by Jon R. Welker

"The church is the eschatological [a study of end-times and the Second Advent of Christ] temple not made with hands. And the Holy Spirit is the sign or mode of God's Presence among His people. Because of the fundamentally social character of God's temple, relationships are important. Strife among God's ministers and dissension among God's people constitute an assault on His temple. To form factions among God's people is to drive away God's Spirit. It is not merely a matter of destroying God's temple, it is the destruction of the congregation and the self destruction of its members. True spirituality means to discern the body; relationships with others. It means to edify one another through the exercise of spiritual gifts to be joined together by the most excellent way of serving - through love."
From: Images of the Church in Mission, by John Driver

I would like to discuss the spiritual warfare in which Christians are involved. I believe that this is an extremely important point because the Enemy seeks to confuse us. He is, after all, the author of confusion. Therefore, we can get confused about issues and the purposes into which we are originally called. Like unto the ancient Hebrews, three days out of "Egypt" we can forget. God admonished His people when they went into the "land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. 3:8) that they "forget not" the Lord their God (Ex. 8:12-14). In one reference it is written: "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep" (Prov. 6:10) makes us forget.

What does it mean to be awake and to be alive? Jesus said, "Watch" (Mk. 13:37; Lk. 21:36). There are those who say, "Well we can't know the day and hour because He's coming as a thief in the night." Yet think about it, do we command someone to watch unless there's something to watch for? The implication is that if you'd been watching, you would have known what hour!

"But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up." Matthew 24:43

You see, we have to rightly divide the Scriptures (II Tim. 2:15). If you're watching, you will know! Now, the tendency is for us to be lulled into a spiritual stupor or sleep so that we forget.

EGYPT OR BABYLON?

Recently I shared a message about the difference between going down into Egypt and going into Babylon. From the very beginning, God said unto His Chosen:

"Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of...." Genesis 26:2

"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at My mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Isaiah 30:1-2

"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help...." Isaiah 31:1

"...O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day." Jeremiah 42:19

The basic pattern is don't go down into Egypt! Egypt is a symbol of this world under the rulership of Pharaoh, `the great house', which is not God's house. It is Satan's house, the ruler of this world, the prince of darkness (Jn. 14:30; Eph. 2:2). Therefore, by going into the things of this world, we can get entangled in them. Yes, it is written we are to live in the world, but we are not to be of the world (Jn. 17:16). So, if we don't watch what we're doing, we can be sucked into the material things of this world and forget who we are.

But with reference to Babylon, God actually told them to go into Babylon.

"Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon." Jeremiah 34:3

"Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem; they shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place." Jeremiah 27:21-22

But there were those who said, "No, we need to go into Egypt and trust in Pharaoh."

"We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God, saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell.... ...Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die." Jeremiah 42:13-14

Yet God said, "NO" through His Prophets. Do not go down into Egypt! No, no, no, No, NO! But if they went into Babylon, as God told them to, He said, "there I will build you up and I will take you back to your land":

"For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up." Jeremiah 24:6

So, there's a purpose for "Babylon" in God's plan for His people. If you are honest with yourself, you know that like running or exercising or dieting, there are certain things you hate, but you like the result. Similarly, at times we're in confusion, some call it "the dark night of the soul." Yet something happens in those times: you're either going to make a decision to go deeper into such Babylonish things - confusion - as did some of the children of Israel who actually stayed in Babylon; or be as the others who knew who they were and longed for their own land. They recognized their identity.

When you're in confusion, you're spiritually in "Babylon," tossed about and often in conflict and doubt. But, Babylon means the "gateway to God." Therefore there's something which happens when you're searching and you're not satisfied with where you are. Even if you have an abundance of things and your life seems rather good, as it was with the children of Israel when they finally went in to the "land flowing with milk and honey," and possessed houses which they did not build, etc., you can get confused.

"...And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey...." Exodus 3:8

"And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." Deuteronomy 6:10-12

But you need to know anew who you are. The Apostle Paul said,

"...For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." Philippians 4:11-12

Never forget who you are, and where you are in time.

LIFE'S ULTIMATE PURPOSE

A very important question that has been asked by people throughout history is: "Who am I, what am I doing here; where did I come from, and where am I going?" Regardless of a person's confession of faith in Jesus Christ or not, that has been a big question. What is this earthly experience all about? Who am I? So people search in various places and into the beliefs and practices of the religions of the world, and other philosophies and psychologies in trying to find answers. God allows that. I've given my own testimony of my search and how God sought after me while I was enmeshed in such philosophies and religions of this world. I was seeking and I was confused, even while I had what the world would call "good opportunities," the material things of this world; fame, acclaim and physical attractiveness, etc. Yet it wasn't what I really wanted deep within. And the more I succeeded, the more within I was trying to find answers to life's ultimate purpose.

