Jesus Christ The Sinless Son Of Man
Jesus Christ, The Sinless Son Of Man
Book of Hebrews 2:1-18
We learned in our last lesson that Jesus was greater than any prophet of the Bible. This gives Him the right to give us the will of God by teaching us His Word. We should listen to every word He says!
We know that it was Jesus who sent us the Holy Spirit after His death, to live inside us and to guide us!
We learned that Jesus is greater than any and all the angels. The angels are powerful but an angel cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and therefore cannot be saved if they fall from the “Grace of God”, such as Lucifer and those that followed him.
No angel could have ever done the work of Jesus Christ our Lord!
Jesus is greater than any and all the rulers of this Earth we live on!
It is a foolish choice when we do not allow Jesus to rule supreme in our lives, while we are living in this body of flesh!
We have a loving Savior who will one day take us home to Heaven!
It was necessary for God to come to this earth and live as a human, in order for Him to be a perfect sacrifice for all other humans!
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
God has given us this special privilege to live in these latter days BUT He also expects a lot out of us:
Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. [For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required]: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
The Messiah came as the man Jesus Christ so He could restore mankind to the condition God intended from the beginning.
There are two great things we will learn from the Book of Hebrews:
1.) Jesus, as the Son of Man, reveals The God of the Holy Trinity to Mankind.
2.) Jesus, as the Crucified Son of Man, will represent mankind before the Almighty, Living God.
If we cannot realize that each one of us have a representative in Heaven that secures and defends our salvation, we will be like some others who think they have lost their salvation, which is impossible, because of Our Savior, who is now our Advocate, sits at the throne of God.
*****Our Text:
Heb 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Heb 2:2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Heb 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
These verses are not in our lesson but lets look at them anyhow.
We see that this very first verse tells us we need to listen to what God tells us in His Word. That word earnest means “we need to pay close attention”!
That word “therefore”, because of what we learned from the first chapter of Hebrews, that Jesus, the Son of God, is the speaker of the last days and not the prophets and not the angels!
We are to take what God says and just believe because of the source of those words, Christ Jesus, The Author of our faith:
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
God says we cannot allow His Words to just slip by us, because we cannot escape the bondage of sin if we do not obtain the “Salvation” brought to us and given to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We cannot just neglect the Word of God!
Jesus Christ delivered a greater message than all that came before Him and everyone that hears this message has a greater responsibility to not only listen to this message but to learn from it because there will be a greater accountability for what Jesus teaches us than anything in the Old Testament.
*****Our Text:
Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
Heb 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Heb 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
That “world to come” is not a reference to Heaven but is a reference to the time of the Millennial Kingdom when King Jesus will rule on the Earth.
The Greek word used here means the inhabited Earth. This same Greek word is used when Jesus said to preach the gospel to all the world, “the inhabited Earth”.
In fact in Luke 2:1 this same Greek word is used when Caesar Augustus sent out his decree to all the world which at that time meant the Roman Empire, “the inhabited Earth”.
In Luke 21:26 this same Greek word is used as the word Earth, “the inhabited Earth”. This world to come cannot mean Heaven nor can it mean New Jerusalem.
Hebrew believers would know that this was a reference to the promise to King David!
2Sa 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
2Sa 7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
Psa 89:3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
Psa 89:4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psa 89:28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
Psa 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
The angels have never ruled in the past and the angels will never rule this earth in the future. They have been servants and messengers and they will continue to do the same throughout eternity.
What is man?
The Son of God, left the riches of Heaven and came to this Earth, to become man. He left Heaven’s glory, not to be an angel but to be lower than an angel, a man Himself.
Of himself man is nothing and can be nothing. The materials to make a man cost less than two dollars even in our economy.
Physically man is not valuable!
Mentally, we just think we are something but even Jesus said we are nothing without Him!
The only thing we provide to God is a lost sinner in need of Salvation!
We can see that in reality we are very much lower than the angels!
God, greater than all His creation, came to the Earth but He came as a lowly man and not as a powerful angel.
God could not have revealed Himself to us if He had come as a powerful angel. God came to represent mankind.
God came to this Earth so He could take man back to Heaven!
If we get to Heaven it will be because of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
There is no other means to be saved, nor to get to God’s Heaven!
It is man, Adam who was set over God’s creation and not any angel!
We are going to do something that no angel could ever do! God is going to bring man back to a place of ruling this Earth and not Satan, who is now the little g god of this world.
God does not intend on Lucifer or any other angel to rule any part of His creation.
But we can also see in America and all over this world that man is not yet capable of ruling again on this Earth.
God has placed everything under the feet of Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God!
When Christ Jesus rules this Earth as King, it will return to the paradise that it once was!
*****Our Text:
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Heb 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Heb 2:11 [For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one]: for which cause [he is not ashamed to call them brethren],
Heb 2:12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto [my brethren], in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
Heb 2:13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, [Behold I and the children which God hath given me].
The sinless Son of Man, Jesus Christ Our Lord had to lay aside His Glory in order than He could die that we can share His Glory!
Jesus came down to our level but He never committed a sin! Jesus had to survive temptation to become the perfect sacrifice for our sin.
Jesus paid the full price for our sin. We do not have to pay one thing in the redemption process. The only thing we give to God, is a person in need of saving.
Jesus Christ came to this world in order that we could be saved and that He will one day take us back to the glory-land.
It is in Jesus Christ, and only in Jesus Christ that we can be saved!
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
If we use the word rescuing more than the word saving, we would have a better understanding of what the Captain of Salvation has done.
Jesus has rescued each and every believer and He will accept, “whosoever will believe” into His house in Heaven.
Jesus says:
Psa 22:22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
This means “we that believe” and “the Son of God” belong to the same family!
If we can accept this fact, then we should know that we are also to live as close to perfect as we can in this flesh that houses our soul!
Not only are we His brothers and sisters, we are also His children. If the Messiah had not come to this earth and become a man, He would not have been able to take us back to Heaven.
Jesus had to be the incarnate Son of God.
Jesus had to be the crucified Son of Man.
Jesus had to be the resurrected Savior.
OR, there could no salvation for anyone!
Jesus Christ, just like us, trusted God just like we have to do, and because if we have that faith in God as He had, He is not ashamed to call us His brethren.
When Christ Jesus was on that cross, His enemies had these words:
Mat 27:43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Jesus showed this trust in His Father, but not for Himself, He and His Father are one. Jesus showed this trust in His Father for the children His Father gave to Him.
This is every believer from that time until the end of time.
What did God the Father do:
Mat 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
He accepted the sacrifice of His Son.
When we do not accept the completed work of Jesus on that cross, we are saying that it was not good enough for us, when God the Father has already accepted this sacrifice!
When we wait on the Lord, we are trusting in His return and in the words He has told us and written down for us.
We are also trusting that God the Father truly loves us because of His Son!
God the Father is the only Being in this universe who has the power of death because He is the giver of life!
Our Text:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Why did the Son of God, The Messiah, come to this Earth the first time? Verse 14 gives us our answer!
The Holy Spirit reminds us that we are on Satan’s “turf”!
We live in a place where Satan is present. Satan will never again be present in Heaven, and that is where the home of the believer is located. Ever since the fall of Adam, this world and this world system has been Satan’s territory.
1.) Satan is the prince of the power of the air. We can only imagine what all this means.
2.) Satan is the “little g” god of this age. Which means the time, up until the Second Coming of Christ Jesus.
3.) Satan is the ruler of this world but Satan can only attack the children of God with the permission of God as we can prove by the Book of Job.
4.) This why every world view will always oppose the Word of God!
We have the same attack on every person in this world just as the serpent deceived Eve!
The Messiah, The First Coming of the Son of God, fulfilled prophecy:
He was born like a man and named Jesus!
He took the same flesh and blood as a man!
He fulfilled prophecy in His birth, but He was born naturally like every human.
Why?
Because that, then He died, He would render Satan powerless over death.
The Bible says:
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
By making Satan powerless, He set at liberty all of us who were bound for Hell, in bondage and were servants of Satan, the Devil.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Angels cannot die! Jesus Christ did not come to save not one angel!
Jesus, The Son of God, The Messiah, came to save humans!
The Messiah had to come in the form of “Human Flesh” for only then could He die and in His death defeat Satan whose methods would have destroyed all life.
Satan is a fallen angel who cannot die, not because God does not have the power to do so, but because God says so in His Word and He will not violate any part of His Word.
The death of Satan will mean that He will no longer be able to operate as He did. He is not so much destroyed but we could say disarmed. He holds no power of death over the believer!
It is the death of Our Savior that gives us life. Not the miracle birth! Not the miracles He performed.
Not His life on this Earth BUT only by His death!
The after His death, He showed His power in His resurrection.
We are still going to die in this flesh but because of the work of Jesus on the cross we can live forever spiritual, and with a new glorified body.
This is the great and wonderful gift that Jesus, Our Lord has given to each one of us who believe.
Satan is the author of Sin:
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Sin brings death:
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But because of the cross and the resurrection of Our Lord, we can also have life eternal:
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
I believe that it can be said that in the Old Testament, The Son of God took on the nature of angels to do His Work and is many times called the Angel of the Lord but He took on the seed of Abraham so that the Jew could believe.
God made every effort from the time of Adam and Eve to let them know that the Messiah would come in the flesh as a Jew.
The path to that baby born of a virgin and laid in a manger was marked throughout the Bible. Everybody should be able to see these signs of truth, yet He is still denied.
The Bible teaches us:
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
God gave the world His Old Testament to lead them to Him:
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
The New Testament is to teach us all:
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
God has so dealt with sin that He can now show mercy to every believing sinner to remove all our guilt and therefore our bondage to sin.
