Series: The Finished Works; The Church in the Wilderness
Sun am 28 May 2017 – Kobus Swart
(Ex. 2 & 3); Ex. 4:22; Ex. 12:1-13; Jude 5; (Josh. 14:12); Col. 1:13-20; John 19:28-30; (Rev. 13:8); John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Isa. 61:1-3; Luke 4:18-21; Eph. 2:13-17 (Msg); 1 Pet. 4:17; Jer. 50:28; Jer. 51:20; Rev. 2:26-28; Rev. 11:1-6
The best way to read the Old Testament is to do so through the eyes of the New Testament. Then you will go beyond the story; you will go deeper and catch the principles. The New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is explained in the New Testament.
There are principles in the exodus from Egypt that we have to look at afresh. In that story is the “exodus” that the Church is involved in at the moment. The Pharaoh of Egypt is a type of satan, the ruler of this world. The people of God became slaves in the land of Egypt for more than 400 years. I am always fascinated by the way God prepared the man to lead the exodus. Do not miss the ways that God is shaping you for your assignment in life. God uses strange ways. Moses, whose name means ‘drawn out of the water’, was taken into Pharaoh’s palace. Initially, he was trained in the palace of Pharaoh. Then the burning bush experience while in Midian happened to him, and God gave him his assignment (Ex. 2 & 3). God instructed Moses, Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn..”’ (Ex. 4:22). Then followed the ten plagues, one after the other to convince Pharaoh to let God’s people go, but He did not let them go.
The tenth plague contains deep lessons for where we are today in our spiritual journey. Each household of the Israelites had to kill a lamb and put the blood on the doorposts and lintels of every house. They then had to eat in haste. God visited every house in Egypt and killed the firstborn of every family in Egypt. Where God saw the blood on the doorposts He passed over and Israel’s households were saved (Ex. 12:1-13). Before Israel left, after partaking of the Passover lamb, He told them to plunder the Egyptians. They received gold and silver and clothes before they left the land of Egypt.
Principle:
When we partake of the Passover Lamb, in Him we are given the right to become sons of God, to whom belongs the world and all it contains. All of the world’s riches are as nothing compared to the spiritual riches that are in Christ. Today in the Church world, there are teachings about material riches. God inspired and anointed men over the last generation to bring teachings about prosperity. However, in many cases, people have left their “Egypt”, but Egypt has never left them. When we walk in the light, we will allow truth to remain at the point of Divine tension between two extremes, in this case, poverty and extreme wealth. Somewhere in the middle, we have to stay in the Divine tension.
What was the purpose of Israel leaving Egypt with all that wealth? What does one do with gold and silver in the dessert? To build the Tabernacle of Moses, so that God might dwell among them! Then the wilderness journey started. It took them forty years to cover a distance of just 612 kilometres. Some say it should have taken only eleven days, but there were 1,5 million people walking together. If they had followed the instructions they could have done it in say, a few months. Because of the hardness of their heart and them not letting go of the land of oppression, they circled around, complaining to Moses because they missed the flesh pots of Egypt. Forty years in the wilderness instead of a few weeks! There were forty-one encampments in the wilderness where each camp was a reflection of their moods, where they stopped, looking back, murmured and complained. Just before they crossed over into the land of promise they had to circumcise a generation that had not been circumcised before. A whole generation had died in the wilderness (“…the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe” Jude 5). Nevertheless, two fathers made it; Joshua and Caleb. Caleb, at the age of 85 said, “Give me the mountain Horeb (where the sons of Anak lived!), my sons and I will take the mountain” (Josh. 14:12). That was the inner spiritual stature of men like Joshua and Caleb.
In a similar way today, as generations come and go, God always saves mature fathers that can take the young generation through to the next level. If a father had experiences in his walk with God, a son can learn from his father, and he does not have to repeat the mistakes of his father; he could instantly walk into something new. God saved Joshua and Caleb in order to take the new generation further, but they had to be circumcised first. Circumcision for us means to be circumcised in mind and ears, circumcised in heart, to be ready to receive fresh truth to take the ‘land of milk and honey’ (the kingdom).
Let us look at the ‘New Exodus” in Jesus Christ. When Jesus was baptised in the Jordan, it is the equivalent of going through the Red Sea. Then He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, just as the Israelites were led by the pillar of cloud into the wilderness for forty years. Jesus undergoes temptations relating to those confronted by Israel in the dessert, to which He replies to the devil quoting Moses’ rebuke of Israel. Jesus went through a similar experience. In the Old Testament Moses climbed the mountain and came back with the Ten Commandments. Jesus, after He called His disciples, climbed the mount and gave the constitution of the kingdom, called “the Sermon on the Mount”, which was to be written on the minds and on the hearts of His followers. Finally, on the cross where the New Covenant was inaugurated, and this deeper obedience made possible, Jesus becomes the Passover Lamb, sacrificed for the sin of the world.
