Gibea, Gomorrah & Sodom

Posted on July 19, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Rene Asmussen: https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photo-of-woman-peeking-on-planks-25757/

Turn with me in your Bibles to Judges chapter 19. An ancient preacher named Miguel Molinos stated:

“There are two kinds of darkness, an unhappy darkness and a happy darkness. The {unhappy} darkness is that which arises from sin. … The second type of darkness is darkness which the Lord allows within our inward part in order to establish and settle virtue …”

When I thought about that statement, I thought about what our Lord Jesus told us. Jesus said,

Matthew 16:24-25 If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When we who love the Lord follow our Jesus, we climb Mount Sinai up steep walls and loose rock, shifting sand. We find our God on Mount Moriah, and are told to willingly give up our Isaac on an altar we build there. We are called to walk the Via Dolorosa – the dusty path our Lord Jesus carried His Cross – as the crowds around us mock and jeer and toss stones. We are called to go “outside the camp and bear the reproach He bore” (Hebrews 13:13). Christians are not called to a life of compromise, pleasing the world around us. We are to stand in the shadow of our God, knowing that the darkness is but brief, and that our God watches over “those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). This is why the Scripture tells us who are saved:

James 1:2 (ESV) Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Your faith will be tested as you go through this life. Is your faith genuine? Trials will prove your faith, or trials will disprove your faith.

There Was No King In Israel

Judges 19:1-2 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehem Judah., and was there four whole months.

God’s Old Testament people is Israel, just as God’s New Testament people is the Church. When Israel was saved from Egypt by God through Moses, Israel was supposed to follow God as their King. God told His people:

Leviticus 26:12-16 (ESV) I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. 14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Israel continued throughout her history – and even today – to reject God as her King. And God recognized this. He said, “Israel has rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

Israel rejected God’s decree in FAITH and DESIGN

Judges 19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah.

Background: We are introduced to “a certain Levite”. The Levites were a special tribe among the Israelites. The Levites could trace their heritage back to Moses. God called Moses up into Mount Sinai to receive the Law. While he was on that mountain listening to God, Israel was in the valley worrying and fretting. After Moses had been gone forty days, Israel demanded that Aaron, Moses’ brother, make a golden calf (Exodus 32:1) to worship instead of God. On hearing this, Moses comes down the mountain and cries out,

Exodus 32:26 (ESV) … “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” …

Those who came to Moses were the Levites, Moses’ family. From that moment on the Levites were supposed to inherit no land, but the Lord Himself was their inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:1-2). Yet Israel in the time of Judges has gone so terribly far from God, that even the Levites are tainted. In Judges 17-18 we read of a false Levite who became “Micah’s Priest” in Mount Ephraim. As we come into this chapter we once more see a Levite who has drifted from God. My commentary notes:

“Webster’s dictionary defines “immoral” as: “contrary to the moral code of the community.” The erroneous notion that man sets his own standards of morality goes all the way back to the Fall (Genesis 3). Actually God sets these standards. He does so based on His love and His desire for the welfare of humanity, and He reveals these standards in His Word. When people abandon God’s standards, life breaks down, unravels, and disintegrates.” (emphasis mine)

Application: The Levites are God’s Priests. If they do not hold to God’s Standard, then the people that are taught by them will not follow God either. Christians are also Priests before God (1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6).

The Levite in chapter 19 is not behaving as a priest of God. Priests are to honor God’s Word. God established marriage when He made Eve out of Adam’s rib. The standard of marriage is was set in Eden:

Genesis 2:24 (ESV) Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Our Lord Jesus affirmed this “design” in marriage. He said:

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

God set the standard for marriage, and the Levite, representing God, should adhere to God’s standard. But this Levite, we are told,

Judges 19:1 … took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah.

A “concubine” was a slave woman who was taken into possession by a man. Concubines were legal mistresses. If they had children, their children had no rights of inheritance when the Master of the house died. The Enduring Word Commentary notes that:

“Many prominent men in the Old Testament had concubines. .. Abraham (Genesis 25:6), Jacob (Genesis 35:22), Caleb (1 Chronicles 2:46), Saul (2 Samuel 3:7), David (2 Samuel 5:13), Solomon (1 Kings 11:3) …”

Yet this does not justify the behavior. Because Abram went in to Hagar, he brought a curse on Israel through Ishmael – a curse that has lasted to this day! God never blessed concubine arrangements. This woman was forced!

Judges 19:2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehem Judah, and was there four whole months.

The KJV Bible says that the concubine “played the whore against him”, the Hebrew Qal Imperfect zānâ, which means “committed sexual sin against, was unfaithful to”. This woman was in a forced relationship, and perhaps she was forced away from someone she actually loved. We don’t know, but we do know she went back to Bethlehem to her father’s house. Why? Because a charge of adultery could cause her and her lover to be killed (Genesis 38:24; Leviticus 20:10; 21:9).

Judges 19:3-4 And her husband {the Levite} arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4 And his father in law, the damsel’s father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.

The Levite “Husband” went after his concubine. He spoke friendly to her, and offered to bring her back home with him. Did he love her? No, he just sought to entice her back, to use her as a thing and not a person made in God’s image. Outwardly what the Levite did looked noble. He went after his concubine, taking two donkeys and a male servant. The choice of the DONKEY was very interesting. If a king rode into a city on a STALLION, it was to conquer and destroy. But on a DONKEY, it was a sign of peace. The Levite is virtue signaling – but is not sincere as we later will see! We read that “when the father of the damsel {concubine} saw him, he rejoiced to meet him {the Levite}”. The “father of the damsel” treats the Levite as if this was a wedding feast.

Judges 19:5-6 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. 6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.

As the fourth day comes, the Levite tries to leave, but the concubine’s father wants the feast to continue. The Levite stays until late in the day – then decides that he MUST leave. The father begs them to “tarry all night”, and start out fresh in the morning. The Levite takes him up on this.

Judges 19:7-9 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.

The Levite tried to leave on the FOURTH day, but the father talked him into staying the night. When he rose up on the FIFTH day, the father once more showed GREAT HOSPITALITY, and held the family till the evening. When “the man {the Levite} rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant”, the father tried to get them to stay just one more night, and to leave on the sixth day. Had the Levite done this, the trip would not have descended into horror. But he had been held two days beyond what he wanted to be gone, and so demanded that they depart as the sun set. This was a bad decision. The devil does some of his most evil work in the darkness.

The Devil Does His Best Work In The Darkness!

Judges 19:10-12 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. 11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.

As the Levite, his male servant and his concubine travel, the sun is quickly setting. They come first to Jebus or Jerusalem. When Joshua went into the land, God decreed that the Jebusites – the descendants of Jebus, the third son of Canaan – be cast out of the land.

When Joshua entered the land the children of Judah fought and took Jerusalem or Jebus (Judges 1:8), but the Jebusites would later take it back. King David would totally conquer Jerusalem (see 2 Samuel 5:6-10) in time, and would buy the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:16-25) as land for his son Solomon to build the Temple on. The male servant tells the Levite, “let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it”. This was sound advice. It is possible that the male servant came from that area, and knew some people there. But instead of turning into Jebus, the Levite says “we will pass over to Gibeah”. Gibeah is about 3-5 miles further away – and the sun is setting fast!

Judges 19:13-15 And {the Levite} said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

The sun has set, and the Levite takes his small group into Gibeah. His servant had begged him to spend the night in Jebus, but the Levite was certain he’s get better treatment from the Jews of Gibeah. We are told “there was no man that took them into his house to lodging”. The Levite had food and supplies. He just needed a place to shelter, to get out of the dangerous streets. But these Benjamites refused to help him.

The Levites had compromised their faith in God, and this compromise, like poison, leached out into Israel.

Leviticus 19:33-34 (ESV) When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself… I am the Lord your God.

Throughout the Bible the believer is commanded to show hospitality.

1 Peter 4:9 (ESV) Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Hebrews 13:2 (ESV) Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Strangers in our midst might be ANGELS UNAWARES. The inhabitants of Gibeah were supposed to show hospitality to strangers – and certainly to show hospitality to the Levitical Priests. Yet they were turned away.

Judges 19:16-20 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehem Judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Bethlehem judah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. 19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. 20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.

The Levite sees an old man coming home from his work, who was “also of mount Ephraim”. These two men are from the same area. The Levite explains that he only wants lodging for the night, that he has all the sustenance he needs for himself and his group. The Levite highlights this by saying, “I am now going to the house of the LORD”. That is, he is returning to Shechem where the Tabernacle is. The old man invites them into his home.

But the story doesn’t end here, but gets very sickening very fast!

Sexual Sin Is Devilish, Destructive And Deadly!

The Levite took a concubine, a mistress, in the midst of his marriage. This is sin. The concubine was sexually unfaithful to the Levite, and ran away from him. This is sin. Now we see something that rivals Sodom and Gomorrah:

Judges 19:21-22 So {the Old Man} brought {The Levite} into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. 22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

Word Study: In the darkness of the night, the “men of the city, certain sons of Belial” come up and start pounding on the door of the old man’s home. This mob of men want to rape the “man that came into thine house”. They said, “that we may know him”. The word translated “know” is the Qal Imperfect of yāḏaʿ, literally “to know CARNALLY”. This is almost exactly what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19.

In that story, God sent two angels to Sodom in the evening to meet with and rescue Lot and his family. When the angels – which looked like handsome men – went into the home of Lot, homosexuals demanded:

Genesis 19:5 (ESV) … “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them….”

This is the exact same Hebrew Word used for “know”, the Qal Cohortative of yāḏaʿ. Though Lot offered his two daughters to these perverted men, they demanded the “men” to rape them. The Enduring Word Commentary notes,

“The picture is clear: During the time of Judges, Israel was as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah.”

