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Psalms 90:10-12 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. [11] Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. [12] So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Throughout the Book of Psalms you will find Moses, the Man of God mentioned by name in only eight verses. Psalm 90 has the distinction of being the only Psalm actually a Prayer – written by Moses.

Psalms 90:1 A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

Look at that statement. Moses a called “THE man of God”. Moses loved the Lord, and proved his love by how he lived his life. He is “THE man of God” because this is “A Prayer of Moses”. Moses prayed. He spoke to God more than once. He was continually looking to God. As THE Man of God Moses understood that every day of his life was a gift from God.

1 Life Is A Gift From God. Live Your Lives So As To Please God, For He Is The Source Of Life.

Moses, more than any other person of his day, realized that life is a gift from God.

When Moses was born he shouldn’t have been born. His mother and father were Egyptian slaves, and hated by the Egyptians. Just as the Arabs hate Israel today, Moses’ people were hated. Enslaved, beaten, treated harshly, at one point the Pharaoh decreed:

Exodus 1:16 (ESV) When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.

The midwives – believing God is the Author of Life – refused to do this. So Pharaoh decreed to all (Exodus 1:21) “every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile”. Moses should have been drowned in the Nile. But his mother, believing life is a gift from God, refused to drown her son. She cast Moses into the Nile, but not until she made a little Ark and put him in it (Exodus 2:3).

Life is not to be wasted.

When Moses was forty (40) years old (Acts 7:23) when he learned that he was a Hebrew who grew up in the Egyptian palace. At 40 years old Moses killed an Egyptian Taskmaster who was beating some Hebrews. He ran away into the desert of Midia, and when he was eighty years old (80) (see Acts 7:30 & Exodus 7:7) when God called him out of the Burning Bush to go and speak unto Pharaoh.

EIGHTY Years Old!

Now when we think of EIGHTY years old, we think “that’s pretty old”. Moses prayed …

Psalms 90:10-12 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 

Some people live to be three score years and ten (that’s 70 years old) and others fourscore years. Some don’t even come close to that. In my time as a Pastor I have buried people who were 0 years old (yes, zero) and as old as 102 years old. It is GOD Who gives life. As Job said:

Job 33:4 The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

We live because God gives us life. It is God Who sustains us:

Acts 17:25 … {God} Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

It is God Who sustains us, and gives us one more day on this earth.

Deuteronomy 32:39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

Every day, every moment of life is precious, and we should continually praise God for that which He has given. The doctors and hospitals and “ObamaCare” can sustain life to a certain point. It is God Who gives life.

Moses spoke of life being upwards of eighty years old – then being cut off suddenly so that we “fly away”. Yet Moses was called to serve God when he was 80 years old. Do you know how old Moses was when he died?

Deuteronomy 34:5-7 … So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 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. And MOSES WAS AN HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE DIED: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

Do you know WHY Moses died at 120 years old, and not 140 or 160 or (as Methuselah was) 969 years old? Because the first Generation of Israel refused to follow God into the Promised Land. Because they refused God made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years, until that generation died∫. Moses wandered with them. Moses could have gone into the Promised Land, but

Moses failed to honor God at Meribah

Rather than do as GOD said Moses cried out at the people,

Hear now, you rebels, must WE bring forth water?

God told Moses, THE Man of God,

Numbers 20:12 “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

By the way, God told both MOSES AND AARON this same thing. Aaron could have helped Moses, but didn’t, so he died outside of the Promised Land. Listen Beloved,

God is the Source of Life.
Honor Him with the life that He has given you.

2 Teach Us To NUMBER, Not SQUANDER, Our Days. Do you realize that in an average lifetime:

You spend an average of 25 years sleeping
You watch television 9.1 years (2 of which are watching commercials)
You spend 2.5 years cooking and 3.6 years eating
You drive a car 4.3 years
You walk a total of 110,000 miles (4 times around the world)
You spend 1.1 years cleaning

God does not waste His life (which is limitless) – so why would we waste our lives? Moses prayed:

Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

God is so infinitely creative. God does not squander time, but makes time and uses time for His glory. Though science will not acknowledge God and His Creative power it recognizes God in the BIG BANG, and notes that space is ever expanding.

God has a plan, a purpose, and is never aimless. We are all products of His Grace! God is …

Our dwelling place in all generations (verse 1)
Creator “before the mountains were brought forth” (verse 2)
Eternal God “from everlasting to everlasting” (verse 2)
Timeless “a thousand years are like yesterday” (verse 4)

but compared to God, we are …

Destroyed and distressed at a word from God (verse 3)
Like grass, growing in the morning but withering at night (verse 5-6)
Temporal, living on this earth 70 or 80 years

We are weak – God is strong. We squander our lives when we do not live our lives in God for His glory. Israel squandered their lives looking backward. When the going got tough on the way to the Promised Land they looked BACK instead or UP. They complained. They grumbled. They found fault. We squander our lives when we grumble and look backward.

You cannot sail a ship on yesterday’s wind!

Our Jesus said:

“Whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back
is unfit for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

Our strength is found not in squandering our lives, but in living our lives unto the Master.

If Adam had lived his life unto the Lord our race would not be fallen
If Cain had lived his life unto the Lord he would not have been marred for life
If Moses had lived his life for the Lord he would have entered the Promised Land
If David had lived his life for the Lord he would not have lost his baby by Bathsheba
If Iscariot had lived his life for the Lord he would not have died hanging by his own hand

The best life is the life lived with God.

There are people tonight squandering their lives watching reruns of the Simpsons instead of coming together to worship the Lord as His Church.

There will be people this Sunday who – like many other Sundays – refused to take time to worship the Lord Who made them.

They will spend more time planning a vacation at the beach that planning what happens when “they fly away” from this earth.

For there will be a day when we “fly away”, as Moses called it. We will “fly away” to meet the God Who made us. What will we find Him to be?

Psalms 90:11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

When we “fly away” what state will we find God in? Will He be filled with wrath? Will He be angry? Moses prayed for Israel as that nation wandered forty years, praying that God would forgive His people.

3 Teach Us To Number Our Days In The Presence Of God. As Moses concluded his prayer he said:

Psalms 90:13-15 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. [14] O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. [15] Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

The first thing Moses asked for was the Presence of God. He said “RETURN, O Lord”.

Psalms 16:11 Thou {O God} wilt shew me the path of life:

in thy presence is fulness of joy;
at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

We need the Presence of God bringing MERCY. We all fail God, but He remembers we are but dust. We cry out for mercy. We cry out for His Presence. Satisfy us EARLY with mercy, that we may REJOICE and be GLAD all our days.