Do you see the type and shadow of the Old Testament acted out by Jesus in the New? Israel was brought out from under the rule of satan, the god of this world. For us today, …He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col. 1:13). There is our exodus in one sentence! In Christ provision has been made for us to come out from under the rule of satan. Remember the last words of Jesus before He was crucified, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfil the Scripture, …. He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:28-30). What does that mean? Where is the Church? Where is humanity after the words of Jesus, “It is finished”? This Jesus, we know was the first-born Son of God. Israel – called the ‘firstborn son’, was only a type of Jesus who was the first-born Son. John the Baptist saw it by revelation. He saw Jesus coming to him as he was baptising, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). Not sins, but sin, the nature, the root, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
What was this crucifixion, this death and resurrection of Jesus all about? What is this new exodus all about? And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Col. 1:20). This is confirmed in 2 Cor. 5:18-19. He gave us the ministry of reconciliation, not the ministry of condemnation. How do people respond to the gospel? Where is the Church today in terms of what we just read? What is the gospel that prevails in church pulpits? Would you say that His blood was put on the doorposts of the universe? He came to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Was the blood put on the doorposts of all of creation (See Rom 8:19)? If we can answer this question we will get an idea why this exodus is taking so long to come to its final destination. It seems to me that the Church is still stuck in its wilderness wanderings …. For how long will this continue? How many are in the land of promise who have not yet taken possession and they still feel like aliens?
Listen to the words of Jesus:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified (Isa. 61:1-3). This Messianic prophecy was quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18-21 but He stopped in the middle of this prophetic Scripture; He did not complete it. He proclaimed the favourable year of the Lord and stopped. He said Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (vs. 21). The next verse (in Isaiah) said, And the day of vengeance of our God (Isa. 61:2b). Why did He stop there? Because it was not the time for judgement yet.
We have heard that it is all finished, so why is it not coming together? Jesus was buried in the tomb owned by Joseph. After 3 days the stone was rolled away but Jesus was not there. They found the head cloth neatly folded and put aside, but the rest of the body’s wrappings were scattered all over the floor. What is the prophetic message in that? Jesus was saying, “My job as the Head is finished. Your job as the body is still not complete.” The Body of Christ still has to come together and flesh out what Jesus died for. He is the once-for-all sacrifice, He is not going to come back and die again. All that was lost in the Garden of Eden is being redeemed by this first-born Son of God.
Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything (inclusive). The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.
Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father (Eph. 2:13-17-Msg). The firstborn Son had something bigger in mind than what we have heard over the years. The Church should be this new humanity on display. We should live out this new humanity, of which Jesus is the Head.
The day of vengeance, the time of judgement must wait until the Body of Christ has come into full stature and is ready to come forth in mighty power. That is why judgement must begin in the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). Judgement will begin, and is busy happening in the household of God. There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, Vengeance for His temple (Jer. 50:28). Of the overcomer He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war; And with you, I shatter nations, And with you, I destroy kingdoms (Jer. 51:20). God is looking for a people in the day of vengeance. He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall [b]rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star (Rev. 2:26-28). Remember Moses and Elijah appearing on the mountain of transfiguration with Jesus? What prophetic significance does that have? Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “…And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky (Elijah), so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague (Moses), as often as they desire (Rev.11:1-6). The two witnesses in one, we are waiting to see those days play out in the earth. Jesus declared the favourable year of the Lord and stopped from saying “the day of vengeance” because it is still ahead. But judgement has started in the household of God to purify an overcomer company that God will use to speak into fulfilment and flesh out the prophecy of Isa. 61.
