05 - Wanted - A Church With A Changed Mind 2010 By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes (1)

“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!”

In this passage, the Apostle Paul is holding out the Children of Israel as an example of what we should not do.

We are encouraged to study them for our own good. To not go where they went, think like they thought, fall like they fell.

When we look at them, we see that their problem all throughout the O.T. was in their thinking—how they viewed God, how they viewed their circumstances, how they processed their experiences.

The Children of Israel passed through 3 stages in their walk with God:

EGYPT

THE WILDERNESS

THE PROMISED LAND

And in each of these 3 stages they had to learn some important lessons before being allowed to step into the next level God had for them.

Let’s look at a few of these lessons:

In Egypt they learned that God was mighty to Deliver.

In the Wilderness that He was mighty to Provide.

And in the P.L. that He was mighty to Conquer.

In Egypt they learned to pray.

In the Wilderness they learned to trust.

In the P.L. they learned to occupy.

In Egypt there was an anointing on a Man—Moses.

In the Wilderness there was an anointing on a Place—the Tabernacle.

In the P.L. there was an anointing on Them—God’s people.

In Egypt they had a promise of deliverance.

In the Wilderness they had a problem with trust and obedience.

In the P.L. they had a place of fulfillment.

In Egypt they requested their freedom.

In the Wilderness they were tested for faith.

In the P.L. they rested in God’s answer.

Now, all of this was a type and shadow, a symbol or picture of N.T. realities.

Egypt

In the Bible, Egypt is a picture of the world and of our spiritually lost condition in that world.

In Egypt the Hebrew people were in bitter bondage under a cruel taskmaster—Pharaoh.

Likewise, we were in bitter bondage to sin, and our taskmaster was Satan.

When God delivered His people, they crossed the Red Sea.

The Red Sea is a picture of the utter impossibility of true deliverance without supernatural intervention.

When they crossed over the Red Sea with God holding the waters back on either side, it pictured the day when Jesus alone would lead us across the impossible barrier of sin between us and God.

Moses led them through the Sea to freedom.

Jesus led us through His blood to freedom.

The pathway of their deliverance—the Red Sea—is what also destroyed their enemy when the waters came crashing in on Pharaoh and his armies.

Likewise, the pathway of our deliverance—the blood of Christ Jesus—is what destroyed our enemy, the Devil.

Now, think with me again.

Every time God led His people to a new level—Egypt, the Wilderness, the P.L., He required of them a change in their thinking.

They had to change their minds about some things.

Let me show you what I mean:

In Egypt they had a slave mentality—ever the victim. They had to change that thinking to the belief that God had something better.

In The Wilderness they had a self-centered mentality—Their motto was “It’s all about me and what I want.”

In the P.L. they had a conquerors mentality—I can do all things thru my God!

In Egypt they were passive—always the victim.

In the Wilderness they were preoccupied—always self—absorbed.

In The P.L. they were possessors—constantly conquering.

In Egypt they were absorbed in circumstances.

In the Wilderness they were absorbed in themselves.

In the P.L. they were absorbed in God.

In Egypt they anguished in slavery.

In the Wilderness they languished in unbelief.

In the P.L. they vanquished their enemies

In Egypt they wanted out.

In the Wilderness they wanted more.

In the P.L. they wanted God.

In Egypt they focused on what they didn’t have

In the Wilderness they focused on what they couldn’t have

In the P.L. they focused on what God wanted them to have

In Egypt they were in pain

In the Wilderness they complained

In the P.L. they proclaimed the glory of God.

In each and every phase, each and every time they moved to a new level, their thinking had to change.

They had to change their minds about how they viewed God and their circumstances and their divine destiny.

No wonder the Bible says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”—Ro. 12:1-2

NOW, let’s deal with the first hurdle:

Slavery thinking

Slavery thinking was characterized by 3 things. It was:

Visionless—I see nothing for myself

Hopeless—I have nothing to look forward to

Helpless—There is nothing I can do to change things

Slavery thinking is still a part of many Christian’s thinking.

Usually people with slavery thinking don’t spend much time in the word, are not in a church that preaches the word, and are still ignorant of God’s plan for them.

What we see with Israel as they anguished in Egypt is that they really didn’t know what was out there.

They had been in Egyptian bondage for 400 years.

You don’t know what you don’t have until someone tells you there’s more!

So God sent Moses to plant a vision for a better day in their hearts. He said to Moses, “Tell my people…

“I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”—Ex. 3:8

God gave Moses a vision for the enslaved Israelites.

He did it to deliver them from visionless, hopeless, helpless slavery thinking!

He does the same thing for everyone enslaved today.

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”John 6:35

“In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14: 1,2

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance.” John 10:10

So Jesus says to everybody enslaved to sin, “THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS!”

Next, there is:

Wilderness thinking

Wilderness thinking was “It’s all about me” thinking.

It revolved around what they wanted, when they wanted it.

It was focused on needs, not God. It was selfish and self-consumed.

Wilderness thinking is marked by a complaining, murmuring, critical attitude that defeats the person harboring it.

Paul said, “And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

“These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—

they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were.” 1 cor. 10:11-12

They complained about not having enough water; then not enough food, then not having the right kind of food.

Then they complained God’s timing with things. They complained about the manna.

For 40 years they went round and round with God over Provision issues, never able to transition into P.L. thinking.

Giants didn’t keep them for the land.

The Jordan River didn’t keep them from the P.L.

Wilderness thinking kept them from the land!

“God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.” Vs. 5

Finally, there is:

Promised Land thinking

The church that pierces the darkness will not have:

A slavery mentality—ever the victim. Nor will it have…

A Wilderness mentality—ever the complainer. It will have…

A P.L. mentality—ever the victor!

P.L. thinking says, “It’s not about me, it’s about Him.”

P.L. thinkers believe that:

God is with them, on them, and working through them.

God has a plan for them

Believe that God is greater than any obstacle, will overcome any mountain, and make a way, even where there isn’t one.

Are not intimidated by the enemy, but motivated by God.

The motto of P.L. thinkers is:

“I can do all things through…”

P.L. thinkers don’t back down; they push through.

They learn to take action, take authority, take the land and pierce the darkness!

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