Recently, I heard a report about spirituality in Europe. It was reported that people were going on pilgrimages to Santiago, Spain, and a place dedicated to St. James, the Apostle. Those interviewed stated that they went seeking some answers. Some people take physical pilgrimages, some take mental and/or spiritual pilgrimages, and some emotional pilgrimages. Yet, whatever we want to call it,it is still a search for something. Their confusion can lead them to a willingness to consider what they otherwise would have rejected. God understands that. Therefore He declared that His people were not to depart Babylon in haste:

"Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward." Isaiah 52:11-12

But regarding Egypt, His people were to leave in haste, not even taking leaven for their bread.

"And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, `We be all dead men.' And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders." Exodus 12:33-34

Egypt is something that can take hold of you in a very short period of time. And God understood that, too. You can end up just like anyone who goes down into Egypt, even for a brief period of time. You become entangled only to come out as a slave a long time later, if you come out at all.... And even then, of the ones who did come out of Egypt there were only 2 over the age of 20 who made it into the Promised Land (Num. 32:11-12).

TEMPLE RELATIONSHIPS

Think about this, and consider who you are: II Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 14-18: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers."

Here are some other translations:
"Do not enter into any consistent relations with those who reject the faith…." (TCNT)
"Avoid unsuitable connections with unbelievers…." (Weymouth)
"Keep out of all incongruous ties with unbelievers…." (Moffatt)
"Stop forming intimate and inconsistent relations with unbelievers…." (Williams)
"Do not be mismated with unbelievers…." (Norlie)

"…for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the TEMPLE OF GOD…" (beginning of verse 16)

The Temple of God, then, is the place where the Holy Spirit is and He is a sign of God's Presence among His people. Therefore, the social character of God's Temple means that relationships are important, and also the kind or type of relationships.

"And what agreement hath the Temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (verse 16)

Therein the Lord again identifies what the Temple is. You cannot find a Biblical reference to a physical name being written in the Temple of Israel. Yet God said:

"And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My Name there for ever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually." I Kings 9:3

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new Name." Revelation 3:12

God wants us to understand that His people are to be a temple of living stones, knit together, built up, joined....

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." II Corinthians 6:17-18

Strife, dissension and factions drive away God's Spirit and are an assault on the Temple of God. But the Scripture also quoted regarding social relationships indicates that not only are such issues important among God's people, but contact with those who are outside the church is important also.

So then, how are we supposed to reach out unto others? Therein lies the importance of identity and an aspect of spiritual warfare. Paul asked what fellowship or intimate relations can you have with those who are unbelievers? He warned: "...Touch not the unclean thing" (II Cor. 6:17).

Is your identity with Christ strong enough for you not to lose it by fellowshipping with those outside your "tribe" of believers, like less unbelievers? Yes, God formed the tribes of Israel into one nation, yet they were to keep within basic perimeters, except on certain occasions such as worshiping together, (Joel 2:15-16) or if there was a need to inter-marry, etc. (Num. 36:7, 9). Otherwise, they were to maintain their own identity. There was the tribe of Naphtali, the tribe of Issachar, the tribe of Zebulun, the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Levi, and so on. The Levites were to be those who conveyed and taught God's Word. Out of Judah would come God's Sceptre through which He would rule His people:

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." Genesis 49:10

And we see that there were other such distinctions, such as those who were discerners of times and the seasons:

"And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do...." I Chronicles 12:32

God would develop needed qualities within each of the tribes.

Now, that doesn't mean that Israel wasn't to be one nation. Furthermore, something began to happen when they forgot God. Ten tribes became known as the northern Israel kingdom, and two tribes were known as the Kingdom of Judah. Soon the northern tribes were sent into dispersion and lost because they apostatized from the faith. They had set up a place of worship other than Jerusalem, and lost their identity. King Jeroboam was afraid that if they went to worship in Jerusalem three times a year, they would again join with the southern kingdom (I Ki.12:26-27). So, their identity in God was lost. Their identity as to who they were, and where the center of God's worship or the citadel of God was to be associated with His city - Jerusalem! That process of apostatizing took quite a bit longer for Judah.

The point I'm bringing out is that the tribes of Israel were to keep their identity: first, as a tribe, and secondly, as a nation. God had established certain principles, a covenant Law.

Now, every covenant was to be salted (Num. 18:19; II Chron. 13:5). Therefore, God's covenant Law required it to be salted. It needs to be tasty or savory. We read about covenanted communities versus those where everybody just comes and goes, as visualized by a revolving door.

Again, what is your identity? If your identity with Christ is not strong enough, then you can quickly be come defiled in contact with others. Paul asked:

"...What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God...." II Corinthians 6:16

What concord or agreement is there between Christ and the Devil? What can a believer have in common with an unbeliever? Christ told His disciples to go out in pairs (Mk. 6:7). That helps you keep your identity, because the witness of two in concord is uniting. If you aren't strong enough yourself, then your brother can help you. Christ was united with His Father, and so He was able at times to go to the harlots and the publicans and to eat with them because He knew what His purpose was, and He never lost sight of Who He was and what He was doing. If your identity isn't strong as to who you are and where you're placed, and where you are in time, then when you start having fellowship with different people, especially unbelievers, but even with those out of your tribe (people who make confessions of Christian faith), then you're going to be in trouble.