What is the great truth of the Bible now for the believer?
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you do not know this marvelous Savior, today would be a good day to find Him as He is standing just outside your heart:
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Questions?
Let’s Pray!
Jesus Christ, The Eternal Son Of God
Jesus Christ—The Eternal Son Of God
Our Text: Book of Hebrews Chapter 1
I have always considered the Book of Hebrews my favorite book of the Bible BUT, I have grown to realize that every Book of the Bible should be my favorite.
There are no unimportant scriptures in the Word Of God!
We will find out that Jesus Christ is the main subject in this wonderful book. Jesus Christ may no longer be in a physical body on this Earth but He still abides in each and every believer!
Jesus Christ is now in Heaven with the Father and He has become Our High Priest and He intercedes for “all the ones He owns”.
He paid dearly with His blood to purchase each and every believer and now defends each one in Heaven as our advocate. An advocate is somewhat like a lawyer.
Jesus Christ:
1.) Lived on Earth as a man.
2.) He also died on this Earth as a man.
3.) But Jesus Christ arose with the Power of God and now lives in God’s Presence.
4.) And Now at this time, Jesus Christ is our permanent High Priest to the Church.
The Bible says:
Heb 7:24 But this man, because he continueth ever, [hath an unchangeable priesthood].
Even when Jesus returns as the King of the Jews, He will still be High Priest to the Church, and Husband to the Bride of Christ.
When Jesus died, He ended the dispensation of The Law and ushered in a New Covenant that was written with His Own Blood!
This New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant and more involved, so then it must replace the Old One.
This is the message we should learn from the Book of Hebrews!
We may not know who wrote the Book of Hebrews until we get to Heaven when God says we will know all things and have the mind of Jesus Christ.
But what we need to know is:
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
This great book was probably directed at early Jewish believers. In fact the Church began with early Jewish believers and there are still Jewish believers, BUT the key word is of course “Believer” and every believer should study the entire Bible.
The Jews had to understand, and some did, that the time of the Law had ended along with the time of all animal sacrifices.
Jesus was our sacrifice and Jesus paid it all at the cross!
To say that Jesus Christ is superior to all the Old Testament prophets would be especially meaningful to the Jewish believer and maybe not as much to the Gentile believer.
To the Gentile, Jesus is more the fulfillment of all Bible prophesy!
Jesus is our Savior and not so much the Prophet to the Church!
There are many who want to be prophets but we can have only one Savior and we already know Him!
At the time of the writings of Hebrews it is very probable that most everyone that had known Jesus personally had died. I do believe that the Apostle John was still alive and also the Apostle Paul who I believe had some part in, or maybe the writer of this book.
But, It is God who wrote all the Bible!
As we know, God is a God of timing and there can be no doubt that this book was written at a critical time in the life of the Jewish Believer.
The Temple was still standing but it would only be a few years before Titus came to destroy Israel and Jerusalem and cause the dispersion of Israel for the third and last time.
This book would encourage the Jewish believer to believe that Jesus was superior to all the Old Testament traditions and all the Old Testament prophets!
When we study this book we should be encouraged to know what we are trusting in.
It is the Word of God that we can trust and not the words of this world we live in!
The world of the Jew was a world of chaos at this time and if we open our eyes we can also see a world in chaos against God and His people at this time we live in.
AND, God warns us of rejecting the teachings of Jesus:
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, [if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven]:
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: [but now he hath promised], saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
There should not be any doubt that this book and most all the New Testament focuses on the future from the time they were written.
We live in part of that future time spoken of in the Bible:
Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection [he world to come, whereof we speak].
We are living in the days just before the soon coming Glory Days of Christ Jesus and we are actually some of that future spoken of in the Book of Hebrews.
Our Text:
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
When we study the Book of Hebrews we should have a better understanding of how much superior the Christian faith is above all other religions! The word “better” is seen many times in Hebrews. Our goal, to learn about Christ Jesus should include the Book of Hebrews.
BUT, The Book of Hebrews will also challenge us to see Jesus as He is now!
We also should keep in mind the main purpose God had in “Creation”.
1.) God wants every one of us to know Him on a personal level, just as Adam did before his fall.
2.) But, God wants us to know that our joy on this Earth will happen only through a personal relationship with Him.
The very first word in this great book is “God”. This means the Supreme, Divine Magistrate, The Godhead, The God that is the Holy Trinity!
This is the “Creator” of this universe that we live and Our God expects us to accept that fact, so He does not mention why or how He is God.
AND, There will be no excuse for not knowing this God:
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20 [For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen], being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
There is only one way to please God:
Heb 11:6 [But without faith it is impossible to please him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
*****Sundry times would mean at various times through many men, as Abraham through Moses and all others. The Old Testament was written over a 1500 year period and from a period of about 4000 years before Jesus.
God did not give all His truth to Abraham but revealed it at certain times to many others until the time of Jesus.
*****Divers manners would mean in different ways, as God will use all His Creation especially humans to do His speaking, but He has also spoken out Himself through the Holy Spirit.
We should realize that we have a God who speaks to His People!
God has used many ways of communicating to those that wrote the Old Testament.
He used dreams, He spoke through the Laws of Moses, He spoke through the design and the building of the Tabernacle and the Temple. He spoke through the sacrifices, and He spoke through “Types” and He has spoken through His “Creation”!
He spoke through His Psalms and He spoke through as many as 45 writers of the Bible.
He has given us His Divine will by giving us His Inspired Word!
[All scripture is given by inspiration of God]
*****The words “in time past” are in references to the Old Testament, that we have with us today.
God has indeed spoken to us all and with these scriptures but we immediately see that we did not have the completed Word until God spoke to us all through His Son!
What other religion can say they have a God who speaks to His people?
Most false religions begin by certain leaders who say a god spoke to them and they were to teach all others.
Jehovah our God speaks to all His children!
*****We should also know that these words that were spoken by the The Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, are superior to all the prophets of the Old Testament.
God wanted all the Hebrew believers to be aware of this fact.!
Jesus Christ is superior for He was not only a man but He is “The Son Of God”!
Jesus was not just a man that was called of God!
We must also realize that if God spoke out of Heaven to anyone in our day, [He would only repeat what He has already written down for us]!
There will not ever be any new chapters of our Bible!
There will never be any NEW WORD OF GOD!
If there are any new revelations they will come from the Word He has already given to us!
We have a completed work and the complete Word of God [and it came by His Son]!
*****The Son, is the heir of all things of the Father!
*****The Son, is the Creator of all things!
*****The Son, is the completer of and, the fulfillment of the written Word of God!
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
And who is this Son?
Joh 1:14 [And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us], (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And John the Baptist said, this is the One, This is the Son:
Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, [but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ].
*****The “express image”:
The Bible teaches us that Jesus was not just another sign nor was He just another revelation of God.
Jesus Christ is God’s final and ultimate revelation of Himself to all people.
The New Age movement then is a lie!
Eastern mysticism is then a lie!
Humanism is then a lie!
Islam is then a lie!
All Cults are lies!
Anything that is not of Christ Jesus is then a lie!
Jesus Christ is the brightness of God’ Glory!
Jesus Christ is not a reflection of God but Is The Shining Forth Of God’s Glory!
Jesus Christ is “ONE” WITH GOD!
Jesus Christ, The Son, is the full and perfect revelation of what is in Our Father in Heaven!
AND, We can know The Father because we know The Son!
*****The Son upholds all things.
In other words this creation of God that we live in is sustained and kept in it’s creative order by the power of the Son of God!
It is God that sits on the throne. It is through His Son that is in perfect control of the events that take place on this Earth!
Time will pass just as He says these Ages will come to pass!
If you study His Words you can know what “Age” you live in and how we should all be busy about the work He has given us to do!
*****It is this Son, the Lord Jesus Christ that “By Himself” cleansed us from all our sin!
This is the “image” God wants us to see:
Jesus Christ, The Son, is the “revelation” of God’s Love, God’s Grace, God’s Justice, God’s Holiness, and God’s Righteousness.
This is the “revelation” God gives us of cleansing us of our personal sin and He will one day cleanse His entire creation of sin and the curses.
This is the promise God makes and this is why we should base our salvation on the promises of God! He is the God, who has never failed and His Son who paid the price for our salvation with His blood.
*****Our Lord is now back at home doing exactly what He said He would be doing.
He is preparing us a mansion in His Fathers house, and He is interceding on our behalf, BUT He is also praying for our victory over this sinful world!
What a Savior we have!
*****Our Text:
Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Heb 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Heb 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
Jesus Christ did not die to save any of the fallen angels! They will never be restored!
Jesus died to save mankind!
Jesus is superior to any angel and any prophet! We read a lot about angels in the Old Testament but we do not read of an angel ministry connected to the Church.
Do we all have guardian angels?
Are angels busy doing what God tells them to do?
A child of God is indwelled with the Holy Spirit of the Almighty God and not one angel has the power of the Holy Spirit!
Angels are Heavenly personalities, they have no place to dwell on this Earth.
They are made for the presence of God. Angels are glorious creatures, and they are wonderful and powerful and skillful and they know many great things, but they do not know the feeling of being indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
Angels are seen in battles!
Angels are seen in death!
When an angle comes on the scene, “victory is assured” BUT it is not because of the angel it is because of the Lord of those angels.
They will do whatever the will of God without question and without remorse!
But among all the angels there is none as great as God’s Son.
Every angel in Heaven could be sacrificed and not one lost person could have been saved!
Not one angel could pay the penalty of our sin!
Not one angel could become a man so they could die!
Not one angel could shed blood, they do not have blood! And without the “shedding of blood” there can be no remission of sin:
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Only Christ Jesus, The “ONLY” begotten Son, could pay the price for all our sin!
