TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Three Types of Men
How God Views Mankind…………………………………………………………….…………..... 3
2. Our Spiritual Exodus
Leaving Egypt…………………………………………………………………………………........ 11
3. Wilderness Principles
The Ins and Outs of the Wilderness………………………………………………………………... 17
4. Reason for the Wilderness
The Dark Night of the Soul………………………………………………………………………… 25
5. More Reasons for the Wilderness
Fleshly Compromises…………………………………………………………….………………… 32
6. Still More Reasons for the Wilderness
Divinity School in the Desert………………………………………………………………………. 37
7. Final Reason for the Wilderness
Making Sons out of Slaves……………………………………………………………….………… 43
8. Characteristics of Carnality – Part One
Fickle Relationships……………………………………………………………………………… 48
9. Characteristics of Carnality – Part Two
Fickle Faith………………………………………………………………………………………….. 52
10. Characteristics of Carnality – Part Three
The Forfeitures of Faithfulness…………………………………………………………………….. 58
11. Carnal Relationships – Part One
The Unsurrendered Self……………………………………………………………………………. 65
12. Carnal Relationships – Part Two
Love not the World………………………………………………………………………….……… 71
13. Principles of Possession
Following Godly Examples………………………………………………………………….……... 75
14. Crossing the Jordan – Part One
Walking by the Spirit…………………………………………………………………….…………. 81
15. Crossing the Jordan – Part Two
A Severe Mercy………………………………………………………………………….…………. 86
16. Possessing our Possessions
Standing on the Promises…………………………………………………………………………... 94
17. Inspiring Worship and Impressive Witness – Part One
Spiritual Worship…………………………………………………………………………………... 101
18. Inspiring Worship and Impressive Witness – Part Two
Removing the Reproach of Egypt……………………………………………………….………….. 105
19. The Liberty of Obedience
The Blessing of Belief & The Curses of Carnality…………………………………….…………… 109
20. Promised-Land Living
The Sanctified Life……………………………………………………………………….………… 116
Chart on the Spiritual State, Characteristics and Ethics of Man…………………………………… 123
Note: There is an accompanying set of 20 cassette tapes that can be ordered for this teaching series by Dr. Williams. To order, write to: New Directions International, PO Box 2347, Burlington, NC 27215, USA; go online: www.newdirections.org or call 336-227-1273.
THREE TYPES OF MEN
“How God Views Mankind”
1. We class and categorize people according to birth: Race (black, white, red, yellow) and Sex (male, female).
2. Or according to their achievements and status: Education (educated/uneducated), Economics (rich/poor) and Social Position (high/low).
3. Or according to their personal persuasion: Religion (MY religion or HIS religion) and Politics (MY party or HIS party).
4. This is what Paul called “recognizing man according to the flesh” (II Cor. 5:16).
Jew Greek
Barbarian Scythian
Slave Free
Male Female
Circumcised Uncircumcised
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28)
“Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (Col. 3:11)
5. However, the Bible clearly teaches that God’s perspective of man is very different:
“God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Sam. 16:7)
“God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” (Lk. 16:15)
Note: In this study, all scripture references will be taken from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise indicated.
6. Therefore, God views man in a totally different manner. He sees only two races of men:
“IN ADAM” “IN CHRIST”
…Old Man …New Man
…Old Creation …New Creation
…Dead …Alive!
7. But those who are “in Christ” are also divided into two classes:
CARNAL SPIRITUAL
…Abnormal …Normal
…Retarded …Growing
…Babes …Men
…Disobedient …Obedient
…Fear …Faith
…Confusion …Peace
…Turmoil …Rest
…Grumbles …Gratitude
…In the Flesh …In the Spirit
Note: The word carnal comes from the word sarkikos, which comes from the word sarx, meaning flesh—not the “flesh” that our body is wrapped in, but it means: “having the nature of the flesh,” i.e., “sensual, controlled by animal appetites, governed by human nature instead of by the Spirit of God; unspiritual.”
CARNAL EXAMPLES
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid foods; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly (sarkikos).” (I Cor. 3:1-3)
“…do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit…” (Rom. 8:4-9)
“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshy (sarkikos) lusts, which war against the soul.” (I Pet. 2:11)
“…walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another…” (Gal. 5:16-17)
8. God, then, sees only three types of men:
NATURAL CARNAL SPIRITUAL
(Normal Sinner) (Abnormal Saint) (Normal Saint)
“A saint living like a sinner.”
9. Since these are spiritual classifications and are, therefore, not visible, God has given us a vivid, living Biblical example in the story of the Exodus of the Children of Israel:
EGYPT WILDERNESS CANAAN
(OF the world) (IN and OF the World) (IN but not OF the World)
NATURAL CARNAL SPIRITUAL
10. God gave these vivid accounts to us as examples for our instructions. So this is not just their story, it is also our story.
“Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved.” (I Cor. 10:6)
“Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (I Cor. 10:11)
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom. 15:4)
11. What is it that God wants us to learn from the Old Israel, since we are the New Israel?
A. Not to “crave evil things” (Num. 11:1)
B. Not to “be idolaters” (Ex. 32:1-10)
C. Not to “act immorally” (Num. 25:1-9)
D. Not to “test the Lord” (Ex. 17:2)
E. Not to “grumble” (Num. 16:2)
F. To “instruct our children” (Ps. 78:5-6; Deut. 6:4-9)
1) To put their confidence in God;
2) Not to forget His works; and
3) To keep His commandments
G. To warn us of “disobedience” and “unbelief.”
“Today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah (place of strife), as in the day of Massah (temptation), in the wilderness; when your fathers tested Me. They tried Me, though they had seen My work. For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in My anger, ‘Truly they shall not enter into My rest.’” (Ps. 95:7-11)
“Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end; while it is said, ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.’