If you are not identified anywhere and don't have a strong bond or covenant bond with where you are, then you don't know where you're coming from. Then, as you become involved with others, you can forget your identity and get lost and defiled. You are then not identifying yourself as the temple of God. As God gives you opportunity to have contacts and/or social relationships, remember, if you forget who you are, if your identity isn't strong in Christ and where you are planted, then you run the risk of becoming defiled. This doesn't reference individual people seeking to do something to you. But the idea is that entering into or forming intimate inconsistent relations can become defiling.

What is in common between you and those you are close with? Many say, "Well this person is a Christian." That may be the case, but I just shared the aspect of how God established the various tribes of Israel. Look up the accounts relaying the events after the kingdom of Israel drew away from the kingdom of Judah. We are told of kings of Israel seeking to involve those from the kingdom of Judah in their wars and intrigues. Sometimes they would agree to fight together. At one time king Jehoshaphat of Judah asked:

"Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." I Kings 22:7-8

Yet Jehoshaphat went into battle with the king of Israel and got killed because he wasn't faithful to God's Will. "What agreement had the temple of God with idols?"

But what is idolatry as defined in the Scriptures? Stubbornness! Rebellion is witchcraft; stubbornness is idolatry (I Sam. 15:23). Ye are the temple of the Living God. Living stones to be built up, knit together.

"…As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." II Corinthians 6:16-18

THE MOVE OF THE SPIRIT

Again, John Driver in his book entitled Images of the Church in Mission, states that

...the church is the eschatological temple not made with hands, and the Holy Spirit is the sign or mode of God's Presence among His people.

"I will be among you." In the Acts of the Apostles when the Holy Spirit descended upon them in cloven tongues of fire, something happened to form them. They were in one accord, in one mind, in one place, and nothing that they owned was their own, so that they had all things in common (Acts 2:44, 4:32).

Some people like to emphasize the speaking in tongues part of that account and are unable to see the important thing that happened to the church in that day. God hasn't changed His mind; He wants to have a people in which to place His Name. "I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and be their God, and they shall be My people."

Our Enemy seeks to confuse us. He's the most subtle of all the beasts of the field (Gen. 3:1). Through contacts and fellowship with people (even "good people") with a different vision or philosophy or religion, you can enter into confusion. And especially if your identity is not strong enough to handle it, you can become like the boat without an anchor, flopping all over the place, because you don't know who you really are.

Those of Israel were seduced into worshiping in the place where their king established, versus the place which God had established: Jerusalem! Eventually they were led into dispersion.

Whose identity do you assume when you are with others? If you're honest with yourself, you're going to find out something very quickly. It might be at work, or it might be in social contacts - what identity do you assume? Are you the same as you are or should be in your covenant relationship with the brethren? Do you know why you're there at that time and place with those people with whom you are fellowshipping? What is the purpose? If you don't have a covenant relationship with them, even if they are "Christian," you could claim you have something in common centered around Christ, but what is it that unites you? What is your identity at that moment? And whose identity do you assume: yours or theirs? Do you begin blending identities together in a kind of mixed or homogenous whole? Is that what God wants? Because if it was, why did He divide Israel into tribes? Why wasn't there just one Israel nation without distinctive tribes therein? Why did God choose a certain tribe as teachers, another as leaders, etc.? What about the history of the tribe of Dan? (See Judges 18.) Why are we given such individual history of the different tribes?

I repeat, we must rightly divide the Word of God. Many Christians are repeatedly going to Christian bookstores and conferences and conventions, only to become more confused. I do not wish to overly criticize such things, but I am emphasizing the thought that if you don't go to such places knowing who you are, strong in where you are in your identity and your bonds, then you're going to be the one lost and confused and you're going to be whipped into a homogenous whole.

This happens in the larger culture around us: we seek to adopt cultures, religions and ethnic groups, and blend them together. No, I'm not off into racial discrimination. Please believe me; I accept that Jesus Christ has died for us all. But the point is: if people bring with them their foreign beliefs, then we must be careful to remain separate and undefiled. Isn't it interesting that out of many of the so-called "third world" countries, they're the ones having to send missionaries back to the western countries to challenge us. They often say, "You aren't living true Christianity; you've lost it." That's what's important! It's where we are in Christ; our identity. If we have a strong identity in Christ, then we're going to be the ones who will be able to win others to Christ.

Certain life-styles are being foisted upon the church, yet there are those saying they don't want that. So they turn to the bishops and the heads of the church in third world countries crying, "We want to get under your covering!" How ironic! Yet it is happening, because many Christians have forgotten who they are in Christ. Consider the Episcopal Churches of America in contrast to those in Africa.

Identity is very important in spiritual warfare. Be careful how much you cultivate unsuitable connections or inconsistent relations with others. It may not only defile, but it may begin to leaven your outlook, which then leavens others of your "household." The Enemy knows those principles. What did he use against Israel to get God to judge them? He brought in that which he knew would cause the Lord to have to judge (see Num. 22). That's because God is faithful. Therefore, Satan seeks to get us to cross the lines which God has established. But we are to keep God's statutes if we love him! Do not be led astray by those with no identity in Christ, or those with weak identites and liberal interpretations of God's statutes, etc.