The Bible is very clear that homosexuality and lesbian behavior is a product or offshoot of idolatry. The Apostle Paul spoke of this evil sexual sin in:

Romans 1:24-28 (ESV) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

The Progressive, Liberal, Humanist mindset pushes sexual sin as something to be “PRIDE” filled over. We should NEVER show PRIDE over SEXUAL SIN.

Judges 19:23-25 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. 25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

Neither the father, the head of the household, nor the Levite loved the Lord. Had they loved the Lord, they would have fought to the death to protect the women. Instead, the women were offered up for degradation and evil. The Levite pushes the concubine outside like an animal offered up to be sacrificed.

Word Study: The Bible says, “they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go”. They “knew” her, the Hebrew Qal Imperfect yāḏaʿ. They “abused” her all night long, the Hithpael Imperfect ʿālal, which means “to severely defile, to ruthlessly abuse”. They tormented and beat on this woman until the sun rose, satisfying their perverseness.

This is murder, a violation of God’s 6th commandment. This is fornication and rape, a violation of God’s 7th commandment.

Judges 19:26-30 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. 28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.

The God Who loves us recorded this event to tell us how horrible sexual sin is. It is no trifle, no “lifestyle choice”. It is a black, dark road of perversion that destroys its vessel. Flee fornication (1 Corinthians 6:18). Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you (James 4:8). Do not be deceived! Amen.

Posted in Judges, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’d Rather Fight Than Trip

Posted on July 16, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Alexey Demidov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/german-shepherd-dog-playing-on-white-sand-10897093/

1 Peter 1:13-16 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (15) But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The past couple of weeks we have been in 1 Peter, reading the Apostle’s directives to the “strangers scattered”, that is, to the Christian, the person saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the operation and movement of the Holy Spirit. We have seen that Christians are:

Chosen and called of God (verse 2),
Set apart by the Holy Spirit (verse 2),
Saved by the Sprinkled Blood of Christ (verse 2),
Born again and adopted of God (verse 3),
Given an eternal relationship with God (verse 4),
and are guarded by God as precious (verse 5).

God paid much for you, dear Christian.
You belong to Him! (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23)

God has given you everything you need to be stable, happy, wholesome, and holy in this present world. But as believers you need to understand this: the battle is not over until we reach Heaven. We have an enemy who stands against us.

That enemy is NOT Republican, Democrat or Libertarian.
The enemy is NOT Liberal or Conservative.

The enemy is the same Serpent that enticed Adam to disobey God in the Garden (Revelation 12:9). The enemy is that same Tempter who came to Jesus in the wilderness, twisting the Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11). The enemy is the same one called Legion, who entered into a madman and a herd of swine (Luke 8:30-33). The enemy is the same Satan that entered into Judas Iscariot (John 13:27), enticing him to sell our Lord for 30 pieces of silver.

Though it was “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all” (Romans 5:12), it was Satan and his forces that opened the door. As Christians we are in a battle – not against “flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12).

We have an enemy who will stop at nothing to stop at nothing. His name is Satan. He is a real Being, a fallen Angel, and he has one play: defeat Christ. Satan will do all he can to bring confusion and mayhem into the world. The nonsense that we see in our world today is Satanic, devilish, evil, inhuman, spiteful, wicked. We are in a battle, dear Christians.

And we’d best wake up!

The Apostle Peter (and Peter was NOT a Pope, but an Apostle. Peter had a wife according to Matthew 8:14 and 1 Corinthians 9:5) gives us three commands today as Christians, things that we must do.

Realizing We Are In A Battle, We Must
“Gird Up The Loins Of Your Mind”

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind

Word Study: Peter uses a familiar term to his audience, though it is not familiar to us. “Gird up” is the Greek anazṓnnymi (pronounced an-ad-zone’-noo-mee) which means “to gather and bind long and flowing garments closely to your body with a leathern girdle”. In the ancient world people wore robes and overcoats that hung down around their ankles, covering their bodies from sand, biting insects, and heat. When a farmer or a warrior went to work, they would gather their robes and pull them up to their loins, binding the clothing under the leather belt. This freed their legs so they could move without tripping.

If you did not prepare yourself for the battle by binding those robes, you could end up tripping and dying foolishly.

If you did not prepare yourself for work by binding up your robes, you could trip and die under the feet of the oxen.

Peter tells the Christian to “gird up the loins OF YOUR MIND”. Take charge of your mind. Take charge of your thoughts. Protect the LOINS of your mind. Gather your thoughts. Can you answer the question

“Why do I believe what I believe?”

Illustrate: The devil is constantly attacking and influencing the world around us. The devil is constantly attacking Christ and His Church. Radio Host Jesse Lee Patterson was interviewing an atheist, and asked him, “What is a man?” The atheist replied, “I don’t know. What is a man?” Patterson asked him “Are you a man?”, and he replied, “Yes, I am”. So Patterson said, “If you don’t know what a man is, how can you say you’re a man?”. His reply was, “The word ‘man’ is very vague. It’s not just what our culture has said it is. … You have caught me in this. I am trapped. I’m a man, and I have no idea why.”

If you were interviewed by Patterson, and asked the same question, “Are you a man?”, how would you answer it? How would you justify your answer? If someone says, “gender is fluid – a man can be a woman, and a woman a man”, how would you respond to that? Today people respond with FEELINGS, and they trip over the ROBE of their FEELINGS. Are you a man? Are you a woman? How do you know?

Illustrate: I was listening to Nick Freitas (R), a member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2015. I like Nick. He was a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and served two tours in Iraq before being honorably discharged. He was talking to a young woman about her upcoming marriage, about how he raised his son to cherish and protect women,when she stopped him and said:

“We don’t subscribe to those types of traditional gender roles”.

He asked her what she meant. She said, “We don’t believe in this whole idea that a man has to PROVIDE and PROTECT”. Nick said, “Oh, okay. Let me ask you a question. You’re leaving dinner with your fiancee, and as you’re walking to the car someone jumps out of the alleyway with a knife. In one of the scenarios {your fiancee} jumps behind you, in the other scenario {your fiancee} jumps in front of you. Which scenario are you more attracted to your fiancee?” She replied, “That’s not fair”. Nick told her, “I think you just inadvertently answered the question”.

Why do we believe what we believe? Is it because of feelings, peer pressure, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In? Why does a Christian believe that there is even life beyond this one?

It is because of WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS.

You are a Christian because you believe what the Bible says. You believe Jesus died for your sins. You believe you are broken, and are broken because Adam failed to obey God and to protect his wife. You believe the Word of God is TRUE. Either the Word of God is TRUE, or the Word of God is FALSE. There is no in between.

If Radio Host Jesse Lee Patterson was interviewing ME, and asked me, “What is a man?”, I would say “I am a man”. If he asked me, “How do you know you’re a ‘man’”?, my reply would be “because Jesus said:

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) “Have you not read that HE {God} who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two {male and female} shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Illustrate: I can answer with confidence “I am a MAN” because of what the Bible says, and what my Lord Jesus affirmed. If Sherry and I were walking down the street and some idiot jumped out with a knife, I can say with CERTAINTY that I WOULD JUMP IN FRONT OF HER and then SHOOT THE KNIFE WIELDER DEAD. Why? Because the BIBLE says:

1 Peter 3:7 (ESV) Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

If you’re not caring for your wife, YOUR PRAYERS ARE HINDERED. God will not hear you! Period.

In every case where men who claim to be women enter into women’s sports, they dishonor the women, and those who support that nonsense dishonor the women. Period. You may say, “Well, Preacher, that seems a bit extreme. After all, so and so and the Twitterattie have said that …. blah blah blah”. I could care less. I have “girded up the LOINS of MY MIND”.

You can go insane if you want to. I refuse to smile and say you’re sane when the Bible says OTHERWISE.

Illustrate: Someone asks me, “Why can’t WOMEN Pastor Churches? After all, it’s the rage! The Methodist Church down the road thinks it’s a great idea. Look at their sign! Let’s just get WOKE and go with the BROKE.” I say, I’m sorry, but NO! The BIBLE SAYS:

1 Timothy 3:1-5 … If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

I as your Pastor am to “care for God’s church”. Why? Because it’s what the BIBLE says.

In every instance where foolishness and confusion prevail, it is because people departed from the Word of God. When Israel was caused by God to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, it was because they rejected the Word of God in place of their feelings. It was by God’s Word that Israel was freed from Egypt. It was by God’s Word that Israel went through the Red Sea. It was by God’s Word the Lord told Israel to send out spies into the land (Numbers 13:1-3), and then God told them to take the land. But Israel refused to obey God’s Word (Deuteronomy 1:28-33). Because of that, Israel wandered for 40 years until that unbelieving generation died out. When Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land, God told him:

Joshua 1:5-9 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law {God’s Word} that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. {Gird up the LOINS of your MIND!} 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The reason the Church is failing in free America but PROSPERING in Communist China is because the Christians THERE are MEDITATING ON and DOING ALL that God said. The Christians here are COMPROMISING and CONFUSED!

Illustrate: The world wants the Church to join the madness – and many are complying. The Christian group Turning Point USA recently asked college students, “Should we allow adult men who identify as toddlers to compete in preschool soccer? No? Why not? They identify as a child. We want them to be comfortable. That’s a real thing. Having people think they are in a different body is a real thing. People think that they’re dogs. People think that they’re cats. And some people think they’re children still. They never grow out of it. … So shouldn’t we accommodate fully grown 50 year old men who want to play t-ball?” The college students couldn’t answer the question. I can. No! Grow up. Turn to Jesus, and give Him your brokenness. Let Him take possession of your life, and quit being the devil’s stooge!

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind

View all things through the lens of Scripture. Ask yourselves, “What has GOD said”?