When was Jesus “begotten”? When He was brought back from the dead!
Jesus was not begotten in Bethlehem!
The begotten is the work of God:
Psa 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, [Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee].
Psa 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
God will do whatever He desires with His angels.
He may change them into winds, or flames of fire and He has done these things and still does these things!
And ,we should know that God is good and everything He does is good!
*****Heb 1:13 [But to which of the angels said he at any time], Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Heb 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
To make more sense of this verse let’s look at what Jesus said as He responded to the questions of the High Priest before He was crucified:
Mar 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
Mar 14:62 And Jesus said, [I am]: and [ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power], and coming in the clouds of heaven.
In Matthew we see:
Mat 22:41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
Mat 22:42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
Mat 22:43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
Mat 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Mat 22:45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
Now back to our scripture in Hebrews, I personally believe it can be said that you will never find a place in the Old Testament where God said any of the angels were His sons!
The Psalms teach “the deity” of Christ and there is a more complete picture of Christ in the Psalms than in the Gospels.
Jesus said:
Luk_24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, [that all things must be fulfilled], which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and [in the psalms, concerning me].
The right hand of God, is the place of honor for only the [begotten Son of God]!
We have already stated Jesus is the [begotten Son of God] because He arose from the death of the cross!
No angel could ever reach this place of honor as the Son of God!
There is only one Son in the Holy Trinity and that Son is Jesus:
Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; [angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him].
There is no other Savior because there is no other Son of God!
Most false religions and most cults will honor Jesus, but only with there own man-made doctrine BUT, when they are confronted with the truth of Sin, and Righteousness, and Judgment, they will not accept that Jesus was God in the flesh!
It is a fact that no one in this world can be saved until they face there own decision of just “what are they going to do with Jesus”!
According to the Book of Hebrews, to reject Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Bible, is to reject the “One True God”!
The angels are powerful creations of God!
They were created back in Genesis 1:1.
An angel cannot die!
The angels are ministering spirits that were created to do obey the will of God!
BUT,
Not one angel can intercede on the behalf of God’s children!
Not one angel can be a mediator for God’s children!
Not one angel can answer pray!
Not one angel can fill you with God’s Holy Spirit!
Not one angel can save you from the wrath of God!
And, Not one angel can forgive sin!
We have only one advocate, and that “ONE”, is the Christ of God, the Lord Jesus, The Son!
Jesus Christ is greater then the angels!
Jesus Christ is greater than the Laws of Moses!
Jesus Christ is sitting on the throne of Power, YET, He still humbles Himself to intercede for every “Born Again” child of God!
What a precious Savior we have!
Christ Jesus is the Son, angels are His servants!
Christ Jesus will return as the King, angels are His subjects!
Christ Jesus is the Creator, angels are creatures of His creation!
Christ is now sitting on His throne in Heaven waiting until He will come to destroy His enemies with His angels.
He will wait until God stops calling on the Lost to be saved!
God says His Son will one day rule over all His creation SO, Jesus is much higher than any angel!
We must remember when Jesus returns as King, He will rule in Israel for 1000 years.
He will redeem His creation to Himself!
He will reverse the effects of the curse, and our environment will be restored as it was in the days of Adam and there will be harmony in this Earth again!
But we must also remember before this happens, the Church will be called out!
Satan will send a “false messiah” who says that he can bring peace to this Earth and there will be seven years of Satan’s lies before the truth of the Gospel is revealed with the return of Christ Jesus.
There is no evil that can stand before the Glory of God and His Son.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
How can we not trust the truth of the Word of God?
Questions
Let’s Pray!
What Is God’s Will
God’s Will——-Anointing A Successor
Text: Deuteronomy 31-34
Our Focus: Deuteronomy 31:1-8; 34:1-10
We have a great pastor and he is a great preacher but the work of God is greater than any one individual man.
Because, As we live, we will surely one day die, unless the Rapture comes during our lifetime.
Israel had been blessed with great leaders like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob who had come before Moses and great men would follow after Moses in the history of Israel.
Another thing we should realize as we close out these lessons in Deuteronomy is that as we come to the end of the life of Moses, it was Moses that had written the first five Books of the Bible we have been studying for several months now.
We have a record of the 120 years that Moses lives and we can be sure that in the 40 years in the wilderness Moses had spent much time, led by the Holy Spirit to write down God’s Word for us.
God had promised Moses that a successor like unto him but greater than him would come. God was not talking about Joshua at this time:
Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Deu 18:19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
This great prophet would be from the Jews and He would bring God’s Word of truth that could not be ignored.
God said this prophet was Jesus Christ:
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
God knew that Moses would be considered a great man so God said Jesus was much more worthy than Moses:
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Heb 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Heb 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
God knew that it was possible that there would be some that considered Moses greater than all the High Priest of Israel, so God said this:
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
In fact God said that the New Covenant would replace the covenants made in the time of Moses:
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
What Moses had done for the worship of Israel was to show and teach them a pattern of the truth that was to come by Jesus Christ:
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
The Law given by Moses was just a shadow of the good things to come in the name of Jesus Christ:
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and not the very image of the things], can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
God says that Jesus Christ is the “One” to establish the second covenant of eternal life:
Heb 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
As Moses went on to be with the Lord, we should be encouraged to know that God will place someone else to carry on the work.
But we should also realize that Satan will even try to take advantage even at the death of a great man of God:
Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
That’s the reason that only God would know where the body of Moses was buried!
*****Our Text:
Deu 31:1 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.
Deu 31:2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
Moses said to Israel, “I am getting old”, “I cannot do the physical things I have been doing”. It was time for Moses to step aside and not interfere with what God would do with Joshua. Moses was still physically fit for many things but it would take many years of war in the Promised land and he was not able to do these things.
God had chosen Joshua to lead Israel.
There is also another reason for choosing Joshua:
In Hebrew the name “Joshua” means “Jehovah is salvation”.
In Greek the name “Jesus” means Joshua.
God was teaching Israel and all who study the Bible, the greatest principle in the Bible.
Moses was the great Lawgiver but God was teaching that Laws can only take you so far and that only Jesus could take us to the Promised Land.
Israel has not learned this lesson yet!
To “go out and to come in” are that activities of a leader and Moses could no longer be the leader of Israel much longer even though he still had some physical strength.
*****Deu 31:3 The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.
It was not Moses that had chosen Joshua! God had chosen Joshua! As a warrior it would seem that Caleb would have been a better choice.
We must not ever feel like we are something great in our service to Our Lord. None of us are essential to God’s program. God prepares and uses us at His own will. That is why it is such a privilege to serve God.
It is a great privilege to be chosen to be in God’s service!
But if we will not serve after being chosen, God will find some one else to give blessings He would have given to you!
God would use Caleb and many others but Joshua was to be the leader!
*****Deu 31:4 And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.
Deu 31:5 And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.
Deu 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Moses took the time to encourage not only Joshua but all the nation of Israel. They would have to trust that God would deliver them from all their enemies in Canaan Land and they would have to trust that Joshua was God’s chosen man for this time.
When we know we are following God’s chosen men we also need to be firm in our trust in the Lord. Moses had trained Joshua much like Jesus had trained His 12 disciples. Every generation must prepare the next generation for the work of the Lord. The greatest test of a good leader is what he leaves behind to carry on the work of the The Lord.
Not only are our national leaders failing us at this time but those behind the pulpits of America are also failing us now.
Praise God for Gethsemane, our church, but we must still contend for the faith to hold onto what we have, even in our place of worship.
*****Deu 31:7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
Moses stood Joshua up before all the people and then encouraged Joshua. This showed all the people that it was Joshua that was chosen by the Lord and accepted by Moses.
Every good leader should know when to step aside when their task are complete.
When our work on this Earth is complete, God can take us home. Heaven is our home and that’s where we will be at full rest. Moses work was complete and the work of Joshua was just getting started.
John the Baptist said, “I must decrease and Jesus must increase”. Moses had reached this point in his own life.
*****Deu 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
We must always remember, no matter who our leaders are, It Is God That Sits On The Throne!
God does not get sick, and God does not die.
God is continuously working in this world and will have His Will done in the end!
The Bible teaches us:
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
And again:
Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
We will not know until we get to Heaven and have the mind of Christ, what great things God has done around us while we lived in this flesh.
*****Our Text:
Deu 34:1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
Deu 34:2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,
Deu 34:3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
Deu 34:4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
Deu 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Deu 34:6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Even in death, Moses would be a type of Christ Jesus. Moses had began as a lonely shepherd caring for
sheep. Now at His death, he was leaving the sheep in the hands of Joshua and going up to the top of Mount Nebo to be alone with God.
But what we read is more about Moses not going into the promised land than about his death. If the burial place had been made known, his bones would have been dug up and brought into Canaan Land just as the bones of Joseph.
We know that Moses did make it into the Promised Land but not the way he expected.
Both Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration!
Their conversation with Jesus was about the Cross:
Luk 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luk 9:31 Who appeared in glory, [and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem].
What we should notice is that the Law could not bring Moses to the Promised Land but it was not a problem for Jesus!
Moses was God’s chosen leader of His people! Moses was the Lawgiver! Without Moses or someone like him there could have been a nation we know of as Israel.
Moses presented the Word of God which began Judaism.
God never intended for Israel to ignore the prophesies of the Church Age and the Messiah!
Moses was a great man but when God equips His great men, God also expects more from them.
Moses had failed to glorify God:
Num 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Num 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Num 20:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
God forgives all our sin but God will also allow our sin to work out it’s consequences in our lives!
This comes with that freedom of choice God has given to each of us!
When we choose wrong we will suffer for it but it will not keep us out of Heaven!
