God’s Way – The Way of Life

Meeting 1 – The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil vs. the Tree of Life

1.     God is absolute – Matt. 5:37; 1Cor. 6:14; Rev. 3:6

2.     The tree of knowledge vs. the tree of Life –
Gen. 2:17; 3: 4-7; 3:24; Deut. 30:19;
John 6:35; 14:6; Rev. 22:1, 2

a.     God’s warning that man shall surely die –
Gen. 2:17

b.    The serpent brings in confusion with lies –
Gen. 3:4-7; John 8:44

c.     God guards the way to the tree of life from man – Gen. 3:24

3.     Christ came as the bread of life – John 6:35, 14:6

a.     The need to eat the bread of life – John 6:50,51

b.    Come directly to the Lord for life – John 6:68, 69

c.     God presents the choice of life and death – Deut. 30:19

d.    The tree of life is freely available to whosoever will – Rev. 22:1, 2

4.     Eating the tree of life by getting into the word  –
John 6:63

a.     Eating the Lord’s word –  Jer. 15:16; Matt. 4:4

i.      God breathed – 2 Tim. 3:16

ii.     The words of the Lord are sweeter than honey  – Ps. 119:103

b.    Pray reading the word of God – Eph. 6:17-18

i.      Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly – Col. 3:16

ii.     Written on our hearts – 2 Cor. 3:3

iii.    Having a proper heart to receive the Word – Matt. 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20;

c.     Results of eating His word

i.      The Lord’s word will cause us to grow in life – 1 Pet. 2:2-3; Heb. 5:12-14

ii.     Making us complete, fully equipped for every good work – 2 Tim. 3:17

iii.    Becoming fruitful – Matt. 13:23; Mark 4:20

iv.    Obeying the Lord – Mark 1:17; Rev. 14:4-5

v.     Prepares us to be His bride – Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 19:7-9

Eat the Tree of Life

Meeting 2 – In Adam vs. In Christ

1.     Adam vs. Christ – Rom. 5:12-21; Rom. 6:1-14;
1 Cor. 15:22, 45; Eph. 2:1-6; Col. 2:12-14;
1 Pet. 3:18

a.     In Adam – sin and death

b.    In Christ – free gift of grace

c.     In Adam – judgment resulting in condemnation

d.    In Christ – righteousness resulting in justification

e.     In Adam – sin reigns in death

f.     In Christ – grace reigns to eternal life –
Rom. 5:12-21

g.    In Adam all die

h.     In Christ all are made alive

i.      First man is of the earth, made of dust, a living soul

j.      Second man is the Lord from heaven, a life giving Spirit – 1 Cor. 15:22, 45

2.     Buried with Christ through baptism into death

a.     Raised with Christ to walk in newness of life

b.    Dead to sin, alive to God

c.     Do not present our members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin

d.    Do present our members as instruments of righteousness to God – Rom. 6:1-14

3.     Our debt to preach the gospel – Rom. 1:14-15

Choose Christ as Life

Meeting 3 – The Flesh vs. the Spirit

1.     The flesh vs. the Spirit – Gal. 5:16-26; Rom. 8:1-11

a.     Flesh is man living independently from God

b.    God desires man to depend on Him by walking in the Spirit

c.     The flesh and the Spirit are contrary to one another – Gal. 5:16, 17

i.      The works of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness

ii.     Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God

iii.    The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness

2.     Do not love the flesh oriented world –
1 John 2:15-17; 5:19

a.     The lust of the flesh

i.      Virgin for Christ – 2 Cor. 11:2

1.     Flee youthful lusts – 2 Tim. 2:21-22

2.     Abstain from sexual immorality – 1 Thess. 4:3-5

ii.     God’s ordained way of marriage between man and woman – Gen. 2:18-25;
Eph. 5:31-32