It doesn’t matter what AI thinks.
It doesn’t matter what a GUY thinks.
It doesn’t matter what the CROWD thinks.
It matters what GOD OUR CREATOR thinks.

Illustrate: One of my favorite Bible stories is one I rarely hear – and it’s not about a Christian or a great Israelite. It’s about a Syrian Army Commander – a Gentile like us – named Naaman. Naaman was a great general that God used to give victory to Syria (2 Kings 5:1). But Naaman had a problem.

Naaman was a leper.

I love that picture, because it’s a picture of all humanity. I don’t care how much money you have, how much fame, how beautiful you are, or how powerful: everyone has some brokenness. Naaman was a leper. But Naaman had a servant girl who cared for him, and told him to contact God’s Prophet Elisha – that Elisha would fix him. When Naaman went to Elisha’s home, Elisha would not even come to the door, but sent his servant to tell Naaman:

2 Kings 5:10 “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

That upset Naaman! Naaman is an IMPORTANT person, a DECORATED General, and that Elisha would not even come to the door to greet him … how dare he! But here’s the thing. What Elisha told Naaman to do was not HIS opinion, but what GOD told Elisha to tell Naaman. Well, Naaman went away mad – and leprous! When he went home Naaman began to nitpick the Word of God:

2 Kings 5:12 … “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

Naaman did what so many people do today. They want to ADVISE God, instead of OBEYING God.

And Naaman was still leprous. Nothing was changed – nothing at all. Then some people who loved him came to Naaman and said,

“it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (vs 13)

Have YOU done what God said? Have you “GIRDED UP the loins of your MIND”? God has given you a promise. YOU ARE SEVEN DIPS FROM RELIEF. Won’t you just try it? So Naaman went to the Jordan. “Plunk!” he dips himself the first time – he’s STILL LEPROUS. “Plunk!” There is no change. “Plunk – Plunk – Plunk – Plunk”. Six times and no change. If Naaman FEELS it won’t do any good, and stops here, he will remain LEPROUS. But then Naaman goes down for the last time.

Goin’ down for the last time,
That’s how You found me,
Let Your love surround me,
I was, goin’ down for the last time,
Then You came, Callin’ my name.

You got the power to save me,
And it’s made me love You so much,
Well I’m learning to live, You’ve got so much to give,
Lord You fill me up,

You show me the right direction,
And there’s nothing that I won’t do,
Cause with every hour,
I know that You got the power to save me. (Evie)

Naaman was healed on that seventh dip. Every person is seven dips from salvation. Are you there? Have you trusted Him?

Realizing We Are In A Battle,
We Cannot Be Drinking The Devil’s Liquor

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober…

Word Study: The Christian is commanded to “be sober”, the Greek nēphō means “to not lose your wits, to abstain from alcohol, to be calm and collected in spirit, temperate, dispassionate, circumspect”. The world is drunken on feelings and humanism and false gods and foolishness. If you go into battle drunken, you will be killed! This word is used frequently throughout the New Testament. Later on in this Book the Apostle will say,

1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch nēphō unto PRAYER.

While the world listens to the talking heads who care nothing about you, the network media that makes merchandise of you – ignore them and SPEAK TO HIM WHO LOVES YOU. Pray! Talk with your Father. Talk to Jesus. Call on the Holy Spirit. Ask God to rally around you, and protect you as His Child. Peter says:

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, nēphō be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

The devil is always wandering around looking for someone who is DRUNK, who has gotten away from the FLOCK. He loves that! The devil loves to eat up professing Christians who have wandered off the reservation. He loves to watch their lives go up in smoke, while they stagger about with the devil’s crew. The Apostle Paul said:

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. {nēphō} 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober {nēphō}, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

The world drinks the devil’s liquor, and loves the devil’s love. We who belong to God have a different standard. We are told:

1 Peter 1:15-16 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (15) But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

We who are Christians are born again children of God. We are to be OBEDIENT children.

We are to be HOLY, as God is HOLY. We are to imitate God. If God says it’s bad, it’s bad. If God says it’s good, it’s good. Peter is not talking about working your way to salvation. He is talking about living within your Divine Design. You became a Child of God, according to the Scripture, by faith in Jesus.

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

We who are saved are Children of God, not Children of Adam. We are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Now saved, now justified, now born again, we as Christians are to live within our Divine Design. God made you to be a world changer, not to be changed by the world. You do not fashion yourselves according to the former dead life, but live sanctified, separated, or holy lives as the Spirit and the Word directs you. Are you saved? Then the proof of your inward change is your outward dedication to the Lord. The focus of the Christian must be soundly on His Lord Jesus, and on the Word of God. We are told in:

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The Christian feeds on the Word of God, and imitates the God Who saved us. We affirm what Word God has given us. We live for His glory. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear Children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

As Christians, We Place Our Hope
In The Lord Who Saved Us

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ

We do not quit. We do not cave. We keep trusting the Word of God, and doing as our Lord has bid. We remember the Scripture:

Galatians 6:7-9 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

In “due season we shall reap, if we faint not”. We as Christians are to “not be weary in well doing” (2 Thessalonians 3:13). In the Parable of the Sower, our Lord Jesus spoke of a man who, in Matthew 13:3-9 “went out to sow his seed”. He sowed the Gospel seed regardless as to the ground or weather condition. The sower just sowed, in hope that his sowing would put seed on fertile ground (Matthew 13:23). We are to trust in God, and keep on sowing. We are NOT to depart from God’s Word for a “better result”. That is foolishness. We are to hope in God, trust His Word, and Sow. May God guide us to do so, for His glory. Amen and Amen.

Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Jesus Satisfies Our Thirst

Posted on July 14, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Samad Deldar: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-cleaning-hands-under-water-66346/

John 7:37-39 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.)

Opening: Every time there is a “assault weapon” killing at a school or public event, the news media is quick to jump on the band wagon and “ban guns”. Yet we are not told about other terrible incidents that occurred as long as it doesn’t fit the liberal narrative. For instance, did you hear about the China Kindergarten Massacre in southeastern China’s Guangdong province Monday, July 10, 2023? A 25 year old man named Wu attacked a kindergarten killing three children, a teacher and two parents with a knife. The attack occurred as parents were dropping their children off for summer classes. The news article noted:

“Firearms are banned in China but the country has seen a spate of knife attacks in recent years, although there was also one incident where the attacker used a chemical spray to injure a classroom of 50 children. The BBC has counted at least 17 knife attacks in schools, colleges and universities since 2010. Ten of those have happened between 2018 and 2023. In August last year, a knife-wielding assailant stormed a kindergarten in south-eastern Jiangxi province, killing three people and wounding six others. In April 2021, two children died while 16 others were injured during a mass stabbing in Beiliu City, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. In October 2018, 14 children were injured in a knife attack at a kindergarten in Chongqing, south-west China. In most of these cases, the perpetrators are male and have expressed a grudge against society. ”

Banning guns, perpetrators turn to knives or chemicals. If knives were banned, people would turn to sticks and stones. When Cain killed Abel, it was not with a gun nor a knife, but more likely a handy rock.

What makes people do evil? It is misdirected desires, sins, ignorance of where true satisfaction is. I remember in 1982 when suspect James Lewis spiked bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol® with cyanide poison, killing seven people. Though Lewis was never convicted of the actual tampering, he was imprisoned 12 years for extortion charges related to the incident. No one has ever found the culprit. Lewis recently died, and stands before his Maker to be righteously judged – just as the actual murderer will be one day.

What causes these things? It is not guns, knives, cyanide, poisons, sticks or stones. It is a soul seeking satisfaction outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Feast Of Booths – A Time Of Celebration!

John 7:37 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.

The “FEAST” that Jesus is at is the Feast of Booths – also called Tabernacles or Sukkot. Tabernacles was an important and joyous time for the Jews. The Feast was when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated to the Lord (1 Kings 8:2). That Temple was destroyed during the Babylonian Captivity. When Israel was allowed to return to their land under King Cyrus of Medo-Persia, Ezra and Zerubbabel, followed by Nehemiah led a crew back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and the walls of Jerusalem.

The Word of God was spoken at Booths when Israel restored the Temple (Nehemiah 8). The Living Word of God now speaks at Booths (John 1:1-3)

Booths was a time of celebration! It reminded Israel that God went before them when they came out of the slavery of Egypt, and that as a Pillar of Fire and Pillar of Cloud (Exodus 13:21). The Bible tells us that God gave them water out of the Rock (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8-10)

Deuteronomy 8:15-16 {it is God Who} led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, Who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.

In the Apostolic Text we are told “The ROCK WAS CHRIST” (1 Corinthians 10:4). During first seven days of the Feast of Booths the Priest would carry water from the Pool of Siloam in a golden pitcher to the altar of God. This was a graphic reminder to the people that it was God Who satisfied their thirst in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 16:13). On the eighth day (Leviticus 23:36; Nehemiah 8:17) the people ceased dwelling in booths, and NO WATER was taken from Siloam to the altar, though the Priests would say:

Isaiah 12:3 … With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation …

On that last day there was no drawing of water, but remembrance of the water.

The site Bible-History.com notes:

“On the Eighth day, the last day, called “the great day of the feast” the priests made no procession and poured no water onto the pavement … this too was very significant, because it symbolized the fact that God had fulfilled the promise to their fathers … He had now brought them into this land that was well watered, flowing with milk and honey, they no longer needed the miraculous supply out of the Rock. … It was on this day the last day that Jesus stood and cried out..”

John 7:37 .. Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 

Word Study: We read that “Jesus stood”, the Greek histēmi, which means “to make oneself VISIBLE, a point of focus”. When the Wise Men came to see the young Jesus, we are told “the star STOOD (histēmi) over where the young Child was” (Matthew 2:9). When the devil wanted to entice Jesus to sin, he “STOOD (histēmi) Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple” (Matthew 4:5). When Jesus chastised the Pharisees for their self righteousness, He said “they love to pray STANDING (histēmi) in the synagogues … that they may be seen of men” (Matthew 6:5). Jesus on purpose and very visibly DREW ATTENTION to Himself.