Only rejecting Christ Jesus can keep us out of Heaven!
God allowed Moses to see the whole land that was to be Israel. Israel does not possess all the land mentioned in these verses at this time but it is still their land and does not belong to any other people.
After seeing the land, Moses died. According to the Bible, The Lord and the Archangel Michael buried him on Mount Nebo:
Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
No one has ever found the grave site of Moses, not even in our day!
If we learn only one thing from this verse in the Book of Jude, we should learn that we should never speak against God’s Chosen. This includes every believer. Jude says not even an angel would speak against God’s Chosen people.
If an angel will not, out of respect for the Lord, then we certainly should not.
Moses died according to God’s Word and we need to realize that we will all die according to God’s Word!
Every Saint that dies is precious to Him:
Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
But while we are alive we have another responsibility:
Psa 116:18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD [now in the presence of all his people],
*****Our Text:
Deu 34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
Deu 34:8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
We will die just as God’s plan for us is real:
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
This plan of God began before He wrote this Book we call the Bible and it cannot change!
We cannot live beyond the time that God wrote down for each of us, while in this flesh. But this same Word of God says we will never die in what is the real person we are, “if we know the Lord Jesus Christ as Our Savior”.
When we are disobedient, God allows us to see how we have in our foolishness, hastened our own death!
Moses did not die a lonely death because The Lord was with Him and also an Angel.
God is no respecter of persons so it is a great privilege to know that no matter our condition at our death, The Lord will be with us until He takes on Home!
We will not die alone!
Deu 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Deu 34:10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
Moses was a faithful person but his house was not to be in the land of Canaan. Until the Lord Jesus came not one Old Testament saint could be a house of God:
Heb 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; [whose house are we], if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
But because Moses had faith in Jehovah God, he has given us a great example of what “Faith” is all about.
Moses spake openly to God as a man speaks to his friend. This is exactly how God wants to speak to each one of us!
Moses had said that He had no abilities to serve the Lord but we see how The Lord can equip each of us to be mighty in His work.
Moses was known as the most humble man of that time, which teaches us that we need to walk humbly with The Lord.
Moses listened to what God said and Moses obeyed what God said to do.
Moses was devoted to God’s People.
Moses was willing to lay down his life for God’s People.
If we cannot be somewhat like Moses who could not be a Christian because Christ had not yet come.
HOW CAN WE CALL OURSELVES CHRISTIANS IF WE CANNOT BE MORE LIKE THE EXAMPLE MOSES GAVE US!
The Lord spent 80 years preparing Moses to lead the nation of Israel. God is patient to spend whatever time it takes to make each of us worthy servants.
How can we not serve Him.
Moses finished the work God gave Him to do.
Would it not be great to know that when God’s calls us home we will know that we have finished the work that He gave us to do!
Jesus Christ is our only perfect example to live by but the Word of God shows us that imperfect people are what God has to work with to get His message out to the world. We will make mistakes but God will never leave us and we should never leave Him.
Let’s Pray!
God’s Covenant—-What Will You Choose?
God’s Covenant—- Choosing Life
Text: Deuteronomy 27-30
Our Focus: Deuteronomy 29:1, 9-13; 30:1-6, 15-20
Why are we here? What is life all about? What is the meaning of it all?
If you were to confront anyone and give them a choice between living in their present circumstances or not living at all, most of us would choose to continue living. This tells where are priorities are!
Life is truly valuable and dear to us, regardless of the circumstances!
But is this what the Bible teaches?
Jesus says:
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, [I am the way, the truth, and the life]: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And Jesus also says:
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The Bible teaches us that if we choose life in this world then we have not chosen true life.
To choose eternal life then is to choose death!
We must “die to our flesh” in order to live for Our Lord Jesus Christ!
When God calls out a special people to Himself, He will always make a place for us to meet with Him. To the Jew it was the Tabernacle and then the Temple. To the Church it is our local assemblies.
The Jew is promised the land of Palestine where they will rule with King Jesus for 1000 years.
The Church is promised a home in Heaven for eternity!
There is a great difference between these two promises!
In order for these things to happen “choices” must be made “while we are still living” in these bodies of flesh.
This Book of Deuteronomy we have been studying tells us that Israel will take possession of the land of Palestine.
69 times in this book we can read that Israel will take possession of Palestine. It is the Jew who own the land of Palestine.
But, the Lord did set down conditions for them to stay in the land!
They had to obey the Word of God and judgments would come if they would not obey!
The prophecies of dispersion are foretold!
We know that they were dispersed by Assyria about 722 BC, and by Babylon about 586 BC and finally by Rome in 70 AD.
But we also see that God will reveal that Israel would once again possess the land.
They only live on a small portion of it now that began on May 14, 1948. They added another portion during the six day war of 1967.
The ultimate fulfillment and the return of Israel to all their land will come during the Millennial Kingdom “after” the Church has been called home!
Before this Palestinian Covenant will be fulfilled, Israel must first come to a place of repentance and knowledge of the Messiah whom they rejected the first time.
The Bible tells us:
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
So what we study in these final chapters of Deuteronomy are prophesies that are partially fulfilled and the remainder will be fulfilled after the Church Age ends, with the “Rapture” of the Bride of Christ, the Church.
One of the main things we should determine is, that the land of Palestine belongs to Israel and not any other nation because God says so, and we do not need any other reason to believe this!
The true Palestinians are the Israelites!
Some of God’s promises are conditional!
His blessings are based on obedience from the heart!
God will keep all His Word, when we meet all His conditions!
*****Our Text:
Deu 29:1 These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
Deu 29:9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
Deu 29:10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
Deu 29:11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
Deu 29:12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
Deu 29:13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Chapters 29 and 30 are known to Bible scholars as the Palestinian Covenant. Many say we can understand the Bible best by learning these covenants.
There are many people we call Dispensationalist, who study the Bible by the dispensations but I believe if we are to understand what God says we will use both the Covenants and the Dispensations as we rightly divide the Word of God.
The Covenant given at Mount Horeb was the Moral Laws, along with the laws of worship, and the oracles of life.
This the Mosaic Law or the 613 laws given to Israel, or whats called the Mosaic Covenant.
This Palestinian Covenant deals with the land that was promised to Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant.
This is not as complicated as it may sound and makes a good Bible study.
God does not wait until after Israel enters this land of Canaan to make a covenant with them. This is an unconditional covenant AND some conditions must be met for them to stay in the land, BUT there is also no condition to be met for them to own the land.
This is the fulfillment in part of the promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
To compare:
God says there are many mansions in His house in Heaven, this is an unconditional statement, but there are conditions that must be met for us to live in our mansion. Namely faith in the work of our Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ!
But even today, once Born Again as Jesus said, we already own that Home in the Gloryland!
We make a “covenant of faith” with the Lord when we pray the sinners prayer:
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
and
1Jn 4:15 “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God”, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
and
Heb 12:24 [And to Jesus the mediator of the "new covenant"], and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel
The secret to life after being saved is being obedient to the Word of God!
Obedience is still the place of blessings! Israel was warned by Moses of this fact. Blessings come with obedience!
Notice Moses began with the leaders of Israel.
It is sad to say but in 1789 our nation adopted the Constitution of the United States of America. These are the laws that govern our nation and strict guidelines were given before any change could be made in any of those laws.
Our leaders are to obey those laws and then see that they are obeyed.
Our nation was formed as a Christian nation and now our leaders have forgotten that fact and ignore not only God’s Word but they ignore our Constitution as well!
They have placed themselves above the Law of the land and the Laws of God!
And we wonder why America is suffering! Our leaders do not set a very good example to our own shame.
Our laws are for our leaders, every individual, and for every immigrant that comes to America!
How many migrants have forgotten this and want to live by their own laws which is why many left their own nation to come to America.
We can also see that not only the leaders of Israel but everyone else were to have that same obedience to the Law of God!
The men, the women, the children and any servants and also any stranger that was not a Jew.
How can we say we have a God if we do not yield ourselves to His Word?
What God does for us depends a great deal on how we relate to Him:
2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
2Co 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Co 6:16 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].
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 [And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty].
To Israel the Palestinian Covenant is forever but for them to enjoy this land promised to Abraham, would depend on how well they were obedient to the Word of God.
It is also important to realize, that what these people decided this day would also affect their children and grandchildren, and all their descendants for years to come.
This was not so much a warning as it was the truth!
*****Our Text:
Deu 30:1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
Deu 30:2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
As we try to understand this covenant of God we will see about seven great promises but we will not see
the word “IF”.
Notice the first thing we see is the “fact” that Israel would be dispersed among all nations because of disobedience and unfaithfulness.
This is a fact and it has happened!
There will be a future repentance and a coming back to God.
This has not happened! They were dispersed for disobedience and they will have to obey for this to take place but this will be under “Grace” and not by any law.
There are at least 12 prophesies of the regathering of Israel in the Old Testament and they have not taken place yet even though other prophesies have been fulfilled to make preparation for this event.
*****Deu 30:3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
This is an important prophecy of the Messiah. This is the very first time the Bible mentions the return of Christ Jesus to the Earth in the Bible.
Jude says:
Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Jude makes a record of what Enoch said, but this was not recorded in the Old Testament for the Jews to see.
These children of Israel were to listen entirely to the Word that God gave to Moses!
This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled! Yes, Jesus the Messiah came to begin His Church and to make a way of salvation but this was before Israel had been dispersed by Rome after 70 AD, when they have been dispersed all over the world.
It is the second coming of Christ Jesus that will bring peace to this world and blessings to the land for 1000 years. This will be after Jesus comes in the clouds to get His Church.
