good and evil is judgment of oneself and of others. Self righteousness, when ok,or guilt when not. Fruit of knowledge of good and evil is religious laws. It distracts us from Jesus – gets us measuring our performance and others- gets us focusing on what we do instead of looking at Him. PRIDE/guilt – thinking we are better than others and our standing depends on us/ or thinking we are worse than others. Tree of Life is Jesus who gives spiritual wisdom
Wisdom grants insight through intuition (instinctive knowing without the use of rational processes) Spiritually this is the Spirit in union with your spirit. The fruit of the tree of life is righteousness before God. As we know His life in us we look at each other more thro His eyes of love than our critical eyes. Humility – knowing our righteousness depends entirely on Him & we have an equal need of Him as everyone else. TREE OF LIFE present in the first book of the bible and the last. Re 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
A tree produces fruit according to what it is; When Jesus is planted in us He grows within us and produces His fruit. Spirit: Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness , gentleness and self control. Fruit takes time to grow. You can fake the fruit but you will be found out. When knowledge of good and evil is planted within us it produces laws and judgement. When we know Jesus – when His Spirit dwells in our spirit, He gives us spiritual wisdom – wisdom to know we belong to Him, that we are loved by Him, that He is with us. These things are only grasped spiritually by our 7th sense, in our KNOWER. This wisdom is life giving, life enhancing. Our faith in Him makes us right with God. When we trust his working in our lives, when we have faith in Him, We have spiritual understanding regardless of IQ or education. Heb 11:3 ‘By faith we understand ………….’ Knowledge depends on education, upbringing, IQ. It varies greatly and our knowledge of things can change through our lives – a child to an adult and it is different depending on what era we live in e.g. in Elizabethan times the current knowledge was that the, world was flat, in 21st century, we know the world is round. Knowledge can be learned from someone else. Spiritual wisdom is intuitive ‘knowing’. Spiritually knowing with our ‘knower’ . This wisdom is personal. Can only be gained through direct relationship with Jesus. When we have different levels of knowledge we have disagreement and argument and judge others by our knowledge. When we have Jesus and His wisdom we know Him, know His peace, his joy, don’t judge ourselves and don’t judge others. Having Jesus causes us to relate to Him and as we GROW in Him we are more able to see others through his eyes instead of our own. We are more able to trust Him in our lives. What is our Centre? by Kokichi Kurosaki One might think that with the Bible as the centre of Christianity, the unity of Christians could be easily realized. Unfortunately, this has not proved to be true. This inability of Scripture to unify the Lord's people proves that the letter of the Bible cannot really replace the living Christ as the centre of our faith. The Bible speaks to us of the Life and work of God, and since "life" is greater than its manifestation, it cannot be expressed completely in any logical or theological form. Therefore, the Bible itself cannot escape being understood in many different ways. Thus we see how, in the wisdom of God, it is impossible to make the Scriptures the end or final authority in themselves, for they only express God's authority to those who live in fellowship with the spirit. Let us pause to remember. In rejecting the authority of the Roman Church, the reformers turned to the Scriptures as the authority for their faith and actions. In the fierce conflict of the early days of the Reformation, it was natural that they should seek the security of some objective standard to meet the seemingly unlimited politico-ecclesiastical power of Rome. Therefore the position of the Bible as the God-inspired testimony of the apostles' personal faith in Christ gradually changed and became the source of Protestant "dogma" and the criterion of acceptable faith. Replacing the roman pope, the Bible became the centre of the protestant churches. Ekklesia is the Greek word for ‘called out’. Roman Catholics translated the word to ‘church’ in order to consolidate their position of power and authority. William Tynedale used the word ‘congregation’ to undermine the authority of Rome, thus influencing all protestant biblical translators that followed. Quotable Quotes: Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things. Every one there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes. From ‘Mere Christianity’ by C. S. Lewis ‘A baby may mess itself and stumble as he learns to walk and be a perfect baby for its age and stage of development. A green apple, not yet ripe, is still a perfect apple for its time. There is no pressure on us to be something we are not. The Lord will take care of our development as we live our lives loving Him.’ John Wimber Remember Christ is the Judge, His Spirit the advocate, and the Christian is only a witness. Anon You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are. Herb Cohen Faith is not something that makes sense to others. Following the reasonable path is only another law in disguise. God presses us to know Him in a unique way that He has set out for each one of us to discover. John Collings Conviction and condemnation are parallel words, they have exactly the same meaning. People who say that they are 'convicted by the Holy Spirit' are in error. Ro 8:1 states that this is impossible. Jim Parker Common Sense Bible Study/Discussion at previous meetings. We have discussed our spiritual makeup and also how our personality effects the way we relate to God. We looked at the way our being is divided into body/soul/spirit. We discussed ways different people had ‘heard’ God speaking to them – sometimes as an inner voice, sometimes as words in scripture suddenly ‘coming alive’ to them and having personal relevance to a real situation in their life. We discussed how when God spoke or gave an inner leading it was fulfilled in amazing ways that went beyond our ordinary experience. We will go on next week to discuss how for each one of us the spiritual side of our being can develop more to recognise and experience God in our day to day lives. Our Personality and relating to God God has created a world full of variety. He has created different types of personalities so making people who will relate to each other and to him in different ways. No one personality type or way of relating to God is better than another. The important thing is to relate to God as we can and not think we have to push our self into a mould to relate to him as we can’t.
