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Deuteronomy 4:1-2 (KJV) Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

When God saved Israel, He wanted those He saved to worship only Him. When God saves a Christian He demands that those whom He has saved worship only Him.

You will not get far in your spiritual journey if you blend your faith with God with other gods.

God loves to bless His people.
Oh, how good our God is!
Our God saves us to bless us.

When God saves, He saves with a purpose. He told His people:

Exodus 3:17 (KJV) … I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

God wants to bless His people. He wants to free His people. He wants us walking in victory no matter where we are. To walk with the Almighty God is to triumph.
Yet all around us are other faiths and faith systems.

Though we today may not call them Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, or Jebusites today there are many other faiths in the world, and different practices because of these faiths. Our God tells us that we are not to blend our faith with other faiths. We are to listen to and heed our God exclusively. This is not hatred, but common sense.

Love the One Who saved you!

Several years ago the then current President of the United States said: “…I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God.”¹

With all respect to that President, is what he said actually true? Not if you accept the Scripture as true. Our Lord Jesus told us:

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

You cannot come into the presence of God the Father, nor enter His Heaven, unless you come to Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. No priest can take you there. I cannot take you there. The gods of Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Atheism, Naturalism, or Spiritualism cannot bring you into union with the Creator. Jesus Christ was even more specific in …

John 10:7-9 … Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. {8} All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. {9} I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

These seem to be harsh words, but they are not. Truth is never harsh. Jesus did not mince words. “Those who came before Me were THIEVES and ROBBERS”. What did they steal? They stole souls. There is but one Door that leads to the Father, and that Door is Christ. Christ was the Savior of Israel, and Christ is the Savior of His Church. Jesus declared to the Pharisees that the Old Testament Scriptures speak of HIM.

John 5:39-40 (KJV) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Eternal life and blessing is only found by following our Lord Jesus. The early Church proudly preached:

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The Christian faith cannot be blended with other faiths. They just won’t mix. God warned the Israel He saved:

Deuteronomy 4:2 (KJV) Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

A very similar command is given at the end of the New Testament. We read:

Revelation 22:18-19 (KJV)… If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do [them], that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.

God commanded His people to both HEAR (hearken) and DO what He called “the STATUTES and the JUDGMENTS”.

Dr. Thomas Constable² states:

“ “Statutes” (v. 1) were the permanent basic rules of conduct whereas “judgments” (ordinances, v. 1) were decisions God revealed in answer to specific needs.”

God gives His people permanent rules of conduct as well as general direction in how we live our daily lives. Israel was given Ten Commandment or standards of conduct that were absolute. But the Lord also gave His people direction on dress, sanitation, and even on the type of food they could eat. The ancient Israelite, for instance, was not allowed to eat foods that God called unclean. The restriction against eating “unclean” foods was a “judgment” that applied only to Israel, not to the Church. We know this because of the vision God gave the Apostle Peter in …

Acts 10:11-16 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: {12} Wherein were all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. {13} And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. {14} But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. {15} And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. {16} This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

“Statutes” never change – they are bound laws against evil. Neither Jew nor Christian can bow the knee to a false god in the name of tolerance. God’s Commandment against idolatry stands forever.

“Judgments” were commands specifically directed to God’s particular people at that time of human history.

• The Law of Circumcision was a “Judgment” that the Israelite kept, but the Church does not have to keep.

Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

• The Christian is not required to keep the “Feasts” or special celebrations that the Jews kept. These were “Judgments”.

• The Christian does not have to sacrifice an animal in the Temple (if there were one) because today Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

We who are not of Israel but of Christ’s Church are “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands” (Colossians 2:11). When you believed on Jesus many of the “judgments” that ancient Israel were under ceased for you. “You are not under the Law, but under Grace” (Romans 6:14).

You are not under the “judgments pertaining to Israel” but you are still under God’s Statutes.