The Bible says:
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 [Then cometh the end], “when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God”, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
Our Text:
*****Deu 30:4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
Deu 30:5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
We can see that this is the promise that Israel will be restored to the land but only after they have been scattered all over the world.
No amount of scattering can change the “fact” that in the future God will bring them back into their land. This is made very clear in this passage. This is not some new land but the exact same land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
*****Deu 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Notice there will be national conversion BUT Even this may not mean every single individual but it does mean that Israel as a whole will be converted to Christianity.
Jeremiah 32:39 gives us this same prophecy.
Hosea gives us this same prophecy.
Ezekiel 11:19-20 and Ezekiel 36:26-27 gives us this prophecy.
And the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church:
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Notice the fulness of the Church still refers to the Rapture!
BUT, This is God’s fulfillment of this Palestinian Covenant!
This is the second coming of Christ to judge the enemies of Israel, as the Church will already be in Heaven!
The “enemies” of Israel and of the Church, are all that reject Jehovah God, The God of the Holy Trinity!
This is where many get lost in the Word of God. The Church is not “Spiritual Israel”!
These Old Testament prophesies are not being fulfilled in the Church!
These prophesies were not fulfilled at the first coming of Our Lord!
Moses is speaking to Israel in these passages and not some other people of God!
The Church has “NO” covenant relationship to the land of Palestine!
These blessings and curses were declared to Israel and not to the Church!
God will forgive Israel of her sins and they will be establish in Messiah’s Kingdom:
The Bible says:
Zec 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
Zec 14:9 [And the LORD shall be king over all the earth]: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
*****Our text:
Deu 30:15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
Deu 30:16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
When Christ Jesus was on this Earth, He said the greatest commandment was “to Love God with all our heart” and that all the laws could be wrapped up in that command of “Love”.
We see this in these words of Moses. If we love the LORD as we should, we will walk in His ways. We will keep His commandments. [He will bless us for our obedience!]
We know that Israel lost their land for more than 1878 years and have still not gotten it all back.
God will return all their land but we will probably not see it in our life time. Why? Not because of obedience! God will return the land to Israel because He promised.
It is in the promises of God that we have written down for us in this Bible, that we need to place our faith and not what the world tells us. We never read of God breaking a promise and a covenant is a promise!
God ask us to trust the Lord Jesus as our Savior.When we pray a prayer of faith we receive God’s Promise of eternal life and a place of rest in His House forever!
*****Our text:
Deu 30:17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
Deu 30:18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: [therefore choose life], that both thou and thy seed may live:
Deu 30:20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them
Again we see the the word “Heart” is one of the key words in these chapters.
Because we are created in the image of Our God, we have minds to think with, hearts to feel with, [and and a free will to choose]!
God has given us His pure Word and God expects us to make the right choices!
Moses made it very clear to Israel that this should not be a very difficult task.
God says:
Only a fool will say there is no God. (Psa 14:1)
We can choose life or we can choose death. We must choose because if we do not choose, we have chosen death!
Blessings still come with obedience and therefore cursings still come with disobedience!
Moses called all God’s creation to witness the great opportunities God was giving Israel at this time.
As believers God gives us a great opportunity for eternal life!
But He also gives us a great opportunity to receive His blessings while we are still living!
We hinder our own blessings with disobedience. Shame on us!
Let’s Pray!
God Warns Us—-Proving The Prophets Of God
God’s Warnings—Proving The Prophets Of God
Our Text: Deuteronomy 13-26
Our Focus: Chapter 13:1-5; 18:9-15, 18-22
Many writers always try to give the key verse in a Bible passage and we should always look for the key message God has for us when we study the Bible. It is true that the Holy Spirit will guide us if we pray and listen to Him.
We will learn how to distinguish a true prophet of God in this lesson and we certainly need to know this but there is another lesson we need to know in this passage.
Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: [for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul].
God is going to test us from time to time to see if we are sincere in our love for Him! We might not like these test but they are going to happen.
We must accept this part of God’s Word as the truth also and in most of these cases God will test us in full view of others. God wants witnesses not cowards!
If you call yourself Christian, the world will be watching. If the world is watching God wants to show the world what it is to be one of His children.
God does not test us to make us fail but we will fail sometimes. Many times the test is to see if we will humble ourselves and come back to Our Savior. There are other reason God test us so we need to see how He does this.
In our lesson today God says He will test us with false prophets and He tells us how we can tell the difference in the false prophet and the true prophet of God.
God raised up prophets in Israel during those times when the people needed to be called back to the faithful worship of the Lord. A faithful prophet spoke only in God’s name and gave only God’s message for God’s glory and for the good of God’s people.
If we would only listen and learn the Word of God we would see that everything God does is for the good of His Creation and His children.
Israel would have no problem in detecting the false prophets because they had a Biblical, God-given test that works in every case. This same test of false prophets, preachers and pastors still works today!
Our text:
*****Deu 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
What we must realize is that false prophets or in our case false preachers and pastors, are going to have enough of God’s truth in them to get you hooked. Not many would go the way of the false prophet if they totally preached against the Word of God.
Even Satan used scripture when he was tempting the Lord Jesus!
Jesus Himself warns us of this very thing:
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 [Ye shall know them by their fruits]. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
It may be hard to explain how some people are healed in some meetings but any true healer would spend their time at the hospitals healing the sick and not in tents and buildings preaching a false gospel and under the power of Satan. Then we could see the truth in their healing. The world could stand some relief of medical costs.
We must not forget God has warned us of false prophets! God says that when a false prophet comes along and performs signs which come to pass, we are not to believe them if they deny the Christian faith.
The Christian faith will show someone to be like Jesus. They would give God all the glory in any action they have taken.
This a very important principle that we must understand. [To deny any part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to be a false prophet]!
Moses told these people that even if a prophet predicted an event that came true and then turned around and invited or told them to worship false gods or in false ways that go against the Word of God, they were not sent from God.
A miracle is not proof of God. A prophecy that comes true is not proof of God.
Only obedience to the unchangeable Word of God is His truth!
As the Body of Christ, we also have a test for our men of God to meet:
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Most of the world we live in deny Jesus Christ is the Messiah and God says they are teaching a false doctrine!
God also says:
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
We should remember this when someone comes calling at our doors. We certainly need to remember this of those that stand in the pulpits in our places of God!
The truth is that there will be among those rejected by Christ in the last days, many preachers, so-called soul winners and good moral men, simply because they are devoid of true faith in Christ who alone is the foundation of salvation. Beware of mere lip-devotion which signifies nothing, either here or hereafter.
To be a follower of these of false doctrine will not be an excuse at the judgment!
Even if a child of God is led astray, they will not loose their salvation but they will be useless as a weapon in God’s army and this is the reason behind these workings of Satan.
Many orthodox religious leaders in the Church have abandoned their calling and have gotten involved in the cults of this world or have organized their own cults.
Most have a desire to have their own following or they desire to have authority or for many them are in it for the money.
These are the ways of the day we live in.
The Apostle Paul said:
Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
There is only one Gospel and it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
*****Deu 13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
God has only one answer for these false prophets. They should be put to death!
Does this sound extreme or to severe?
As I am a cancer surviver, I know that there is no cure of this disease. A cancer must be removed or destroyed for some one to be a surviver.
Well a false prophet is like the worst cancer known and it will grow to destroy the Church if it is not destroyed itself.
God is the Great Physician and if He says these men, or in some cases women, should be destroyed then, that is the truth I must believe.
Our places of worship are open to all that come in the doors. We cannot allow any one to preach or teach until we are sure that they know and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
They have already removed prayer from our schools and just about stopped any reading of God’s Word by our kids.
They are now trying to eliminate the blood from our song books and trying to convince us we need to get a another Bible that is suited for their needs.
God laid down these rules to the children of Israel and we need to heed this warning today in our day!
History has revealed to us that Israel did not obey this command of God and if we do not study God’s Word we will not know or realize when these false men or women are in our pulpits.
It’s ridiculous how we allow history to repeat itself and America is headed down this road of destruction now!
Remember God allows these things to happen to test His people. How are we doing in our test? If our church fails somewhere down the road we should accept that we are part of the problem if we allow these things to happen.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you [that ye should earnestly contend for the faith] which was once delivered unto the saints.
We cannot forget that we are in a war and we must defend the truth of God on every front!
God says we must put away the evil from our midst. We may not be able to take these false men out and stone them but we can surely show them the exit door in our places of worship and broadcast to all what they truly are to warn other places of worship. They cannot be allowed in our fellowship!
1Co 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
We must remove this cancer from the Body of Christ!
Our Text:
*****Deu 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Deu 18:12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
God cannot make it any more simple than this. We are not to be like the world we live in. We are not to learn from the sinful ways of this world.
God forbids His people to have anything to do with non-believers. Yes, we are to witness to them! Yes, we are to be a testimony of Jesus to them! Yes, we are to love them! Yes, we are to be friendly!
But we are not to take part in their sinful ways! A Christian “that does not hate evil”, not the evil doer, is not obeying God’s Word!
We are also not to have any part with the occults! These are just snares of the Devil and it is to easy to get caught in these traps.
God explains this to the church also:
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, [that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God].
God is serious about what He says. In fact God says that these practises will be more prevalent the closer we get to the end:
Rev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
This is the enemy that must be destroyed and God will destroy this enemy!
Jesus says this enemy has a future home in the “Burning Lake of Fire”!
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
God says there will be some in the church that do not pay any attention to these warnings.
1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
This is the unseen satanic world that is alive and around us every day of our lives. When you have to get up in the morning and check your horoscope before you check with God you are already trapped in these foolish things.
Demons are real! There are real “Fallen Angels”! There is an actual evil unseen spirit world!
The Bible says these things are real!
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
It is to easy to say that we do not sacrifice children in our modern world but abortion happens daily in all nations and brings real shame to America but, every time we place this world before Our God we are sacrificing our children to the Devil. When you worship Satan you will pay the price and that price is most of the time your family.
Satan will give you what you want long enough to get you hooked! If you give him what he wants, Satan does not give back.
If Satan could offer Jesus this world he does not own to Jesus, then he will offer you anything to gain control over you. You cannot bargain with the Devil!
The diviner says he can tell you your future. This a lie.
The sorcerer wants to control people with magic, witchcraft and spells.
By being in league with demons and casting spells, witches and magicians will try to influence people.
The great minds of this world laugh at these things, laugh at these things where there is actual proof, yet they believe in evolution which has no facts at all to back it up.
Just go to some foreign countries where the occult rules and it can be easily seen the control these things have on people. The land of Canaan was full of this stuff and Moses was telling Israel this before they crossed Jordan.
Our Text:
***Deu 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
Deu 18:14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
God was using the nation of Israel as His weapon to bring judgment to the land of Canaan because of all these things. Israel was called to be a witness of the true and “Living God”!
Israel did not need to experiment with new religions because the Lord had already revealed Himself and His Word to them through Moses and His miracles.
Once you have seen the real thing, it is sinful to seek a substitute!
Jesus told the woman at the well:
Joh 4:22 [Ye worship ye know not what]: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Jesus told her she could not even tell what she was worshipping and that the truth of Salvation was brought forth by the Jewish Nation. Jesus Christ was in the flesh as a Jew and it does not matter what the world says.
Jesus rejected all other religions except the teachings of the Old Testament Judaism(faith) and the New Testament Christianity(faith)!
To be “Blameless” does not mean to live in sinless perfection. A heart that belongs to the Lord will walk in the ways of Jesus and obey the Word of God.
Psa 101:2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
Psa 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
Psa 101:4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
Our text:
Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Deu 18:19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
Moses promised Israel that God would raise up other prophets as they were needed so they would always know what God intended. Israel was to always listen and be obedient to them.
Not all prophets of God have their words written for us as their words were intended for Israel only. God did make a record of all His Word that pertains to the Church age, which is the 66 Books of the King James Bible we have now.
Every prophet rebuked Israel for their sin but also encouraged them to follow the truth of God above all else.
Israel was told of the Messiah. Sadly they missed Him the first time He came.
When Our Lord Jesus resurrected He taught those on the Emmaus Road, He began at these words of Moses:
Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Christ Jesus did not reject any part of the Bible and taught it a complete truth and it is!
Jesus said:
Joh 5:20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
If God spoke down from Heaven today He would not have a new message but He would speak these same words:
Mat 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; [hear ye him].
We have the message we are to listen to and obey and that is the teaching of Jesus and what he gave to the Apostles, including the Apostle Paul.
These are the Words of Salvation!
This message will not change till all has ended and Jesus will say:
Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Our Text:
Deu 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
We have the completed Word of God!
That is the reason we have no business trying to seek the future through things like Astrology. This only shows a lack of faith which is a grievous sin.
It is “faith” that got us saved!
We have no need to pry into what some call mysteries because we have no mystery of God to solve! We have God’s complete truth!
We can explore our world but we should be looking into God’s creation in amazement and not trying to figure out how God did what He did. He has already told us all we need to know!
There will not be anymore prophets during the Church Age!
When mankind craves knowledge of the future they open the doors for spiritualists, necromancers, and diviners, and witches and warlocks and all kind of false prophets.
Then come the sorcerers with their mind altering drugs for those that want to be a different plane in their minds.
Can some of these people do what they say?
They are equipped by Satan to do certain things. Hitler used a fortune teller on a regular basis and we know the results of that.
If you look, you can see that fortune telling is big business in Washington DC!
A true Christian knows that God owns the future and He has told us all we need to know to have a joyful and peaceful life until He calls us home.
One fourth of the Bible is prophecy and we can see where the fulfillment that has already taken place and we can know what the future holds.
God has a test that all prophets must meet to know whether they are true or not.
Jer 14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
Here is what God says:
Our text:
Deu 18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Isaiah prophesied the Virgin birth and guess what it is recorded in the Bible. This may can be done by artificial methods in our day but not in the time of Jesus.
Isaiah also told about the life of Jesus and His death these things are also recorded for us. Isaiah told of these things 700 years before they happened.
God’s prophets have to be 100 % completely accurate. They cannot miss one little detail. Any inaccuracy at all would have disqualified them!
How could Isaiah be acknowledged as a prophet in his day. When Israel was surrounded by the Assyrian army in the day of Hezekiah, Isaiah said not one arrow would be shot into the city of Jerusalem. The Assyrians had conquered every nation they had faced up until this time at Jerusalem. Isaiah was right and they failed.
God told Isaiah:
Isa 37:33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
Isa 37:34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
This proved that Isaiah was a true prophet of God. Isaiah’s prophecies have not failed up to our day!
There is not one so called prophet in our day that has been 100 % correct on anything they have said. They have guessed right a couple of times but that’s the best they can do.
Look at how many times the end of the world has been predicted. This shows their falsehood as God said no one would ever know the exact day this would happen. We all can see the signs and know it will not be very long till the end of the church age but it will be at least another 1007 years after that time.
We do not have to have prophets in our day because we already have all the prophecy from the Word of God!
We do not have a warning of false prophets but we do have God’s “Warning” about false teachers:
2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, [even as there shall be false teachers among you], who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
This is our task for today and the best way to know if a teacher is false is by knowing what the Word of God says by our own study of it!
Let’s pray!
God’s Greatest Commandment—Revering The Deity Of God
God’s Great Commandment
Revering The Deity of God
Text: Deuteronomy 6-12
Focus: Deuteronomy 6:4-18
There should be no doubt in the heart of the Christian that Jehovah God is the only Lord, He is the only God, He is the only Creator, He is the only Savior and He is the only Redeemer. It is only with this faith that we can be a witness to the world.
No matter what the world thinks or believes the obedience of any nation should be based the spiritual principles of Jehovah God and not on personal principles.
We will only be a force in this world we live in when we are encouraged by the right motives. That right motive is Jesus Christ!
God gave Israel these moral laws to be a guideline to build this nation! There must be rules to live by in every nation.
There are no better rules than the moral laws of God! Peace and welfare can only come when there is a civilized society!
To be civilized is the opposite of being criminal. To be civilized is to have order in our society. Order must rule to stop anarchy, and to have a government that has a goal to make things better for it’s people.
To be criminal or any other thing is to violate our moral obligations to God. If we do not see anything else in America, we see our nation becoming more and more uncivilized by God’s standards and more and more criminalized and it begins with our own government and men in power who believe themselves to be above the law.
To Israel, the standards for civilization were to be the Laws of God. What we know that happened is that over the years, Israel had religious leaders that either added to or took away from the Word of God and Israel became a society based on “Traditions”. This is also failure to obey the Word of God.
God’s Law and God’s Word is intended to draw all people closer to Him and our obedience must come from the heart before it can be noticed in our actions.
Love is an “action” word! We must be active in our “Faith”! Love is not a lustful word which comes from being covetous!
We should all ask ourselves this question, “Why should we obey God’s Word’ in a world where most people ignore what God has to say?
If our love is right then our obedience will be right!
God’s love is expressed in His Law. The great principle of the law is love!
Jesus said:
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
This not a hard thing to do when we focus on Jesus.
Salvation is a “love affair” with Jesus Christ!
The Bible says:
1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
In the New Testament the love of God is seen in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
God took His Word that He gave to Israel and because “Love” is an action word God came down out of Heaven to show us how much He loves us by dying for our sin.
He next showed His power in the resurrection!
1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
If God’s Word was all talk and no action we would never believe what He tells us. If we open our eyes we can see that our Lord is still a God of action in this world we live in. None other religion have a touchable God who is active in the lives of believers!
There are only two types of people in this world. Those that love Jehovah God and those that hate Jehovah God.
This new generation of Israel must understand and be obedient to this covenants basic principles before they can obey more detailed instructions!
They must realize:
1.) There is a purpose for life.
2.) There are principles for life.
3.) God has a plan for life.
4.) But, There will be perils in this life.
We must realize these things also:
Our Text:
*****Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
When we see the title “LORD” (all capitol letters) in our Bible this is YHWH or JHVH and this is the title Yahweh or Jehovah.
Jehovah means the self-existing or it can mean eternal. This is Our God, who does not require any part of His creation to sustain Him!
Jehovah is the proper name of the One True God.
His name is not Allah.
His name is not Buddha.
His name is not any of the gods of Hinduism.
His name is not associated with any other religion except Judaism which is based on works and not faith!
When we see the phrase, “LORD thy God” , we are seeing Jehovah thy Elohim. Elohim, which is plural and therefore “Jehovah our Trinity”.
Our Trinity: The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost, are the One God Jehovah!
Unless we can wrap ourselves around this fact, we will fall into the traps Satan plants about us.
We are all, “that are saved”, headed to the same place, the place where Jehovah the Trinity, abides!
There is only one Jehovah and we have His Word given to us which is the only truth and all the truth we need!
At this time of the beginning of Israel, the world was filled with Polytheism, nations that worshipped many gods and and had many idols.
Though this is still true today we also find a world that is full of Atheists, but the message of God does not change.
We have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit but they are still THE ONE Jehovah!
*****Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
According to Our Savior, this is the greatest commandment in the Bible:
And Jesus also said:
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
This is a question we should ask our selves. Just how much do we love Jehovah God? If this is our measuring stick, not many of us can say we meet this standard, “But” it should still be our Goal!