This week we did another quiz and looked at whether we think more in terms of facts or ideas or in a mixture of both.We also looked at whether we think in terms of our head or our heart and whether we are extravert or introvert.(For personality test see www.bbc.co.uk/science). FACTS PEOPLE : tend to be very observant, like exactness and order. Need routine and predictability. They start at the beginning and work through in a ordered way. They relate to God through real things they can see, hear, touch etc. A candle or a cross, picture of nature, an icon or a sculpture, can help them to connect with God. Music can help them express themselves to God. Often they find it very helpful to read prayers that others have written. Familiarity and repeating prayers can be helpful. The place of prayer can be very important to them. They like a regular routine of prayer and reading scripture. They find prayer lists and prayer diaries helpful. Facts people who extravert their senses may draw or paint, dance or sculpt to express themselves to God IDEAS PEOPLE: Grasp impressions and the big picture. They don’t do the detail. Function best doing things on the spur of the moment. Changes in routine refresh them spiritually and physically Dislike having to follow instructions. Dislike repetition and sameness In relating to God Don’t follow fixed times for long. Muse on many different things like a butterfly. Often use few words – a kind of daydreaming with God. They ‘go with the flow’. An ideas person who is extraverted : Scans the outside world like and minesweeper picking up perception that have meaning – finds new and interesting ways of connecting with God.An ideas person who is introverted : Is drawn to contemplation They value silence, for them silence is when they really pray. Points to ponder As we understand how we ourselves function we need to be able to allow others to function in the way they are designed to do. Your personality and relating to God God has created a world full of variety. He has created different types of personalities so making people who will relate to each other and to him in different ways. No one personality type or way of relating to God is better than another. The important thing is to relate to God as we can and not think we have to push our self into a mould to relate to him as we can’t. We are looking at four different aspects of personality. We started by doing a Quiz and finding out if we are more of a planner or more of a spontaneous person. We watched a DVD, and had a laugh, about the sort of characteristics that go with each. (For personality test see www.bbc.co.uk/science). Planner: Quick to make decisions, stick with their decisions, need structure and boundaries. Rules and regulations make them feel safe and they obey them easily. They thrive when life is settled and predictable. Feel stressed when life is changing. In relating to the Lord they find prayer lists, Bible reading plans and notes very useful and they follow through and stick to them. They like predictability and sameness in church services and in praying. They find tradition helpful. This can make them relax and be more able to relate to the Lord. Advantages; orderly, reliable, persevere. Disadvantages: may be too rigid, make decisions before they have all the info needed and then are unable to change their minds. Spontaneous: Act on the spur of the moment, like to ‘play it by ear’ and not plan things too much. Feel hemmed in by plans. Keep options open as long as they can. Put off decisions. Regard rules and regulations as guidelines only and don’t tend to stick to them consistently. Like variety and find a set routine stressful. In relating to the Lord they are interested in a variety of approaches. Feel hemmed in and stressed if advised to follow a particular routine of prayer or schedule of bible reading. May find it easier to connect with God when there is a lot of variety in when and where they pray. They tend not to find tradition helpful. Advantages: flexible, can adjust to change easily. Disadvantages: may leave options open so long they don’t make decisions. Can have trouble sticking to priorities. Points to ponder Things that seem ‘natural’ and ‘right’ to some seem decidedly uncomfortable and alien to others. As we understand how we ourselves function we need to be able to allow others to function in the way they are designed to do. God accepts all personalities. /to be continued... Jacob's Well A Study In Three Parts John 4 v 4-42 Bible Study on 25th May We looked at how scripture has a natural meaning and a deeper spiritual meaning. Paul writes of this in the letter to the Gal 4:21-31 when he retells the story of Abraham. Abraham had a child by Hagar, the slave woman and a child by Sarah, the free woman. Paul explains how the child of Hagar symbolises people in slavery to the many rules and regulations of the Old Covenant (the Mosaic Law with 613 laws) and the child of the free woman, who is called the Child of the Promise, symbolises people in the freedom of the New Covenant, free of the old rules and regulations and free to come to God purely through faith in Jesus. On the road to Emmaus Jesus went through the Old Testament and showed the disciples how it all spoke about him. By understanding how symbols and symbolic stories are used in Scripture we too can discover how the whole of scripture from Genesis onwards speaks of Jesus and salvation through him. We briefly looked at the concept of God’s time, being eternity, and our time. We saw how different people were taken into God’s time and could then look back at history from the perspective of eternity. For example in Isaiah 53 is written in past tense. He tells us about the ‘suffering servant’ Jesus and how he ‘was pierced’ for our transgressions and ‘was despised.’ Isaiah wrote that he saw these events as past when in fact he saw something that would not take place for another 800 years. In the ‘Woman at the Well’ story it starts with the word ‘now’ which, as in many other places in scripture, indicates that what follows is done in faith. Heb 11:1 tells us that ‘Now faith is’ as faith is spiritual and a gift from God. It comes from a dimension beyond us. Now is the eternal present where God dwells outside of our chronological time. For God eternity is now. God created time for us to live in and deemed that everything was to be in chronological order but he himself is not bound by our time. He looks into our time from the perspective of eternity. Some scriptural texts are written from God’s viewpoint and so should not be taken literally. We then started to look at the Woman at Well story taking into account the symbolic and spiritual eanings interwoven in it. As we look into this more we will see important truths about our salvation and about the Lord himself. John 4 v 4-42 continued. Bible study on Thursday 1st June. We looked further into the spiritual meanings underlying the account of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in the gospel of John Chap 4 v 4- 42. Some of the meanings we discussed were: Jacob’s Well – represents the place of the Holy Spirit. After Jesus’ death the Holy Spirit came and he brought living water (See John 7v 37-30 streams of living water here refer to the Holy Spirit).The Samaritan woman was promised the Holy Spirit. Jesus met the woman at 12 midday the time of maximum light, signifies a time of great revelation, of spiritual light. The Samaritan woman, i.e. a Gentile woman, represents the church. Throughout scripture the church is seen as female, eg ‘the bride of Christ’. The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus and most Christians are Gentile (non Jews). Sychar, the town where they met was previously called Shechem. Shechem was the place Abraham received the promise from God that God would give the land to him and ‘his seed’. The Promised Land represents heaven. Shechem was also had been a designated ‘city of refuge’. The Samaritan woman received, through her faith in Jesus, entry into eternal life, heaven. This story can be seen as foreshadowing Jesus giving the gift of the Holy Spirit and entry into heaven to the Gentiles. When Jim received the call to found Liberty Church the Lord spoke to him through this story. He felt strongly that Liberty Church will be a place of refuge for many people in addition to being a place where people will receive faith in Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit.. Bible study on Thursday 8th June This follows on from last week’s bible study.Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in the gospel of John Chap 4 v 4- 42. Some of the symbolic meanings we discussed were: Shechem (previous name for Sychar) means shoulder and responsibility. It is significant that when God made his promise to Abraham at Shechem to ‘give him the land’, the Promised Land, God took responsibility for carrying that out. In the exact same place, Jesus gave the Samaritan woman, who represents the church; the promise of ‘Living Water’ (the Holy Spirit) and he took the responsibility for carrying out that promise. ‘Five husbands and the man you are with now is not your husband’ the woman had had six relationships. The number 6 in scripture represents mankind who is imperfect. The number 7 represents perfection. The woman’s 7th relationship was to be a spiritual relationship with Jesus. This represents the church needing a spiritual relationship with Jesus in order to be perfected. Without that spiritual relationship mankind is incomplete. ‘Jesus stayed 2 days’ 2 is the number of witness. In the account in Genesis 15 v 19-21 re Abraham at Shechem the Lord said he would give Abraham the land of the ‘Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites....etc’. 10 tribes of ‘ites’ are named. In scripture the number 10 signifies completeness so naming 10 tribes indicates that the Lord would give Abraham the land completely. Digression: Knowing about the significance of a list of 10 is useful when looking at 1 Corinthians 6v9. The list of 10 rules here is used to represent the complete Law of Moses. This passage means that anyone breaking any one of the hundreds of rules that made up the complete Law of Moses would not inherit the kingdom of Heaven. The Law of Moses consisting of 613 rules is impossible for any one, apart from Jesus, to keep fully. That is why we cannot rely on our good behaviour to get us into Heaven but we can rely on Jesus to get us in as he has kept the law for us.
When I Corinthians 6v9 is taken as a list of individual rules that can disinherit someone from heaven it is a result of ignorance of figurative language.
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