Word Study: Jesus also “cried”, the Greek krazō. The word means “to CROAK like a raven, or SCREAM so as to draw attention”. Jesus did not quietly say, “Excuse Me, may I make a point here”. He LOUDLY and DELIBERATELY interrupted the Hallel Ceremony, possibly after the Priest read:

Psalm 118:22 .. and You {O God} have become my salvation, the Stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone .. and blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jesus has come in the Name of the Lord. He is the Representative of the Godhead Who comes offering those who are thirsty satisfaction in their lives. Israel was thirsty in the desert, and God the Father met their need. Jesus interrupts the proceeding in a manner many would consider RUDE. What does our Lord shout?

John 7:37 .. If any man thirst

Jesus offers Himself to ANYONE. If you are THIRSTY, if life is not satisfying to you, if you feel less than or left out, Jesus bids you COME. What is the requirement to come to Jesus? It is that you are THIRSTY. God promised to satisfy Israel’s thirst through the Messiah in the Old Testament. He said:

Isaiah 55:1-4 (NIV) Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.

When the Messiah came, it would be to WITNESS salvation to the people, and to RULE His Kingdom. Jesus says, “I am the One the Scripture promised. I am the Messiah. I am the One Who provides Living Water. Come to Me and Me alone”.

John 7:37 … let him come unto Me, and drink.

When Jesus preached His very first sermon, the “Sermon on the Mount”, He preached:

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

We all feel broken, deficient. We all know that we fall short of the glory of God. As the Messiah, Jesus is not just the Provider of our salvation, but He is the Sender of that which satisfies our thirst. Jesus told the Woman of Samaria:

John 4:14 whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Jesus told us:

John 6:35 … I am the Bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

When you receive the Savior, you receive Satisfaction.
When you receive the Savior, you gain eternal Salvation.
When you receive the Savior, you receive the Holy Spirit.

Faith In Christ Brings Salvation And The Spirit

Jesus said:

John 7:38 (KJV) He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

To those who are saved, God promised the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament the Spirit often came to visit individuals, but never came to stay. When God looked forward to the New Covenant He promised:

Isaiah 44:3 (KJV) For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

In the Feast of Booths the people lived in tents, receiving sustenance from the Lord. Jesus promised something greater: believers would become tabernacles indwelt of the Spirit.

John 7:38 (KJV) He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

To those who give themselves to Christ there is the satisfied life. He meets our needs. He slakes our thirst. He gives us RIVERS. What causes rivers? Rivers come from a source called the headwater. The headwater can come from runoff, like rainfall or melted snow. Steady rivers come from underground springs or water sources that continually feed them. When you give your life to Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live inside our lives. The Holy Spirit works in us to make us more like Jesus. We are “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29; Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 4:13).

John 7:39 (KJV) (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy {Spirit} was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)***

Charles Ryrie notes:

“The Spirit “came upon” such Old Testament people as Joshua (Numbers 27:18), David (1 Samuel 16:12-13) and even Saul (1 Samuel 10:10). In the book of Judges, we see the Spirit “coming upon” the various judges whom God raised up to deliver Israel from their oppressors. The Holy Spirit came upon these individuals for specific tasks. The indwelling was a sign of God’s favor upon that individual (in the case of David), and if God’s favor left an individual, the Spirit would depart (e.g., in Saul’s case in 1 Samuel 16:14). Finally, the Spirit “coming upon” an individual doesn’t always indicate that person’s spiritual condition (e.g., Saul, Samson, and many of the judges). So, while in the New Testament the Spirit only indwells believers and that indwelling is permanent, the Spirit came upon certain Old Testament individuals for a specific task, irrespective of their spiritual condition. Once the task was completed, the Spirit presumably departed from that person.”

With the death and resurrection of Jesus – His glorification – the Spirit would take on a new role for every believer. He would come to stay in us. He would flow through us. He would live in us. We are told in …

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (KJV) Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? [17] If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (KJV) … What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? [20] For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We are to glorify God in our body – and in our spirit – which belong to God. We are not our own. We are His, and He is ours. The Spirit of God indwells the Christian (Ephesians 1:13-14). We are to let God the Holy Spirit have control of our lives – not sin!

Jesus Is More Than A Prophet – He Is THE Messiah

Following Jesus’ proclamation, the people were divided in what they thought of Christ:

John 7:40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

Some of the people who heard Jesus speak at Booths knew part of the Scripture. When Moses was about to leave this earth, he told Israel:

Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV) The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to Him you shall listen…

God Himself confirmed what Moses said, telling him:

Deuteronomy 18:18 (ESV) I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

This was indeed a promise of a New Covenant “Moses”. The Bible says,

John 1:17 …. the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Jesus is “that Prophet” that God would send to confirm His New Covenant. Others saw Jesus as:

John 7:41-42 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?*

Others said, “No, He’s not “That Prophet”, but The Christ, the Messiah”. They did not realize that the Prophet and the Christ were one and the same. Why? Because

Those who should have been teaching them the Bible – the Pharisees and Priests – were instead glorifying themselves!

Yet others pointed out that Jesus had grown up in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. They had no idea that our Lord was born in Bethlehem according to Prophecy (see Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-12).

John 7:43-49 So there was a division among the people because of him. 44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. 45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? 49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

The irony of this text is that when the soldiers of the Temple returned empty handed, they were ridiculed by the Pharisees and Priests for not taking the Lord. But it was not Christ’s time to go to Calvary. Booths would be the last Feast Jesus would attend before He returned at Passover to be crucified for your sins and mine. Jesus satisfies our thirst!

May God lead you to Him Who is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. As the Temple Police said, “Never man spake like this man”. Our Lord Jesus offers you the blessed life, a life filled with and led by God’s Holy Spirit. Come and receive Him today.

Amen and Amen.

Posted in John, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Man Made Religion, Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silver-knight-helmet-289831/

If I “feel” it’s okay, then why should anyone care?

I’m sure that you’ve all heard of the “Titan Sub”, which suffered a catastrophic implosion during its voyage to the shipwreck Titanic. The Titan likely imploded an hour and 45 minutes from its launch. What likely caused the problem? I quote:

“Experts have questioned the use of titanium and carbon fiber for deep diving, as they have different properties. Titanium is elastic and can adapt to ranges of stresses and pressures without permanent strain on the material. Carbon fiber on the other hand is stiffer and non-elastic, often prone to cracking.”

The CEO of the company who died in the implosion fired an engineer who questioned his use of titanium and carbon fiber. Mixing the two would prove to lead to no good. As humans, we love to push the envelope, thinking that we can overcome regardless as to how foolish our actions are. Sometimes there is no recovery.

Just as the engineers created a submarine destined to implode, last week we were introduced to a pioneer in false religion called Micah. Micah and his mother made a “do it yourself” religion, complete with his own store bought “priest”. What could possibly go wrong?

Home Made Hand Made Religion Is Deceiving

Samson’s Tribe, the Tribe of Dan, had been given land by God, land they were supposed to fight for and work in. But the problem with the Tribe of Dan (hereafter called the “Danites”) was that they would NOT obey God. Look at the first few words of:

Judges 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

“there was no king in Israel” – not even God. The Judges only rose up when the people repented, which came less and less. Samson only halfway followed God, and ended up blind and dead for it. Micah started his own religion. The Danites refused to work the land they were given.

Word Study: The Tribe of Dan was given a region west of Jerusalem, but would not obey God and work the land, pushing the Canaanites out. Dan – like so many today – prefer welfare to actually serving the Lord. Their inheritance had not “fallen unto them” (Hebrew nāp̄al, pronounced naw-fal’, Qal Perfect verb), literally “laid down for them”. Since they were not on God’s affirmative action giveaway they as a tribe disobeyed God, and began to search for land that was easier to acquire.

To do the work of God takes effort. The lazy believer will never find blessing! The blended believer will never triumph over evil, but will be Satan’s dupes!

Judges 18:2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

It was not that Dan didn’t have the supplies nor the people to settle the land. They just didn’t want to live for God! They had “men of valor”, five men that they sent out to scout for a land more easily conquered. These spies moved northeast into the land apportioned to the Tribe of “Ephraim”. Here they came across the home of Micah and his man-made religion.

Judges 18:3-4 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.

We Worship God In Spirit & Truth (John 4:23-24)

Our Lord Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). There is no worship of the God of Israel in Mount Ephraim. Before Jerusalem was conquered and the Temple was built, Israel had a Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting (called in the Hebrew Ohel-Mo’ed) that they worshiped God in. When Joshua took Israel into the Promised Land, the Bible says:

Joshua 18:1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.

God wanted the Tabernacle – the movable Temple – in Shiloh, about 19 miles north of Jerusalem. “Shiloh” means “He Whose it is”, and was a prophetic name for Jesus Christ our Messiah (see Genesis 49:10). Joshua often made major decisions for Israel in Shiloh (Joshua 18:8, 10; 19:51). The House of God was not supposed to be in Micah’s home, but in Shiloh. We read:

Judges 18:31 And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

I wish I had a dollar every time someone told me, “Preacher, I can worship God while I’m fishing, or while sitting in a duck hide”. Yes, you can. Yes, you should. But you won’t. When believers come together, we encourage one another to worship – something you will NOT do in the wild! Micah wanted to worship God his own way, with his gods and goddesses, in his home. He didn’t want to do it God’s way.

Likewise we have the Danites. Why were they looking for land? Because they refused to serve God in the way He commanded. They rejected God as King, and because of that were unable to secure the land. God will not bless you if you do not obey God. Period!

