Leaving Spiritual Childhood

April 11, 1999 am
MF Blume

Gene 12:5-8 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, [having] Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

We already studied so far that Abram's father, Terah, "took him" and went to Haran after God called Abram to leave his family and land and go to a land of promise.

He was fearful.
He should have left his kinfolk and trust in God, but his fleshly fear caused him to remain spiritually as a little child and let "daddy" lead him, rather than walk but faith himself.

The reason we are studying this is because Abraham, whom Abram later was named, is the Father of the Faithful.

And those who WALK IN THE STEPS OF THAT FAITH are children of faith.
So in order to walk in the steps of Abraham's faith we need to analyze his walk and journey.
We find that Abram's walk is a pattern that all believers go through.

He was afraid to walk into places he had not been before.

Afraid to trust God for the first time when all his life he followed his earthly father.

He must have been in Haran for several years, because we read:

Gene 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

He had much possessions and gathered many souls.

He had servants.

Terah died and Abram was forced to walk by faith and follow God.

Following Terah had only led him to Haran where he simply spent wasted time.
He accumulated much wealth, but when people think monetary gain is God's destination and final place of blessing, they are actually so far from journeying towards the true goal that they are simply wasting time.
God does bless financially, but our goal is not "to be blessed," but "to be BLESSERS."
God wants to live through the vessels of our lives and manifest His nature through us.
The entire New Testament points to that.
And in doing so He will make us "blessers."

Abram was 75 years old when he finally got on with the journey and left Haran.

It was like the Laodicean church.
Increased with goods and wealthy, but in God's eyes they were wretched, naked and poor, and were so blind spiritually that they had to have eyesalve that they might see.

Reve 3:17-18 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Real gold and wealth is FAITH, as GOLD tried in the fire.

Real robes of linen are righteousness of Christ.

Once Abram learned to walk by faith for himself, and personally trust God, we read a wonderful thing.

He passed through the land of Promise!
And he came into SICHEM.
Look at what "Sichem" means in English.

"back" or "shoulder"

The shoulder and back in the Bible represents STRENGTH.

One carries the largest loads on one's back or shoulder.
So Abram came into a place of strength
Use your muscles and they become stronger.
Use your faith and it becomes stronger.
Learn how to walk by faith for yourself and it pays off!!

Face your fear of the unknown, for God is with you.

(Remember the Exodus?) Israel, walk into Canaan, regardless of how many giants are there, and see them defeated!

He immediately went into a place of strength.

Until you learn to live by faith, you will always be weak.

Roma 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

And he came to a place called the PLAIN OF MOREH in Sichem.

Now this is interesting.

The Hebrew term for PLAIN here is actually better translated as follows:
"A GREAT TREE"

Get this:

Abram learns for the first time to finally walk by faith and not follow daddy.
And he then enters a place called STRENGTH, where also he entered a place called TREE of MOREH.
Now, here is what MOREH means in English:
"TEACHER"
PLACE OF STRENGTH and TREE OF TEACHING.

This is saying that when we learn to walk by faith, we will enter into a place of strength in God and it will all be found at a THE TREE OF TEACHING.

The TREE gives a foreshadow or "type" of the CROSS in the Bible.
You will be TAUGHT things concerning the CROSS that will STRENGTHEN your faith and walk!

Abram came to a place of strength where the tree of teaching stood.

Teaching is so needed in these last days.
My pastor always said that God would raise up teachers in these last days.
With so many false prophets in the last days, we certainly need teachers who teach the truth.

The cross has a lot to teach you.

So much more than simply saying Jesus died for you, and you must believe it or go to hell.
You must begin to learn about your UNION WITH CHRIST now.
Learn about the POWER of God INSIDE YOU now.
Learn about your position IN CHRIST and what it can do for everyday trials and troubles.
Learn about WHO YOU ARE.
Do you know where you are seated right now?
People say we must "die daily", and they misunderstand what Paul said about that in 1 Cor 15.
The truth is we died ONCE to sin already, and not only that are buried and resurrected AND ASCENDED WITH HIM, SEATED TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES far above all powers and enemies!!
You do not understand that when you are first saved.

1Joh 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

All that a newborn child of God understands is that their sins are forgiven them and they are on their way to heaven.

But when you come from that stage of growth into the next stage and become what John called "young men", there is more you begin to realize.
There is not just a heaven awaiting us, but there is heaven on earth in the power of God's grace!
Victory over sin, Satan and temptation.
But you have to learn that and understand it.
You need to go to the tree of teaching.
The cross has a lot to tell you now.
What that means is that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross did a lot more for believers than simply saving them from hell.

We need to learn that our weak lives that we lived away from God are now gone.

