Ancient Boundaries and Ancient Paths

It is the eternal nature of God to set boundaries and paths for His people. These boundaries and paths can be both physical and spiritual. If His people walk outside the physical boundaries they would be in danger of being attacked by their enemies. The walls of the walled cities in Old Testament time were meant to keep people saved from enemy attack.

This message concerns spiritual boundaries and spiritual paths. If God's people walk outside the boundaries and walk outside the paths set by God they will live a life of defeat. Furthermore, they will die spiritually which will also lead to early physical death.

God's boundary for Adam and Eve is a vivid example:

"And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'" (Genesis 2:16, NIV).

Eve was deceived by the serpent and she removed God's boundary for herself and Adam. Not only had she eaten the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she also gave some to Adam (Gen. 3:6). The result was what the Bible says "The Fall". The immediate consequence of the Fall was death, symbolized by their loss of fellowship with God. Adam and Eve did not sin simply as private persons, but as representatives of all members of the human race. Their sin is the sin of all (Romans 5:12).

Ancient Boundaries and Ancient Paths for Christians

Today we may not have physical boundaries to subject to, but we do have many other boundaries: moral boundaries and boundaries pertaining to our spiritual calling. These boundaries identify us as citizens of the Kingdom of God, even as the walls (physical boundaries) of Jerusalem identified the citizens of Jerusalem.

The New Testament Christians were clearly distinguished by (and sometimes scorned for) the boundaries they chose to maintain. But the contemporary Christians, by and large, have moved their boundaries in spite of clear Scriptural admonishment to the contrary:

"Do not move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set" (Proverbs 22:28, NASB).

They have also refused to listen to the Lord:

Thus says the Lord, "Stand by the way and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it'. And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen'" (Jeremiah 6:16, 17, NASB, emphasis added).

Moral Boundaries

1. Boundary between the sexuality of male and female

One of the ancient boundaries we have to take heed of is the boundary of sexuality - because homosexuality is forbidden by God. God created male and female for the purpose of sexual union between male and female and not between male and male or female and female.

The removal of this boundary caused the destruction Sodom (Genesis 19).

Lot invited the two angels (they were male) to spend the night in his home. This is what the Bible says:

"Now before they (the angels) lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally'" (Gen. 19:4, 5, NKJV, emphasis added).

Before they could do anything, those homosexual men were instantly struck with blindness (Verse 11) and the angels later destroyed Sodom together with Gomorrah (Verse 24).

The same moral boundary applies to Christians today also:

Paul said, "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due" (Romans 1:26, 27, NKJV, emphasis added).

2. Boundary between male and female in look and dressing

Paul said, "Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering" (1 Cor. 11:14, 15, NIV, emphasis added).

The above needs no comment.

3. Boundary between Christians and non-Christians

Paul said, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever" (2 Cor. 6:14, 15).

A Christian should not have partnership with a non-Christian in business. Similarly a Christian should not marry a non-Christian. In other words, a Christian should not "cut" a convenant with a non-Christian.

Paul further said, "Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:17, 18).

Very often Christians indulge in the same ungodly activites as non-Christians to the point that a believer cannot be distinguished from an unbeliever. If they keep on doing this the Lord will not receive them as sons and daughters!

Boundaries of God's Calling

When God calls you to fulfill the purpose of His will He also places a boundary to your calling.

Paul said, "and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

In order to receive the blessings of God - "All things work together for good", there are two conditions which must be fulfilled first. The believer must love God and he must faithfully works out God's calling for him according to God's purpose. In other words, he must stay with the boundary of his calling.

The following two examples will make this clear:

1. Paul - One who stayed within the boundary of his God-given ministry

Paul said, "We (together with Timothy), however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us - a sphere which especially includes you. For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; ..." (2 Cor. 10:13, 14, NKJV).

2. Saul - One who failed to stayed within the boundary of his calling

A good example of a person who failed to stay in his calling was king Saul. Saul was God's choice (1 Samuel 9:16, 17). He started out fine, but later he disobeyed God and Samuel. He presumptuously offered burn offering and peace offering at Gilgal. It was Samuel's duty to offer burn offering and peace offering. He acted beyond the boundary of his calling (1 Samuel 13:5 - 14). Saul was eventually rejected by the Lord from being the king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:26).

Boundary for the Pastoral Ministry

Paul said, "And He (God) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ..." (Ephesians 4:11, 12, emphasis added).

When God calls someone to be a Pastor He also places a boundary for his ministry. Out of the five ministries stated, the ministry of a Pastor is the only "residential" (not mobile) ministry. The Greek word for "Pastor" is "poimen" which also means a "shepherd" - a feeder of sheep. Being a shepherd he looks after the Local sheep fold on behalf of the Good Shepherd - Jesus Christ (John 10).

If the Pastor of a Local Congregation travels too much and minister to other Local Churches he removes the Boundary set by God. The result can be "Burnout" - a disease of the over-committed. The sheep in his own sheep fold will suffer.

Someone said, "The will of God will stretch us, but will never lead us to burnout. The will of God will never lead us where the grace of God cannot sustain us". Therefore a Paster or any other minister of God who is experiencing burnout is not walking in the will of God.


But this does not mean a Pastor cannot leave his Local ministry at all. This problem can be resolved if there are more than one Pastor in the Local Church. I have mentioned before, God's will for the Church in every city city or locality is - One Church with plurality of shepherds. But men have turned it around - Many Churches with a single shepherd.

Boundary for Male-Female role relationships in the Church

Please read my earlier message "Male-Female Role Relationships in the Church" (Posted on 19th. April 2006) where you'll find Biblical answers to many questions the contrmporary Church finds too sensitive to ask. One of which is - "Should a woman take the role of man in the Church"?

All I need to comment is, in line with the Scripture and the New Testament teaching, every female Pastor has, knowingly or unknowingly, removed the Divine Boundary set up by God. Consequently every female Pastor is not walking in the will of God.

Rebuilding the Ancient Boundaries

Boundaries can only be rebuilt by only one way - by convictions. The root of the problem is that the contemporary Church has little or no convictions. It is because of this that the Church has no boundaries which, in turn, lead every person to do whatever he feels like. The Church is supposed to impact the world for Christ, but Christians have turned it around - allowed the world to get into the Church!

Jesus said, "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ..." (John 16:7 - 10, NIV).

Clearly, convictions are established by the Holy Spirit (the Counselor). The Holy Spirit convicts in three areas: in sin, in righteousness, and in judgment. We need to give good thought to the area of righteousness. Today there is very little righteous living.

The key to our conviction is to have a consistent prayer life. Where there is no prayer, there is no Holy Spirit to convict. You can base your convictions on the Bible, but only if you are a person of prayer. If you aren't a person of prayer, you'll not have the guidance and instruction from the Holy Spirit that you need.

The Scriptures have never been a source of conviction apart from the Holy Spirit. The New Testament Pharisees are ample proof of this. They knew and could quote all the Old Testament Scriptures, but that knowledge was useless to them because they had the wrong spirit. With their knowledge of the Old Testament, they were able to crucify the Son of God. That is why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He leaves to send the Counselor. Without the Helper, we could have ended up no better than the Pharisees!

The Holy Spirit convicts us of righteousness by reminding us of what Jesus was like. He is our righteousness. When we have no prayer life, we lose sense of the righteousness of Christ.

The Church must get back to prayer, allowing the Holy Spirit to instill immovable conviction and rebuild the ancient boundaries.