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Series: The Finished Work
Sunday am 06 December 2015 – Kobus Swart
Matt. 21:28-32; John 3:3-7; Matt. 13:24-30; Luke 15:11-32;
Luke 23:43; (Matt. 23:27); (Luke 11:39); Eph. 2:4-22; 2
Cor. 5:18-19; Col. 1:20; John 1:12; Isa. 66:1-2
A Kingdom parable:
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him (Matt. 21:28-30). (more…)
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Series: The Rest of God; The Finished Works
Sun am 22 November 2015 – Kobus Swart
John 3:13; John 19:28-30; (Matt. 26:61); John 19:2; Rev. 1:4-6;
Num. 21:6-9; 2 Cor. 5:21; (Ps. 22); Heb. 7:22 (Message);
(Matt. 12:8); (2 Cor. 11:14); (Matt. 12:10-12); Matt. 23:13-28;
Heb. 8:13; (John 8:32); Heb. 10:1-2, 14; (2 Cor. 5:17); Heb. 9:8;
(Gen. 4:26); Matt. 11:28-30 (Message)
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:28-30). Even before He went to the cross in His heart He knew all things had already been accomplished. When He said, “It is finished”, all the heavens heard Him – except the ears of man! (more…)
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Series: Renewal of the Mind; Finished Works
Sun am 14 September 2014 – Kobus Swart
Ps. 23:7; (Matt. 1:15-17); 1 Cor. 12:12; 2 Cor. 5:16-17; John 19:30; Eph. 4:15; Rom. 6:11;
Heb. 10:10; (Rom. 8:1-2, 19); Matt. 25:41; 1 Cor. 12:27; Heb. 11:39-40; 1 Thess. 5:23;
(1 Cor. 9:24); (Ezek. 37:7-10); John 4:34-38; 2 Pet. 3:12; Ps. 42:7; Isa. 30:18; Rev. 10:6
The preceding Word will not impact your life unless it penetrates your heart and changes your mindset; otherwise it will go in one ear out the other and you leave unchanged. It has to be an encounter with truth, with the Word of God.
In this Word, we will shed further light on what is meant by the “finished works” of Jesus. The last words coming from His lips were: “It is finished” (John 19:30). (more…)
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Series: Peacemakers; Finished Works
Sun am 20 January 2014 – Kobus Swart
2 Pet. 1:1-12; Matt. 5:1-13; (Isa. 9:6-7); (Matt. 10:34); (Mark 4:39 KJV); James 3:18;
Col. 1:15-20; Luke 9:58; John 1:11-12; Isa. 66:1-2
For many years now, this household has heard the message about the “finished works” of Jesus, taken from the last words of Jesus on the cross “It is finished!” (John. 19:30). Over the centuries the church in general, has grappled with what it means. What is finished, what is not finished?
We do not have to labour to earn the favour of God; the price was fully paid 2000 years ago, that is a clear fact. But have we overlooked something that needs to be done from our side? (more…)
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Series: Finished Works, Holy Spirit
Sun am 8 September 2013 – Kobus Swart
(Ps. 119:130); 1 John 1:1-4; (John 6:63); Acts 2:1-4; (John 16:7); (John 20:19-23);
Rom. 8:9; 1 Thess. 1:5-8; 1 Thess. 2:13; Gal. 3:2-3; (Rom. 14:17)
What do we experience sitting under the word Sunday after Sunday? Does the Holy Spirit feature or do we just collect principles and knowledge? Are we allowing the Holy Spirit entrance? The entrance of His word gives light (Ps. 119:130). It goes beyond receiving it only mentally.
Without the Holy Spirit, anything else you might present as evidence to the world, will be meaningless. The Holy Spirit was never meant to be locked into a movement, specific group or church meetings. The Holy Spirit is God’s spirit. When the Spirit of God was vibrating on the waters; that was the spirit of God, (more…)
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Series: Finished Works
Sun am 1st September 2013 – Kobus Swart
Joel 1:1-11; (Acts 2:42); Matt. 15:6; Mark 7:13; Col. 2:8; (Num. 13:28-33); Joel 2:1-11;
(2 Kings 7:5-9); (Rev. 12:10); (Luke 18:10-14); (Rev. 13:8); (John 16:8-11);
Jude 5; 3 John 1-2; (Prov. 23:7); Joel 2:18-28
The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days. Or in your fathers’ days? Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation. What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten. Awake, drunkards, and weep; And wail, (more…)
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Series: Finished Works
Sun am 25 August 2013 – Kobus Swart
2 Kings 6:24 to 2 Kings 7:9; Isa. 60:1-5; (Gal. 5:15); (Joel 2:18-27); (Luke 23:43); (John 19:30)
While there are historical facts in the Old Testament, we must read deeper than the history and see the types and shadows. It is extremely relevant for this household at this moment to hear this message, embrace it and see changes.