Help us to remember that GOD IS FAITHFUL even when life deals us the harsh blows.. Make us glad even when the bad stuff happens. I do not know why the bad stuff happens to good people, but I do know if we walk with God then His Word says:

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Finally Moses prayed:

Psalm 90:16-17 Let Thy work appear unto thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children. 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

What we do is not useless. It is God’s work. Let us live for Him, love for Him. Moses prayed that the Israel he led would be a part of God’s greater work. It is what we do for Jesus that lasts.

Illustrate In the old John Wayne movie Angel and the Badman a cantankerous cattleman named Frederick Carson blocks his neighbors from drawing water from a stream that ran through his land. John Wayne – playing the gunman Quirt Evans – goes to the cattleman and demands he allow his neighbors have some of his water. Understanding who Quirt is Mr Carson relents. When Mr Carson meets his neighbors and tells them he is letting the water through he says something very interesting. He said to Quirt:

You know I was scared to death when I made that speech to the people.

I’m glad you made me do it.

It makes me feel good.

You choose how you live your life. Number your days. Live your life for Jesus, not for yourself or for your selfishness. Live for Him!

May God touch your hearts with his Word.

Hebrews 9:24-28 (KJV) 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: (25) Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (26) For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (27) And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (28) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

When our Lord Jesus was on this earth – God in humanity manifest – He did many things. One day John the Baptist sent a delegate to Jesus asking simply “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Jesus answered them,

Matthew 11:4-6 (ESV) Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Jesus did a lot of healing. He did a lot of preaching. He did a lot of traveling. He did a lot of loving. Jesus went to Church (they called it “Synagogue”) every chance He was able. He kept every feast and went to every eating meeting that He as a Jew was supposed to go to. And Jesus did a lot of offending. He didn’t intentionally try to hurt anyone’s feelings, but Jesus spoke the plain truth in love. Jesus didn’t beat around the bush. He called it the way it was.

But the one thing Jesus did not do is sacrifice an animal. He did not bring an animal to the Temple to be killed. The blood of an animal was never sprinkled on Him as it was on other Jews. Nor did Jesus try and take the place of the Levite Priest. Jesus was born of the Jewish Tribe of Judah, not of Levi. He was not – while on this earth – supposed to be a priest. Christ was a priest not after Levi, but after Melchizedek.

1 Jesus Came To This Earth On An Appointment. Why did God the Son become the Son of Man? Why did the Perfect come down to this earth? That Baby born in a manger in Bethlehem, why was He born of a Virgin? That Child – born as old as His Father and older than His mother – why was He here?

He was here on assignment, on an appointment from Heaven. We read a few weeks ago:

Hebrews 3:1-2 (KJV)  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;  [2]  Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

God appointed Jesus to come to this earth. Jesus said:

John 5:43 (KJV)   I am come in my Father’s name ….

Jesus came to this earth because the Father sent Him. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He came not promoting His own agenda, but came out of love for us. We are broken. We are broken. We think we have it together, but we are broken.

a The Law Cannot Fix What Ails Humanity. We read:

Hebrews 9:24 (KJV) For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true;

In the Old Testament the High Priest of Israel would take an animal that had neither spot nor blemish, sacrifice it, and sprinkle it’s blood on the people. He would then carry the blood of that animal into the inner place, the Holy of Holies. By going through this ritual the High Priest made atonement or a covering for sin. But this was only a temporary covering because the Priest would go this ritual year after year. Why? Because this temporary covering did nothing to correct the problem of the people.

People are sinners.
People are born sinners.
People are born broken.

The Bible declares this over and over.

The WORLD says “People are basically good”.

But GOD says Romans 5:12,19 (ESV) .. sin came into the world through one man,
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned
… by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners

The WORLD says “Surely there must be exceptions to this.
Some had to be “good”. What about Enoch and Elijah whom God took?

But GOD says Romans 3:23 (ESV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

2 Chronicles 6:36 (ESV) “there is no one who does not sin”

Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way

Romans 3:9-12 (ESV) “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands;
no one seeks for God. All have turned aside;
together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Mark 10:18/Luke 18:19 (ESV) … No one is good except God alone.”

The Bible does tell us that Enoch walked with God and he was not, because God translated him (Hebrews 11:5). The Bible tells us that Elijah was caught up by a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). But we also know that neither of these men went into Heaven proper, but into Paradise to await the coming of the Messiah.

(If you didn’t learn this last week I hope you’ll learn to be in Church every week.
When you miss Church you miss a blessing.)

Enoch and Elijah went to Abraham’s Bosom or Paradise to await the coming of Christ.
No one entered Heaven proper under the Old Covenant.

Yet God took them with Him. If neither Enoch nor Elijah died, but were taken by God but did not enter Heaven proper, then why did God take them? If man is at heart a sinner (for the Scripture says):

Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Ecclesiastes 9:3 (ESV) … the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

… then why did God call Abraham to follow Him?

Why did God seek the a Shepherd David, and make him King over Israel?

Why did God call Israel, an assuredly broken people, and lead them through the Red Sea?

Because though we are all broken, God loves us all. Because God

2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God wants us to understand that He loves us and REPENT. Repent does not mean to get better nor to clean yourselves up.

Hebrews 9:25 (KJV) … the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

Neither the works of our hands nor the works of the Law are able to bring eternal life. The High Priest of Israel dressed up in holy clothing, doing holy work, working in the Holy of Holies for a holy God. And yet this priest (though outwardly holy) still had to sacrifice an animal for himself. The innocent animal had to die for him. But the problem is …

Man is not an animal

If Man was an animal (and Darwinism is true) then the sacrifice of the animal would have covered our sins. But the sacrifices of animals were but a shadow of that which was to come, something better, Someone better. This Someone is Christ.

God loves us, but we are all broken. But all lives matter. All are created in the Image of God, what the ancients called Imago Dei.

We were not made to be racist.
We were not made to be hateful.
We were not made to hurt one another, nor to objectify one another.
We are not things, and we are not animals.
We are people, humans.
And we needed a human solution for our sins.

This is why Christ came. He IS THE Solution.

I love my grandchildren, and are so grateful that we had time to go and spend a week with them. Thank you for this, Riverview. They grow up so quickly, and we look forward to that time. One day while we were with our Valdosta family (and yes, we missed our Columbia family) my grandchildren came in our bedroom. They started by jumping on the bed. Grandpa said “Ya’ll need to get off that bed!” They kept jumping. “Please get off of that bed!”, I said a little louder. They jumped a little longer, then looked at me and ran out. They came back about a minute later with toy airplanes, and started throwing them around the room. I said “Throw those planes somewhere else!”.