The Danites come to Micah’s “church” and, ignoring Micah, talk to the Levite. “Why are you here, and not in Shiloh?”, they ask. The Levite tells them that Micah – not GOD but Micah – “hath hired me, and I am his priest”. This priest is a false prophet. He is not living his life for the Lord, but for Micah, for the pleasure of others. He is like the false prophets that the Apostle warned of in:

2 Peter 2:1-3 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

The servant of God is not to please people, but to please God. The Apostle said:

If I yet PLEASED MEN, I should NOT BE the SERVANT OF CHRIST! Galatians 1:10

This Levite “belongs” to Micah, not to God.

Like Esau, he has sold his soul for a bowl of lentil stew.
Like Judas, he has betrayed His Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Like Caiaphas, he has lied about the Messiah.
Like Pilate, he has betrayed truth in order to please the crowd.

Foolishly, the Danites ask the Levite if God will bless their journey. This is foolish. Would you ask a blind man to describe the color red, or a deaf man to describe Handel’s “Messiah”? No! But these Danites were already outside of the will of God, so they speak to the false priest:

Judges 18:5-6 And {The Danite Spies} said unto {the Levite Priest}, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.

What did you think of the “priest’s” prayer to God? There was none.

This false priest did not so much as pray or seek God’s face, but immediately tells them that they will be blessed because “before the Lord is your way wherein ye go”. I love the way my commentary puts this:

“This shows what a spiritually confused time this was in Israel. These Danites on a sinful mission met with a sinful Levite and wanted to know from a righteous God if their mission would be successful. Then the sinful Levite sent the sinning men on their way with God’s blessing.”

God will not bless anything apart from His Word. By His Word He had given the Danites a territory of their own. By departing from His Word, they are traveling a path that will take them farther and farther from God.

Judges 18:7-8 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians {Sidonians or Phoenicians}, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. 8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?

Word Study: The Spies come to “Laish”, also known as Leshem (Joshua 18:47) and found there a city filled with Phoenicians. These people “dwelt careless” (Hebrew yāšaḇ beṭaḥ), literally “lived in security”. God told Israel to drive these people out of the land (Joshua 13:4). Yet this land was not given to the Tribe of Dan, nor did God send these spies out to Laish. The Danite Spies wanted this land because the people were “quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land”. The people had no ruler, no government to speak of, and no standing military or police. The Sidonians were peaceably living in the land, and appeared to be far enough away from other Sidonians so that they would be easier to defeat. Talking it over with the Danites of “Zorah and Eshtaol”, they decide to build a small army:

Judges 18:9-11 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. 10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth. 11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.

Though No One Has Asked God Anything,
They Blame It All On God

The Spies told the Danites “God hath given {Laish} into your hands”. This is what the false priest told them after not seeking God’s face. Building an army of 600 Danites, they head back to Laish – but not before getting their “lucky rabbit’s foot”.

Judges 18:12-17 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim. 13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. 14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. 17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.

Illustrate: The Danites had long since ceased following God. They wanted to be sure that God blessed them, and went before them. How did they ensure this? They stole a bunch of Qurans, a pile of Vedas, some Books of Mormon and Jehovah Witness New World Translations. They grabbed the Buddhist Tipitaka, and a whole bunch of rabbit’s feet and buckeyes. They were going to battle, so they wanted something religious with them to insure that God would go before them.

This is how Roman Catholicism started. The Emperor Flavius Valerius Constantinus (Constantine the Great) had a dream in which he was told to mark ‘the heavenly sign of God’ on his soldiers’ shields. He did as instructed, had the sign – the Cross – inscribed on the shields of his army. When he died in 337 AD, Roman Catholicism was the state religion of Rome.

Like Constantine and his armies, the Danites wanted a lucky mark on their shields so they could overthrow Laish. After grabbing all the idolatrous paraphernalia that Micah had cast, they decided they also needed their own priest. So they offer this priest a promotion!

Judges 18:18-20 And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? 19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? 20 And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

Illustrate: They knew the priest was open to bartering, as he stood by while the Danites robbed the false temple. It reminds me of another time several years ago during the Los Angeles riots, when a reporter came across three people looting a store. Questioning them, the first two cursed him and ran away. The third man told the reporter, “I got some Gospel music! I love Jesus!”. You do not love Jesus if you do not obey Jesus (John 14:15; 15:10). God “shows mercy to the thousands that love Him, and keep His commandments” (Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10). God has always said:

Proverbs 7:2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

God’s people have a King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

1 Corinthians 6:20 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 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

The Danites offer this false priest a promotion. He can stay with Micah, and be just a small family priest – or he can play the BIG TIME with the Danites. He can be the Danites own personal priest. This man was being offered a MEGACHURCH, an amazing upgrade! So he defects along with all the religious paraphernalia.

Judges 18:21-23 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. 22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?

You Can’t Steal My Religion!

When Micah realized that his false god and false religion were stolen, he went to rescue his own gods. This is the folly of idolatry. Any god that you make, you must also protect. Any god that you make is no stronger than you are. Idolatry is, at heart, no more than self worship. God forbade idolatry in the 2nd commandment:

Deuteronomy 5:7-10 (ESV) You shall have no other gods before me. 8 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The True God of Scripture never needs to be rescued. His Servants need not seek “better employment”, for God is the best Employer! The Psalmist mocks idols as foolish things:

Psalm 115:3-8 (ESV) Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.

The trust in a false idol or a false priest is the height of stupidity! It is idolatry that leads to homosexuality and lesbianism (Romans 1:18-32). It is only the pagan that chases after idols (1 Corinthians 12:2). Idolatry is vain, useless, without power. God’s Word to His people is:

Colossians 3:5-8 (ESV) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away …

The Christian has a High Priest that can never leave us nor forsake us. We have Jesus Christ! Jesus will never abandon us for someone or something greater. He is the “Good Shepherd Who gives His life to His sheep” (John 10:11) . Jesus Christ is the “Good Shepherd Who knows His sheep, and whose sheep know Him” (John 10:14). Pastor John Piper stated:

“Idolatry starts in the heart: craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by anything that you treasure more than God. … What is an idol? Well, it is the thing. It is the thing loved or the person loved more than God, wanted more than God, desired more than God, treasured more than God, enjoyed more than God. It could be a girlfriend. It could be good grades. It could be the approval of other people. It could be success in business. It could be sexual stimulation. It could be a hobby or a musical group that you are following or a sport or your immaculate yard.”

Judges 18:24-26 And {Micah} said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? 25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. 26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.

When Micah came with his ragtag army to rescue his idols, they told him to SHUT UP and GET OUT or die. The Danites refused to return Micah’s idols and his false priest, so Micah turned around and headed home, defeated and looking utterly foolish. The Danite army continues to Laish. We read:

Judges 18:27-31 And {the Danite Army} took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon {Sidon}, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

The Bible is very careful to tell us that the Danites defeated Laish – not for the glory of God nor through the power of God – but because Laish was a weak area unaffiliated with Sidon (Phoenicia). Laish was much like the protesters who took over several city blocks in Seattle during the June 2020 riots. Calling that unlawfully occupied area “CHAZ” (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone), it wasn’t long before lawlessness took over. The Danites destroyed Laish, and rebuilt it, calling it “Dan” after the name of the Tribe.

The city was not God conquered, but man conquered. It was not God honoring, but man honoring. Once Dan was named, the city of Dan made Micah’s stolen priest and idols their “State Religion”.

This is the FIRST established idolatry in Israel in the Promised Land. Though the people had been individually idolatrous at times, this is OFFICIAL idolatry.

Though the Levite false priest’s name was not revealed earlier, we now see his name revealed. “Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh” was a descendant of Moses:

“A direct descendant of the man {Moses} most responsible for securing Israel’s unswerving commitment to Yahweh played a major role in leading the Israelites away from God!”

What is the significance of this? I have often heard it said that “God has no grandsons, but only sons”. Just because a person is related to a great believer in God is no assurance that the relative is saved. This false prophet “Jonathan” not only agreed to stand in a man made temple as if he were a high priest, but he agreed to pass this priesthood down to his own children. Man made religion not only infected the Danites, but it infected Jonathan and his children for ages to come. May God save us from man made religion. Amen and Amen!

Posted in Judges, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Praising God For Salvation

Posted on July 9, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash

Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 1. Last week we discussed the importance of being born again. This is something that only God can do FOR you. Jesus said:

John 3:6-7 (AP*) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised that I tell you, you MUST be BORN AGAIN.

So many people think “I’ll put off coming to Jesus, giving my life to Him until later in life”. Beloved, TODAY is the day of salvation. Consider these statistics:

There are about 7.8 BILLION people on the earth, and around 36 million have died this year. Every year, 40-50 million children are murdered through abortion. As people despair of their very lives, there have been 700,000 suicides. Others try to escape depression through drugs. 246 Billion Dollars were spent on illegal drugs so far this year.

We all need Jesus!
We all need God’s Spirit to give us life!

Author Mark Twain wrote before his death:

“A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle;…they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; …those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. {Physical death comes, and} … they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence, a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever.”

Both I and God – along with Peter – want better for you. As Peter looked at the failing world around him, and compared the glory of the Christian life with the darkness of the lost world, he sang praises unto God! Hear this wonderful Word from a lowly fisherman:

1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Thank God For The Abundant Mercy Of Salvation!

Though the world – which lies in darkness – curses the name of God and of His Son Jesus, the Christian LIVES FOR God.

Word Study: Peter said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. That word “Blessed” is the Greek eulogētos, which means “to adore, to sing praises to”. The believer PRAISES the Heavenly Father. We PRAISE God for “our LORD Jesus Christ”.

Jesus is LORD.
Jesus is LORD of our salvation.
Jesus is LORD of our situation.
Jesus is LORD in our salutation.