Old things have passed away, and all is now new!
We are new creatures.
We are children of God compared to sinners.
Children of God have all of God's power in heaven and earth at their disposal by faith.
Children of God can overcome anything.
But if these children do not understand that, then they will still think they are weaklings and will live a lot of unnecessary struggling.

1 John 2:14b... I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Young Men is the second stage of growth.

Much like Jesus is said to have been.

A little child when born and endangered by Herod's massacre,
a young man when 12 and astounding the doctors of law in the temple,
and a spiritual "father" at 30 years of age when He began His ministry.

Abram entered a stage of strength,

Notice that John said the young men ARE STRONG.
Exactly what SICHEM implies in English.
And notice the thought of TEACHING is present here because we read the young men have the WORD OF GOD ABIDING IN THEM.

How do we become strong?

Get the word of God into you.
LEARN at the CROSS OF TEACHING.
Eat the MEAT of the Word -- in depth teaching about who you are in Christ.
Receiving teaching about the cross causes us to overcome.
...ye have overcome the wicked one.

When first saved, you know nothing about the power of God that rest s upon your life.

You know how great Jesus is, but then you begin to LEARN that you are UNITED to Jesus Christ.
That is what the Bible means when it says so often you are "in Christ."
Thank God for teachers and pastors who are specifically called to help new believers understand the truth about who they now are as born again Christians!!

Young men -- ye have overcome the wicked one.

There is no need to fight and fight the devil.
We HAVE OVERCOME the wicked one.
It is FINISHED.
Notice that is the phrase Jesus said just as He died on the cross.
ON THE CROSS.
This is the truth!
We overcame the wicked one, the battle is finished, because of what Jesus did ON THE CROSS.
The tree of teaching teaches you that His death destroyed the power of the devil against anyone who will believe in that crucifixion as the only means to free us from sin.

Satan is defeated "through Christ."

You will often read of "in Christ" and "through Christ".
Through the work of Jesus who died on the cross, Satan is defeated in our lives.
Our faith in Jesus' necessary death for us on the cross leaves Satan already overcome!

In the parable of the sower and the seed, we read a reference to the WICKED ONE mentioned in the words to the young men:

Matt 13:4 And when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

This was interpreted as follows:

Matt 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth [it] not, then cometh the wicked [one], and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

The WICKED ONE comes to catch away the WORD OF THE KINGDOM from the hearts of those who DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT.

Think about this.
Not understanding the word of the Kingdom makes the devil move quickly to remove that word from your hearts.

Why does the wicked one care if you get saved?

Why does he care if you understand the Word of the Kingdom?
Why not just leave it in such a person's heart? They do not understand it anyway.

Obviously he is afraid of seeing you come to an understanding of the WORD OF THE KINGDOM.

There's the hint!
The word of the KINGDOM.
God's KINGDOM opposes Satan's KINGDOM.
All that satan needs is another person who learns that since God is certainly far greater than him, those who are born into that KINGDOM, who are aware of the power of that KINGDOM, are simply going to be enemies he cannot defeat!
When we are born into GOD'S KINGDOM, we are born into the greatest POWER in the universe.
We have so much power on our side that Satan simply is already overcome.
But unless we LEARN about that, we will still think like we did before we were saved and will FEAR the devil.
So when we do not UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF THE KINGDOM, Satan goes to work to get that out of your heart as soon as possible, before it perhaps SINKS IN AND TAKES ROOT, and YOU LEARN who you are!!

I used to think that Satan simply wants to hurt God the worst way possible, so he hurts mankind, God's image.

But it is more serious than that.
The book of Revelation tells us that the devil has great wrath knowing his time is short.
And Romans says that God will SHORTLY bruise Satan under YOUR FEET (Ro. 16:20).
Satan is afraid for himself!
He attacks us so that we will lay off of him.

He goes after the "little children" believers so that they will quit and never learn about their power and heritage!

So STICK WITH IT!!!
LEARN WHO YOU ARE NOW.
Get out to Bible Studies.

1Joh 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

This is a head-on collision with Satan, to pulverize his kingdom and he is afraid.

We are to grow into a maturity where the little child, who only knew his sins were forgiven, learns and begins to become STRONG.
The CROSS of TEACHING has strengthened that believer.
The BLOOD of JESUS, shed on the cross, is seen to be as powerful as it really is!
This means that the event of the DEATH OF CHRIST simply devastated Satan's entire power over a born again believer.

Strange talk about believers becoming "strong".

But it is connected with the phrase YE HAVE OVERCOME THE WICKED ONE.
Abram came to the TREE OF TEACHING.
The CROSS OF TEACHING.
The WORD makes the young man strong.
(Abram left spiritual childhood when he walked by faith and came to SICHEM - STRENGTH.)
This means that the INFORMATION we receive regarding what the death on the cross accomplished causes us to be a force against the devil that destroys him and his works.