We should be as the Apostle Paul:
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
There are many who question some of the things of the Apostle Paul, not I, but we cannot question his desire to be more like Jesus Christ and that is what being a Christian is all about. If we are not growing in Jesus every day, then we are going back wards.
I love the Lord but it is rare that I show that love as I should. Just as Jesus asked Paul, “why are you persecuting me”, He probably wonders the same thing about me many days. I have no excuse and have no answer when I realize I have failed Him. You can judge your own selves, I know that I am, “just a sinner in absolute awe of a wonderful God” [who has enough love to look beyond my failures and still loves me].
If we have one ounce of hate for any person on this earth no matter who or what they are, we are failing in our love!
*****Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
We must not only hear and receive the Word of God, we must make a place in our heart to keep it.
1Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
We must receive the Word of God as the absolute truth or we will miss out on it’s meaning!
We must not only receive the Word of God as truth but we must be living epistles of Jesus Christ!
2Co 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
This cannot happen without the Holy Spirit who lives within each child of God!
*****Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Again, where have I failed, I did not learn the Word of God so that I could teach my own children. How can I complain about how they turned out. I just pray I have not waited to late to learn about God’s love.
God reminds us even after we are saved:
Eph 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
We must never quit on our children, because Jesus Christ never quits on anyone. To be a quitter is to be a failure!
The Bible still says:
Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
How we live is the most important thing we can show our children and our grandchildren.
*****Deu 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
There should not be any doubt that Satan takes full advantage of our eyes. Most every billboard advertises sin. Everything that is sold on this earth and advertised on the television is introduced by a beautiful woman and most of them not properly dressed. Signs and neon lights advertise sin. We are confronted with sin daily and it is only getting worse.
God says that if we keep a copy of the Bible in our hands and keep His Word before our eyes we will not see these other things.
The professing Jew will recite a prayer at least daily called a Shema, that prayer begins with these verses of the Book of Deuteronomy 6: 3-9.
The professing Jew wore what is called a Phylactery on there forehead or their hand which contained their Shema, their prayer.
They took these words of Deuteronomy serious and if we spent more time in the Bible and less time with the television we could take the Word of God more serious and we would be better off.
These were physical things that were constant reminders of the importance of the Word of God!
*****Deu 6:9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
It is not hard to see that God’s Word should be around us at all times!
God’s Word should even control who is permitted to come in our yards and into our houses!
The practicing Jew will put a Mezuzah on their front door and on every door in their house. This box also contained the Shema prayer which began with these words of Deuteronomy.
Every Jew would touch the Mezuzah before entering the house and before entering any room.
These Jew have a great respect for the Word of God. It was a sign that the house was to be a sanctuary for the Lord and a place where the Word of God was loved.
Our homes must be a place where God dwells.
Our homes must be a place where the scriptures are honored.
Our homes must show the world that we are not afraid of our faith.
Our homes must be a witness that we belong to the Lord.
There are some places where this would bring death to those inside the home, but not in America and we need to do these things, not only for ourselves but on behalf of all those that are around the world.
We are God’s Witness to the world around us and we need to act like it!
To not do so shows that we are ashamed of the Lord!
*****Deu 6:10 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,
Deu 6:11 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;
Deu 6:12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
It is always a strange thing with people, once they are blessed they forget where that blessing came from. It is real easy sometimes to forget our Creator. The world has no respect for our Creator and the Church is being swayed by those that think science has the answers.
I have the Book of Genesis, I do not need some scientist to explain creation to me! When I understand this, it is easier for me to see the blessings God gives freely every day.
Moses was equipping this new generation of Israel to enter into the promised land of God and he knew that they would see all the billboards, the neon signs, their false worship centers and their idols, things that would tempt Israel. Now there may not have been any billboards or neon signs but we can be sure these things had their beginnings at this time:
God sent Ezekiel to see them:
Eze 8:9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Eze 8:10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, [pourtrayed upon the wall round about.]
Moses knew Canaan land would be a place of temptation:
They would be tempted from the riches of the spoils of war and forget the Lord who won the victory.
They would be tempted by their pagan religions and forget to be a separate people.
*****Deu 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
The Lord Jesus Himself used this verse when He was tempted of Satan:
Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
We have a great responsibility when we become God’s children. We must fear Our Lord and obey Him.
This what we are committing to, when we pray the sinners prayer!
It is a great privilege to serve the Lord, “especially in this time He has chosen for us”.
*****Deu 6:14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
Deu 6:15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
We cannot expect the benefit of God’s promises unless we make conscience all of His precepts. God’s name is “Jealous” and we cannot worship Him right if we do not worship Him alone!
Exo 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church:
1Co 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
1Co 10:22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
When we are tolerant of any false religion, we are tolerant to their gods! There is only one God and we have already stated that it is Jehovah the God of the Holy Trinity. No other religion beyond Christianity worships Jehovah of the Holy Trinity.
The Jew call His name Jehovah but do not recognize the Holy Trinity.
The Jehovah’s Witness include Him in their name but do not recognize the Holy Trinity, what a slap in the face of Jesus this is!
The Muslim worship Allah and this is not Jehovah at all!
We cannot have fellowship with devils and we cannot eat at the Lord’s table and also at the tables of devils.
We must not get confused with what the world says!
*****Deu 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Deu 6:17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
In the words of Jesus our Lord to Satan himself:
Luk 4:12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Even though Satan will attack the Word of God, we must put forth more effort to keep it. If Israel did not at this time in their history, they would loose the land they were promised and we know that happened. They were removed from their land in 70 AD and could not return fully until May 14, 1948 when again they were recognized as a nation.
We cannot miss these important facts of God’s Word!
And we must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord our God or Jehovah of the Holy Trinity.
*****Deu 6:18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,
God’s purpose for bringing Israel out of Egypt was so He could take them to the promised land.
God’s purpose for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to take us out of the bondage of sin was so He can take us to our promised land which is Heaven. The church does not have an earthly land of promise!
The church has a Heavenly Promise.
And, It’s all because of Jesus we have this privilege:
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
We already have eternal life!
We already stand before Jehovah God because of Jesus!
God is working in our lives now!
God is working in us at His will and for His pleasure!
God will not discourage us and He is not through with us!
God is preparing our Home and He will return soon to take us there!
We know God is not through because, when He returns we will be like Him:
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
*****Not part of this lesson but let’s take a moment to see another verse:
Deu 12:4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
Israel was to have only one way to worship.
They were to bring all sacrifices to only one altar.
They were to have only one Tabernacle or one Temple.
They were never to worship Jehovah God in the ways that the false religions worshipped their false gods.
As the church, we are to offer up all “Spiritual Sacrifices” to God in the name of Jesus Christ. This is where our hope lies:
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
As the people of God, and the Body of Christ are the people of God!
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
As the chosen people of God, we must worship in the way that He commands and not imitate the religious practices of any false religion. This is a command of the Lord just as any other command!
The Christian faith and the Jewish faith came by the revelation of God and are not “man-made”!
Not by man’s invention nor by Satan’s instruction!
The most important activity of the church is to “worship our Lord”.
The next most important activity is to “make disciples”.
Then come the mission’s work.
God said to the Philadelphian Church:
Rev 3:8 I know thy works: behold, [I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it]: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
God says that there are no closed doors to the that body of believers that keep His Word!
When we try to imitate the world we will become what God calls the Laodicean Church.
If we love the Lord like we say we do, then let’s worship the way we are commanded and serve the way we should:
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Jesus was a Jew from Judah, it was Israel that preserved God’s Word for us. We have already said that Jehovah is the God of the Holy Trinity and there is no other. To believe these things is to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The Holy Spirit will teach us about Jesus and it is Jesus that made the way for us because there is no other way!
This is the truth and all else is a lie!
Let’s Pray!
God’s Commands—–Recalling God’s Word
God’s Commands
Recalling God’s Word
Text: Deuteronomy 5
Our Focus: Deuteronomy 5:6-12, 16-22, 29, 32, 33
At this time the nation of Israel had been reborn. An entire generation had died. This new generation needed to understand the law of God. They also needed to understand it because what they had seen in the past 40 years.
Though these commandments had not changed there are some differences in the way Moses presented them to this new generation.
This younger generation needed to understand that there was not one set of rules for their fathers and another set for them. There is one law, one Mediator, and there is only One Lord because there is only One God!
With these things understood then there can be no doubt that there is only “One Way” to God’s Heaven.
Every religion in the world has its own demands, they all have a means of going to a better place but the biggest thing they lack is the knowledge of the God of Love, and who instills that love to those that believe on him.
The Bible says:
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. Joh 13:35 [By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another].
God loves us enough to set the standard for our lives!
If love is the standard then God uses His commandments to teach us this standard of love.
There are four important steps we are to take in relation to the Word of God:
The first step: We must first “hear” the Word of God.
The second step: We must “learn” the Word of God.
The third step: We must “keep” the Word of God.
The fourth step: We must “do” the Word of God.
Not only should the Word of God be in our heads and in our hearts, but it needs to get down to where our hands and our feet are!
We have way too many people in our world that say they live by the Ten Commandments, but if you ask, we’ll find out what they really mean is they have heard the 10 Commandments and they think they are good, but they certainly are not keeping them and being obedient to them.
1.) These Commandments are a “plumb line” to determine the crooked walls of our lives.
2. These Commandments are “mirror” we can look into to see what is in our hearts.
3.) These Commandments are “a headlight” to show us the way in the darkness of this world.
The Bible says:
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
4.) These Commandments will lead us to the truth that is in Christ Jesus!
God makes it very clear that he does not save men through the keeping of moral laws.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with these laws but there is something very wrong with us!
The Bible says:
Gal 2:16 [Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ], even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
These laws were not given to the nation of Israel while they were in Egypt. These laws were given to Israel only after they were in the wilderness.