1.     God’s attitude towards homosexuality

a.     God does not discriminate –
Gal. 3:28; 3:11

b.    God’s judgment – Rom. 1:18-32

2.     Heirs together of the grace of life –
1 Pet. 3:7

b.    The lust of the eyes

i.      To know good and evil – Gen. 3:5

1.     Pleasant and desirable – Gen. 3:6

2.     Turn to Internet rather than God

ii.     The anointing teaches us to abide in Him –
1 John 2:27

1.     God is light and in Him is no darkness at all

2.     If we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth – 1 John 1:5-6

c.     The pride of life

i.      Ultimate fall of Satan caused by his desire to be equal to God – Isa. 14:12-15

ii.     His tempting the Lord – Matt. 4:8-11

iii.    Set your mind on the things that are above – Col. 3:1-2

3.     Walk by the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh – Gal. 5:16

a.     Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires – Gal. 5:19-25

b.    There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus – Rom. 8:1

c.     We do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit

d.    We are not in the flesh but in the Spirit –
Rom. 8:1, 4, 9

Walk by the Spirit and not fulfill
the lust of the flesh

Meeting 4 - The Law of Sin and Death vs. the Law of the Spirit of Life

Rom. 7:13-25; 8:1-11; Gal. 2:16, 20; Gal. 3:23-25

1.     Our mind is the battleground between the flesh and the Spirit – Rom. 7:23; 8:5-6

2.     The law of sin is dwelling in our flesh

a.     In our flesh nothing good dwells – Rom. 7:18

b.    To will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find – Rom. 7:17, 18

c.     With the mind we serve the law of God

d.    With the flesh we serve the law of sin –
Rom. 7:25

3.     No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus – Rom. 8:1

4.     The law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death – Rom. 8:2

a.     What the law could not do, God did by sending His own Son – Rom. 8:3

5.     Before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law – Gal. 3:23

a.     The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ –
Gal. 3:24,25

6.     The righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us – Rom. 8:4

a.     We need to set our minds on the things of the Spirit – Rom. 8:5

b.    The mind set on flesh is death – Rom. 8:6

c.     The mind set on the spirit is life and peace – Rom. 8:6

7.     The Spirit will also give life to our mortal bodies – Rom. 8:11

8.     As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God

9.     We have received the Spirit of sonship by whom we cry out Abba Father – Rom. 8:14-17

Set your mind on the Spirit for life and peace

Meeting 5 – The World vs. the Church

1.     The church is the house of the living God –
1Tim. 3:15-16; Col. 1:12-18

a.     Worldly ways of managing an organization cannot be used in the building up of the church

i.      Organization vs. organism – Eph. 2:21-22

1.     The world’s way is to organize

2.     The church is a matter of life and growth

3.     Growing into the Head, Christ –
Eph. 4:15

ii.     Committee verses fellowship – Eph. 4:16

1.     The world’s way is to form committees and try to fix the problem

2.     The body is built up by the fellowship of life with one another and the Head, Christ

iii.    Our own strength vs. the Spirit –
Zech. 5:6

1.     The world’s way is to try harder

2.     Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit

3.     Do by revelation – Gal. 1:11-12

a.     We react too quickly on how people feel or “vote” to “choose the right thing”

b.    We need revelation from the Lord, not human action, resulting in peace

iv.    Making people happy rather than what is pleasing to the Lord – Heb. 13:21

1.     We do not bring things from the world into the church just to make it more appealing.  We must be separated – Lev. 20:26

2.     The world’s way is to seek to please man

3.     The Church should seek to please the Lord

v.     Natural gifts vs. no confidence in the flesh – Phil. 3:3

1.     The world’s way encourages use of natural gifts

2.     God’s way is to count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord

3.     Following only the Lord, not anyone else – 1 Cor. 1:13-15, 31.

4.     Even Paul had nothing to boast about that was his own except only from the Lord – 2 Cor 11:30

vi.    I quit vs. I press on – Phil. 3:12

1.     The world’s way is to quit and to give up

2.     God’s way is to encourage us to press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

3.     Heavenly “CEO” – Unlike the ones in the world who we do not know where they can lead us, we can have 100% confidence in the Lord.

4.     He’s promised to do things that will not end like things in this world, so we need to trust Him, no one else can make same claims as Him – Isa. 55:11