They turned, faced me, and drew back their arms to throw the planes at me.

I said “If you throw those planes at me I will tear them up.” They stopped, looked at me askew and thought about what I said. They took the planes outside. Not because they are “good boys” but because they weighed the threat of punishment against the joy of the sin. My word controlled them, but did not change them. I love my grandkids but they are sinners in need of the Savior. We can punish and threaten and control behavior, but we all are at heart sinners.

But God loves us in spite of ourselves

b Jesus Christ Came From Heaven To Earth To Fix What Ails Us. The Father sent His Son, the One of Whom He said:

Matthew 3:17 (NKJV) … This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The Father sent the Son so that we might have life. Jesus said:

John 10:10 (KJV) …. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

You do not have life if you are not in Christ. You have animation. You have a form of godliness, but deny the Power thereof. Without Jesus you worship stuff, you worship paper, you devalue life and value stuff.

There is nothing wrong with having stuff, but it’s wrong when stuff has you.
Jesus offers life in Him. He gave Himself for us.
Jesus died for us!

Hebrews 9:28 (KJV) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

How does salvation work? Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. The Levitical High Priest made offering after offering, but Christ made one sinless offering. He was willing to die for us. He took our punishment, He paid our penalty. Sin in us and done by us made us unacceptable to God. I know that “sin” is an old fashioned word that we no longer believe in the modern, post Christian America. But there is sin. And there is a God Who made us sinless, but we became sinful through the works of our hands and the intents of our hearts.

1 Corinthians 15:3 (KJV) … Christ died for our sins …

1 Peter 3:18 (KJV) For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

1 Thessalonians 5:10 (KJV) (Christ) died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.

Someone once said “He laid down His everything for our nothing”. He gave Himself for you and for me. But I want you to look at out text once more:

Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of MANY

It doesn’t say that Jesus was offered many times, but ONCE. But His offer to God is not for ALL, but for the MANY. Why doesn’t it say He bore the sins of ALL?

2 The Gospel Is A Whosoever Will Offer. God does not force the Gospel on anyone. Christ has paid the penalty for our sin, but we must choose to receive that payment. Our text tells us:

Hebrews 9:26-28 (KJV) but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (27) And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (28) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many

Jesus came on an appointment to this world because we ALL have an appointment we must keep. What is this appointment?

It is an appointment with DEATH
It is an appointment with JUDGMENT

The Apostle Paul witnessed in the Athens that …

Acts 17:30-31 (ESV) The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

God will judge the world and all that is in it by Jesus Christ, the One He appointed to be the Savior. Every person has a double appointment. It s not an appointment that WE made, but an appointment our MAKER has made.

… it is appointed unto men (mankind) ONCE to die, but AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT:

This is a general appointment, a universal appointment, and a mandatory appointment. The great King Solomon, the richest and wisest man who ever lived, wrote:

Ecclesiastes 3:17 (ESV) … God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.

Judgment is sure, and God is the Sure Judge. Jesus came to this earth with an appointment because WE have an appointment both with death and with judgment. This one time appointment is certain, it is sure, and it is to every person.

Now I want to ask you …. do you know when you are going to die?
Did you receive the engraved invitation?
Did God ask you to RSVP?
No, and neither did I!

God controls the exact moment of physical death for each and every one of us. The Bible says:

Psalm 68:20 (ESV) Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

It is God Who gives us over to death, so said King David (Psalm 118:18). The Great Evangelist Billy Graham (who is now 97 years old) wrote …

“When we will die is not a matter of accident or chance; the Bible makes it clear that our lives are in God’s hands. He knows the time of our death, and He has even appointed it. The Bible says, “Man’s days are determined; you (God) have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed” (Job 14:5).”

God is the Appointer, the Ultimate Controller of death. He lengthens physical life, He shortens physical life. There was a time when people understood this principle of Scripture. You are here, today, alive and listening to this message because God has willed it to be so. Your life is not guaranteed. James, the Step Brother of Christ Jesus, wrote:

James 4:13-15 (ESV) Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

God has given you and I one more day but, as my momma always said, “Tomorrow never comes”. Today is the day to hear God’s Gospel and respond to it. Today is the day to become part of the MANY.

Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (28) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many

3 What Must I Do To Be Saved? Christ did the doing. The answer to your question is …

Acts 16:31 (ESV) … Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.

Believe He died for your sins. Believe that His death was sufficient. Believe what the Scripture says, that Christ appeared in the Presence of God for us. The Beloved Son of God represents all who believe in Him.

Hebrews 9:26 … but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Jesus Christ died once and for all on that Cross of Calvary for all who believe.

If you have received Him as Lord and Savior then you need not fear death.

When you stand before God at your Divine Appointment Jesus will stand with you.

For you belong to Him – forever.

May God bless your hearts with these words.

Isaiah 49:14-16 (KJV)  But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.  [15]  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.  [16]  Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

I was watching an old Andy Griffith episode called A Medal for Opie. The annual Sheriff’s Track and Field competition was coming up and all the boys in town – particularly Opie Taylor – wanted to win a medal. Opie was extremely excited, and Barney Fife the deputy didn’t help. Barney told Opie he could guarantee him a win on the day of the competition. And Barney helped Opie – kind of – the only way Barney can ever help. Opie was sure that he was going to win the race. Then the Race Day came. Opie was ready. He was sincere. He was certain. He got on his mark, got set, and GO! They were off. And in under a minute Opie came in dead last.

There was no medal for Opie.

Opie walked off the field, refusing to participate in any other events that day. When Andy got home at the end of the day Opie was sitting, sullen, unspeaking on the sofa. He looked like a little dark cloud! Andy asked Opie why he left, and Opie said – sotto voce – “Because I didn’t win”. Andy told Opie he needed to be a good sport, that he needed to go congratulate his friends. Opie refused. Andy told Opie “Son, I’m ashamed of you!”. Later on Opie came back to his daddy and said “I don’t want you to be ashamed of me”. Then Andy taught Opie what it meant to win – and how to be a graceful loser.

In the 70’s the Child Psychologists began to tell parents that losing is bad for a child’s ego. Everyone’s a winner. As a result parents began to give awards to all the children just for participating. Children were patted on the back and praised even when they ran the ball in the wrong direction. They were elevated even when they missed the ball and hit someone in the head with the bat. Everyone’s a winner! So last week thousands of young people took to the streets demanding that the American System be changed because their side didn’t win.

When no one stepped up and gave them what they wanted they began rioting,
destroying personal property.

This is the result of bad parenting. Not everybody wins. And sometimes you have to go through some dark valleys before you come to a path that leads to a mountaintop. The personal accounts that the Bible gives us of great people shows that there are highs and lows in every life.

• Moses didn’t start out blessed – he was supposed to be aborted! His mother instead put him in a little ark and floated him down the river to where the Princess of Egypt found him. Moses was 80 years old when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt. Moses was 120 years old when God buried him, never entering the Promised Land.
• Joseph spent at least 13 years as a slave and as a prisoner before he stood before Pharaoh and was made Prince of Egypt.
• David was a Shepherd boy when Samuel anointed him to be King of Israel over the current King Saul. David had to wait 15 years living like the late David Janssen (March 27, 1931 – February 13, 1980) did on that old T.V. show called The Fugitive. When King Saul died David didn’t immediately rule Israel. He became King of Judah while Saul’s son Ishbosheth ruled the rest of the nation.

I could go on and on, but the reality is that – like that old Carole King song:

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,
And most times you choose between the two …

We have all had times when we have felt that God was no where near.

• Sometimes we brought this on ourselves. We did what our Lord said not to do, and as a result we feel far from Him.
• Sometimes people bring this on us. A careless word spoken from an arrogant, unfeeling person, can make us feel little and lonely.
• Then there are times when the circumstances seem to weigh us down. We hurt, we suffer sickness or a loved on is in the valley of the shadow of death. We feel as if God is not there. We cry out as our Jesus did on the Cross:

My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?

Our thoughts betray us. Pain haunts us. Has God abandoned us? Jesus knew that the Father had not abandoned Him, but in the midst of pain we all have cried out. The pain is to much. I cannot bear it. Where is my God?

God is always there. That’s what the Lord tells us today.
When the bad times come, don’t feed the flesh. Don’t destroy, and sulk.
Look up. Hear His Word. Know He is faithful to His Children.
God is in control!

1 God Will Not Abandon His Children. He Cannot! Zion, God’s Old Testament Children, cried out. They had abandoned God and wandered off into the world.

When you wander from God, you wander into a mine field!

Like the Prodigal Son of Jesus’ Parable of Luke 15:11-32, Israel said “Father, give me my share of the estate .. I’m leaving home”. God’s Child left home and, wandering from God, lost his wealth and position. He found himself doing one of the worst jobs that could be done.

The Prodigal Slopped Hogs.

I don’t know if you’ve ever slopped hogs, but it is a miserable job. Granddaddy raised hogs for meat. I hated slopping them. You carried leftover and rotted food in a 5 gallon bucket out to the farthest part of the farm. You don’t want hogs living in smelling distance of the house.

You don’t want to slop hogs unless you are a Sewer Worker like Norton
on the old Jackie Gleason Honeymooner’s Show.

You smell a hog pen long before you see a hog pen. It was a long walk from the house to the hog pen. If you weren’t careful you slopped that garbage over on your feet, and then you stunk like a hog. When you got there you either lifted the mess over the fence and splattered yourself and the hogs while filling the trough – or you went in the gate and risked getting nipped and pushed around by the hogs.

The Child of God who wanders from God suffers like the Prodigal suffered. Finally the Prodigal realizes that he should have stayed with his Father. “The servants eat better than I do. I’m eating out of the trough. I’ll go back to my Father and say, Father I have sinned against Heaven and against You. I am no longer worthy to be called Your son. I’ll be a hired servant if you’ll let me!” Israel was like that. Every Child of God who has wandered away from the Father’s Presence is just like that. We head back to Him, repentant, filled with sorrow. And as we head back we dread the meeting for we think that Father will shame us, mock us, perhaps discipline us.

Then we see Him right where He was.
The Father is still there in prayer.
The Father is right there on the property of His Word, His Bible.
We pick up the Book.
We come back to our Church Family.
And He runs to us, embracing us in love, saying
Bring the best robe and put it on him.
Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the fatted calf and kill it – we’re going to have a barbecue.
My son has come home!

God’s Israel had sinned and turned away from God, but God is there all the time. When we sin and do things our way, turning from God, God does not depart. He is there. He loves us. Yet God calls His Children to follow Him. He said:

Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) … your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

What is the solution? Come home. Turn your heart to Him.
But God will not abandon even the most obstinate Child.
And Israel was an obstinate Child.

God declared …

Isaiah 49:15 (KJV) Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.  

Most women have a maternal instinct. Most would not “forget her sucking child”. Most women would feed and care for the child the more so because that baby is helpless. There are a few mothers – let’s call them monsters – who would leave their children suffering and screaming while they went out to pleasure themselves. There are a few like that. But most mothers would not dare do such a thing. God knows the hearts of man and woman. God said they may forget, yet I will not forget thee. God does not abandon His Children. He loves His Children. We may leave God (and sometimes foolishly do) but God is always there. The Scripture declares:

Hebrews 13:5 (ESV) Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

The greatest possession we have is our Heavenly Father. He is there for us if we have called upon the Name of Jesus, receiving Him.

Romans 10:13 (KJV) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

John 1:12 (KJV) But as many as received {Jesus}, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Repent and turn to Him if you, like the Prodigal, have wandered away. He is there, waiting for you.

2 See The Depth Of God’s Love For His Children In This Next Statement. God said:

Isaiah 49:16 (KJV) Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands …

Let’s break this verse up.

a First we start with the word BEHOLD! The word BEHOLD is a word of wonder, of admiration, of excitement. Found in 1275 verses in the Bible BEHOLD was used by God when He presented Eden to Adam and Eve:

Genesis 1:29 (KJV)  And God said, BEHOLD, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

or when God looked with wrath at the mess man had made of the earth, telling Noah:

Genesis 6:13 (KJV)  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, BEHOLD, I will destroy them with the earth.

or when Pilate presented Christ – beaten and bleeding – before the people:

John 19:5 (KJV)  Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, BEHOLD the man!

BEHOLD, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands. This is a word of amazement in this text. Who did the Lord engrave on the palms of His hands? Was it Angels, perhaps Michael or Gabriel? No. God engraved sinners on the palms of His hands, rebels who deserved no grace.

Romans 5:8 (KJV) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The religious crowd mocked Jesus for those He lovingly ministered to. Look at Jesus. Isn’t He confused? They say He is a Prophet, but He is fellowshipping not with us, but with sinners, with tax collectors, with questionable women. If He was a Prophet He would know better.

Jesus Christ is MORE than a Prophet. He is the Messiah. He is the Great Physician, the One Who came to heal the broken. Jesus told the Pharisees:

Mark 2:17 (KJV) … They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

God manifested Himself in the flesh for all people, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But the Pharisees confused themselves with their clothing, their schooling, their rituals.

We are all sinners.
We are all broken.
When we come to Christ by faith, God writes us on His hands.

b Now Look At The Pronouns “I” And “You”. Who inscribed the Child of Faith on God’s hands? Was it I? Was it you? Can a mere mortal come close enough to God to make a mark on His hands? Absolutely not. No one can write on God’s hands but God Himself. Salvation is not a work that any person can do, but it is a work that God has done and offers to all who receive Christ as Lord and Savior. The Scripture declares that ..

Romans 10:9-11 (ESV) … if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

When you realize yourself to be a sinner, broken and undone, and call upon Jesus Christ to be your Savior, God writes you on His hands. The powers of darkness cannot overcome this great promise to God’s Child …

I have engraved YOU upon the palms of My hands

Your name is written in the Book of Life. Oh, praise God for that! We are told in …

Revelation 20:15 (ESV) And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The ANYONE’s are thrown into the Lake of Fire. Those Whom God does not know, the ones that Christ says “I never knew you”, they are cast into the Lake of Fire because their name is not written in the Book of Life. When you receive Christ you receive everlasting life.

When you come to God personally and receive Him personally and start a personal relationship with Him through Christ then God writes your name into His Book of Life (Revelation 3:5; Philippians 4:3). But God ALSO writes YOU on His hands!

I have engraved YOU

God personally touches us. When God created the worlds and the Heavens God spoke it into being. When God created everything with a Word the scripture says:

Job 38:7 (ESV) … the morning stars SANG TOGETHER …

but God did not sing. Yet with His people the Lord says:

Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV) The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

God cherishes His people. God inscribes US on the palms of His hands. Not just our Names, but ALL of us. He “numbers the hairs of our head”. He knows us personally, and loves us so much that He makes us a PERMANENT MARK in His life, on his hands!
What a glorious truth!

God knows you better than you know yourself. He knows your sins and your drawings. And yet, He loves us anyway. The Perfect loves the Imperfect. Forever. Forever.

c Now Look At The Words “Palms Of My Hands”. God does not inscribe us on the “works of His hands”. God has made the works of His hands – this earth and the things around us – to be temporal and temporary. As the Psalmist testified:

Psalm 102:24-27 (ESV) “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!” 25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.

We are not engraved on this earth, nor on the things that God has made. We are engraved on the palms of His hands. The things of this world will perish, but God’s hands will never perish.

No one can separate God’s hands from God.
No one can separate God’s hands from God.
No one can separate God’s hands from God.

Word Study No one. You are – if you have received Christ as Lord and Savior – if you have believed in Him – as PERMANENT AS GOD YOUR FATHER IS PERMANENT. You have forever life. You are engraved – חָקַק the Hebrew Chaqaq – engraved or cut into the hands of God.

This is a picture of the Christ.
He took the nails FOR YOU.
He bore the pain FOR YOU.
He suffered and lay down His life FOR YOU.

Notice that God says “I have engraved you on the palms of My HANDS”. Not just one hand, but two. You are on His right hand of blessing and on His left hand of justice. If you have received Christ you will never hear “depart from Me, you cursed ones, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)”.

God would have to toss both of His hands into the flames to cast off His Child.
That will never be.
Them that are in His hands are forever in his hands, blessed be the Name of the Lord!

3 Knowing This Great Promise And this Great Reality Should Excite You To Serve The Living God! The Apostle Paul told his disciple Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:6-7 (ESV) For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Why should the Children of God go about hung over with despair, gloomy and doomy? We should be an upbeat and glorious people, unafraid of the world around us, ever willing to serve our Lord. We are engraved on the hands of our God. We are bound to Him. Let us go forward, trusting and loving Him as He loves us. Let us stand up for Him, showing His Mark on us as He shows our mark on Him.

And if you do not know Him, today is the day to receive Him. Dr. Henry M. Morris wrote:

(begin quote) “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:12-13). The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, on the very last page of Scripture, says: “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). So, whosoever will, may come! One can contemplate later, with deep thanksgiving, the mysteries of the divine call, but first he must come, and if he so wills, he may! (end quote)

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

Luke 13:1-5 (KJV) There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luke 13:6-9 (KJV) He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

Luke 13:18-22 (KJV) Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. 20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. 22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

Luke 13:31-35 (KJV) The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. 32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

We have just had our 2016 Presidential Election, and there were winners and losers. Some are upset that their candidate did not get into office. But I want to assure each and every Child of God that Our Father is still in control. It doesn’t matter who is in control in the White House, the Congress, or the Supreme Court. God is still in control. His Government – the Kingdom of God – will in the end prevail.

We have political unrest today, but the people had political unrest when our Lord Jesus walked the earth. If you were to put a heading to summarize what is taught in Luke chapter 13, the heading would read “Jesus Explains Government”. That’s what chapter 13 is all about. It’s about government, the dissatisfaction of the people with their government, and the fact that God is above all governing powers. Israel was an occupied nation. They had fallen to Rome.

Israel’s“King” Herod was not of the line of David, but was an Idumean (born in Edom) of the lineage not of Jacob but of Esau. Esau, as you remember, sold his heritage for a pot of lintel stew (Genesis 25:30). No child of Edom should have sat on David’s Throne, but Israel was conquered and Herod was made King by Rome. Though a “cousin” to Israelites, Herod was not an Israelite. The Roman Emperor Tiberius assigned Pontius Pilate to be Governor of Israel.

God’s people were upset. They wanted Jesus to come and overthrow Rome and restore the line of David.

But God is in control.

1 It Is God Who Establishes Governments. Some disciples told Jesus about something terrible that happened. They said:

Luke 13:1 (KJV) There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

If there were a newspaper this event would have made headlines. I can see it now. You’re having coffee one morning and open your copy of the Jerusalem Independent or the Holy Cow Times and read the front page headlines,

Followers of Judas Gaulonites
Murdered At Church By Rome!

The truth is that the followers of Judas Gaulonites believed that there was no government but their god’s government. They refused to submit to Roman authority, refused to pay taxes, and were constantly seeking means by which they could overthrow the current Law of the land. They were not law abiding citizens but insurrectionists, anarchists, zealots who would do whatever they could to destroy the hated government. On one holy day when Israel was making sacrifices agents of Pilate followed these revolutionaries into the Temple and executed them by the sword as enemies of the state. Their blood flowed in the same area where animals were sacrificed in the Temple.

People came running to Jesus. “Jesus, did you hear what Pilate did? He murdered these GALILEANS while making sacrifices in the Temple. Jesus, aren’t YOU a GALILEAN? Didn’t you grow up in Nazareth? Pilate murdered your people in your Temple! What are we going to do about it?” Oh, I can see their faces now! Here is Jesus, a Person Who has healed the sick, caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. Here is a Man from God. Surely He will join us in our cause and help overthrow the Government.

Then Jesus shocked them. He didn’t come back with a “let’s get them!” or a “God is on your side” speech. Jesus said:

Luke 13:2-5 (ESV) Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

God does not call His people to be anarchists, to arrange themselves in armed uprising against the government. Jesus calls us to repentance. The word repent means to stop trying to do things your way and to come to Christ, doing things and living life HIS Way. God is in control of all things. God either DECREES or ALLOWS all things according to His Eternal Purpose.

God establishes governments. The Bible is clear on this. The Apostle Paul, imprisoned for his faith and headed to almost certain death to Rome, wrote:

Romans 13:1-6 (ESV) Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

God establishes governments. The Bible says

Proverbs 21:1 (ESV) The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever he will.

God sets up kings and deposes kings. It is God Who is in control! If you are a Christ Follower you hold duel citizenship. You are a Citizen of the Kingdom of God, but you are also a Citizen of the nation where you reside. You are to speak with boldness the Gospel of Christ, the Glorious Hope of salvation. But you are never to refuse to pay taxes or to support your government in all ways that do not stand against the Kingdom of God.

God is in control. Honor God, and, insofar as your government does not demean God’s Kingdom, honor your government.

When Jesus was about to go to the Cross the Governor Pilate wondered why Jesus wasn’t more deferential to him. Pilate had many times had people before him fell to their knees, begging for their lives. Pilate asked Jesus in John 19:10 (and I paraphrase here),

Why don’t you grovel before me, Jesus?
Don’t You know I have the power to let You go?

Jesus told Pilate

You have NO AUTHORITY over Me at all,
UNLESS it had been GIVEN to YOU from ABOVE!

God is in control. It is God’s Will that Christ go to Cross for us, to die for our sins, to rise again for our salvation. Pilate wasn’t calling the shots here – the Father was. Pilate wasn’t in control – Jesus was! He could have but spoke a word and the Father would have sent twelve thousand angels (John 12:49).

Jesus wasn’t made to go to that Cross. He laid down His life.
The Father gave His Son. He laid down His life.

Unless you repent, you will ALL likewise PERISH! God is control of the powers that be. God is in control of every event. This is why Jesus mentions the Tower of Siloam. Little is known about this, but the Pool of Siloam was where people who were sick came to be healed. Jesus met a blind man at the Pool of Siloam. The Bible tells us that

John 9:6-7 (ESV) {Jesus} spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Siloam was believed to be a sacred place, and a tower on the wall round about the city overlooked Siloam. One day that tower fell, and 18 sick people were killed under it’s rubble. Why? Why did this happen?

I have no idea.
I have no idea why sick people seeking relief would be killed by a falling Tower.
I have no idea, but I do know this.
God is in control.
And unless you repent, you will all likewise perish!

2 It Is God Who Claims Our First Allegiance. Jesus said to the Jews who came to Him “Unless you REPENT you shall ALL likewise perish”. God sustains a government for the protection of His people. Rather than tell these followers how bad Rome was Jesus spoke a parable of the Fig Tree. The Fig Tree, by the way, is a reference to Israel. His listeners – Jews – would have been familiar with the witness of the Prophet Jeremiah who in Jeremiah 24 referred to Israel as a Fig Tree. Jesus told these people who wanted Him to lead an armed revolt against Rome:

Luke 13:6-9 (KJV) He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

The Fig Tree is a reference to Israel. Israel was in Roman bondage because, though she was to be populated with those who love the Lord, they ceased loving the Lord. Not everyone. There were many who looked for the coming Messiah.

Simeon looked for the “Consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25)
Anna the Prophetess looked for the “Redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38)
Nicodemus sought Jesus by night (John 3)
Eleven common men followed the Lord, fishermen and tax collectors

There were many who followed Christ when He walked the earth, and many who heard His Gospel. But there were many more who were only outwardly religious, showy but ignorant of God. For three years Jesus looked for fruit from the Fig Tree. He came first for the Children of Abraham, the Israelites. But everywhere He looked He saw fruitlessness.

The Owner of the Fig Tree – God Almighty – saw no fruit from Israel. His people were fruitless.

Cut it down! Why cumbereth it the ground?

Beloved, God’s Church is America has become in many places much like ancient Israel. It is Church in Name Only, just as Israel was God’s People in Name Only.

The Way of Christ is to bear fruit.
The Fig Tree – The People of God – Are To Bear Fruit.

I am not talking of earning your salvation. Salvation is not a thing earned, but it is a gift bestowed. But if you are a Child of God then God indwells you. And, like the Fig Tree, you are His, and He expects you to be fruitful. The Christian way of life is not meant to be easy. Salvation is free, but it is neither cheap nor easy. It is hard to be light in the midst of darkness. But have you ever considered,

You cannot see the stars nor the moon while the day is lit by the sun.
You can only see those points of light in the deepest and darkest of nights.

Jesus said in His parable that the owner of the fig tree said “Cut it down”. But the Gardener told the Owner:

Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down

The nation Israel rejected Christ and was fruitless. But God gave Israel a little more time. Many Israelites came to Christ, but many more resisted and fought against the Gospel. At one point after Christ’s resurrection and ascension into Heaven the High Priest and the Rulers of Israel told the Disciples:

Acts 5:28-32 (ESV)…. “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The Christian way of life is to be the Light of Christ, to shine for Him and to tell others of Him. The Christian Way of life is to love. Not to be terrorists. Not to kill and to steal. Our way is the way of Love, the way that Christ has taught us.

Israel rejected Christ, so God allowed Rome to destroy Israel in 70 AD. The Temple was destroyed, the people scattered. Why? Because the Fig Tree was fruitless. Jesus is not done with Israel. He will one day redeem His Israel, praise His Holy Name.

3 We Are To Keep Our Eyes Of Faith On God’s Kingdom. We are to repent and follow the Lord. His Kingdom cannot be defeated. Jesus said:

Luke 13:18-21 (KJV) Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. 20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

The Kingdom is a tiny mustard seed. Jesus said a man cast it into his garden. There was no working of the ground. The Gospel message is just shared. A tiny word. A loving act in Christ’s name. That seed will grow. God makes the seed grow. Not us, but God. As it seed grows, it makes a great tree.

And a bunch of strange birds rest in that Gospel!

You don’t think you’re strange? You are. Who does God call to His Kingdom?

1 Corinthians 1:26-30 (ESV)  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

You are a strange and peculiar people. But you are, if you have received Christ and Lord and Savior, a loved people, a cherished people, the Light of the World, a loving people, a kingdom of God’s Children. Look unto Him.

Do not be afraid of governments. Fear God, love one another, be good citizens, but stand in the Gospel.

The Bible tells us that several Pharisees came to Jesus saying:

Luke 13:31 (KJV) The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.

and Jesus shivered in His sandals! No, not at all. How did Jesus reply?

Luke 13:32-33 (KJV) … Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Jesus knew that He would not be hindered by any government until His mission was fulfilled. Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, as long as we follow our Lord and seek to honor Him we will be all right.

God is in control.

God’s Church is the independent conscience of the Nation. We are to continue to speak His truth in love, trusting that the mustard seed we sow will bear fruit. Stephen Witmer wrote:

“Herod, the ruler over Galilee, had already locked John the Baptist in prison and lopped off his head (Matthew 14:3–12). Now he has heard about Jesus and apparently has a desire to kill him, possibly because he believed it was John back from the dead. Herod is powerful and paranoid (Matthew 14:1–2), as well as selfish and erratic in his behavior. This is no idle threat. And yet, this passage records no hint of fear on Jesus’s part. Jesus’s strongest emotions don’t even involve Herod, whom he seems to dismiss and quickly forget. Herod is actively seeking his life, but Jesus isn’t fazed.”

Why? Because God is in control.
So set your eyes on Jesus.
Continue to speak the truth in love.
Be uncompromising about sin.
Be focused and comforted by the Sovereignty of God.

Rest in Him. Rest in His Promise that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, to them who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28-32).

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

Hebrews 9:1-15 (KJV)  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. [2]  For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. [3]  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; [4]  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; [5]  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. [6]  Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. [7]  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: [8]  The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: [9]  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; [10] Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. [11]  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; [12]  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. [13]  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14]  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15]  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

When the Book of Hebrews was written the Temple – called Herod’s Temple – still stood in Jerusalem. Pastor John MacArthur said that he believes this Book was written sometime between AD 60 and AD 69, perhaps about AD 65. If it was written in AD 65 these Hebrews had no idea that the Temple would be destroyed just five short years later in AD 70.

But God knew the Temple would be destroyed. The Temple HAD to be destroyed.

1 God Does Not Want To Live In Our Man Made Structures. Idols Live In Man Made Structures. God Is Everywhere And Eternal! The Hebrews – like many who do not understand God and His immensity – looked to the Temple, to the Levitical Priests, to the sacrifices and sacraments to see God. They believed that the rituals gave them a relationship – an unbreakable relationship – with God. Many of the Hebrews when told of Christ pointed to the Temple and said:

Why do we need Jesus? We have the Temple!

Hebrews 9:1 (KJV)  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

The mark of the First Covenant that God made with Israel was a MAN MADE Tabernacle or a Temple. Certainly God told Israel how to build the Tabernacle. Certainly God told Israel how to furnish the structure. These were “ordinances of divine service”.

But it was a WORLDLY sanctuary.
Anything that is “worldly” is temporary.

While Israel was moving and not yet in the Promised Land God decreed that they use a Tent called the Tabernacle. But once they were settle in Jerusalem God allowed Solomon to build a Temple, a more permanent structure. But notice what we see in verse 2:

Hebrews 9:2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

Look at the word “tabernacle”. This is the Greek σκηνή skēnē (pronounced skay-nay’) a tent or a temporary shelter. Whether TENT or BUILDING the Temple was ALWAYS TEMPORARY. It was a SKAY-NAY!

A Little History Lesson Here:

When Israel got to the Holy Land David asked God if he could build Him a more permanent shelter. King David told the Prophet Nathan:

2 Samuel 7:2 (ESV) …. See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.

The Ark – a box that represented the Presence and blessing of God – was in a tent. David wanted to build a more permanent structure for God. David wanted to do this because David loved God.

a David Loved God, So He Wanted To Build God A Place To Stay, A Home. In his love he said “God, I want to be as good to You as You have been to me. God understood what David was saying, and blessed King David because of it.

May I say, dear Ones, that …

The Way to Blessing is to love God!

The Way to Blessing is to love God!

God told King David …

2 Samuel 7:4-11 (ESV) … ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. … 11 … Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.

The Lord told David “I have not asked you for a house – but I will build you, David, a house!” God loved David. God didn’t need a house, no more than He needed David or needs us. But God loves those who love Him.

Deuteronomy 7:9-10 (ESV) Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.

You can’t OUT LOVE God, you can’t OUT LIVE God, and you can’t OUT GIVE God.

He told David “the Lord will make you a house” (or in the King James “He will make thee an house”. David wanted God to have a PERMANENT PRESENCE in Jerusalem. Because he desired this in his heart, God told David I WILL MAKE YOU A PERMANENT PRESENCE in history.

2 Samuel 7 was where God made an everlasting covenant with David. It is because of this covenant – the Davidic Covenant – that Christ had to descend from the family of David.

God told David “you shall not build a house for Me because you are my man of war”. But God told David:

1 Chronicles 28:6 (KJV) …. Solomon thy son, he shall build my HOUSE and my COURTS: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

God uses the word בַּיִת bayith (pronounced bah’-yith) for the word “house”. That word means “a dwelling place”. What God was saying was akin to “I’ll let Solomon build Me a Baymont Inn, a Hilton, a Ritz Plaza”. You can build Me a place to visit.

But you can’t build God a permanent dwelling place. Why? It’s impossible! God says …

Isaiah 66:1 (ESV) … “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?

b Inside This “Baymont Inn” That Solomon Would Build (It Is A SKEINE or Tent) There Were Several Representative Things, Shadows That Pointed To A Greater Truth.

Hebrews 9:2 For there was a TABERNACLE made; the first, wherein was the CANDLESTICK, and the TABLE, AND THE SHEWBREAD; which is called the sanctuary.

There Was A Candlestick or Lampstand That Represented Christ

Or the Lampstand (λυχνία lychnia) a shadow of the Coming Messiah.

The Lampstand was made of pure gold, there were no impurities in it.

When the Messiah came He there would be no impurities in Him.

The lamp was to be tended by the High Priest and his successors so that its light never went out,

Exodus 27:20 (KJV) … to cause the lamp to burn always.

This Light would shine day and night so that the priest could see his way unto God in the Holy of Holies. This Lampstand symbolized the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

John 8:12 (KJV)  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 9:5 (KJV) As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Jesus Christ is the “true light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9), the “Only Way a person can come unto the Father” (John 14:6). The Golden Lampstand was a shadow of the Coming Christ. The Tabernacle is temporary, beautiful as it was. The Lampstand is temporary, costly as it was.