“For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, let us fear lest while a promise remains of entering His rest any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest. Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience…Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience.” (Heb. 3:12-4:3, 6, 11)
FURTHER QUOTES ON CARNALITY
“Your danger and mine is not that we become criminals, but rather that we become respectable, decent, commonplace, mediocre Christians. The twentieth-century temptations that really sap our spiritual power are the television, banana cream pie, the easy chair, and the credit card. The Christian wins or loses in those seemingly innocent little moments of decision.” (LORD, MAKE MY LIFE A MIRACLE, Raymond C. Ortlund, p. 151)
“We have often said so glibly that if everyone became a Christian, our world’s problems would be solved. No, I don’t think so at all. As I look at the church, I don’t find that true. There are just as many polarizations in the church as there are outside of it. Carnal Christians will no doubt get straightened out in the next world, but they’re no help in this one.” (LORD, MAKE MY LIFE A MIRACLE, Raymond C. Ortlund, p 141)
“The flesh hates to be exposed for what it is and will fight desperately to avoid that awful moment of truth – that moment when the Holy Spirit rips the mask from its sickly face.” (IF I PERISH, I PERISH, Major W. Ian Thomas, p 79)
“What you will discover now is…that the flesh which has its origin in Satan will go along with you. It is quite prepared to engage in every form of Christian activity, even thought this may seem to honor Christ, if that be the only chance of survival…The flesh will sing in the church choir, superintend the Sunday School, preside at a meeting of the deacons, preach from the pulpit, organize an evangelistic crusade, go to Bible School and volunteer for the mission field, and a thousand and one things more (all of which may in themselves be otherwise legitimate), if only it can keep its neck out of the noose…It is characteristic of the spiritually immature that they are unable “…to discern between good and evil (Heb. 5:13-14), and the baby Christian, like the foolish Galatians, ‘…having begun in the Spirit’ still tries to be ‘made perfect by the flesh’.” (Gal. 3:3)” (IF I PERISH, I PERISH, Major W. Ian Thomas, p. 76)
“It is a stroke of satanic genius, and one of his most ancient devices, to persuade you piously to dedicate to God all that you presume to find good in the flesh which God has condemned…This is the curse of Christendom! This is what paralyzes the activity of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth today! In defiance of God’s Word, God’s mind, God’s will, and God’s judgment, men everywhere are prepared to dedicate to God what God condemns – the energy of the flesh!” (THE SAVING LIFE OF CHRIST, Major W. Ian Thomas, p.111)
“You realize that it was never God’s purpose to improve the flesh, to re-educate or tame it, let alone Christianize it. It has always been God’s purpose that the flesh, condemned, sentenced and crucified with Jesus Christ, might be left buried in the tomb and replaced by the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.” (IF I PERISH, I PERISH, Major W. Ian Thomas, p 84)
“Everything pertaining to our natural life must be handed over to death.” (THE SPIRITUAL MAN, Watchman Nee, p. 190)
“This is nothing quite so nauseating or pathetic as the flesh trying to be holy! The flesh has a perverted bent for righteousness, but such righteousness as it may achieve is always self-righteousness; and self-conscious righteousness is always full of self-praise. This produces the extrovert, who must always be noticed, recognized, consulted, and applauded. On the other hand, when the flesh in pursuit of self-righteousness fails, instead of being filled with self-praise, it is filled with self-pity, and this produces the introvert. A professional ‘case’ for professional counselors! The devil does not mind whether you are an extrovert or an introvert, whether you succeed or whether you fail in the energy of the flesh, whether you are filled with self-pity or self-praise, for he knows that in both cases you will be preoccupied with yourself, and not with Christ. You will be ‘ego-centric’ self-centered – and not ‘Deo-centric’ – ‘God-centered.’” (THE SAVING LIFE OF CHRIST, Major W. Ian Thomas, p. 91)
“To ascertain whether one is of the flesh, he need but inquire of himself if he is doing any of these works of the flesh. It is of course unnecessary for him to commit all in the list in order to be carnal. Were he to do merely one of them, he would establish himself beyond doubt as being fleshy, for how could he do any one of them if the flesh had relinquished its rule already? The presence of a work of the flesh proves the existence of the flesh…These works of the flesh may be divided into five groups:
1. Sins, which defile the body, such as immorality, impurity, licentiousness
2. Sinful supernatural communications with satanic forces, such as idolatry, sorcery
3. Sinful temper and its peculiarities, such as enmity, strife, jealousy, anger
4. Religious sects and parties, such as selfishness, dissensions, party spirit, envy and
5. Lasciviousness, such as drunkenness and carousing
Every one of these is easily observed. Those who do them are of the flesh.” (THE SPIRITUAL MAN, Watchman Nee, p. 90)
(I Corinthians 3:1-3, Paul)”…describes how this carnal life was showing itself, ‘there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions.’ Their beliefs were one thing, but their behavior was quite something else. Notice the progression from envying, which is thought in operation, to strife, which is word in operations, to end up in division, which are deeds in operation. The entire development of thoughts, word and deed is here revealed in these Corinthian Christians.” (LET US GO TO MATURITY, John E. Hunter, p. 22)