When we live in the land of idolatry, such as Egypt was, we will not be obedient to God’s law!
When we live in our own world, with our own little idols, we will not obey the Word of God.
Moses told this new generation that their future in the promised land depended on their faithfulness to Jehovah God.
Moses told this new generation that they would have to love God with all their heart, with all their mind, and with all their strength.
Moses told this new generation that God had chosen them to be a special people.
Because of the promises to Abraham, the Lord continues to bless this stubborn and rebellious nation of Israel.
We must understand as Christians that blessings only come, when we have accepted His Son Jesus and the Work that only He could do on the Cross.
It is still by the Blood of Jesus that salvation becomes real!
*****Our Text:
**Deu 5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Israel was in a land of idolatry and Israel was living in the age of idolatry. These things will destroy us and our families. Look back at Lot. He was still saved but he lost all his family to evil and he lost all that he owned. We must separate ourselves from this evil before we will ever understand what God has for us.
**Deu 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
The very first law and sin that is mentioned is that man had become polytheist and worshipped many gods. We must remember the Tower of Babel. These people would offer sacrifices to almost anything but especially to the Sun and the Moon. If you include the planets, these were all considered to be gods and were worship as such.
We can be sure that after the flood in the day of Noah, no one worshipped thunder and lightening. This is the time when mankind would worship God’s creation. They are still around today. They are called green-peace, and Mother Earth, and Gaia among some of the names.
But God says:
Psa 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
These are the ones that ignore the truth of God:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
In the time of King David some of these types then became Atheist. Like children, if they could not worship whatever or whomever they chose then they simply would not believe in God.
Psa 14:1 [The fool hath said in his heart], There is no God. [They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good].
That word “fool” as used in this scripture means “insane”. [Anyone that says there is no God is insane]. This first commandment does not even mention any disbelief in the existence of God but it prohibits the worship of many gods.
The Lord wants us to obey Him, not as slaves, but as grateful children who are in love with their Heavenly Father and appreciate His Goodness, because we do not have any goodness in ourselves.
**Deu 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Deu 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, Deu 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
We should see that the first four commandments have to do with our relationship with God. There are only two types of people in this world.
1.) Those that “hate” God.
2.) Those the “love” God.
There is no middle ground!
God goes into detail when He forbids the making of any likeness of anything that could be worshipped.
Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment we have is to love The Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might.
You will not convince very many that they have idols of worship today but the truth is that anything that you place between yourself and the Lord becomes your god. Anything that takes first place in your heart is an idol!
We already know that the Lord “does not” punish children and grandchildren because of what their parents do but He can and will permit the consequences of those sins to affect their future generations. Children will imitate their parents!
As we go through the Old Testament we will read many places where Israel is called a whore and in idolatry because they had broken this commandment.
But, The Lord will also bless successive generations of those that are faithful to Him!
**Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
The Apostle Paul wrote that the mouth of mankind is full of cursing and bitterness.
All we have to do listen at our places of work, the television, the movies and in almost any other place we are around others and we hear foul-mouthed people and dirty-minded people. It like the entire language has been changed into something evil, which it has.
God hates these things and He says so and He will certainly not hold those guiltless who take His name in vain.
God’s name represents [God's character and His reputation] and to honor His name is to also look good’ to the people that are around us.
Using God’s name even in an oath to defend a dishonest statement, and cursing and swearing are just some of the ways we can dishonor the Name of Our Lord.
**Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Deu 5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: Deu 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. Deu 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
We should not find it odd that all these commandments are repeated in the New Testament except this one about the Sabbath. The Sabbath day was not given to the Church. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the Jewish week. The Church meets on the first day of the week because this the day Christ Jesus arose from the dead.
The Sabbath was given to Israel as a sign between them and God. This sign was not given to any other nation. The Sabbath had it’s beginning in the week of Creation and this was an actual week of seven 24 hour days. The Sabbath was part of Israel religious life even before these laws were given. At Mount Sinai the Sabbath became part of God’s covenant with Israel. Canaan land was to be Israel’s place of rest.
This not so for the church, as the church can only rest in Jesus Christ and look forward to eternal rest in Heaven!
The Old Testament will prove that Israel did not honor the Sabbath Day, The Sabbath Year, nor the Jubilee of Sabbaths and they are still in punishment for this.
[Sunday is not to be called the Christian Sabbath]! Sunday is the first day of the week, which was and always will be The Lord’s Day.
The Sabbath symbolizes the Old Covenant of Law just as the Lord’s Day symbolizes the commemorates the New Covenant of “Grace”.
At the time of Moses there was no Roman Calendar, the seventh day just followed the sixth day. The 8th day was the day of New Beginning.
**Deu 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
When we are born into this world, our fathers and mothers stand in place of God until we know Him individually. As little ones we look up to our parents. The Bible tells us to listen to the instruction of our fathers and not to forsake the law of our mothers.
If those two parents love the Lord then those children born in to their house should be trained in God’s ways and God’s Word.
We can see that Moses was speaking to Israel but God’s Word will hold true even today, Any Nation That Does Not Do This Will Not Be Blessed.
In a house that the children do not honor their parents affects the entire nation. In America this is a nation wide problem. It is true that their are many parents that do not deserve the honor from their children but God also tells these parents to not provoke your children into wrath but bring them up in the Lord. We know America is trying it’s best to kick God out and we as Christians are just setting around in our fancy pews and allowing this to happen. It is a fact that we think more of our bellies and our pocket books than we do God.
**Deu 5:17 Thou shalt not kill.
The word “kill” in our English translation is used here for the original Hebrew word “ratsach”. This Hebrew word means to murder.
Some the Hebrew definition is: dash in pieces, put to death, murder and it is referring to human beings.
This would be an act of premeditation, or killing out of anger, or for a personal grievance.
This verse has nothing to do with warfare! God had already told His people that they would have to destroy His enemies out of the land and destroy meant to give them to the Lord for the atrocities that they had committed.
A soldier should never kill out of anger but as any good soldier killing should only come as commands and as necessary. If a soldier kills out of anger and premeditation, he too has committed murder.
God did not tell Israel to try to reform her enemies, they were to be destroyed because the Lord had commanded them to do so.
Notice also that the Bible does not condemn self-defence in any form.
But the Bible does authorize capitol punishment to governments and not individuals.
**Deu 5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
There is little doubt that we live in a sex-mad age. It is ridiculous the amount of products advertised by sex. This shows the depravity of man is real. This one of the greatest sins that is destroying our nation today. As the family has no real commitment, we have no commitment to God nor to our nation. Sadly no one seems to care about the family. They all just want to have fun they say.
In the day of Moses this was a capitol crime requiring death. Today in America and most of the world it is not even a sin but a way of life. And we wonder how our children got like they are!
**Deu 5:19 Neither shalt thou steal.
No doubt it is very true that not many of us have robbed banks or broke into some one else’s home to take from them, but we should not even have the desire to have what other have. Our thoughts are still sinful.
**Deu 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Deu 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
It is our heart that makes us guilty of murder, of adultery, and it is covetousness that makes us desire what belongs to some one else. The command against covetousness shows that it is a sin just to feel an excessive desire for what belongs to another.
Truth should be the cement that holds a society together. Things fall apart when people do not keep their promises. Our salvation depends on the promises of God. How would it be if we read where God did not keep all His promises.
Notice this commandment also forbids slander, which is lying about other people.
A Christian should be known for always speaking the truth. This includes rightly dividing the Bible!
Because we have been born again into the family of God and have received God’s divine nature we can with the help of the Holy Spirit be obedient to the Laws of God and live godly lives.
**Deu 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
When we know God on a personal level, it will bring joy knowing we are obedient to His Word. Moses reminded this new generation that God had reveal Hid Glory and His Greatness at Mount Sinai. They should not think they could mock Him with disobedience and rebellion as their parents had.
God would never again in our time reveal Himself in the fire and the cloud and the thunder and the lightnings and with His awesome voice as He had at Mount Sinai. This was a time of God’s happiness and not wrath.
But we know God will reveal Himself in even a much more awesome way during the tribulation period. If you God as your Savior, in the name of Jesus Christ we will also miss this time of His wrath.
**Deu 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
This verse list three things that had to happen for things to be well in Canaan Land.
1.) There heart had to change.
2.) They needed a godly fear of the Lord.
3.) They had to obey God’s commandments.
We know that they did not keep these commandments and we always ask why when the reality is that, no one can keep all these commandments.
If we consider these laws as our mirror, then when we look into our mirror we will see the faults and blemishes that just will not wash off.
They only way to wash off the filth of our selves is to be washed in the blood of Jesus. Jesus is the fountain of life, we must drink of Him and We Must Bath in Him!
It is not so much important whether we approve of the Ten Commandments. It is important to know that you have not kept them.
We have measured up to God’s Standard!
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
God knew this and God sent His Son so that we could be saved!
God says to take a reasonable look at your self in His mirror:
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
It is the blood of Jesus that makes us spotless when we stand before the Lord.
**Deu 5:32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Deu 5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
God says we must use these commandments as our guide, we are to “observe” them.
These moral laws still stand as our guide and God still judges sin by these laws.
The children of Israel made a promise that they could not keep. God knew this and God does not expect perfection. God does expect the desire to keep these commandments and for us to try our best to do so.
Israel wanted to be like the other nations around them.
God wants us to be like Him and these two things will never come together.
We cannot call ourselves Christians and walk as the world walks.
These Laws prove we are sinners but they cannot cleanse us of the sin:
The Son of God became the Son of Man that the sons of men through Him might become the sons of God. The best thing we can do with this knowledge is to tell some one else so that they can know also.
Let’s Pray!