We still follow God’s statutes if we are God’s Children by faith in Christ. We “hearken to His Statutes (both for Israel and the Church) and His Judgments (for the Church).

Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken³, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do [them], that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.

If you want to be blessed then you heed and obey the Lord Who saved you. We belong to Him!

Psalms 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

God hath made us, not we ourselves. When we begin to think “I am a self-made Christian” we walk a pathway that leads to utter destruction. God made me, and He can unmake me. We are the sheep of His pasture. God controls the pasture, the place of feeding and the place of life. We should listen to Him.

Like Israel the Church today is in a land filled with false gods and goddesses. All around us are terribly lost people. Just as in the Book of Deuteronomy, many who are not right with God sacrifice their children on altars of convenience. Neither Israel nor the Church were to be confused by the false and flowing philosophies about them. We are to heed God’s Word but reject man’s word. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 5:6-8 (KJV) Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

God saves us to bless us, but He cannot bless us if we will not hear and do His Statutes and Judgments.

Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do [them], that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.

The faith that saves is the faith that DOES. You do not DO to be saved, if you are saved you shall DO!

The Apostle James – a stepbrother of Christ – likened a faith that does not DO to a dead thing. He said:

James 2:14-20 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? {15} If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, {16} And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? {17} Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. {18} Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. {19} Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. {20} But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Faith alone in Christ alone saves the soul. The Scripture clearly teaches this:

Galatians 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.

Keeping the Law or even being super moral will not save you. But once you are saved you are called by God to obey His statutes and judgments. A good illustration is found in the Book of Acts. Philip the Evangelist was led to a man merely called “the Ethiopian Eunuch”. This man was reading the Old Testament Scripture of …

Isaiah 53:7-8 (KJV) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Philip asked the Eunuch if he understood the passage. The man replied “No, will you guide me?” At that point the Scripture says:

Acts 8:35 (KJV) Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

This passage was prophetic of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was oppressed and afflicted for us. He was brought as a Lamb to be slaughtered for us. He was imprisoned, and nailed to a tree for us! Oh, as Stephen preached this Word the Eunuch’s heart melted, and he gave his life to the Lord. Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). As they rode together a ways the Bible says:

Acts 8:36-38 (KJV) … they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Water Baptism is a judgment that Christ gave to His Church (Mark 16:16; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 16:31-33; 2:38-41). The Eunuch believed with all his heart, then quickly sought to obey His Lord. Beloved, there is no blessing if we do not obey our Lord. This is true of both Israel and the Church. Jesus declared:

Luke 6:46-49 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? {47} Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: {48} He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. {49} But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

To come to God, hear His Word, then DO that Word is to bring immense blessings to your life. Let us CLING to our Savior!

Deuteronomy 4:3-4 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. {4} But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God [are] alive every one of you this day.

In Numbers 25:1-9 Israel joined itself with the Moabites, and began to worship the false god call BAAL of MOUNT PEOR. God despised this blending of faith with the world, and all those who worshiped BAAL of Mount Peor died in a plague – about 24,000 people.

God reminds His Israel of this terrible day in their history. Dear Ones Whom I terribly love, God will not have His Faith mingled with godlessness. To cling to God is to live.

ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God [are] alive
every one of you this day

Let us all who are saved by Christ Cling to God. Draw close to Him at all times – this is the Way of Life. Those who cling to God are blessed in this life. The first generation of Israel held on to all the wrong things, and as a result lost everything – even their lives. Jesus said:

John 15:5-6 (KJV) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

To cling to our Savior is the Way of the Christian. The Lord wants to bless you, just as He wanted to bless Israel before you. Israel would not heed Him, would not serve Him, would not live in her faith – and thus lost everything. Let us follow the example of the early Church. If persecuted, cling to Jesus. Though you walk alone, cling to Jesus. Hear His Voice. Walk where He says walk. Do as He has bid you to do. Read His Word. Speak to Him moment by moment. This is the Way of Blessing!

May God touch your hearts with His Word.