When we read that the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil we are reading a reference to the purpose of Jesus to BE CRUCIFIED.

The Romans who crucified him did not know this, but God had this all planned that Jesus would DIE as a sacrifice.
And that sacrifice would destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus said, "THY WORD, FATHER, IS TRUTH."

And we know Satan is a liar.
How else could the devil be such a worry to Christians when they have a God who is greater than the devil, unless the devil gets by through LYING TO THESE CHRISTIANS and they BELIEVE IT?
But when we learn through the TRUTH of God's WORD what the real picture is, we see Satan's lies pop like air-filled balloons, and he cannot deceive us anymore.
Satan lies to your minds, you who are struggling.

We LEARN about our power THROUGH CHRIST.

All our power is IN HIM.
We learn from the Bible that overcoming the devil is a past thing since we are UNITED TO CHRIST.

Revelation 12 says that we overcame the devil by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

A combination of two things.
The blood of the lamb refers to the DEATH OF JESUS ON THE CROSS.
It did not say we overcome because of Jesus' continual efforts to stay on top of things since He won a battle at the cross.
It did not say that Jesus is continually fighting battles to help us overcome.
It said we overcame (past tense) by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB.
That means that the single solitary event of the crucifixion did the work!
That is why we read:

Hebr 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

All enemies that will ever exits have already been conquered by the cross, but it is just taking TIME for the chain reaction to complete itself at the end of the world.

What a powerful work was done in the death of Jesus Christ!
No more work to do.
It is finished.
He sat down after the job was done, and just waits now.
Waiting for us to learn about it.
Waiting for us to stop messing around in low self esteem and to get with it and claim the power paid for 2,000 years ago!!

Then it did not say, either, that we overcome by the blood and an ever-necessary fighting, using our weak strength.

It said we overcome by HIS BLOOD, and THE WORD OF OUR TESTIMONY.
That's it!!!

Sounds too good to be true?

You must not have been at the TREE OF TEACHING YET!
The CROSS OF TEACHING has a lot to inform you about VICTORY!
WORD OF OUR TESTIMONY is the very same thing that the devil tries to catch away from little children's hearts - THE WORD OF THE KINGDOM.
TRUTHS.
Truths we can claim as OUR TESTIMONY.
The Bible is the MIRROR of the Child of God.
It shows the child of God what that child really is.
It shows you that you are dead with Christ, if you are born again.
It shows that you are buried and resurrected because it shows you that you were united to Jesus through faith His death for you.
And since you are in Christ, united to Him, it shows you that you are also ASCENDED with Him, far above all powers.
Talk about strengthening your faith!!
God is telling you, "You are at my right hand of power, now use that power of my name and watch the devil flee!"
Wow!

Truth is a weapon against the liar Satan.

Even Jesus was shown to grow into this stage.

Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

Ephesians chapter 1 tells us that God raised Christ to be seated far above all principalities and powers.

And then chapter 2 tells us that we are ascended together with Him!
In the same place of power.
Then we read:

Ephe 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT.

How can we be strong in the power of HIS MIGHT?
It is HIS might.
But we are UNITED TO HIM.
We are IN CHRIST.
He is IN US.
We are ONE.
And the WORD teaches us that.
We united to Him in His death, since that is the first part of the Gospel that you must believe.
DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION.
You DIED with Him.
And since He DIED on the CROSS, the TREE or the CROSS of TEACHING is the first place you must come to if you want to be strong.
There you learn of UNION to Him.
Since YOU DIED WITH HIM by faith, you are now united to Him and also ascended with Him.
Wherever He is, you can be if you will begin at the death.

Roma 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

All who turn their entire lives to Jesus and ask Him to forgive them of all their sins, and forsake all the old lifestyles of sin, are united to Him in His death.

Then you are BURIED WITH HIM, after dying with Him, by being baptized in His Name.
Death broke sins' hold on us.
It is like WE DIED, as far as God is concerned, when we agreed that Jesus had to die as our only means of being freed from sin.
And since we died, in God's eyes, we are freed from sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin.

Its so good to God that He marked it down in His account book that we actually died to sin in CHRIST, and who can argue with that?

God gives us His Spirit since we were connected to Christ's death, and we are as much of a group of overcomers as He is, because we are united to Him.

Abram left spiritual childhood and came to STRENGTH, to the CROSS OF TEACHING.

And we read THE CANAANITE WS THEN IN THE LAND.
The very land God wanted him!
Well, would not the devil pitch tent in the very place you must come to so that you will conquer him and smash his works wherever you go, to keep you out?
The Canaanite is in the land.
That means this PLACE OF FAITH is where you come and make the devil really sweat.
Don't back down now.
Live what you LEARNED.
DRIVE HIM OUT and win the day!