Jesus is not a part-time LORD, but a full time LORD. And our LORD Jesus is driven by what drives God. He is driven by …

abundant mercy

Word Study: This is the Greek polys eleos, “many faceted, huge in volume mercy”. Salvation is GREAT because we have done nothing to earn nor deserve it. Some of you will receive this teaching in the mail, and toss it out as junk mail. You will reject Christ until you MUST have Him. If you are hurt, hospitalized, in a nursing home, then you want Jesus. But we all need Jesus every day. We are all born into this life separated from God by our sins. The Scripture says:

Romans 3:10-12, 23 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. … 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

God through Christ made the world complete and perfect. Scripture says:

Colossians 1:16-17 For by {Jesus} were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by {Jesus}, and for {Jesus}: 17 And {Jesus} is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Jesus was in the beginning with God, and was God (John 1:1-2). The Bible says:

John 1:3 All things were made by {Jesus}; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Our Lord made a perfect Man called Adam, and placed him in a perfect Place called Eden. Adam was given a perfect Wife called Eve, and given a perfect Job of tending a perfect Garden without weeds. Adam was given dominion over the world. Though Adam was NOT GOD, Adam was given the AUTHORITY of God, and given the POWER and OWNERSHIP of creation. God gave Adam perfection and happiness. Adam’s Best Friend was God, Who walked with him in the cool of the day.

But Adam did not hear God’s Word, did not obey God’s Word, and by his actions brought death on himself and on his progeny. The Bible says:

Romans 5:12 … by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Adam brought sin into the world. The children of Adam all sin, because they take after their father Adam. The inheritance of the sons of Adam is spiritual and physical death, separation from God both now and into eternity. The Bible says:

Romans 5:15 … through the offense of one {Adam} MANY be dead

People walk in darkness, apart from God, because of spiritual death and separation from God. But God was not satisfied with this. Our God is MERCIFUL and loving. So our God sent His Son Jesus. The Son Who was with the Father in the beginning and from eternity took upon Himself humanity.

Jesus did this to free whosoever believeth in Him from the chains of sin and Satan. The world without Christ is bound to DARKNESS, bound to SIN and SATAN. But God sent His Son into the world to be the Sunrise of a New Day. Jesus is the “Dawn from on High Who visited us” (Luke 1:78, CSB). Jesus Christ came into this world to:

Luke 1:79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

As the Holy Spirit made the eternal Son of God into perfect Human, the Holy Spirit turns imperfect humans into sons and daughters of God.

That’s what is meant by …

1 Peter 1:3 … hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

“begotten us again unto a lively hope”. Our Lord Jesus died for our sins, and rose again for our justification. “In Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). If you are born again, you are born again unto a “lively hope”. You do not live in sin nor for Satan, but for Jesus. The Christian walks with God:

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (ESV) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Those who are saved “live for Him”, live for God. We do not walk following the darkness of this world, but walk with Jesus, one step at a time, one day at a time!

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Sons Of Adam Walk With The gods in Darkness.
Sons Of God Walk With The God In Light.

Peter begins to speak of the “inheritance” of the Born Again. You are Born Again …

1 Peter 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

As Peter speaks of the Christian’s “inheritance”, most people think this is a reference to HEAVEN. It is not. It is a reference to the PRESENCE of God in your life. This is the GREATEST THING God can give anyone, to know that God is ALWAYS with you.

Illustrate: When Israel got ready to go into the Promised Land, God told them:

Exodus 33:2-3 (AP) “Go into the Promised Land. I will drive out your enemies, but I will not go with you, for you are STIFF NECKED. You will not worship Me – and if I stay with you, I’ll destroy you!”

When Moses heard this, he immediately prayed:

Exodus 33:15-16 (AP) “Lord, if you will not go with us, WITH ME into the Promised Land, Lord don’t send us there. If I have found Grace with You, Lord stay with me where ever we go!”

Moses learned that the greatest thing in life is to know God, to walk with God as we travel through this earth. When Peter spoke of the blessings of New Birth, of our “INHERITANCE”, he was not speaking of HEAVEN but of WALKING WITH GOD NOW AND FOREVER.

Word Study: The Christian walk with God is first of all “incorruptible”, which is the Greek aphthartos, meaning “not subject to decay”. Everything in life is corruptible. The Prophet said:

Job 17:1 (AP) My breath is corrupt, I am becoming extinct. The grave is ready for me.

Our bodies were all meant to break down. This is normal – though sometimes frightening. However, your LIFE need never cease. The Child of God is …

1 Peter 1:23 … born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, {aphthartos} by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

As God told Moses, “I will go with you”, He tells the Christian “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5). The Christian – male or female – are Priests before God. We represent God to man. Our inheritance, our Portion is God Himself (Numbers 18:20). God tells us:

“I am your Portion and your Inheritance”

King David, considered the Greatest King that Israel has ever had, was known as a man after God’s own heart. With all that he had, David said:

Psalm 16:5-6 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Word Study: Those who are “Born Again” have an inheritance that is “UNDEFILED”. This is the Greek amiantos, which means “unsoiled, deformed, or debased”. SAVED, WE DO NOT WALLOW IN SIN! Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, is

Hebrews 7:26 For such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, {amiantos} separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Does God “Love The Sinner, BUT Hate The Sin”?

I have often heard “God LOVES the sinner, BUT HATES the sin”. Is that true? Jesus said:

John 8:12 … I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Those who are “Born Again” do not WALK IN DARKNESS. We do not PURSUE SIN. The Bible is VERY CLEAR on this point. The Apostle said:

1 John 1:6-7 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Jesus did not tell the crippled man at Bethesda that He healed, “continue in your sin”. On healing that man, Jesus said:

John 5:14 (AP) … You have been made whole. SIN NO MORE, lest a WORST thing come on you!

When Jesus forgave the woman taken in adultery, He did not tell her to go back to the defiling bed. He told her,

John 8:11 (AP) … GO and SIN NO MORE!

When you do what God tells you NOT to do, this is SIN.

James 4:4 (CSB) You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God..

God NEVER says sin is all right, and neither should the Child of God. When you say:

“God loves the sinner, BUT hates the sin”

You are implying that God will love you REGARDLESS as to your sin. That’s not true! If it were true, there would have been no Noahic Flood. If it were true, there would be no Cross of Calvary, nor a Savior nailed to it. What the Bible actually teaches is…

“God loves the sinner AND hates the sin”

If you are a Child of God by faith in Christ, you have an UNDEFILED (amiantos) walk with Him. That doesn’t mean that you don’t sin. It does mean that – if and when you sin – you realize GOD DESPISES SIN. “God loves the sinner” by sending Christ to pay for our sins. AND “God hates sin”. So if you reject Christ and rest in sin, know this.

Know this.
Know this.
Know this.

Without Christ, you are presently UNDER THE WRATH OF GOD.

Psalm 5:4-5 (ESV) For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all evildoers.

Psalm 11:5 (ESV) The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Pastor John Piper clarifies this by saying:

“infinite disapproval is what the Bible means when it says God hates sinners. He infinitely disapproves of them. Sin is not sinful except as committed by sinful hearts. Sin is an expression of anti-God, human corruption in human hearts. Sinful volitions are owing to sinful hearts. Sin doesn’t just hang out there with its own existence; it is in hearts or it is nothing. Sins do not suffer in hell; sinners suffer in hell. I wonder what people who make that misleading statement believe about hell because {God} is not punishing sin in hell — {God} is punishing sinners in hell.”

The clearest statement on salvation is given by our Lord Jesus. Read with me:

John 3:16-21 (ESV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

There are many who will not receive Jesus because they want to DO WICKED THINGS and ABIDE IN THE DARKNESS. Humanism teaches us that God loves us just the way we are. Christianity teaches us that God loves us through Christ, and through Christ draws us FROM sin and INTO the Light of God. “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil”. Those who reject Christ as Lord and Savior are “CONDEMNED ALREADY”.

You cannot be a Christian and wink at sin!
You cannot be a Christian and be “woke”!
The “Broke” are “Woke”!
You are BORN AGAIN, dear Christian.

1 Peter 1:4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Word Study: If you are a Child of God, your Inheritance, your walk with God, “fadeth not away”. This is the Greek amarantos, which means “perennial, that which endures not just for a season, but starts now and lasts forever”. This word is found only here in the Bible, but it emphasizes to us as believers though life has its ups and downs – our relationship with God in Christ is never ending. We have a place “reserved in heaven”. God has a place at the Table for every one of His Children. Jesus promised:

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. When I think of the “mansion” that the Lord has for us in Heaven, I think not of a place with four walls, but a glorified body to hold our eternal souls. We will be given a “mansion”, a place to be, because we are members of God’s Family. We are His Children, both now and forever.

1 Peter 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.*

I love the word “kept” in this text. This is the Greek phroureō, which means “to guard, to protect by a military guard, to watch over the protect from hostile invasion”. God watches over His Child.

Are you His Child? If not, today is the day to call on Him. Jesus Christ died on Calvary to make payment for your sins. He died for you, to bring you into the Family of God. Will you believe on Him? Jesus is with us. He is calling. Will you come? Will you cry out to Him, and beg Him heal you? If you call upon Him, you have His promise. He will send the Holy Spirit and through Him effect your New Birth. Blessed be the Name of Jesus! Amen and Amen.

  1. ↩︎
Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Jesus Is Not Afraid – And Neither Am I

Posted on July 7, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

John 7:13-14 Howbeit no man spake openly of {Jesus} for fear of the Jews. 14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

Israel enjoyed three great Feasts every year, commemorating great points in their history where God blessed them as His people. There was Passover, Pentecost, and Booths. Every Jewish male was expected to go to Jerusalem during each of these Feasts to worship God. In John 7 we are in the Feast of Booths. Last week we studied how Jesus refused to go to Jerusalem with His earthly Family during the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. Jesus would go to the Cross during the Feast of Passover, not Booths. Our Lord knew that – if He went with His brothers to the Feast – that the priests, Sadducees and Pharisees would prematurely kill Him.