b.    Division vs. Oneness

i.      Division leads to destruction – Matt. 12:25-30; Mark 3:23-27

1.     God’s attitude towards dissension and division

a.     Works of the flesh – Gal. 5:19-20

b.    Avoid those who cause dissension and division – Rom. 16:17-18

i.      Leading people to man –
Acts 20:28-30

ii.     The sin of Jeroboam –
1 Kings 12:25-33

c.     God’s judgment for division leads to destruction – Dan. 9:10-13

2.     Not knowing the Lord leads to

a.     Knowledge

b.    Relationship with people

c.     Dissension and division

ii.     Oneness leads to the blessings of life –
Ps. 133

1.     Endeavor to keep the oneness of the Spirit – Eph. 4:1-6

2.     Not forsaking the meetings – Heb. 10:25

3.     Desire to be in the courts of the Lord – Ps. 84:10

Endeavor to keep the oneness of the Spirit

Meeting 6 – Suffering Leads To Glory

1.     Sufferings leads to glory – Rom. 8:18-30;
2 Cor. 1:3-7; 4:1-6, 7-18

a.     The result of man’s fall is suffering

i.      Woman will suffer the pain of child birth

ii.     Man will toil and labor for food –
Gen 3:16-19

b.    Many young people today are not willing to suffer

2.     As believers we need to suffer for Christ’s sake – Phil. 1:29

a.     Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus – Phil. 2:5-11

b.    We count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord – Phil. 2:7, 8

c.     We may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. – Phil. 3:10

d.    The need to experience the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort – 2 Cor. 1:3

e.     The sufferings of Christ in us results in others consolation and salvation – 2 Cor. 1:6

3.     As new testament ministers, we should not lose heart in the face of hardship – 2 Cor. 4:1

a.     We have this treasure in earthen vessels –
2 Cor. 4:7

b.    Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inner man is being renewed day by day –
2 Cor. 4:16

c.     For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and  eternal weight of glory – 2 Cor. 4:17

4.     If we suffer with Christ, we may also be glorified together – Rom. 8:17

a.     The whole creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God – Rom. 8:19

b.    One day not only our spirit is regenerated, our soul is transformed, even our mortal body will be fully transfigured – Rom. 8:23

c.     All things work together for good to those who love God – Rom. 8:28

d.    God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, transformed, conformed, and also glorified us – Rom. 8:29-30

5.     Christ in us the hope of glory – Col. 1:27

a.     Narrow is the gate

b.    Difficult is the path

c.     Which leads to life – Matt. 7:14

Be transformed into His glory

Meeting 7 – Babylon vs. the New Jerusalem

Isa. 66:1; Psa. 132:13-16; Dan. 1:1; 6:10; Ezra 1:1-5; 2:1; Haggai 1:3-8, Rev. 18, 21:9-22

1.     Babylon – Rev. 17, 18

a.     The tree of knowledge results in Babylon the Great

b.    Man’s choice leads to Babel – confusion –
Gen. 11:7-9

c.     Babel in the land of Shinar results in Babylon, the woman’s name is Wickedness –
Zech. 5:7, 8, 11

d.    Religious Babylon – Rev. 17:1-6

i.      Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth – Rev. 17:5

ii.     This woman is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus – Rev. 17:6

e.     Material Babylon – Rev. 18

i.      Judgment of her sinfulness – Rev. 18:1-8

1.     The world is becoming like Sodom – Rev. 11:8

a.     Sodom and Gomorrah – Gen. 18:20

b.    Their sins – Gen. 19:4-5; Jude 7

c.     God’s judgment on them –
Gen. 19:24, 28; Deu. 29:23; 32:32

2.     Collapse of the financial markets –
Rev. 18:9-20

3.     These are signs of the coming of the Lord

ii.     Ultimate judgment for Babylon is utter destruction because they rejected the Lord – Matt. 10:14-15; 11:20-24; Luke 17:25-29; 2 Pet. 2:6

f.     God’s call is to come out of her, my people – Rev. 18:4

2.     New Jerusalem – Rev. 21

a.     The tree of life issues in the New Jerusalem

i.      God desires a house, a place of His rest – Isa. 66:1

ii.     The Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation – Ps. 32:13

iii.    Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it – Dan. 1:1

iv.    Daniel prayed three times a day for the recovery of Jerusalem – Dan. 6:10

v.     The Lord stirred up the spirit of a remnant of His people to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem – Ez. 1:5

vi.    Consider your ways!  Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple – Hag. 1:7.8

b.    The church today is the heavenly Jerusalem

i.      We have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem – Heb. 12:21

ii.     To the general assembly and church of the firstborn – Heb. 12:22

iii.    Prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband – Rev. 21:2

c.     The characteristics of the New Jerusalem – Rev. 21

i.      New vs. old

ii.     Peace vs. discord

iii.    Holy city vs. great

iv.    Coming down out of heaven vs. earthly

v.     From God vs. man

d.    The tree of life and the river of life – Rev. 22:1

i.      Life brings forth light – John 1:4, Rev. 22:5

ii.     Light verses darkness – John 1:5

iii.    They may have the right to the tree of life – Rev. 22:14

e.     “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! – Rev 22:20

Become the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem