PRESSING TOWARD THE MARK, STUDY GUIDE
From: The Land of Promise, by Robert B. Thompson
Copyright © 1997 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
ForewordANSWERS
Pressing Toward the Mark
War
Legal and Actual Possession
Following the Spirit
The Inheritance
Foreword
Pressing Toward the Mark
War
Legal and Actual Possession
Following the Spirit
The Inheritance
QUESTIONS
Foreword
1. What was the land of promise of the Hebrews?
2. What does Pressing Toward the Mark explain?
3. What do Philippians 3:14 and Hebrews 4:9 have in common?
Pressing Toward the Mark
1. Read Deuteronomy 8:7-9; Hebrews 4:1.
2. How does the Sinai wilderness differ from Canaan?
3. What was true of the nation of Israel under King Solomon?
4. What is true of the land of Israel today?
5. What do the wilderness wandering of Israel and the land of Canaan typify (symbolize) in the Scriptures?
6. How does the fourth chapter of Hebrews refer to Canaan?
7. Do the New Testament writings support our using the pilgrimage of the Hebrews and their invasion of Canaan as types (symbolic portrayals) of our redemption in Christ?
8. Do the New Testament writings teach that there is more to the Christian life than our initial acceptance of Christ as our Lord and Savior?
9. Has the land of promise of the Christian been set forth in the Scriptures?
10. Does our Christian salvation have a definite beginning and a definite mark toward which we are to be pressing?
11. Do Christian people have a clear understanding of the goal of their discipleship, of the mark toward that they are to be pressing?
12. What is true of people when they do not have a specific mark toward that to press?
13. Was Paul’s “mark” (goal) Heaven?
14. Why must we look to the Holy Spirit to interpret the Old Testament type of the land of promise?
15. What will we be pointing toward, in our booklet, as the spiritual fulfillment of the land of Canaan?
War
1. Read Deuteronomy 7:22,23; Ephesians 6:12.
2. Who did all the fighting when the Hebrew slaves made their exodus from Egypt?
3. Who destroyed Satan’s authority over mankind?
4. Did the Lord God of Heaven do all the fighting when the Hebrews entered the land of promise?
5. Will we Christians be required to fight in order to enter our inheritance?
6. Who is the Christian to follow into the assault on the enemy?
7. Who will destroy the kingdom of darkness?
8. What two armies fight against the adversary?
9. Read Joshua 5:13.
10. In what two realms does the Lord Jesus wage war?
11. Against whom does the saint wrestle?
12. What is necessary before victory can be gained in the Kingdom of God on the earth?
13. Will all the works of the devil finally be destroyed out of God’s creation, including the earth?
14. Who destroys all the works of the devil?
15. What is the mission of Christ?
16. With what must the saint be filled if he is to work with the Lord Jesus in setting free the prisoners of the earth?
17. Where does the believer find himself after he believes in Christ and is baptized in water?
18. What do we learn in the wilderness?
19. How does the saint obtain and maintain his spiritual and physical healing?
20. What happens to each saint who disobeys the Lord’s will for his life?
21. How do we come under the law of the Spirit of life?
22. What do our perplexities and persecutions do to us?
23. For what are we prepared during our “wilderness wandering”?
24. Read Exodus 13:17,18.
25. When are we able to use the knowledge and strength that we are gaining through our experiences in the world?
26. What must be totally purged from the Christian personality?
27. What may happen if the saint is brought immediately into great spiritual responsibility?
28. What obstacle prevents the believer from entering his land of promise?
29. What was true of the tribes who were living in Canaan?
30. How did God intend to use Israel?
31. How does God intend to use Christians?
32. Who is able to destroy God’s enemies?
33. Read Deuteronomy 7:1,2.
Legal and Actual Possession
1. What has God given to the saints?
2. Is it God’s will that Christians possess all things?
3. In what way do we possess all things now?
4. In what way do we not possess all things now?
5. By what means does one take possession of an occupied territory?
6. How do legal and actual possession differ?
7. When a government gives land to settlers, what must the settlers do?
8. Is it God’s will that all persons have their sins forgiven?
9. Is it God’s will that all believers be healed?
10 Is it God’s will that every person have the Spirit of life from God?
11. Is it God’s will that every Christian stand perfect and complete in Christ?
12. Read Romans 6:6; 13:14; Ephesians 5:3,4; Colossians 3:3.
13. How do we gain our inheritance in the Lord?
14. What can we observe in the preceding four passages?
15. What do Romans 6:6 and Colossians 3:3 emphasize?
16. What does God desire that we maintain by faith, concerning our old nature?
17. What is God able to bring forth, because of the position of our old nature?
18. What is true of our new spiritual life?
19. Who gives us the wisdom and strength to live out the truth of our position in Christ?
20. What occupies most of the daily living of the saint?
21. Against what do we battle?
22. What happens when we overemphasize our legal position in Christ?
23. What happens when we overemphasize our actual experience?
24. What must the Christian do if he is to successfully live the life of victory in Christ?
25. What does it mean to grow in grace?
26. What is maturity in Christ?
27. What takes place as we follow the Lord?
Following the Spirit
1. Read Romans 8:13,14.
2. How do we obtain righteousness and eternal life?
3. Read Romans 8:4.
4. What must be true of us if we are to learn to be led by the Spirit of God?
5. What is required before we learn to distinguish between false voices, impulses, and guidance, and the true guidance of the Holy Spirit?
6. How long does it take to learn to live and walk in the Spirit of God?
7. What is the final result that the Spirit is seeking?
8. How can we be perfect each day?
9. In what three areas does the Holy Spirit lead each disciple?
10 Who receives a ministry and gifts from the Holy Spirit?
11. What is “internal conquest”?
12. What is “external conquest”?
13. What must every creature do in order to be saved from the wrath of God?
14. When will “external conquest” be more fully expressed?
15. What does the Christian life of victorious faith require?
16. With what is conquest concerned?
17. What does conquest accomplish?
18. From what does conquest release us?
19. To what end does conquest bring us?
20. How do we obtain ministry?
21. How does ministry differ from the formation of the conquering personality?
22. How does God “give” us the land of promise?
23. What is the purpose of conquest?
24. How is ministry related to the formation of the conquering personality?
25. Read I Thessalonians 5:23.
The Inheritance
1. What is the first great aspect of conquest?
2. What is the second great aspect of conquest?
3. What is the third great aspect of conquest?
4. When is the first great aspect fulfilled in the Kingdom of God?
5. To what is an unsaved person in bondage?
6. Of what is the land of Egypt a type?
7. Of what is Pharaoh a type?
8. What did God say about the earth after He had created it?
9. What does God accomplish for us when He washes us in the blood of the Lamb and plants Christ in our hearts?
10. What will be true if we remain in the belief that God is performing His works of grace in us so that He can move us from earth to Heaven?
11. What is the purpose of redemption?
12. What will we do if we regard Heaven as the land of promise?
13. What will we do if we regard the fullness of our inheritance in Christ as the land of promise, and bondage to the will of Satan as Egyptian slavery?
14. What are we declaring when we receive Christ as our Savior?
15. How can we make the land of promise a solid reality in our life?
16. What is the second area of conquest?
17. What is the Christian counterpart of the wandering of the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai?
18. What is the wilderness?
19. Where do we find ourselves, as soon as we receive Christ as our Savior?
20. What certainty do we Christians possess?
21. What is still true of the saved individual?
22. What is the transitional area, between the promise of the inheritance, and the inheritance itself?
23. What do we learn while we are making the transition from the life of the flesh to the life of the Spirit?
24. What must we do in order to escape God’s prison before God’s time?
25. What is true if we attempt to make a Paradise of the world?
26. What does the Lord understand concerning us?
27. What must be true if we are to lay hold on the fullness of our inheritance in Christ?
28. What are all things and experiences accomplishing for us, if we are following the Lord?
29. What is our task?
30. Read I Peter 4:1,2.
31. What is the third stage of conquest?
32. Name some of the elements of the Christian’s land of promise?
33. What is true of all of these positions, transformations, and rewards?
34. What is the “mark” (goal) toward which the saint is pressing?
35. What is one of the most important aspects of the promised land of the Christian?
36. Who are destined to rule the earth?
37. What are the two main dimensions of the Christian’s land of promise?
38. What is the Kingdom of God?
39. What do we have in the Kingdom of God?
40. Why are our Kingdom rewards in Heaven,, in the present hour?
41. What else is included in our inheritance?
42. Where is our citizenship?
43. Where is our place of conquest?
44. What did Christ have to do in order to inherit the nations and the earth?
45. What enemy prevents our remaining in the land of our inheritance?
46. What causes death?
47. What did Christ accomplish through His death on the cross?
48. What is the new creation, the Kingdom of God, of that Christ is the firstborn and the firstfruits?
49. What is one way of describing the relationship of Heaven to the earth?
50. What has God the Father given to Christ His Son as His land of promise?
51. Read Psalms 2:8,9.
52. What is the most important aspect of the Kingdom of God?
53. What is the goal of the Christian Church?
54. What must be done before God’s will can be accomplished in the earth?
55. Is the saint above or beneath the forces of darkness?
56. Read Ephesians 2:6; 1:21.
57. How high have we been raised in Christ?
58. Where will the rule of Satan be broken first?
59. What will take place when the power of resurrection life is directed toward the earth?
60. What is the gap between our experience and our position?
61. What must we do in order to possess the Kingdom of God?
62. To whom do the earth and its peoples belong?
63. Read Psalms 37:9; 24:1.
64. What is the destiny of Christ and His coheirs?
65. How does Christ feel about the nations of the earth?
66. What happens when Christ is created in our hearts?
67. What is the rest of God?
68. What must we do if we are to obtain the fullness of our inheritance in Christ?
69. How should we both live and die?
70. Of what are we to be fully persuaded?
71. What is our confession while we are on the earth?
72. On what are we to fix our gaze?
73. What happens as we are drawing closer to Christ?”
74. What does the saint bring with him?
75. What is the means through which God can judge and throw out the enemy?
76. What are the true disciples of Jesus determined to gain?
77. To what end has Christ grasped us?
78. What does Christ desire of His younger brothers?
79. What will each saint receive in the Day of Christ?
80. What determines how much of an inheritance we are able to claim?
81. To whom are given the rewards of life, righteousness, authority, and union with God?
82. What must the saint be willing to do?
83. What must be the greatest desire of our heart?
84. Whom does God reward?
ANSWERS
Foreword
1. What was the land of promise of the Hebrews?
Canaan.
2. What does Pressing Toward the Mark explain?
The goal of the Christian warfare.
3. What do Philippians 3:14 and Hebrews 4:9 have in common?
They speak of the goal of the Christian redemption.
Pressing Toward the Mark
1. Read Deuteronomy 8:7-9; Hebrews 4:1.
“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;
“a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;
“a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. (Deuteronomy 8:7-9)
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
2. How does the Sinai wilderness differ from Canaan?
The Sinai wilderness is a hot, forbidding desert, a place of mountains, boulders, and sandstone hills, relieved by oases. The region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is a productive and delightful place in which to live.
3. What was true of the nation of Israel under King Solomon?
The nation of Israel achieved a prosperity equaled by few other world cultures.
4. What is true of the land of Israel today?
The land of Israel is viewed by the large nations as having political and military importance.
5. What do the wilderness wandering of Israel and the land of Canaan typify (symbolize) in the Scriptures?
The nature of our Christian discipleship and the goal of that discipleship.
6. How does the fourth chapter of Hebrews refer to Canaan?
As “the rest of God.”
7. Do the New Testament writings support our using the pilgrimage of the Hebrews and their invasion of Canaan as types (symbolic portrayals) of our redemption in Christ?
Yes.
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (I Corinthians 10:11)
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? (Hebrews 3:18)
But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. (Jude 1:5)
8. Do the New Testament writings teach there is more to the Christian life than our initial acceptance of Christ as our Lord and Savior?
Yes.
9. Has the land of promise of the Christian been set forth in the Scriptures?
Yes.
10. Does our Christian salvation have a definite beginning and a definite mark toward which we are to be pressing?
Yes.
11. Do Christian people have a clear understanding of the goal of their discipleship, of the mark toward which they are to be pressing?
No.
12. What is true of people when they do not have a specific mark toward which to press?
They do not address themselves to the struggle as they should. They do not understand what they are to be accomplishing.
13. Was Paul’s “mark” (goal) Heaven?
No.
14. Why must we look to the Holy Spirit to interpret the Old Testament type of the land of promise?
So we can set ourselves toward the true goal of the Christian life and not become encumbered with the aimlessness, carelessness, and indifference to spiritual growth that so easily can weaken Christian fervor.
15. What will we be pointing toward, in our booklet, as the spiritual fulfillment of the land of Canaan?
Christ Himself—the full attainment of all He is.
War
1. Read Deuteronomy 7:22,23; Ephesians 6:12.
“And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.
“But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed.
“And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. (Deuteronomy 7:22-24)
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
2. Who did all the fighting when the Hebrew slaves made their exodus from Egypt?
God.
3. Who destroyed Satan’s authority over mankind?
Christ Himself.
4. Did the Lord God of Heaven do all the fighting when the Hebrews entered the land of promise?
No.
5. Will we Christians be required to fight in order to enter our inheritance?
Yes.
6. Who is the Christian to follow into the assault on the enemy?
The Lord Jesus, the Commander in Chief, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord strong and mighty in battle.
7. Who will destroy the kingdom of darkness?
Christ acting through the Church, the Body of Christ.
8. What two armies fight against the adversary?
The army of angels and the army of Israel.
9. Read Joshua 5:13.
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” (Joshua 5:13)
10. In what two realms does the Lord Jesus wage war?
The spiritual and the natural.
11. Against whom does the saint wrestle?
The rulers of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.
12. What is necessary before victory can be gained in the Kingdom of God on the earth?
Victory in the spirit realm.
13. Will all the works of the devil finally be destroyed out of God’s creation, including the earth?
Yes.
14. Who destroys all the works of the devil?
The Son of God.
15. What is the mission of Christ?
To break the yoke of Satan and set men free.
16. With what must the saint be filled if he is to work with the Lord Jesus in setting free the prisoners of the earth?
The anointing of the Holy Spirit.
17. Where does the believer find himself after he believes in Christ and is baptized in water?
In a “waste howling wilderness,” in an uninhabited desert, spiritually speaking.
18. What do we learn in the wilderness?
We learn to “eat manna” (to depend continually on Christ for our life, our strength, our wisdom, our holiness and righteousness). We are taught to “follow the cloud by day and the fire by night” (to wait patiently for the leading of the Holy Spirit; to walk in the blessings that come during the “day” and also to follow the judgments of God’s Word through the “nights” of our discipleship).
19. How does the saint obtain and maintain his spiritual and physical healing?
By gazing at the “brass serpent” (by looking to the redemption that flows from our Lord Jesus on the cross).
20. What happens to each saint who disobeys the Lord’s will for his life?
He soon finds himself in difficult and painful situations.
21. How do we come under the law of the Spirit of life?
By struggling faithfully through problems and troubles, as we attempt each day to follow the Lord.
22. What do our perplexities and persecutions do to us?
They press us into Christ so He can be formed in us.
23. For what are we prepared during our “wilderness wandering”?
War.
24. Read Exodus 13:17,18.
Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”
So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 13:17,18)
25. When are we able to use the knowledge and strength that we are gaining through our experiences in the world?
When God begins to bring us against the enemies who are in possession of our inheritance, our rest, our land of promise.
26. What must be totally purged from the Christian personality?
Every trace of sin, rebellion, and self-seeking.
27. What may happen if the saint is brought immediately into great spiritual responsibility?
He may be tricked into deception through the cunning devices of Satan. He may begin to seek his own glory instead of the Glory of Christ.
28. What obstacle prevents the believer from entering his land of promise?
The land of promise is occupied. It is not vacant, ready to be taken over by the Lord’s flock. Our land of promise is inhabited at this time by the Lord’s enemies.
29. What was true of the tribes who were living in Canaan?
They were savage tribes who practiced satanic idolatries, including the worship of their sexual lusts and the burning of their children in the fire as sacrificial offerings.
30. How did God intend to use Israel?
As the sword of His judgment against the Philistines.
31. How does God intend to use Christians?
As the Holy Spirit-directed Word of God, the fiery Word of judgment, against the kingdom of Satan.
32. Who are able to destroy God’s enemies?
Those who are holy and anointed with the Spirit of God.
33. Read Deuteronomy 7:1,2.
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
“and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. (Deuteronomy 7:1,2)
Legal and Actual Possession
1. What has God given to the saint?
The saint’s own spirit, soul, and body; the nations; the earth; the heavens; in fact, all of God’s creation; all things belong to those who are coheirs with Christ.
2. Is it God’s will that Christians possess all things?
Yes—I Corinthians 3:22.
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. (I Corinthians 3:22)
3. In what way do we possess all things now?
Legally.
4. In what way do we not possess all things now?
In actuality.
5. By what means does one take possession of an occupied territory?
Determined, consistent, never-say-die war.
6. How do legal and actual possession differ?
When someone steals our car we still own it legally but we no longer possess it in actuality. We cannot drive the certificate of title to work.
7. When a government gives land to settlers, what must the settlers do?
Go out and possess the land through years of backbreaking labor.
8. Is it God’s will that all persons have their sins forgiven?
Yes—II Peter 3:9; I John 2:2.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)
And He Himself is the propitiation [appeasement] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (I John 2:2)
9. Is it God’s will that all believers be healed?
Yes—Psalms 103:3.
Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, (Psalms 103:3)
10. Is it God’s will that every person have the Spirit of life from God?
Yes—John 6:37.
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (John 6:37)
11. Is it God’s will that every Christian stand perfect and complete in Christ?
Yes—I Thessalonians 5:23.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thessalonians 5:23)
12. Read Romans 6:6; 13:14; Ephesians 5:3,4; Colossians 3:3.
knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:6)
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:3,4)
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:14)
13. How do we gain our inheritance in the Lord?
By taking up our cross and following the Lord with total diligence. We must stake out our claim, and then follow the Lord faithfully until we inherit all that God has promised.
14. What can we observe in the preceding four passages?
The difference between the legal and the actual possession of the land of promise; between our legal position in Christ and our actual experience of living the Christian life.
15. What do Romans 6:6 and Colossians 3:3 emphasize?
Our position in Christ.
16. What does God desire that we maintain by faith, concerning our old nature?
We are to maintain that our first “self” has been crucified with Christ.
17. What is God able to bring forth, because of the position of our old nature?
A new personality, destroying our fleshly, sinful nature in the process.
18. What is true of our new spiritual life?
Our new spiritual life, having already been raised in and with Christ, is now at the right hand of the Father, far above every other title, authority, and power in the universe.
19. Who gives us the wisdom and strength to live out the truth of our position in Christ?
The Holy Spirit.
20. What occupies most of the daily living of the saint?
Resisting the world, our fleshly nature, and our self-will.
21. Against what do we battle?
Lust, hatred, covetousness, pride, sorcery, foolishness, ingratitude, selfish ambition, our self-will and stubbornness, and all the other lusts and passions of our flesh and soul.
22. What happens when we overemphasize our legal position in Christ?
Our testimony may become intellectual, doctrinaire, static. There may be too much fussing about words and verses and not enough pressing forward in the spiritual combat that characterizes the true Christian warfare.
23. What happens when we overemphasize our actual experience?
We tend to lose the anchor, foundation, and regenerative guiding force and principle of Christianity, which is identification with the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If we are not careful we can become discouraged while struggling against sin, not accepting the victory won for us by Christ.
24. What must the Christian do if he is to successfully live the life of victory in Christ?
He must develop a balance in his life between the legal position in Christ and the actual experience in Christ.
25. What does it mean to grow in grace?
To close the gap between what God has declared about us and what other people can see to be true.
26. What is maturity in Christ?
Maturity in Christ is that condition in which our legal position before God is identical with our actual experience of being in the image of Christ; of being in Christ and Christ in us; of being fruitful; and of possessing dominion over every aspect of our inheritance in Christ.
27. What takes place as we follow the Lord?
Legal possession becomes actual possession. The position becomes the experience.
Following the Spirit
1. Read Romans 8:13,14.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:13,14)
2. How do we obtain righteousness and eternal life?
By living each day in disciplined obedience to the Spirit of God.
3. Read Romans 8:4.
that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)
4. What must be true of us if we are to learn to be led by the Spirit of God?
We must be disciplined, Scripture-reading, praying Christians.
5. What is required before we learn to distinguish between false voices, impulses, and guidance and the true guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Much experience.
6. How long does it take to learn to live and walk in the Spirit of God?
It is a lifelong program.
7. What is the final result that the Spirit is seeking?
That we be changed into the image of Christ and come into oneness with the Father and the Son.
8. How can we be perfect each day?
By being obedient, by cooperating with the “lessons” that are presented to us one at a time.
9. In what three areas does the Holy Spirit lead each disciple?
- The ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
- Internal conquest.
- External conquest.
10. Who receives ministries and gifts from the Holy Spirit?
All the members of the Body of Christ.
11. What is “internal conquest”?
Victory over sin in the life of the Christian.
12. What is “external conquest”?
Breaking the yoke of sin in the area of responsibility assigned to the Christian, whether his home or the nations of the earth.
13. What must every creature do in order to be saved from the wrath of God?
Every creature must bow the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord.
14. When will “external conquest” be more fully expressed?
When the Lord comes.
15. What does the Christian life of victorious faith require?
That we follow the Holy Spirit both in ministry and in conquest.
16. With what is conquest concerned?
The formation of Christian character, and with the development of the ability of the Christian to follow Christ into the land of promise, into his inheritance, into the rest of God, into the subjugation of the earth.
17. What does conquest accomplish?
Conquest is the process of redemption, moving us from chaos of spirit, soul, and body, all the way to the image of Christ and perfect union with God. It includes the total destruction of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of sin. Every trace of satanic influence is to be removed from our personality.
18. From what does conquest release us?
The bondage of “Pharaoh.”
19. To what end does conquest bring us?
Rulership over God’s creation.
20. How do we obtain ministry?
It is a gift from the Holy Spirit.
21. How does ministry differ from the formation of the conquering personality?
Ministry is temporary (I Corinthians 13:8-10) whereas the formation of the conquering personality is eternal.
22. How does God “give” us the land of promise?
God guides and enables the Christian as he fights his way into his land of promise.
23. What is the purpose of conquest?
To set the Christian eternally free from all things, spirits, people, circumstances, motives, temptations, and every other hindrance and bondage that would prevent him from ruling with Christ, from abiding in Christ, from resting in God, from flowing with the life of the Godhead.
24. How is ministry related to the formation of the conquering personality?
Ministries and gifts from the Holy Spirit assist in the guiding and enabling of the Christian as he moves toward the position of total conquest, of dominion in Christ over all things. Ministry helps form the conquering personality.
25. Read I Thessalonians 5:23.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thessalonians 5:23)
The Inheritance
1. What is the first great aspect of conquest?
God’s chosen people enslaved in Egypt, and their deliverance in fulfillment of God’s purpose for them by His wisdom and strength.
2. What is the second great aspect of conquest?
The pilgrimage of God’s chosen people through a barren wilderness.
3. What is the third great aspect of conquest?
The battles of the people of the Lord as they make their way into their inheritance, “the land of milk and honey.”
4. When is the first great aspect fulfilled in the Kingdom of God?
When an individual, through Christ, escapes from bondage to the spirit of the world.
5. To what is an unsaved person in bondage?
The spirit of the evil age in which we live.
6. Of what is the land of Egypt a type?
The spirit of the world.
7. Of what is Pharaoh a type?
Satan.
8. What did God say about the earth after He had created it?
It is good.
9. What does God accomplish for us when He washes us in the blood of the Lamb and plants Christ in our heart?
He rescues us from the authority of Satan and moves us into the Kingdom of God.
10 What will be true if we remain in the belief that God is performing His works of grace in us so that He can move us from earth to Heaven?
We will not understand the plan of redemption.
11. What is the purpose of redemption?
To move us from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of Christ.
12. What will we do if we regard Heaven as the land of promise?
We will sit down spiritually and wait for Jesus to come and take us to the land of promise in the sky.
13. What will we do if we regard the fullness of our inheritance in Christ as the land of promise, and bondage to the will of Satan as Egyptian slavery?
We will take up our cross and follow the Lord. We will put on an attitude of battle, of overcoming the enemies of Christ, until we bring ourselves and our environment into subjection to God’s will, as the Holy Spirit enables us.
14. What are we declaring when we receive Christ as our Savior?
That we desire to leave the bondage of Satan and enter the Kingdom of Christ, the rule of Christ.
15. How can we make the land of promise a solid reality in our life?
By not removing our eyes from the Lord Jesus Christ.
16. What is the second area of conquest?
God’s chosen people wandering in a barren desert.
17. What is the Christian counterpart of the wandering of the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai?
The period of transition from obedience to Satan to obedience to Christ. It is the time when we are endeavoring to master the Divine curriculum.
18. What is the wilderness?
The school of the Holy Spirit.
19. Where do we find ourselves as soon as we receive Christ as our Savior?
In an intermediate position.
20. What certainty do we Christians possess?
That God has called us out of the world spirit, and now we have a new heart and a new spirit with which to serve Christ.
21. What is still true of the saved individual?
There is much confusion and a multitude of problems, doubts, fears, unbelief, and dilemmas.
22. What is the transitional area between the promise of the inheritance and the inheritance itself?
The Christian wilderness wandering.
23. What do we learn while we are making the transition from the life of the flesh to the life of the Spirit?
We learn about God, about ourselves, and about the enemy and his ways. We learn God’s laws and God’s ways.
24. What must we do in order to escape God’s prison before God’s time?
We cannot escape from God’s prison before God’s time without breaking God’s laws.
25. What is true if we attempt to make a paradise of the world?
We have to do so at the expense of other people.
26. What does the Lord understand concerning us?
If we were brought immediately from Egypt to the land of promise we would never learn about Him because of the multitude of enjoyable circumstances and things. Also, we would not be able to stand in battle for the possessing and maintaining of the land.
27. What must be true if we are to lay hold on the fullness of our inheritance in Christ?
God has to keep us in difficult circumstances for a considerable period of time because of the transformation that must occur in us.
28. What are all things and experiences accomplishing for us, if we are following the Lord?
All things and experiences are bringing us toward an unimaginably great inheritance in and with Christ.
29. What is our task?
To be patient and to follow the Holy Spirit as He administers the necessary experiences and blessings to us.
30. Read I Peter 4:1,2.
that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. (I Peter 4:2)
31. What is the third stage of conquest?
That of the people of the Lord battling their way into Canaan, into their inheritance, into the land of milk and honey.
32. Name some of the elements of the Christian’s land of promise?
The realization of God’s promises of life, love, joy, power, glory, peace, and victory in Christ; perfect rest in the plan of God for his life; the Lord’s approval and blessing on him when the present life is over; untroubled abiding in the Person of Christ; the total destruction of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of sin in and around him; perfect conformity to the image of Christ; the indwelling of the Godhead in him; and the fullness of fruitfulness and dominion.
33. What is true of all of these transformations, and rewards?
They are in Christ, of Christ, and through Christ.
34. What is the “mark” (goal) toward which the saint is pressing?
Christ Himself. When we possess Christ we possess all aspects of the Divine inheritance.
35. What is one of the most important aspects of the promised land of the Christian?
The earth.
The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men. (Psalms 115:16)
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
36. Who are destined to rule the earth?
Christ and the saints.
37. What are the two main dimensions of the Christian’s land of promise?
The first part is our complete reconciliation to God through Christ such that we actually live in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. The second part has to do with the rewards to the overcomer—the glorified body, our participation in the first resurrection, the crown of life, rulership with Christ over the nations, being created a pillar in God’s eternal Temple, and our eternal position on the throne of Christ.
38. What is the Kingdom of God?
A realm of authority.
39. What do we have in the Kingdom of God?
Divine acceptance, fellowship with the Son of God, spiritual authority, access to the Father, power to overcome evil and harm, resurrection life, love, peace, and glory.
40. Why are our Kingdom rewards in Heaven in the present hour?
Because that is where the Lord Jesus is.
41. What else is included in our inheritance?
Absolute dominion over the earth—the rule of a rod of iron.
42. Where is our citizenship?
In Heaven.
43. Where is our place of conquest?
In the earth.
44. What did Christ have to do in order to inherit the nations and the earth?
Be born of a woman.
45. What enemy prevents our remaining in the land of our inheritance?
Physical death.
46. What causes death?
Sin.
47. What did Christ accomplish through His death on the cross?
Christ destroyed him who had the power of death, the devil.
48. What is the new creation, the Kingdom of God, of which Christ is the firstborn and the firstfruits?
The uniting of the Divine with the human in such a manner that the visible expression of the invisible God can abide on the earth and govern the handiwork of God Almighty.
49. What is one way of describing the relationship of Heaven to the earth?
The earth is a colony of the mother country, Heaven.
50. What has God the Father given to Christ His Son as His land of promise?
The earth and its inhabitants.
51. Read Psalms 2:8,9.
Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” (Psalms 2:8,9)
52. What is the most important aspect of the Kingdom of God?
The will of God.
53. What is the goal of the Christian Church?
The doing of God’s will in the earth.
54. What must be done before God’s will can be accomplished in the earth?
The performing of God’s will in the earth requires that Satan be overcome and cast out by the authority and power of Christ.
55. Is the saint above or beneath the forces of darkness?
Far above.
56. Read Ephesians 2:6; 1:21.
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:6)
far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Ephesians 1:21)
57. How high have we been raised in Christ?
To the highest throne in the universe.
58. Where will the rule of Satan be broken first?
In the heavenlies.
59. What will take place when the power of resurrection life is directed toward the earth?
The rule of wickedness will be destroyed out of the earth.
60. What is the gap between our experience and our position?
The gap is the distance between our body, which is on the earth, and our spirit, which is at the right hand of God in Christ.
61. What must we do in order to possess the Kingdom of God?
We must bring our throne life down into the earth to the point that we can live righteously on the earth.
62. To whom do the earth and its peoples belong?
Christ.
63. Read Psalms 37:9; 24:1
For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. (Psalms 37:9)
The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. (Psalms 24:1)
64. What is the destiny of Christ and His coheirs?
The earth and earth’s peoples.
65. How does Christ feel about the nations of the earth?
Jesus bears the nations on His heart as a powerful longing.
66. What happens when Christ is created in our hearts?
Our desires are directed toward the earth, toward delivering and teaching the peoples of the earth; especially the Jews, for they are particularly close to the heart of Christ.
67. What is the rest of God?
The place of abiding in the bosom of the Father until all our enemies have been made our footstool by the sovereign working of Christ in us.
68. What must we do if we are to obtain the fullness of our inheritance in Christ?
“Sell all” and give ourselves wholly to the things of Christ.
69. How should we both live and die?
In faith in Christ.
70. Of what are we to be fully persuaded?
What He has promised He is able to fulfill to the uttermost—for us.
71. What is our confession while we are on the earth?
We are a pilgrim and stranger in the earth.
72. On what are we to fix our gaze?
Christ.
73. What happens as we draw closer to Christ?
His Glory transforms us until we are in the image of Christ and in restful union with the Godhead.
74. What does the saint bring with him?
The Presence of God Almighty.
75. What is the means by which God can judge and throw out the enemy?
Our unwavering faith, given to us and maintained through God’s impartation of grace to us.
76. What are the true disciples of Jesus determined to gain?
The full, perfect attainment of that for which they have been grasped by Christ.
77. To what end has Christ grasped us?
Our own full grasp of the inheritance that God the Father has promised to the heirs of salvation.
78. What does Christ desire of His younger brothers?
That they return His grasp by cooperating with the Holy Spirit until they possess Himself, His image, His Life, and His dominion.
79. What will each saint receive in the Day of Christ?
That special place in the land of promise that he stakes out for his own, as the Lord directs and burdens him.
80. What determines how much of an inheritance we are able to claim?
The faith and diligence with which we seek Christ.
81. To whom are given the rewards of life, righteousness, authority, and union with God?
The victorious saints, the overcomers.
82. What must the saint be willing to do?
To fight.
83. What must be the greatest desire of our heart?
To possess the fullness of Christ.
84. Whom does God reward?
Every soul who sincerely seeks Him.
(“A Study Guide For “Pressing Toward the Mark””, 3413-1)