Jesus waited to go to the Feast of Booths. Jesus was NOT FEAR driven, but OBEDIENCE driven

Word Study: We read that the people – though divided in their opinions about Jesus – did not openly discuss the Lord Jesus because of “fear of the Jews”. The word translated “FEAR” is the Greek phobos, from which we get our English word Phobia. The word is used 47 times in 44 New Testament verses.

Phobos can make you “CRY out” (Matthew 14:26).
Phobos can make you “PASS out” (Matthew 28:4).
Phobos can make you “GET out” (Matthew 28:8).
Phobos can make you “HIDE out” (Luke 2:9).
Phobos can make your heart “FAIL out” (Luke 21:26).
Phobos can often make you “MISS out” (John 7:13).

The Messiah is walking among His Creation, in such a way that you can physically TOUCH Him, HEAR Him, SEE Him. Jesus Christ is RIGHT HERE and – Phobos has stolen people’s tongues.

Cancel culture has always been around demanding we shut up and line up, affirming evil as politically correct.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to sit at Jesus’ feet as Mary did, and hear Him teach. What a blessing it would be to be able to ASK Him questions, and HEAR His answers, answers from Heaven. And yet FEAR, Phobos has silenced any discussion of Christ. Evil has control of the narrative, much like evil has control of the narrative in America today. Misplaced Phobos is a terrible thing! The Bible tells us as believers that we are to have FEAR of the Lord.

Job 28:28 … Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

What is amusing in this text is that the people DO NOT FEAR JESUS, Who is Creator God (Colossians 1:16), but FEAR PEOPLE whom Jesus created! This is as silly as talking to a snake instead of God in the Garden!

God does not want us to have misplaced Phobos or fear. This is why we as believers are told:

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind

We are to have the proper Phobos in the proper context. The Bible says:

1 John 4:18 (ESV) There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

We as believers are not to fear God as if He were a spider or a bad Spirit. We are to love Him with all our hearts – but always keeping in mind that He DOES punish disobedience. “fear has to do with punishment”. Let’s put it this way: growing up, I never feared my daddy coming home and beating me “just because”. If I was whipped, it was because I failed to show proper respect to him as my daddy.

You need not fear anything – ANYTHING – while you are walking in step with your Heavenly Father.

John 7:14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

Jesus did not avoid going with His brothers to the Feast of Booths from fear, but because He was being OBEDIENT to the Father. Jesus said,

John 10:18 (NKJV) No one takes {My life} from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.

Had Jesus been motivated by Phobos or Fear, He would not have went to the Feast of Booths at all. But instead, Jesus went to the Feast. Then Jesus “went up into the temple”, ground zero for the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Priests that hated Him. Jesus then stood on Solomon’s Porch and “taught”, making Himself the center of attention. As He teaches, a crowd gathers around Him.

Evil Cannot Succeed When Light Is Cast On It:
The World Will Steal Your Rainbow If You Let It

The reason evil so often succeeds is because we ignore it, or look the other way. We allow evil to grow like a mushroom, in the darkness. Since no one will speak up for Jesus, Jesus will now speak up for Jesus – loudly, in the middle of a great crowd, in the center of the Festival called Booths. The Pharisees and Sadducees cannot openly kill Jesus (the Roman Empire would not stand for it), so they do what evil often does.

They murmured. They picked. They found fault.

John 7:15-17 And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

When Jesus first started preaching, the “Jews” (a term John uses to describe the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Priests) would often ask Him:

John 2:18 (NLT) What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.

They were always asking Jesus “show us a SIGN from God that You are the Messiah” (Matthew 21:23). Jesus had no pedigree. He had no rabbi who vouched for Him. Jesus had no degree. “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”. Jesus had not been to any type of seminary. How could Jesus know ANYTHING if He had no seminary training, no Rabbi to vouch for Him?

The “Jews” were puzzled, because “Jesus taught as One having AUTHORITY” (Matthew 7:28-29; Mark 1:22). Jesus taught as if He had direct input from the Source of all Truth. They knew that Jesus had not come from the School of the Rabbis – so attacked Him for His lack of documentation! Jesus told them:

vs 16 My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me

Jesus Christ came from Eternity, from the Throneroom of God, and taking upon Himself humanity entered His own creation. Jesus did not come of His own accord, but was sent of the Father:

John 5:23-24 (ESV) … Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 6:38 (ESV) I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ..

John 8:28 (ESV) … I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

John 12:49-50 (ESV) … I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.

My commentary notes:

“Jesus was an eloquent, gifted teacher, but He was not self taught; Jesus was God taught. His authority was not from any man, but from His Father. … Jesus didn’t claim to be self-taught; He claimed to be God-taught, practically inviting His listeners to examine His teachings according to the Scriptures”.

This is a common theme throughout this Gospel. Jesus came to this earth as the Father – the Head of the Trinity – decreed. Jesus said:

John 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

Jesus said “If any man will do his {the Father’s} will, he shall know” whether Jesus was making up things, or if His Word was a mirror of God’s Word. What was the “will of the Father”? That we “believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (John 6:29). If Christ was received by faith as He actually is, God would send His Spirit to that person – and they would know the Lord Jesus to be true.

Jesus Called The Jews Out On Their Hypocrisy

John 7:18-19 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

Jesus compared what He is doing OPENLY to what the Jews are doing SECRETLY. Jesus was given the Word of God, and He speaks the Word of God OPENLY and OBEDIENTLY so that others can profit from it. But the Jews are given the Law of Moses, a Law they are well acquainted with.

Exodus 20:13 (ESV) You shall not murder.

The sacredness of human life was established in Noahic Law once the Great Flood departed:

Genesis 9:6 … Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Sins like murder and adultery brought with them the state sponsored execution of the law breaker.

The state was given the “power of the sword” by God to maintain peace and protect life. Life must never be taken in a carefree manner. God demanded that Israel “purge the guilt of innocent blood shed in Israel” (Deuteronomy 19:11-13), that murderers themselves lose their lives for the good of the nation.

The “Jews”, well educated, seminary trained, knew that murder was forbidden. Yet they secretly plotted to take Christ’s life. Jesus called them on it. “Why do you sneak about, trying to kill Me?”. They replied:

John 7:20-21 The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.

Jesus exposed their hypocrisy, bringing it to the light of day. How did they respond? “Thou hast a devil”. Rather than acknowledge Jesus’ great knowledge and power was from God, they made it out that Jesus was demon possessed or demon influenced. At the least, Jesus is paranoid. At the most, Jesus is touched by evil spirits. This is not the first time they will falsely accuse the Lord. In the next chapter they will tell Jesus:

John 8:48-49 (ESV) … “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.

They not only accused Jesus of being demon possessed, but using a racial slur they called Him a “Samaritan”. The Jews despised Samaritans as half-breeds, traitors who compromised with the infidels. To them, Jesus “had a demon” (John 8:52). Yet this is not true. In contrast, Jesus said of Himself:

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Jesus said, “I seek the glory of Him that sent Me”. Jesus patently did not seek His own glory. When the people would make Jesus King of Israel:

John 6:15 … (ESV) Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself …

Jesus told His disciples:

John 18:36 (ESV) … My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.

Though Jesus deserved to be King of this world (John 12:12-15), in His first coming He came to cleanse us from our sins, to grant us entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. He would do this through the Gospel of the Cross. Jesus declared Himself “TRUE”, the Greek alēthḗs which means “genuine, true, without flaw”. There are many who declare themselves messiah’s, but only One Messiah or Christ. Jesus is the “real Deal”! Jesus also said of Himself:

no unrighteousness is in him

Jesus is not just a Rabbi – He is the “Holy One of God” (John 6:69). Jesus asked His listeners:

John 8:46 (ESV) Which one of you CONVICTS ME OF SIN?

Though Satan rules this world through sin, Jesus said of Himself:

John 14:30 (ESV) … the Ruler of this world is coming. HE HAS NO CLAIM ON ME …

Though the whole world lies in darkness, Jesus is the Light of the world.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) For our sake GOD made Christ to BE SIN WHO KNEW NO SIN, so that IN HIM we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD …

John 7:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.

The one “WORK” that Jesus did which started the Pharisees and Priests hating Him was the healing of the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9). Jesus told the man to “take up your bed, and walk”. The Pharisees and Priests were incensed because that was done on a Sabbath Day.

John 7:22-23 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. 23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

God told Moses (and Israel):

Leviticus 12:3 (NKJV) And on the eighth day {following birth} the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

The Law of circumcision was first given to Abraham in Genesis 17:10-14, “Every male child among you shall be circumcised”. This was a covenant that God gave to the Israelite. Those males who were NOT circumcised were “cut off from Israel, for this violates God’s covenant”. Circumcision was not a sacrifice that led to salvation, but a marking of the Israelite male. As the child was to be circumcised at the Temple on the eighth day following birth, children were often circumcised on the Sabbath Day by the priests.

Why?: Children were circumcised on the eighth day because circumcision causes bleeding, and the eighth day is the best day for blood clotting.

“The human body has 2 blood clotting elements. One of them is called Vitamin K. Vitamin K is not formed in the body up until the 5th to the 7th day. … The 2nd clotting factor which is essential is called Prothrombin. It surprisingly enough develops to 30% of normal by the 3rd day of life and after that with seeming in-consequence, peaks at 110% on the 8th day, just before leveling off at 100% of normal. … If vitamin K is not present when a baby boy is circumcised, the baby will bleed to death. The reason why Yahweh established Day Eight for circumcision is that vitamin K peaks in a newborn at 8 days of age. … Today when baby boys are circumcised within a couple of days of birth, they are administered vitamin K to help with blood clotting.”