We are looking at the story in 2 Kings 6 & 7: Samaria was besieged by the Arameans and it caused a famine which resulted in cannibalism in this walled city. (This is a picture of the religious world in which we live. Where there is a famine [no living Word] in religious communities – “walled-in cities” – they are eating (more…)
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Series: The Finished Works of Jesus
Sun am 28 April 2013 – Kobus Swart
1 John 2:12-14; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 41:4; Isa. 44:6; Col. 2:13-15; Rom. 16:20;
John 12:31; John 16:8-11; John 8:44; Job 1:6-12; Matt. 6:24; 1 Tim. 6:10;
Eph. 4:26-27; (Rev. 12:10); (Matt. 13:8); (Rom. 12:2); (Heb. 9); (1 John 4:4)
There are three main levels of Christian maturity. The Tabernacle of Moses shows three courts: the outer court, the holy place and the Holy of Holies. These courts represent not just our personal journey in God as we grow, but also the restoration-history of the Church. The Bible has many layers of truth; you cannot just stick to the historical side. There is always more to it than you see on the surface – types and shadows of deeper truths. (more…)
Series: Finished Works; Prayer
Sun am 1 July 2012 – Kobus Swart
Josh. 1:1-8; (Rev. 21:7); (Heb. 2:10); (Josh. 5:12–14); (Josh. 14:10-15); (Num. 13:33); (Judges 17:6);
(Heb. 4:8); (Ps. 24:1); (Rom. 8:26, 29); (2 Pet. 1:3-4); (Eccl. 3:11); Eph. 1:5
We’ve grown up with a certain concept of prayer. We may have moved on but still need a mind shift about prayer. God will hear the sincere prayers of anyone in any posture, but a lot of that posturing was just a religious exercise. You and I must become prayer expressed; we must become a walking prayer. The best definition of prayer is to engage the Spirit of God, and that you can do without ceasing. Wherever you are your spirit can be connected to God and prayer then becomes a two-way street. (more…)
Series: Finished Works
Sun am 8 April 2012 – Kobus Swart
(Gen. 2:1-3); (Heb.4:9); John 19:28, 30; John 20:1-7; 2 Peter 1:2-11; Ps. 45:7
Several places in the Scripture there are clear indications that from God’s side He has completed His work in and through Christ. God is in rest, and Jesus is seated at His right hand, waiting till His enemies have been made a footstool under His feet (Heb 10:12-14).
Series: Christ in me; Finished Works
Sun am 10 April 2011 – Kobus Swart
Eph. 2:10-22 (Amplified); 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 8:1; (Rom. 7);
Acts 17:22-23 (MSG); Rom. 6:11; 1 Peter 3:19; Eph. 4:9
There is a fresh level of understanding required to receive the proceeding word that is coming now. This will require the renewal of the spirit of the mind. When Mary was told that she would fall pregnant by the Holy Spirit, as a virgin she did not understand this message at first. When the pregnancy began to show, however, she caught up (in her understanding). We are not just collecting new truths and principles mentally.
Series: Finished Works
Sun am 6 March 2011 – Kobus Swart
Heb. 12:1-3; Gen. 2:7-9; Rev 2:7; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:5-7; Matt. 16:24-25; Luke 23:39-43
What more does the Church of Jesus Christ need to become overcomers?
The apostolic mandate is to present every man complete in Christ. Believers must always be migrating, growing spiritually. What God has been giving us faithfully over the years is not to focus on sin by attacking the sin habit in our lives, but to provide a formula that can deal with the sin nature or our misunderstanding of that sin nature. The Gospel of the Kingdom talks about Jesus Christ as Lord over our lives.
What happened to the old Adamic nature when we were born again?
Series: Finished Works
Kobus Swart Sunday 1st November 2009
Gal. 5:25; 2 Kings 6:14-17; Heb. 4:12; Heb. 11:1-3; John 5:19;
1 John 4:4; Rev. 1:9-10; Rev. 11:15; Heb. 2:8-9
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). In this verse we find a key to correctly assess and respond to events in our surrounding world. Living by the Spirit is the vertical connection with God. Spiritually, it puts you in an elevated position. Walking in the Spirit is living out that life in our relational world. Young people especially today are intensely connected on the Internet, but relationally disconnected. When it comes to the vertical connection and interpreting the signs of the times, they often lose direction. (more…)
Series: Towards the Full Corporate Stature; Finished Works
Sun am 2nd August 2009 – Kobus Swart
Heb. 9:8; Acts 15:17; 1 John 1:5 to 1 John 2:2; (Col. 1:13); Heb. 10:26-29;
1 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 6:1-11; (Heb. 9:26); Heb. 10:14; Rom. 8:31-39 (Message Bible)
When Jesus came, the outer court of the Tabernacle of Moses fell away and is not even mentioned in Hebrews 9. The old priesthood became redundant because the once-for-all Sacrifice has come. The problem with dispensationalism is the re-institution of sacrifices in the so-called millennium which would nullify the once-for-all Sacrifice. What an insult to the finished works of Christ!
In the Old Testament, the third court in the Tabernacle of Moses only contained the Ark of the Covenant. But if you read Hebrews 9, (more…)