There Was A Table Of Showbread That Represented Christ

The Table of Showbread contained twelve loaves, each representing God’s sustenance to His people. God loves you. God loves you! God will provide for you. He is in covenant with His people. But again, the Table of Showbread was only a shadow, something temporary that promised a greater tomorrow. The Table of Showbread looked forward to – once more – the Coming of Christ. Jesus said:

John 6:32-35 (ESV) “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Jesus is THE Bread of Life. When we gather for the Lord’s Table the broken Bread represents His Body, broken for us. The Cup is the communion of the Blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). He is what the Table of Showbread foreshadowed.

There Was A Holy Of Holies That Represented Heaven

Hebrews 9:3-7 (KJV)  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; [4]  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; [5]  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. [6]  Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. [7]  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

The Priests only went into the first veil of the Temple.|
But inside the Second Veil was what was called the Holy of Holies.
This place was entered into only by the High Priest, and only once a year.

The Holy of Holies and it’s contents represented God in His Heaven. It was symbolic only because the High Priest went into this place every year to cover the sins of the people.

Solomon, I am told, began building the Temple in 966 BC, some 480 years after Israel came out of Egypt under Moses (see 1 Kings 6:1). The original Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant which represented God’s Throne and His Presence. That Temple was destroyed by the invasion of the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. For 70 years there were no sacrifices because there was no Temple.

When the Temple was rebuilt (see the Book of Ezra) the Ark Of The Covenant was missing, and has never been discovered. In P.E. Hughes Commentary on Hebrews we read:

“With the destruction of Solomon’s temple in 587 B.C. the Ark disappeared from the scene, and in the second or post- exilic temple, which remained standing until the sack of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the HOLY OF HOLIES WAS COMPLETELY EMPTY, the former position of the ark being demarcated by a slab of stone known as ‘the stone of foundation.'”

Both the Temple and the Holy of Holies were temporary, representative of Someone Greater to come. That Someone Greater is Jesus Christ.

2 The Only Way To Enter Heaven – To Be With God Forever – Is Through Christ Jesus! The High Priest of Israel entered the Holy of Holies with the Blood of the Sacrifice – but the High Priest only entered a shadow Heaven. The High Priest entering the Holy of Holies represented Christ entering Heaven on our behalf. Read carefully this next section of Hebrews with me …

Hebrews 9:8-10 (KJV)  The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the WAY INTO THE HOLIEST OF ALL WAS NOT YET MADE MANIFEST, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: [9]  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; [10] Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Notice that first sentence – “The Holy Spirit showed that the way into the holiest of all was not yet revealed while the first Tabernacle was standing”.

“The Holiest ofAll” is not here a reference to the Holy of Holies.
The “Holiest of All” is a reference to Heaven where God is enthroned.

The High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies with animal sacrifices, but he did not enter into the holiest of all, that place we call Heaven. The Holy of Holies was a picture or a foreshadow of Heaven, and only one person entered into that place.

Listen to me … this is VERY IMPORTANT!

The word “Heaven” is found in 313 verses in the Old Testament, but the Old Testament Saint did not go to “Heaven” where God is. Why? Because Christ had not yet come.

When the Old Testament Saints died they went to a place called “Abraham’s Bosom” or “Paradise”. It was a place of comfort, where those who looked for the Coming Jesus waited for the Promise of His Blessing. Jesus spoke of Abraham’s Bosom when He spoke of the Rich Man and Lazarus:

Luke 16:22-23 (KJV) And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; [23] And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Jesus clarifies this when He tells us in …

John 3:11-13 (KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. [12] If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? [13] And NO MAN HATH ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

As Jesus speaks to Nicodemus, a Rabbi, He tells Nicodemus “no one has ascended unto Heaven BUT HE THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN”. Jesus was speaking of Himself. The Old Testament Saints died looking for the Messiah, but as we are told …

Hebrews 11:13 (ESV) These all died in faith, not having received the things promised ….

You could enter the earthly and temporal Holy of Holies with animal blood once a year if you were the High Priest, but NO ONE entered the Eternal Holy of Holies which is Heaven. Why? Because the blood of animals cannot atone for sin.

Because the works of our hands cannot bring us to God’s Heaven.

But no one went into God’s Heaven under the Old Covenant nor under the Old Law. The Priest entered a shadow of Heaven, but no one entered Heaven itself.

Until Jesus.

I love the “Buts” of Scripture. Read it with me.

Hebrews 9:11-12 (KJV) BUT CHRIST being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; [12]  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

The Old Testament Saint looked forward to the Coming Messiah, for they knew that He would be the key to Heaven. They looked for that Heavenly city. They died and went to Paradise, Abraham’s Bosom. But none entered Heaven proper until Christ entered that Heavenly Holy of Holies by His own Blood, having obtained ETERNAL REDEMPTION for us. Oh the Old Testament Saint had glimpses into Heaven. Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24). Elijah was caught up by a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). Isaiah glimpsed into Heaven and was horrified, for he was a man of unclean lips, in the midst of a people with unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5). There were glimpses, but none entered into that beautiful place. They died looking for the promise, and waited in Abraham’s Bosom. And they waited. They were comforted, but they waited. Then we are told in ..

Ephesians 4:8 (KJV)  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Jesus entered into the Heavenly Throne-room of God bearing His Blood shed on Calvary for us. He carried the Old Testament Saints with Him when He ascended. He led captivity captive. As Shari Abbott wrote, “When Jesus offered Himself in payment for the penalty of man’s sins, His shed blood made the complete and final atonement for sins. And, when Jesus ascended into Heaven, He led the Old Testament saints from Abraham’s Bosom to their new dwelling place with Him (Ephesians 4:8) in the Heaven of heavens.”

3 The Blood Of Christ Gives Us Standing With God Both Now, And In Eternity. It is His Blood shed on Calvary that pays for our sins. It is His sacrifice that makes us right with God, not just in Heaven, but here on this earth. This is what the text concludes with, saying …

Hebrews 9:14-15 (KJV)  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15]  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

The question I now ask you is quite simple. Are you relying on Jesus Christ for your salvation, or on something or someone else? The Pharisees relied on the Temple and their strict adherence to the Law, yet Jesus called them “children of the devil” (John 8:44-45). Religion without a relationship with God in Christ makes a child of the devil.

John 1:12-13 (KJV)  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [13]  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Heaven waits for those who have received Christ and His works for salvation. Heaven is coming for those who are His Children, inheritors of Eternal Life. May God use this message to draw you to faith in Christ.