We are told men ought not to preach without preparation. Granted. But, we add, men ought not to hear without preparation. Which, do you think, needs the most preparation, the sower or the ground? I would have the sower come with clean hands, but I would have the ground well-plowed and harrowed, well-turned over, and […]
via Preparing to listen to the preaching of the word — A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®
Exodus 34:5-17 (KJV) And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. 10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. 11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; 16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. 17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
One of the more interesting names of God is JEALOUS. God told Moses:
Thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD (I AM),
Whose Name is Jealous, is a jealous God …
I have heard people say “If God is perfect and holy, how can He be jealous?” Jealousy is not a sin in it’s proper context. Envy or Covetousness is always sinful. What’s the difference?
Envy or Covetousness is when you see what someone else has and long for it. When you drool over something that God has given to someone else you may be led to go after it. This is why the Tenth Commandment states:
Exodus 20:17 (KJV) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
To “covet” (Hebrew חָמַד chamad) means to “desire” or “lust after”. What God has given to your neighbor you should not covet or envy. Envy is to desire what another possesses. But
“jealousy” is to desire or treasure that which is yours. The Corinthian Church was founded by the work that the Apostle Paul did. He labored – even while imprisoned – to help these people come to a strong fellowship in Christ. But while Paul was imprisoned and unable to come to them other false teachers came in and tried to twist the Church to their ways. The Apostle said:
2 Corinthians 11:1-3 (KJV) Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
There is a godly Jealousy, and an UNgodly Jealousy. Paul labored in love for the Corinthians, suffering to bring them into union with Christ. When other false people came in Paul was jealous, and rightly so. He invested his life in those people. Paul and the Corinthians were together in a covenant of love.
There is a godly Jealousy and an UNgodly Jealousy. The husband or wife who smothers their mate, guarding every inch of their lives lest anyone or anything consider them, this is unreasonable Jealousy, ungodly Jealousy. But every good marriage or every good family has a certain amount of godly Jealousy. The husband should cherish and guard the wife, and the wife should cherish and guard the husband. What God hath joined together let not man put asunder. Godly Jealousy belongs in a marriage.
God was in a covenant of love with Israel.
God is in a covenant of love with His Church.
God is Jealous over His own.
1 If We Are Saved By God, We Belong To God And God Belongs To Us. As a Pastor over these many years I have had to counsel both men and women who came home from work to find their spouse in bed with another person. Such a thing is horrible to imagine. To find that person you shared your most intimate secrets with is having a fling with another truly must tear at the soul.
This very thing happened to God.
God saved Israel from Egypt. Had God not intervened the Israelites would have died a slow and truly painful death as slaves to these idolatrous Egyptians. God led them through the Red Sea, through dry deserts, and up to the foot of Mount Sinai. At the foot of Mount Sinai God told Moses to come up into the Mountain, that He was going to give His Beloved His Law. There were not just Ten Commandments on these stones, though the Ten Commandments were the first part of the Covenant. These two Tablets were called called “Tables of Testimony”:
Exodus 31:18 (KJV) And {God} gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
What was the first three of the Ten Commandments? God told His people:
Exodus 20:2-7 (KJV) I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
It is God that saves us, God Who delivered us from this world. God translates us, the Bible says. We are by faith:
Colossians 1:12-14 (KJV) Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us {partners} of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
God translated Israel from the bondage of Egypt. God translates every believer in Him from the darkness and enslavement of this world and into the Kingdom of His Son. We come from darkness and into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9-10 (KJV) But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
God says to His Israel, “I am the God – the Big G God – that saved you from the horror of Egypt”. You remember Egypt don’t you? The daily beatings. The poor rations. The many little g gods. That was Egypt. Moments of happiness, separated by hours and days and weeks of misery. Before the Red Sea the nation of Israel was but slaves. After the Red Sea they are now the people of God. Before Christ you were but a voiceless slave to Satan and this world. Now after Christ you are the people of God.
God saved us. This is why the first three commandments say:
Recognize God is first (with your minds). Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me! God is first and foremost in the minds of His people. It is He that made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100).
Recognize God is first (with your bodies). Thou shalt not make any graven image, nor bow down to them. God alone is to be worshiped.
Recognize God is first (with your lips). Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. The Lord will not hold Him guiltless who takes His Name in vain.
God saved Israel because He loved Israel. God saved you because He loves you. The Bible says:
1 Corinthians 6:20 (KJV) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 7:23 (KJV) Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
God bought us from the slave market of Egypt, of this world. We no longer belong in that place. We belong to Him, and He belongs to us.
2 Idolatry Is When We Define Who God Is. God Only Can Define Who God Is. Moses went up into the Mountain in Exodus 20 to receive God’s Law. The Bible tells us that …
Exodus 24:18 (KJV) Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Time passed as God gave Moses the Law. The Lord could have given Moses the Law in one second, but God wanted Moses to understand so that he could explain this Law to the people. As time passed the people got restless. Sinai is in Arabia, the country of Esau and Ishmael, ancient enemies of Israel. So the people started getting nervous. Moses was gone. They were exposed. Rather than look UP they looked AROUND. As God spoke to Moses, Israel spoke to one another and Satan whispered to their hearts.
Exodus 32:1 (KJV) …. when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Where the King James renders this as “make us gods” what the text literally says is “make us Elohiym {אֱלֹהִים}”. Elohiym is one of the names of God. In fact, Elohiym is the FIRST name of God used in the Bible.
Genesis 1:1 (KJV) In the beginning God {Elohiym {אֱלֹהִים} created the heaven and the earth.
Elohiym is the name of the Triune God. Israel said “make us a Trinity which shall go before us”. Make a god in our image. So they called Aaron and demanded that he make them a Trinity. Aaron – a beautiful picture of the false religion of our day – said
Exodus 32:2-4 (KJV) Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
An idol is a representation of God, a false god, an untrue god. God does not need our money. God owns a thousand cattle on a thousand hills. The earth is His, and the fulness thereof. He gives us our money, and our power to earn our money. But God is not made with our money. We cannot melt gold down and make God. God is.
God is not a golden calf, either. Israel made a golden calf because idols expect things of you. Give your money and God will give you milk. Give your firstborn and God will give you something in return. An idol is a representation of God, a manufactured god, and no true god at all.
An idol is a slap in the face of the True God.
An idol is US defining God apart from His Word and His Law.
God told Moses:
Exodus 32:7-8 (KJV) … the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
God was going to destroy these people. Idolatry is one of the greatest of all evils. When Churches turn away from the Living God to the golden calves, the Gospel is hidden. Idolatry is evil. God loves His people, but will not tolerate idolatry. He has said:
Deuteronomy 4:23-24 (KJV) 23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. 24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
God is passionately in love with His people, and wants His people to be passionately in love with Him. He says
Nahum 1:2-3 (KJV) God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
An idol cannot save, nor can an idol defend us. God loves us, and will avenge us, because He loves us. God demands our love in return, and is hurt when His children care little for Him.
3 How Does God Define Himself? God is not a golden calf! Moses comes down the mountain and runs the idolaters out of the camp. Israel broke faith with God, and Moses broke the Tablets of Testimony. Yet God is faithful. God tells Moses to return up the Mountain, to receive the Law once more. Before God gave the Law the second time – once more written with the finger of God – we are told:
Exodus 34:5-7 (KJV) And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
The LORD proclaims the Name of the LORD. What does God say of Himself?
He is the LORD, the Self Existent God. The Great I AM. Without beginning, without end, above all, and the Maker of all.
He is the LORD God. There is no other God than the God of Scripture.
Isaiah 45:5 (KJV) I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isaiah 44:6 (KJV) 6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
This Sunday night we will see that God is Alpha and Omega. There is no God besides our God.
Our God is merciful and gracious. Israel did not deserve the salvation of God, yet He saved them nonetheless.
Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV) because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.
It was all of Grace that God saved Israel. It was all of His merciful Grace that He did not destroy that stiff necked people.
Our God is longsuffering, patient.
Psalm 86:15 (KJV) But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
Our God is abundant in goodness and truth.
Exodus 34:7 (KJV) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
God forgives transgrssion, iniquity, and sin – but will not clear the guilty. To those who repent and turn to Him He is ever faithful. But God does not condone sin. And God jealously guards His people. He loves us in Christ. And God warns His people:
Exodus 34:12-15 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
The policy of the Child of God is that we love our God and Him alone. We make no provision for other gods in our lives. We make no compromise with the unbeliever, for light has no compromise with darkness. We will not compromise with their altars, their images, their groves. We love Him Who first loved us.
He loves us. We love Him. Forever!
May God touch your hearts with His Word!
Deuteronomy 32:1-6 (KJV)1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: 3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. 5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. 6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
As we have been studying the names of God over the past few weeks, one of the Greatest Names of God was put in a song by a dying Prophet. This Prophet was Moses. Moses was a patient and a humble man who loved the Lord. What we have just read responsively is one of the Names of God that He gave to His Israel and his Moses. Moses sang (for this is a song):
I will publish (make known) the Name of the LORD (Yahweh)
Ascribe ye greatness to our God.
He is THE ROCK, His work is perfect – all His ways are judgment
God is “The Rock”. This is the name that Moses “published”. He didn’t make it up. It isn’t a nickname. God gave Moses and Israel this name of His. God is (in the Hebrew) צוּר Tsuwr – (pronounced tsue-war) – the Rock. God is (in the Greek) πέτρα Petra the Rock.
Moses song is based on God being the Rock. Have you ever thought about how many songs we sing that involve God being the Rock?
God is our Rock of Ages:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in Thee;
let the water and the blood,
from Thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
Christ is the Rock on which we stand:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
God is our Rock in uncertain times:
In times like these you need a Savior
In times like these you need an anchor;
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He’s the One;
This Rock is Jesus, the only One!
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
God Is Our Rock. When Israel came out of Egypt God began to teach them to trust Him. If you belong to God you must learn to trust God! God does not provide everything to us immediately.
Israel cried out for deliverance from Egypt for 400 years, just as God told Abraham:
Genesis 15:13 (ESV) Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
Israel was planted in Egypt for 430 years, and 400 of those they were afflicted. Why so long? Because people are knuckleheads when it comes to God! God loves us. God possesses us. God cares for us. Yet we keep trying to do things our way.
1 God Is Our Rock Who Gives REDEMPTION. After 400 years of affliction the nation was FED UP with Egypt. So God’s people cried out to the Rock of Ages. And He answered. God led Israel out of Egypt by pillar of fire and pillar of cloud. When they got to the Red Sea they reached a barrier. Behind them was the Egyptian Army, led by Pharaoh, ready to destroy them. In front of them an impassable barrier, a watery sea, a Red Sea. The Biblical Red Sea (see Ex 23:31; Num 21:4; Deut 2:1; Judges 11:16; 1 Kings 9:26) is a depth of around 1.15 miles deep at it’s height! How is Israel going to get through this sea? They have no time to build boats. To try and swim would cause many of the nation (desert nomads are not known as swimmers) to drown. Israel cries out – and Moses answers!
Exodus 14:13-18 (KJV) Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
God parted the waters, and Israel passed through the Red Sea as if on dry ground. God dried up the path that Israel would take. As the Psalmist said:
Psalm 40:2 (ESV) {God} drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
The Red Sea would have run red that day with the blood of God’s people if God the Rock had not intervened. Their path was solid and sure because He alone is the Rock of Deliverance, the Rock of salvation. They Egyptian Army along with Pharaoh died that day because they made their hearts rock hard instead of repenting and exalting God the rock.
God is our Rock of Deliverance. I believe God paved the way through the Red Sea for His Children. If you know anything about seas and oceans you know that the bottom of a salt water area is usually sand, algae, and mud. But God paved the way for His people, and bogged down the enemies of His people.
Psalm 62:1-2, 5-7 (NASB) My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. 2 He only is my Rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. 5My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
2 God Is Our Rock Of PROVISION. In his song Moses sang:
Deuteronomy 32:2-4 (KJV) My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: 3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 He is the Rock
His “doctrine” shall drop as the rain, my “speech” shall distill as the dew, as a small rain upon a tender herb. Moses draws several pictures of water, something we all need. We are, I am told, according to H.H. Mitchell Journal of Biological Chemistry 158:
“… the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%. Each day humans must consume a certain amount of water to survive. … this varies according to age and gender, and also by where someone lives. Generally, an adult male needs about 3 liters per day while an adult female needs about 2.2 liters per day.”
We are largely water, and must drink liquid if we are to survive. People have been known to fast 40 days and longer, but the normal person can only go about 3 days without water. As Israel under Moses traveled to Rephidim (Exodus 17) where there was no water to drink. Israel immediately started to complain, and Moses once more went to the God the Rock.
Exodus 17:5-7 (KJV) And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
You would not expect water to come out of a dry rock. But that rock did not represent a dry rock. That Rock represented Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is a wonderful God written Book of Books that foretold of the Coming Messiah. God used beautiful imagery to explain what He would one day do in Christ. When Moses stood before that Rock as God commanded him to do he was to take the Rod that he held over the Red Sea – the Rod that God used to to part the waters – and standing before this Rock HE WAS TO STRIKE THE ROCK. That Rock was Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 10:1-5 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
When Moses stood before the Rock he represented God the Father. As Moses struck the Rock this represented Christ being given for our sins. And as the Rock was crucified for our sins it is in His suffering that we have the water of life. Water flowed from Him, Christ our God. We see this image many times in the New Testament.
John 4:13-14 (NLT) …. “Anyone who drinks this {well} water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
John 7:37-39 (KJV) In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
When Israel stood before the Rock at Massah Meribah that Rock represented the Crucified Christ. He died so that we could live. He is our Rock. God told Moses “I will stand BEFORE YOU there upon the Rock”. God took our sins. Jesus Christ gave Himself for us.
3 God Is The Rock Who Loves Us (Though Sometimes We Misunderstand This Truth). We are told in our focal text:
Deuteronomy 32:3-5 (KJV) I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. 5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
God is the Rock, whose work is PERFECT. God has never done sin. God has never done evil. All His ways are judgment. They are balanced. We may not understand what God is doing at times, but God’s work is rock solid. His motives are rock pure. He is a God of truth and WITHOUT iniquity. There is no sin in God. There is no bad in God. Those who are righteous:
Psalm 92:15 (ESV) to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
There is no wrong in God. When things do not go our way we are to say with the Lord that:
Romans 8:28 (KJV) 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.
Those who wander away from God to stay were never God’s children. I wish I had time to preach all of Moses song – I pray you go home and prayerfully read it in devotion, hearts lifted up to God. But I want you to note and read with me another portion of this song:
Deuteronomy 32:31-39 (KJV) For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. 32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: 33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. 34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? 35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. 36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. 37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, 38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. 39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
There is a little “g” god that most of the world and many local churches follow after.
Their rock is not as our ROCK
This little “g” god is defined not by what the “Big G” God has said, but by what man thinks. This little “g” god is based on human feelings and what we who are little “g” gods think is right”. Their “vine is the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah”.
They tie their lives NOT to what God’s Word the Bible says nor to what the Vine that is Christ has said, but to what THEY define to be godly. And God will not bless this!
God never blesses evil. The Rock may tolerate our missteps but will not bless them.
We bring a curse on ourselves when we do the wrong thing. We curse ourselves when we follow the little “g” gods of the
sexual revolution
redefinition of marriage
fluidity in gender assignment
racism and hate mongering
There are many other little “g” gods that celebrities like Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, Mainstream Media, and Hollywood promote. Yet the Big “G” God never blesses sin, and will not bless it now.
God would not bless sin in Adam.
God would not bless sin in Lot.
God would not bless sin in King David.
God will not even bless sin in Moses.
Once more Israel came to a dry spot in their journeys, a place called Kadesh. We read:
Numbers 20:7-13 (KJV) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth HIS water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must WE fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. 13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
God’s command to Moses was simple. Whereas in Meribah Moses was to strike the Rock now Moses was to speak to the Rock. Now Moses has free will. Moses has the Rod of God in his hand. He has Aaron at his side. He can choose to do the right or not. He stands before the Rock, and this Rock is the Resurrected Christ. Crucified at Meribah, now at Kadesh He is risen. He is to bear our burdens. He is our Great High priest. The Bible tells us that He is the Rock that both Israel and the Church are built on. Jesus asked Peter:
Who do YOU say that I am?
Peter replied in Matthew 16:16 “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus to Peter:
Matthew 16:17-18 (KJV) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Many years ago the Catholic Church – infested with men who loved power – took this verse and developed the Doctrine of the Pope. They said “Jesus built the Church on Peter, and Peter was the first Pope”. That’s nonsense. The Church is built on Jesus. When you look at the original Greek text what Jesus said to Peter was:
Thou art Πέτρος Petros (a small rock)
and upon this πέτρα Petra (large Rock)
I will build my Church
Peter would remember this later as he wrote under inspiration of God our last responsive reading:
1 Peter 2:5-10 (KJV) Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
The Church is built on the Rock that is Christ. When Israel stepped away from God she ceased being Israel. The Apostle says “not all who are descended from Israel are of Israel” (Romans 9:6). Who are God’s people? Those who have received Christ as both Lord and Savior. The Church is built on the Rock that is Christ.
Ephesians 2:20 (KJV) And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
There was no one Apostle or Prophet on which the Church is built. The Church is built on the written Word of God. The Church is built on the Rock that is Christ. The Church is not a man made nor a man fueled organization. The Church is Christ’s. The Church is anchored on God our rock. Many who profess Christ today have neglected the Rock. God said:
Deuteronomy 32:17-18 (KJV)17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. 18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
God is the Rock that gives life to His people, and we as His people are to be lively stones founded on Him, glorifying Him, lifting him up.
Moses forgot that.
He stood before the Rock at Kadesh and was only to SPEAK to the Rock.
He STRUCK the Rock.
And Moses lost the Promised Land.
As Moses wrote this song we read today (at least, we read part of it) he wrote the song knowing that he would not enter the Promised Land. Joshua would take his place. Caleb would enter with Joshua. But Aaron and Moses would die. Why?
He did the wrong thing.
Many years ago our 16th President Abraham Lincoln left Church and headed home. A fellow believer asked him “Mr President, how did you like the sermon today?”. The President said “Well, it was good”. The believer pressed for more information. “Does that mean you liked it?”. Lincoln replied, “It was good, but it was not complete because the sermon did not ask you to do anything great”.
God wants you to do something great.
Do not just acknowledge God as the Rock (which He is) but behave as if He is.
The world’s rock is not our Rock. Act as if He is your Rock. Do not strike the Rock in word or deed. God is to be glorified, to be lifted up. Obey Him. Read His Word. Pray to Him. Seek His direction in your life. If you are born again through the operation of the Spirit of God, be as His Child. Love your enemies. Do good to them that despitefully use you and curse you (Luke 6:28). Read His Word daily. Seek His Face daily.
Make a difference!
Make a difference!
Make a difference!
May God touch your hearts with His Word!
Hebrews 1:4-6 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Hebrews 1:7-9 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Hebrews 1:10-12 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Hebrews 2:5-8 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. 6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Sherry and I watched the movie Miracles From Heaven last week. It wasn’t a bad movie, as movies go. It told the (what was supposed to be) true story of a little girl that was born without the ability to digest food. The first ten years of her life were agony, with daily suffering and pain. Doctors could not diagnose what was wrong with her until a specialists found out that all food that she ate was just sitting in her body, never being digested. The disease was incurable. But one day the little girl climbed up a tree, and fell 30 feet to the ground. She hit just right and the accident cured her. The little girl said that she went to Heaven during the fall and God told her she would be cured. And she was!
Do I doubt the story that was told? Not really. I believe God can cure anyone. If God wanted a little girl to fall out of a tree to heal her, He could do that. Or God could heal her sitting at home I her recliner. My God can do anything. But one thing I noticed as we watched the movie – and I watched carefully. The name “Jesus” was only mentioned one time. The so called “Preacher” in the movie preached every sermon without reading any Scripture from God’s Bible. There was a lot of Gospel music, a lot of hand clapping, but no Word.
The film was clean – but there was no Word of God.
The film had a happy ending – but there was very little Jesus.
And Beloved, without Jesus it is not Christianity.
Without Jesus it is not the Church.
Without Jesus there is no going to Heaven.
Without Jesus there is no blessed life on earth.
We must have Jesus.
As someone rightly said many years ago:
There’s HEALING in the Name of Jesus!
There’s POWER in the Name of Jesus!
There’s SALVATION in the Name of Jesus!
Jesus! My Sweetest Rose of Sharon.
My Lily of the Valley.
My Bright and Morning Star.
My Dayspring from on High.
Jesus!
Demons tremble at the sound of that Name!
As I watched that movie I wondered why they all but sanitized the name of Jesus from it. It is because Sony Pictures has started putting out what they call Affirm Films, clean movies for religious people. The movie was 13 million ro produce, and took in (to date) over 73 million dollars – a 60 million dollar profit. I’m glad to see Hollywood put out clean movies, but I would be gladder still if they didn’t sanitize our Lord out of those movies.
The world needs Jesus. Our Country needs the Biblical Jesus. Our Community needs Jesus. YOU need Jesus.
1 Jesus Christ Is Greater Than The Angels. Let’s read together:
Hebrews 1:4-6 (KJV) Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Notice the text states that Jesus was “made so much better than the angels”. When Jesus came to this earth He did not suddenly spring into being. He was – from Eternity Past – very God of very God. We are told in John:
John 1:1-3 (KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:14 (KJV) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus Christ is Creator God, the Son of God who dwelt with God from eternity. Jesus is better than the angels because Jesus made the angels. Angels are greater than man. In the Bible we often see angels doing things that no man can do. Angels have killed thousands at a time. Angels are tremendously powered. But Jesus was made so much better than the angels. When He was begotten of the virgin named Mary He entered this world not as we did, but as the Son of God. The Father said of Jesus
Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee
Jesus came into this world, God in human flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. And when the Father brought the Son into the world He said:
This is My Son. Let ALL the angels of God worship Him
Every angel of God worships Jesus. The day He was brought into this world an angel told Mary:
Luke 1:35 (KJV) … The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Christ birth was a God thing, something unprecedented in human history. God was manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus was to be worshiped by ALL the angels. Jesus was worshiped of the Shepherds who saw Him after He came into the world. He was worshiped as both Lord and God (John 20:28).
Hebrews 1:7-9 (KJV) And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Jesus is greater than the angels because the Father testifies that He is indeed God. Unto the Son the Father says, “Thy Throne, O God, is forever and ever”. Jesus Christ is on the Throne of Heaven. Jesus Christ rules from the right hand of God. But Jesus Christ is declared God by the Father. He says “Thy Throne O GOD”. Jesus Christ is alive, and rules today tomorrow, and forever. And His Kingdom is a righteous Kingdom. His Kingdom is acceptable to a holy God. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy Kingdom. THOU (O Jesus) has LOVED righteousness and HATED iniquity. Jesus Christ came to this earth to show us what a righteous Kingdom looks like. Jesus said:
If you have seen ME you have seen the FATHER
His Kingdom is a righteous Kingdom. His subjects are made righteous by faith in Him. His Kingdom is eternal, and His servants everlasting. Everything shall one day cease, shall grow old and die, but those who belong to Him. We are told of Him that:
Hebrews 1:10-12 (KJV) 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
The pre-incarnate Jesus made Heaven and earth. The Heavens and the earth shall perish. Everything is spinning down … but Jesus and those who are His will remain. Just as a person folds up their clothing, Jesus will one day fold up all of Creation. They shall be changed, but Christ is the same forever. The Bible declares:
Hebrews 13:8 (KJV) 8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Jesus changes those whom He touches, but Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
2 Man Is Created Lower Than The Angels. We read:
Hebrews 2:5-8 (KJV) 5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. 6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
After telling us that Jesus is God in the flesh, much better than the angels, the Lord switches the subject and begins to talk about man. In the pecking order of things Jesus is greater than the angels, but man is lower than the angels. The Word of God quotes the Word of God in
Psalm 8:4-6 (KJV) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
When God made man He made man lower than the angels, but God put man in dominion over the whole earth. God told Adam and Eve …
Genesis 1:28 (KJV) …. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
God did not put the angels in subjection over the earth, but put man and woman on the earth to dominate it. Why? The Psalmist said “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man (our offspring) that you visit him?” Why would God put mankind in control of the earth. We are to dominate and keep the earth. The animals are no to do so. The angels were not to do so. Why would God care about US, little weak US, humans much weaker and lower than the angels.
Because God made mankind in the image of God.
Angels are not made in the image of God.
Angels are beautiful, they are powerful, they are magnificent creatures.
But God made us in His image.
Genesis 1:26 (KJV) … God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Man was made lower than the angels, but was made to be like God. God created us to be in His glory. We were to have domninion, not to be dominated. We were to be over the animals, not to be animals. We were made of the dust of the earth, and God in His mercy “crowned us with glory and honor”. God made us like a blank canvas where He could – through contact with Him – make us into His masterpiece. But we are told in Hebrews 2:8
But now we see not yet all things put under him
Man was created lower than the angels, but given dominion over creation. But now we see not yet all things put under him. Man allowed a fallen angel to rob us of our heritage. Satan slithered into the Garden, just as he slithers into Churches, Communities, and Countries today. Satan’s intent is to rob and kill you. Jesus said of that old devil:
John 10:10 (KJV) The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy ….
The serpent, that old Dragon the devil (Revelation 20:2) was not created of God to be in the Garden of Eden. But he slithered in. He asked our foreparents “Hath God really said”? (Genesis 3:1). The devil questioned the Word of God, and questions the Word of God today. “Has God really said”?
Has God really said marriage is between a man and a woman?
Has God really said sex outside of biblical marriage is evil?
Has God really said that we are created in God’s image?
Has God really said that we were created for His glory?
Has God really said that we are all fallen into sin, following after Adam?
Has God really said that we need to be saved?
Has God really said that our lives without Him are incomplete?
Has God really said He has provided a way, but one way, that we can be saved?
The Bible tells us:
Hebrews 2:3-4 (KJV) How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
3 Jesus Christ – Who Is Higher Than The Angels – Allowed Himself To Be Made Lower Than The Angels, So That We Can Be Saved From Death And Bondage. Jesus restores us in our hearts and lives to our Creator God. We read:
Hebrews 2:9 (KJV) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
We see Jesus. Where can salvation be found? In no one but Jesus.
Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus is Higher than the angels.
Jesus is the One of Whom God said “let all the angels of God worship Him”.
Jesus is the One of Whom the Father spoke, saying …
Hebrews 1:8 (KJV) But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Jesus is the Only Begotten of God. He Who is Higher than the angels was born into this world lower than the angels. The King of Kings became like unto us. He came to this earth for one reason, “for the suffering of death”. Jesus spoke of His death many times. He told His disciples over and over that He would have to die and rise again:
Matthew 16:21 (ESV) …. Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
God came into His Creation to save His Creation. Jesus came to die for you and for me. Jesus Christ died to make payment for our sins. He died so that we, believing in and following Him, could enter the righteous Kingdom of God. Our text says it better than I can say it:
Hebrews 2:14-16 (KJV) Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Jesus became human, and being the Perfect Man He went to a Cross of judgment to pay a penalty He did not owe. He died for us. He rose from the grave on the third day and as God the Son rules a righteous Kingdom, a Kingdom inhabited by living creatures who love and serve Him.
Hebrews 2:10-11 (KJV) For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Without Jesus in your life you are not living, you are just existing. You need the Lord. Jesus said to those who heard Him but rejected 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.
Jesus is the only Savior, the only Source of life. You cannot gain eternal life through your works, but must come to Him Who is Greater than the angels. You must come to Him Who lowered Himself becoming lower than the angels. You must give yourself to Him Who tasted death so that you won’t have to taste death.
John 10:10-11 (KJV) …. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Last night I watched what is now an old movie called Saving Private Ryan. If you’ve never seen it, it is based on a true story. In World War 2 a mother had lost three of her four sons. Because James Ryan was the last living son, the Army decided to save that young man. Those who were sent to give their lives for that one man didn’t want to do so at first. At one point the leader of the detail said:
This Ryan had better be worth it. He had better cure some disease,
or do something great.
At the end of the movie the now old, retired James Ryan stood at the grave and, looking down on the tombstones of those who died for him asked his wife, “Please tell me I’m a good man. Please tell me that I was worth it”. The sacrifice of others drove him to be a more excellent person.
Jesus died for you. Not begrudgingly, but willingly.
Hebrews 2:9-10 (KJV) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Jesus died for you so that you could be one with God. Jesus died for you to bring you into God’s glorious righteous Kingdom. Jesus died for you to redeen you from the serpent, that old Devil. Jesus died for you because He loves you. And if you come to Him, it will cost you everything you have. You give Him your broken life, and Jesus will give you His resurrected life. Please receive Him as Lord and Savior today.
May God touch your hearts with His Word.
Rarely do people “walk the aisle” at Church anymore. When I was growing up people would sit and listen to the preaching of God’s Word then, at the end of the service, people would “walk the aisle”. They would put their pride aside, and go forward to pray. To seek God. To ask for forgiveness.
We live in a hardened generation.
Two little old ladies need help. I bring them to Church every time they are able to come. We used to use their car to get them to Church, but their grandchildren talked them out of their car. Oh, they paid grandma a thousand dollars for a car that was nearly new, a nice vehicle that cost about 28 times what they gave. The grandkids promised granny that they would make sure they got to the store when they needed food. They promised to tend granny’s yard. They promised a lot of things. I went to pick up one of those little old ladies last night and we couldn’t use their sidewalk. It was overgrown with bushes. The grass is a foot high in the yard. The grandchildren have made merchandise of their mother’s mother, and now are no where to be found.
What has happened to our country? What is wrong with this generation, this selfish group of people? This “feed me” but “heck with you” generation that chases after whichever politician can stuff their bellies the tightest?
Yesterday I visited two other little old ladies in nursing homes in two different cities. Both were alone, no family in sight. One little old lady told me when I came what a blessing it was to be “remembered”. This generation and the one that came after is all about convenience. Put them in a nursing home. Take their property. Do you know that for the “privilege” of taking them from their homes the nursing home will take and sell the homes that these precious people raised these greedy children in? Yes, the law allows it. After all, we have our rights, and do not want to be inconvenienced.
We live in a hardened generation. We live amongst monsters. And yes, YOU might might be the monster.
So what can we do?
We can complain about the monsters, but that fixes nothing. What of compassion? We have allowed monsters to take over our nation. Judges kill our babies through legalized abortion. ISIS grows because of the monstrous decadence of the west. We can finger point, and blame, and listen to these two idiotic political clowns as each blames the other for our problems. The problem of America is not Democratic or Republic. The problem of America is a generation that will not stand up and fix the problem. We want to hire another clown for the circus while we sit texting on phones smarter than we are. We want to lay in bed watching television, or being an “Activist” on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We want to party with a perverted granny in a vodka commercial. We want more than a minimum wage while we do a less than adequate job. If we complain and do nothing, we are just part of the problem.
We can get up. I don’t want to, but I’m going to mow granny’s grass today. Her good for nothing, thieving grandchildren will not do it, and my wishing won’t make it better. So I’m going to fix their yard, and take them to get groceries. I’m going to visit those abandoned in the nursing home. I cannot get their homes back, but I can love them in the home they are in.
Christ follower, you must get up. Christ follower, you must let Him use you. You must quit sitting and start being part of the solution. Do you know someone in need? Go to them. Help their helplessness for Christ’s sake. Be a light to those in darkness. Speak Christ as you DO Christ. If we pull together we can see a change in our world, one soul at a time.Quit hoping some political buffoon is going to fix the problem. They can’t. God can, if you let God use you.
For God’s sake. For Christ’s sake. For America’s sake.
When my mother was diagnosed with ALS 6 years ago, it only took a few months for me to consider whether or not the disease was genetic. Early signs pointed to “yes,” as her half-brother died of a similar neurological disease. The science on the relationship between genetics and ALS was questionable six years ago, so […]
via Three Things Every Healthy Church Possesses and Passes Along —
Psalms 136:1-26 (KJV)1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. 3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. 4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. 5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever. 6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. 7 To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever: 8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever: 9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever. 10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever: 11 And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: 12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. 13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: 14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: 15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever. 16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever. 17 To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 18 And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 19 Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever: 20 And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever: 21 And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: 22 Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever. 23 Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever: 24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. 25 Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever. 26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Can anyone tell me the name of this sermon? That’s right. His mercy endureth forever. Note the text does not say His LOVE endureth forever. There is absolutely no place in the Bible that says His LOVE endureth forever. The Bible does tell us that:
1 John 4:7-10 (KJV) Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 God’s MERCY Endures Forever. This particular phrase is found 43 times in the Scripture. God is love, that is, that is a main part of His character. But the Bible doesn’t say His LOVE endures forever. God does not love SIN. God does not love DISOBEDIENCE. God does not love those who do WICKEDLY. God does not love those who are PRIDEFUL, who DO INIQUITY. Write these verses down:
Psalms 5:4-5 (KJV)4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Psalms 11:5-7 (KJV) The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. 6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV) These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Hosea 9:15 (KJV) All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.
God’s LOVE does not endure wickedness, and no true love can endure wickedness. Wickedness and evil bring sinful activity and sickness. The wages of sin is death, and God Who is life does not love death. God never will love sin, nor will He endorse the sinner who rejects Him.
But His mercy endures forever.
This phrase is found in this Psalm more than anywhere else in Scripture, but this is not the only place it is found.
King David did a foolish thing.
The enemy had captured the Ark of God, but King David and his men recovered it. David wanted to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, back to the Tabernacle where it belonged. We are told in
1 Chronicles 13:5 (KJV) “So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.”
Now God had decreed that when the Ark was to be carried. The Ark was to be carried by Levites of the family of Kohath (Exodus 25:12-14; Numbers 7:9). There were loops on the sides of the Ark, and specific poles were to be used to carry the Ark. Why did God decree a certain way to carry the Ark? We can dissect His commands and come up with some pretty good points.
If God assigns you a job to do, you need to do your job, not somebody else’s. Mind your own business. Do your job to the glory of God. The King should be the King, the Levites the Levites, the Committee the Committee, the Teacher to teach, the Preacher to preach. When you live your life fulfilling God’s purpose in God’s way you’ll be happy and safe!
If God tells you to do something a certain way, you are to do it the way God tells you. Jesus said
John 14:15 (ESV) If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 14:23 (ESV) …. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Obedience is the doorway to God’s love. His mercy endures forever – but His love if you obey. The Bible is clear:
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
God is God, and tells us what to do. He expects our obedience! But David has a better way. Put the Ark on a NEW cart. Let’s dance and sing in front of it, and sacrifice animals, and have a party. Let’s glorify our God so that everyone hears!
If you don’t obey God in the small things you’re not glorifying Him.
If you’re not doing what God said you are not satisfying the LORD.
As they are going along with the Ark on the cart have a PENTECOSTAL good time the cart hits a bump in the road.
1 Chronicles 13:9-11 (KJV) And when they came unto the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God. 11 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perezuzza (where Uzza was broken) to this day.
God’s mercy endureth forever.
You might say along with King David “Well how is this merciful? Uzza was killed for a breach, for touching the Ark with his hands”. God’s mercy endures forever. God could have killed every one of them, including the King who foolishly decided to put the Ark on a new cart. You might say “well what’s wrong with that?” I’ll tell you what’s wrong.
God has a standard. God is very clear. God expects obedience.
Suddenly everything gets quiet. The party’s over. They carry the Ark to the home of Obededom for three months. And the whole time the ark was at OB’s house “the LORD blessed the house of Obededom and ALL that he had”. God’s mercy endures forever.
After a few months King David decides to bring the Ark into Jerusalem the RIGHT way, with the RIGHT people carrying God’s RIGHTeous Ark with the RIGHT equipment. No more carts! King David sang a song that day praising our God. A portion of this song was:
1 Chronicles 16:25-36 (KJV) 25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. 27 Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. 28 Give unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 30 Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. 31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth. 32 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. 33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth. 34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 35 And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. 36 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD.
It is the mercy of God that overlooks our little foolishnesses. If God were to give us what we deserve this planet would be gone. But His mercy endureth forever. God is so good!
2 It Is God’s Enduring Mercy That Created And Sustains The Universe. We read:
Psalms 136:1-9 (KJV)1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. 3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. 4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. 5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever. 6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. 7 To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever: 8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever: 9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
In the first four verses of our text we are reminded that our thanks should go to the LORD יְהֹוָה. He is YAHWEH, the Eternal I AM. Our LORD is good, and His mercy is the outpouring of His goodness. He is God of gods, and Lord of lords. The world follows after little g gods. Too many people worship false gods and idols. But our God is merciful. He created our world, and sustains it.
Can you imagine how many offenses are committed against God every single second of every single day? We get our noses out of joint over just the silliest things – but His mercy endureth forever. People dabble in sexual sin. If we don’t commit it, we watch it on television. We commit adultery with our eyes. When people say “well, I was born that way” what we are implying is that God is psychotic or schizophrenic. God is neither of those. What God says, He means. God alone is Creator. God the Father designed creation. God the Son is the Word Who spoke it into existence. God the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters.
He alone does great wonders. For His mercy endureth forever.
God established the earth, and all that is in it. He stretched out the earth above the waters. At one time man’s wickedness grew until the Lord flooded the earth – but His mercy endureth forever. He had Noah make an Ark, and through that Ark God saved the world. Those He saved were sinners. Noah got off the Ark and got drunk and naked. But God’s mercy endureth forever. God promised never to flood the earth again, and gave us a rainbow to symbolize His mercy.
The rainbow is not a symbol of sexual perversion.
This is a TRADEMARK violation, a COPYRIGHT theft.
The rainbow is a symbol of God’s mercy.
His mercy endureth forever.
God established the earth, setting the sun, the moon, and the stars to give us light. His mercy endureth forever. The Bible tells us that
1 John 1:5 (ESV) This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
God has been accused and misused by His creation. He has been mocked. He has been parodied. People have told lies about God, and rejected His Word. They have slandered His Son and His Son’s Church, and in many places the Church has been hijacked by those who have no love for Him. But His mercy endures forever. And God waits. He waits because
2 Peter 3:8-10 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed
There will come a day when God will destroy and remake all He has made. But today – this day – He waits. He waits as His Church, His Covenant people, share the Gospel of salvation. The Gospel is that His mercy endureth forever. God waits for the sinner. But judgment day will one day come. Are you resting in His mercy?
3 It Is God’s Mercy That Established A Covenant With His People. God keeps His promises. We read:
Psalms 136:10-15 (KJV) To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever: 11 And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: 12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. 13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: 14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: 15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.
It is God’s mercy that caused Him to approach an ancient Chaldean named Abram. Nothing that Abram did drove God to reach out to him. But His mercy endureth forever. It is His mercy that caused God to promise Abram that he would become Abraham, that the great father would become the father of many nations. God’s mercy endures forever.
Time passes, but God never forgets His promise. You can rest in the promise of God because His mercy endureth forever. When the time was right Isaac was born, then Jacob, then his children. And God allowed Joseph to be imprisoned in Egypt, betrayed by his brothers. Someone once asked me “Is God like a great Experimenter, moving people around to see what they will do?” I told him absolutely not. Everything God does has a purpose. His mercy endureth forever.
When the firstborn baby of every unbeliever in Egypt died, this was God’s mercy. God could have destroyed Egypt like He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. He could have in a blink turned all to ash, and the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx and all that Egypt is today could have been totally eradicated. But no, God took the firstborn with the Death Angel. He broke Pharaoh’s will, and Israel was released from Egypt. God brought Israel through the Red Sea, and Israel that He knew would be hard headed.
It was easy for God to get Israel physically out of Egypt, but it would take 40 years of wandering and dying before God could get Israel spiritually out of Egypt. But his mercy endureth forever.
Psalms 136:16 (KJV) To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Israel tried God. They wanted bread, God gave them MANNA, a perfect food. But the people complained:
Numbers 21:5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
God sent serpents among the people to bite them, for whatever you sow, you shall reap. He is Lord, and He will be glorified in the congregation of His people. But His mercy endureth forever. He did not wipe out Israel, though the first generation died in the wilderness. And God does not wipe US out, we who are His Children by faith in Christ. His mercy endureth forever. But there are times I wonder why He doesn’t destroy me.
Our God is a covenant keeping God. God protects His Children by faith.
Psalms 136:17-22 (KJV) To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 18 And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 19 Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever: 20 And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever: 21 And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: 22 Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Kings rose up to overthrow Israel, and some were allowed to do so. But God cherished His Israel. His Israel at times had extremely wicked Kings on David’s Throne. But His mercy endureth forever. God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. God made a promise to David. God made a promise that came out of His mercy.
God promised that Christ would come through Israel. The Bible says:
Galatians 4:4-7 (KJV) But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
God keeps His promises. His mercy endureth forever. The Lord
Psalms 136:23 (KJV)Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
knows that we are dust. He knows that we are weak. He knows that we fail. But He has promised in Christ to never leave nor forsake us. We can leave Him. We can be faithless. But His mercy endureth forever.
Psalms 136:24 (KJV) And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
God is our Protector. He will see us through whatever may come tomorrow, for His mercy endureth forever. God gave Himself for us on the Cross. Will He not now take care of us? Yes, He will. God will feed us. God will care for us.
Psalm 136:25 Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.
No Child of His will be abandoned. So let us close our service by praising Him. Let us sing praises to His Name!
Psalm 136:26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Praise Him in your trials. Praise Him in your pain. Praise Him no matter what you are going through. God is merciful. He is faithful. His mercy endureth forever.
May God touch your hearts with His Word.
Isaiah 6:1-7 (KJV) In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
A Compound Name of God is where two of His names are combined. We have studied several Compound Names:
El Olam (The Everlasting God)
Yahweh Qadash (God the Holy)
Yahweh Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
El Roi (The God Who Sees Me)
Tonight we’re looking at the most frequently used Compound Name of God. This is the Name of God Yahweh Sabaoth, the LORD of Hosts. Some people are confused by the Hebrew Word Sabaoth, thinking this is the same as Sabbath. That’s not true. The Sabbath is a day set aside to God to rest and honor Him. We worship the Sabbath on The Lord’s Day, the Day Jesus rose from the grave. Sabaoth does not equate to Sabbath. Sabaoth means “To Rule The Multitudes”. God is both Yahweh – Eternal, Almighty, Self Existent and God is “The Ruler of the Multitudes”. God controls the hosts of Heaven. God controls the armies of the world.
God Is The LORD of Hosts
The word Sabaoth is found two times in the New Testament. James spoke of those who defrauded their hired laborers, saying:
James 5:4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
God as the Lord of Sabaoth, the LORD of Hosts hears the cries of the oppressed. The Lord of Sabaoth watches those who do evil, and if repentance does not come He will come and address the evil with tribulation. God will not bless wrongdoing! The Lord of Sabaoth punished Israel for their wrong doing. In the second use of “Sabaoth” in the New Testament the Apostle Paul referred to the dispersion of Israel during the time of Isaiah. Quoting two texts – Isaiah 6:13 and Isaiah 1:9 – he wrote under inspiration of God:
Romans 9:27-29 (KJV) {Isaiah} also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29 And as {Isaiah} said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
Israel disobeyed God in the time of Isaiah and the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires over ran them. Israel was as the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky, as God promised Abraham (Genesis 22:17), but Yahweh Sabaoth will not bless evil. Oh Beloved, never believe that God is a Respecter of Persons!
Romans 2:9-11 (ESV) There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
The LORD of Hosts watches what every person does. Israel in Isaiah’s time was suffering because they stopped loving Yahweh Sabaoth, the LORD of Hosts and began to do the wrong. But the same Lord of Sabaoth – the LORD of Hosts – is merciful. He would not wipe out Israel. He blessed the remnant who believed, and protected them.
(Romans 9:29) Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed
We had been as Sodom and been made like unto Gomorrah!
God was not the LORD of Hosts for the Sodomites and the sexual perverted.
But He is the LORD of Hosts for those who believe in Him.
There are several truths we can see about our God as Isaiah writes in this most frightening time of Israel’s history.
1 The LORD of Hosts IS. We read:
Isaiah 6:1 (KJV) In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord
Who was King Uzziah? He was the best King that Israel had since the reign of Solomon. The Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 26 that he became king when he was but 16 years old. He reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. The was the best King because the Bible says “he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD”. He honored Yahweh.
2 Chronicles 26:5 {Uzziah} sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.
Everything the man did prospered because he trusted himself to the LORD of Hosts.
But when Uzziah was older and at the end of his reign he allowed pride to take him. The Bible says:
2 Chronicles 26:16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
Uzziah sinned against his Lord. God sent leprosy on him, and last days of his life this legend of a man stayed in hiding. As the forces of Babylon lined up to destroy Judah, at that most crucial moment, Uzziah died as all people die. Who will help us now? Who will we turn to?
In this Presidential election we are watching two mud slinging opponents telling us that if we choose one or the other then we choose destruction. Nothing ever changes. Fifty years from now both Clinton and Trump will be dust, their souls in the hands of a never ending Yahweh. But the LORD of Hosts will live onward. I love the way that Pastor John Piper said it:
“God was the Living God when this universe banged into existence. He was the Living God when Socrates drank his poison. He was the Living God when William Bradford governed Plymouth Colony. He was the Living God in 1966 when Thomas Altizer proclaimed Him dead and Time Magazine put it on the front cover. And He will be living ten trillion ages from now when all the puny potshots against His reality will have sunk into oblivion like bb’s at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.”
The LORD of Hosts is ETERNAL. The LORD of Hosts is EVERLASTING. Our God is YAHWEH SABAOTH, and He is always there for us.
In the 2016 Olympics at Rio De Janeiro we are hearing about all of the medals won, but nothing of the great stories of faith going on in the background. Eric Metaxas reported in the August 22nd, 2016 Breakpoint:
In the women’s 10,000 meters race, Almaz Ayana, from Ethiopia, obliterated the previous world record by 14 seconds. Responding to unfounded rumors about cheating, Almaz retorted, “My doping is my training and my doping is Jesus. Nothing otherwise —I am crystal clear.”
American swimmer Simone Manuel set an Olympic record in the 100-meter freestyle, becoming the first African-American woman to win gold as a swimmer, the first African-American woman to win a medal in an individual swimming event, and the first American to win the 100-meter since 1984. After the race she said, with tears rolling down her cheeks, “All I can say is all glory to God.”
Simone Biles, acknowledged to be the world’s greatest female gymnast—and perhaps the best ever. But what’s truly inspiring is her story—adopted at age 6 by her grandparents because of her mother’s battle with addiction. Now reconciled with her mom, Simone draws strength from her relationship with God and her faith.
Katie Ledecky, who may become the greatest woman swimmer of all time—and who won the 800-meter freestyle by an amazing 11 seconds—says her faith in Christ “is part of who I am.”
2 The LORD of Hosts IS ON HIS THRONE.
Isaiah 6:1 (KJV) In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up …
There is chaos in Jerusalem and the enemy is at the gate. What do we see in Heaven? Are angels running about in a panic? Has God stepped away to
plow a field, or
shine His shoes, or
cut grass and do a little hedge trimming, or better yet
to play golf and take a vacation while Jerusalem quakes?
No, dear Ones. Any time you look into Heaven you see order, and peace. But what you see most of all is The LORD of Hosts enthroned, high and lifted up. God is in control. People think that they are in control, and God allows us all freedom within bounds. Yet God is always Sovereign. God made this world, this universe, and everything in it. In time the Scripture says:
Romans 14:11 (ESV) … As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Our God is Sovereign. He is on the Throne forever. We can call on Him in time of need, and He can make the difference. The first place this name of God “The LORD of Hosts” is found in Scripture is in 1 Samuel 1. The Book starts out telling the story of a man named Elkanah, a man that had two wives. Let me say quickly that the Bible does not endorse one man having two wives. God made man and woman, and put them together for life according to Jesus (Mark 10:6 from the beginning of creation God made them male and female).
Elkanah was not following God’s design, and it brought trouble to his home.
When you do not follow God’s design you will bring trouble to your home.
When you do not follow God’s design you will bring trouble to your home.
When you do not follow God’s design you will bring trouble to your home.
Elkanah’s wife Peninnah had children, but his wife Hannah did not. The Bible tells us that every time the husband left the home Peninnah would mock Hannah because she was childless. Hannah was so bullied by Peninnah that she couldn’t eat or sleep. There was nothing Hannah could do to fix her situation. Elkanah loved her more than Peninnah, but it wasn’t enough. The bullying wouldn’t stop.
So Hannah prayed.
1 Samuel 1:10-11 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. [11] And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of Hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
Hannah directed her prayer to the LORD of Hosts. Hannah was in a helpless and hopeless situation. She can pine away through depression, or she can call upon the LORD of Hosts Who is on His Throne. Hannah would have a baby, the Prophet Samuel, one of the greatest Prophets that Israel ever knew. God is in control. God fights for His people.
The second time the LORD of Hosts is mentioned is when a young shepherd boy stands before a giant named Goliath. The boy named David, armed with only a sling and five smooth stones goes up against a Goliath who was 9 feet 6 inches tall, and his armor alone weighed 125 pounds. What gave David the courage to face such an opponent. Listen to what David said:
1 Samuel 17:45-46 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. [46] This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
David went from Shepherd to King because the Bible says in 2 Samuel 5:10 “the LORD God of Hosts was with him”. God’s people can call on Him, for our God is the LORD of Hosts. He fights for His own.
Psalms 24:9-10 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. [10] Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
Zechariah 4:6-7 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. [7] Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
What battles are you fighting? God is on His Throne. Take your troubles to the LORD of Hosts, YAHWEH SABAOTH. He is able. You can thrash around in the thorny patch of your dilemma and all you’ll do is get more scratched up. Or you can be still and cry out to Yahweh Sabaoth. He is there, and He fights for His people.
3 The LORD of Hosts Is Everywhere, And HOLY. Again we read:
Isaiah 6:1-3 (KJV) In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Though the Lord of Hosts is enthroned in Heaven, He is nonetheless everywhere. There is no place where He is not. The Bible says that He is high and lifted up, and His TRAIN filled the Temple. The “Train” is the robe of God, the King’s Robe, and it filled all of Heaven. But it does not stop there. The whole earth is full of His glory. Our glorious Savior and Protector is everywhere.
Psalms 113:4-6 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! [5] Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, [6] who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
God loves and looks after His people. God is everywhere. He is not far from us. The Apostle Paul said “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). When we love Him and are His, He will protect us. The Lord of Hosts stands against those who are unrighteous and unholy. The Angels cried “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts!”. He will bless them that bless Him, but stands against those who stand against Him and His own. We are told in Amos:
Amos 9:2-5 (ESV) If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. [3] If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. [4] And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.” [5] The Lord GOD of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
Oh how protected are the people of God. But oh how dangerous it is to range far from Him in our hearts! God is everywhere watching us, and stands ready to save whosoever will believe in Him.
Jeremiah 23:23-24 (ESV) Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? [24] Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.
God is everywhere. But God is also thrice holy. The Angels that flew before the Throne of the LORD of Hosts covered their faces and covered their feet. These Angels had never known sin, but to be in His Presence they covered their faces from His holiness. They not only wiped their feet before entering His Throne-room, they COVERED their feet. God is Holy. He is Righteous. He is set apart, totally without sin. When Isaiah saw into the Throne-room of the Lord of Hosts what did he do?
Isaiah 6:5 (KJV) Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.
He cried out to God! He recognized his sinfulness, and repented, crying out to the Lord of Hosts. The Bible tells us that when Isaiah cried out that:
Isaiah 6:6-7 (KJV) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
This is a beautiful picture of the Cross of Christ. Our Lord Jesus died on that Cross for us, being offered up for our sins. He is our Passover. He offered up Himself (Hebrews 7:27).
Colossians 1:20-23 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. [21] And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled [22] In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: [23] If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
An Angel went to the altar of God and took a burning coal, symbolic of the glory of God, and touched Isaiah’s lips. When we confess with our mouths Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that He has risen from the grave, we are saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (see Romans 10:9-10). When that coal touched Isaiah’s lips his iniquity is taken away, and his sin was purged.
The LORD of Hosts is never far from you if you have received Christ as Savior. Jesus has promised:
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
The Lord of Hosts is holy. The Lord of Hosts is everywhere. The Lord of Hosts will fight for you, but you must be His. Give yourselves to Him. Trust Him. Love Him. Live for Him, and in Him. For one day you, too, will be with Him in His glorious Heaven.
A little girl who lived her whole life in the city had opportunity to go to the country on a vacation. One starlit night, she and her mother stood gazing up into the beautiful night sky devoid of the lights of the city. After a while the child said “Mama, if heaven is so pretty on the wrong side, I wonder what it looks like on the right side!” If you know Him one day you will see.
Today we’ll start a new series of study through the Book of Hebrews. This series is called “Better Than”, which is a key thought found throughout the Book of Hebrews. The Writer (who I believe was the Apostle Paul) was writing to Israel. The Israelite thought they were saved because they kept the Law, because they were “chosen”, because they were descended from Abraham. In fact, they are just like many people today.
Every time a celebrity dies the newspapers and television media put out opinions and cartoons and articles that say that they think that this person went to Heaven. A certain Business Magnate went to Heaven because of all the good he did on this earth through his corporations and philanthropy. A certain Musician went to Heaven because of all the good her music did while on the earth. A certain Comedian or a certain Warrior or a certain Actor all went to Heaven when they died because of acts that they performed on this earth. A young person dies and someone writes “Heaven gained another angel”. Dearly Beloved, angels are angels and humans are humans.
The tiny acts we do on this earth do not earn the admiration of an Immense God. God owns “a thousand cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). God is everywhere. “The Heavens and the highest Heavens cannot contain Him” (2 Chronicles 2:6). God knows everything we do, and even knows our hearts. “I the lord search the heart and examine the mind” (Jeremiah 17:10).
I can be a Law Abiding Citizen, a Taxpayer, a Respected member in the community. But if I go up to the Baymont Inn to get a room several things must be true.
What will get me into God’s Kingdom? What payment can I bring to a place where the Street is:
Revelation 21:21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
There is no work that I can do to get into a place like that. I have stayed in hotels where they supplied robes and fruit baskets, but at a cost I could not sustain for even a week. None of those places had a street of Gold, or a gateway of Pearl. Never have I been in a place where “The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone”. Never have I been in a place where God was it’s Manager.
The only way you can get in such a place is if the Manager allows you in. What has the Manager of Heaven said? We must have Jesus. We must see Jesus.
Hebrews 1:1-9 (KJV) God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
1 God Spoke To Us Through His Prophets Because He Loves Us. Our God Not An Impersonal God. The first word in our Hebrew text is “GOD”. God is a PERSON. The text says “GOD, WHO”. Animals are not WHO, they are IT. We may personalize them, but they are not persons. A Force of Power is not a WHO, it is an IT. God is not animal, vegetable, or mineral. God is not force of power.
God is a WHO Who speaks to us.
God Has Spoken To Us From The Beginning.
He has been speaking to us from the very beginning. God has spoken to us through select people that He has raised up. We read:
Hebrews 1:1 (KJV) God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
The Bible tells us that God has been speaking to us from the beginning. From the very first words of the Bible which read …
Genesis 1:1 (KJV) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
God has been speaking to us. The text tells us that God spoke “in sundry times and in diverse manners”. That’s Old English for “in many times and in many ways”. God raised up people that He called “Prophets”, and He sent word through these Prophets in many different ways. These Prophets were:
Businessmen
Traders
Shepherds
Fishermen
Soldiers
Physicians
Preachers
Kings
These Prophets had many messages but one central truth they kept repeating. God created our world and made us to walk with Him but we wandered from His side.
We need a Savior.
In the Garden of Eden God promised that “the seed of the woman” would “crush the head of the Serpent”. God gave the animal sacrifices through the Prophet Moses – a Lamb without spot or blemish was to be slain for sin. Every sacrifice given, every Feast and Holy Day pointed to the coming of Something Better. The Prophet Balaam was moved of God to say …
Numbers 24:17 (NASB) I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel …
There would be a Better King rise up, a King from God Who would establish a Righteous Kingdom. Who was this Star of Jacob, this Scepter of Israel? No one knew, but the Prophets continued to speak. God reprimanded the Shepherds who destroyed and scattered His people, and promised through the Prophet Jeremiah that …
Jeremiah 23:5 (ESV) Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
A Righteous Branch was coming. How would He come? His birth would be singular, a birth like no other. The Prophet Isaiah said:
Isaiah 7:14 (ESV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
A Virgin would bear a Child, but this Child would be called Immanuel, which means “God with us”. God was speaking through His Prophets, telling humanity that a Savior was coming. This Savior would do something unprecedented. Though He would rule and reign as a Righteous Branch of David, the Prophet Isaiah saw this Savior first suffering. The Prophet said:
Isaiah 50:6 (ESV) I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
This Suffering Savior would come. God would be with us. He would do wonderful things that only God could do. He would bring the dead to life, the leper to health, the cripple to his feet. The Suffering Savior would cause the blind to see and the deaf to hear. This Suffering Savior would walk on water. This Suffering Savior – with no pillow to call His own – would calm the storm. This Suffering Savior would do all these things, but greater still, He would suffer for our sins. He would make payment for us. The Prophet Isaiah said:
Isaiah 53:2-11 (KJV) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 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. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
God spoke to us by His Prophets. He foretold the Coming of a Savior. He foretold the Coming of Immanuel, God with us. He foretold the Coming of Jesus Christ.
2 God Is Speaking To Us Now Through Christ His Son. The Old Testament declares that God would some day come to us. The New Testament tells us that God has come to us through Christ. God …
Hebrews 1:2 (KJV) … Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, …
Who is Jesus Christ? He is the HEIR OF ALL THINGS. Jesus owns everything in Heaven and in earth. If you expect to get into God’s Heaven then you must know the Heir. He is the only One Who can give you entrance to Heaven. Saint Peter does not stand at the Gateway to Heaven, but Christ does. You enter God’s Presence only through Christ. The Father has declared:
This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am WELL PLEASED. HEAR HIM! (Matthew 17:5)
Jesus is the Word of God. John wrote:
John 1:1-4 (KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus is the Bread of Life.
Jesus is the Light of the world.
Jesus is the Living Water.
Jesus is the Heir of Heaven.
Jesus is Creator God.
Yes, that’s right. He IS the Creator. God the Father ….
Hebrews 1:2-3 (KJV) … Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
When God said “Let There Be Light” He spoke this to Christ Who made the Light. Jesus is the Light of the World who made the Light of the World. God made the world through Christ. When God separated the atmosphere from the earth He did so through Christ. How can this be?
Because Christ is Creator God. The Bible says:
Hebrews 1:3 (KJV) … Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,
There are three things said here of Jesus Christ.
You cannot know the Father if you do not know Jesus. You cannot see the Father unless you see Jesus. Jesus Christ is the only Way to the Father.
John 14:6 Jesus said …. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
There is no other door but Him. He is the Brightness of God’s glory.
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
No sinner from Adam onward can look on the perfect Holy God and live. When Isaiah caught just a glimpse into Heaven he despaired, saying in Isaiah 6:5:
“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
How foolish it is that people think they shall gain Heaven without going through Christ! A sinner cannot stand before a Holy God. When Moses was in the Mount of Sinai God placed him in the cleft of the rock, and covered him with His hand, for God said
Exodus 33:20 no man can see me and live …
God is immense, and pure, and holy. No one can see God. But God can see God. And God the Father is seen of God the Son. And God the Son is the express image of His Person. We see God through Christ. We know what we can know of God through Jesus Christ.
FAMILIES Fall Apart Because They Will Not Hear Him.
MARRIAGES are in ruins because we trust FEELING rather than FAITH in Him.
Our COMMUNITIES are crashing.
Our SCHOOL CHILDREN filled not with knowledge but emptiness.
Our NATION trembles under the weight of sin because Christ has been rejected.
God is not the Author of Confusion, but of Peace, and He offers Peace and Stability to all Who will come to Christ by faith.
3 God Is Telling Us There Is But One Savior, And We Need To Heed Him.
Hebrews 1:3-4 (KJV) …. His Son …. when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Jesus Christ is not an Angel, but He made the Angels. But He did not come to this earth to save Angels, nor even to make Angels. Jesus Christ came to this earth to save whosoever believeth in Him.
Christ the Son of God came to make sons of God.
Christ came to change SINNERS into SAINTS.
He BY HIMSELF Purged Our Sins!
He BY HIMSELF Purged Our Sins!
HE – JESUS CHRIST – BY HIMSELF – Purged Our Sins!
How did He purge – blot out – our sins? He did this by Himself. Jesus Christ …
1 Peter 2:23-25 (KJV) Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
The High Priest of Israel never sat down in the commission of his duties. Each year on the Day of Atonement a Lamb without blot or blemish was slain. The Blood of the Lamb was taken into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled on the Altar the sins of the people were covered. But this covering – this man made work -was only a temporary covering. The High Priest went into the Holy of Holies trembling, for he was but a sinful man carrying the symbolic blood of an animal. No animal can pay the penalty for man’s sin.
But Christ died for us.
God Incarnate gave Himself for us.
He bore our sins on Calvary’s Cross and then He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. He sat down, for the work was finished. He sat down on the right hand of God, because this is the place of honor, and God accepted His life’s work.
Hebrews 10:12 (KJV) But THIS MAN, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
There is no other offering for sin. If you are God’s Child and have fallen into sin there is no work you can do to cleanse yourself, no penance, to “fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys”. There is no work you can do to cleanse yourself but reliance on the Work of Christ. The scripture declares:
1 John 1:8-9 (ESV) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The stumbling Saint does not need to work harder. The fallen Soldier does not need to fight more. When sin has tripped us up run, RUN, run RUN to the Arms of the Savior. Let His embrace cover you with His Blood. Let He Who loves you bless you once more. Rest in the arms of Christ.
And Sinner – I say SINNER without Christ, hear what I say. You are damned where you sit. You are damned when you rise.
John 3:16-18 (KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Every day you go without Christ is a day that you reject what God is saying. He speaks to us through His Son. He calls and bids you come. The proof of your coming is your following. The Father said to the Son:
Hebrews 1:8-9 (KJV) But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Do not believe you are His if you are not following Him. Do not believe you are His if you love unrighteousness and hate righteousness. Christ the Son of God is God, and His Kingdom is marked by a scepter of righteousness. He and His people love righteousness and hate iniquity. When you come to Christ, come repenting. When you come to Christ, come with empty hands and kneeling heart.
God speaks to us.
What is the mark of His people?
His people HEAR HIM and FOLLOW HIM.
Jesus said:
John 10:26-28 (KJV) But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
The brand on the sheep is that God speaks through Christ and we who are His HEAR.
The brand on the condemned is the unhearing ear, the disobedient heart.
If you die with that brand on your soul you will be lost forever!
Please hear Him.
Please come to Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior!
May God touch your hearts with His Word.
Sinner now Saint because my
Savior and Lord Jesus loves me
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