God required Israel to circumcised males on the eighth day following birth for the health of the baby. When Jesus healed the man who had been crippled 38 years, His actions were just as warranted for the health of the man as circumcision of a child on the Sabbath.

<span style=”background-color:yellow”><strong>John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.</strong></span>

Jesus warned His critics to judge Him based on the Scripture, on what the Bible said is right or wrong, and not based on what they feel. Yet the listeners refused to hear Jesus. Why?

If You Will Not Hear Jesus, You Are Hell Bound

John 7:25-30 Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? 26 But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? 27 Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. 28 Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. 29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me. 30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

Jesus continued to reason with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Priests, but they refused to believe that He was the Christ. They continued to seek to kill Jesus, but “no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come”. Though they had made up their minds to reject Him, Jesus continued to reach out to them.

They refused to hear. They murmured, and mocked. Jesus told them:

John 7:33-36 Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. 34 Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come. 35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? 36 What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

Jesus will go back to the Father, and “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come”. Where is Jesus going where they cannot come? Heaven. You get this lifetime to call upon Jesus, to receive Him as Messiah and Lord. If you leave this life without Jesus, you will never see Jesus again. You will, dear one, see only eternal damnation. You will experience weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You will experience eternal separation from Him Who sent Christ.

Because you rejected Jesus. Oh Lord, draw every soul to Christ’s side while there is time. Oh Lord Jesus, glorify the Father by saving the sinner, just as you saved us. For today is the Day of Salvation. Amen and Amen!

Posted in John, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Man Made Religion

Posted on July 3, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Rosemary Ketchum: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-dog-wearing-fur-decor-2306831/

What Happens When The Leadership Of The Nation
Is No Longer God Appointed?

In Judges chapters 17-21 we see what happens to a nation when ALL of its Godly leaders are removed. Though Eli and Samuel are judges, they are not in the picture until 1 Samuel. Samson was the last God appointed judge in Israel in the Book of Judges. Those who rise next have nothing to do with God.

This should be a cautionary tale for America. In 2024 we will once more prayerfully vote for our elected representatives. I say PRAYERFULLY because your leadership matters. The leadership of the nation matters. The leadership of our businesses matters. The leadership of our communities, our homes, they all matter.

Chapter 17 begins with a man named “Micah” (his name means “one who is like God”) stealing 1100 shekels of silver from his mother. When she curses the thief, he returns the silver. On confessing that he is the thief (which is a violation of the 5th commandment – Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and mother”) the mother confesses that she was saving the silver “for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image” (verse 3). This is a violation of the 2nd commandment – Exodus 20:4 “you shall not make a carved image … to bow down and worship it”. It is obvious that the mother has violated God’s commandments to teach her children to do the right thing. God told Israel:

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 … Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children …

This mother has taught her son Micah to steal and to dishonor authority. Now the mother continues the lesson. Though she said in verse 3,

Judges 17:3 … I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son…

that is, ALL of the silver was to be used for the creation of idols, we read:

Judges 17:4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

Only 200 shekels was used by the mother to build an idol. Where did the other 900 shekels go? We don’t know. But the mother violated God’s Law numerous times, and is appears that the 900 shekels that were wholly dedicated to God were kept in her possession.

Micah made a silver graven image and a molten image. He didn’t make two images, but had the image poured, then additional details carved into the image. Micah was meticulous in his creation of the image – it was not tossed together, but a piece of artwork! This was NOT the first idol that Micah made. We read:

Judges 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

Micah had first a “house of gods”. My commentary notes:

“Micah and his mother are sharply distinguished from Samson and his mother [and even more from Samuel and his mother] by their materialism and idolatry. Here there is no evidence of the presence or call of the Spirit in their lives.”

He did not have just one false god, but many false gods. Having false gods, Micah didn’t want to be the “priest”, so he established one of his own sons to be a “priest”. This is a totally man-made religion. Micah also makes an “ephod”, a ceremonial breastplate or vest-plate worn by priests as they led people in worship. The High Priest of Israel had …

Exodus 28:4 …. a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre (worn on the head), and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

Micah was very thorough in creating his man made religion. We read that he also had “teraphim” (tᵊrāp̄îm), which is a smaller idol used for household shrines. When Rachel left her father’s house with Jacob, she took with her her father’s “images” or “teraphim” (Genesis 31:19, 34-35). These small images – about the size of a Barbie™ or a G.I. Joe™ doll – were carried in pouches, and used in people’s homes. It’s possible that Micah made these small images so that others could participate in his religion.

To Make Evil Legitimate,
Blend It With Established Religion

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

This could be a reference to America today. “there was no king in Israel”. No one cared about God or His commandments. Our God is …

1 Timothy 6:15 … the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords…

Our God chose Israel to be His nation, He told them:

Deuteronomy 7:7-10 (ESV) It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.

God loved Israel because of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God keeps His promises. But Israel’s blessing depended on her obedience to Him as King. When Israel rejected God as King, God stopped raising up judges to deliver them. The fact that there is “no king in Israel” is emphasized and repeated in:

Judges 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel …

Judges 19:1 … in those days, when there was no king in Israel …

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel …

Who was king in Israel as we go through these last chapters of Judges?

Judges 17:6 every man did that which was right in his own eyes

The Enduring Word Commentary notes:

  • It seemed right to the eyes of Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, but God said it was wrong.
  • It seemed right to the eyes of the sons of Jacob to sell Joseph into slavery, but God said it was wrong.
  • It seemed right to the eyes of Nadab and Abihu to offer strange fire before the Lord, but God said it was wrong.
  • It seemed right to the eyes of King David to commit adultery with Bathsheba and cover it with murder, but God said it was wrong.
  • It seemed right to the eyes of Judas to betray Jesus, but God said it was wrong.

The Bible warns us in Isaiah (5:20), “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”. When each person establishes their own religion, with their own standard of right and wrong, mass confusion takes hold. Micah set up his own religion, but he obviously has trouble “filling the house”. So what happens next?

Judges 17:7-12 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

The devil sends a “young man out of Bethlehemjudah” to Micah. When we choose to do evil, the devil will often help us facilitate that evil. This young man is out of “Bethlehemjudah”, which will one day be the “City of David” (1 Samuel 17:12; 2 Samuel 5:7, 9-10). David would be one of the first God chosen Kings of Israel, and from David would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord (Luke 2:11). Yes, the Messiah and David came from “Bethlehemjudah”. This young man, however, is NOT a priest. He is a Levite, but is NOT a priest.

The Levites were the tribe of Israel descended from Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Every priest was a Levite – but not every Levite was a priest.

Leviticus 21 established the rule for priests. The priests were to be holy unto the Lord. They were only to marry virgins. Further, priests were NOT to have any physical defect:

Leviticus 21:18-21 (ESV) No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.

This young man is a Levite, but is not qualified to be a priest according to God. We read that this man is traveling and “sojourn(ing) where he could find a place” (vs 8). Though he is disqualified according to God’s decree, he is hunting a paid priest’s position. He comes to Micah’s home, and Micah tells him:

Judges 17:10 … Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals (Hebrew miḥyâ, that which preserves life)

This young man – unqualified to be a priest – is looking for a priesthood. Micah decides that this is the perfect opportunity. To legitimize his religion, he will blend it with Judaism and it’s system of Levitical Priests. Micah ignores the lack of qualification of this man, and installs him as a “hired gun”. He pays the young man a good wage (ten shekels of silver (yearly)), a good clothing allowance (a suit of apparel), and gives him room and board (victuals). The fake priest quickly agreed! This chapter ends with Micah making a profound statement:

Judges 17:13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Micah thought that his man made religion would be blessed by his association with a Levite. This is not Judaism, nor is it Christianity. It is superstition. And yet, this is something not just common among fallen Israel, but common among the fallen Church in America today. People think, “If I have my own Preacher or Pastor, if I pay his salary and feed and house him, then that brings me favor in the eyes of God”. Benson’s Commentary notes:

“So blind and grossly partial he was in his judgment, to think that one right circumstance would answer for all his substantial errors, in making and worshiping images against God’s express command, in worshiping God in a forbidden place, by a priest illegally appointed. “He persuades himself,” says Calmet, “that the people, seeing his chapel served by a man of the family of Levi, will come thither with greater confidence, and that this concourse, together with the offerings to be brought, will procure him considerable gain. It is evidently this gain which he here calls the blessing of God. How just a representation is this of those superstitiously covetous persons who would connect religion with the love of riches, and who, as St. Paul expresses it, fancy that piety should serve as a means of enriching themselves.”

God is no more impressed by our man made religion than He was impressed by the Pharisees and Chief Priests who demanded Christ be crucified!

God is never favorably impressed by our disobedience, but by our obedience to His will and His Word. Micah consecrated the Levite, just as he consecrated his son – and yet, that does not mean that he was consecrated. Only God can consecrate! I spoke to a member who was being wooed to another local Church by a false prophet-pastor. This false prophet-pastor said,

“If you come over to MY Church, I’LL MAKE YOU a DEACON”.

That sounds fine, but it is not Biblical but man made. The Scripture tells us that:

1 Corinthians 12:18 (ESV) … as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

It is God Who sets the requirements for offices and gifts in the Church. The Southern Baptist Convention is currently undergoing some disturbance because our Baptist Faith and Message (2000) states:

VI. The Church: … {the Church’s} scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

We have recently disfellowshipped from several local Churches – one of which was Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church – because they ordained female pastors. As Baptists we hold that the qualification of Pastor is based on Scripture:

1 Timothy 3:2-7 (ESV) … an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

There are many who say, “But women are CAPABLE to Pastor”, and that may be true. But it is not in accordance with the teaching of Scripture. Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD. It is God Who establishes the standard. It is God Who gave the commandment to “not eat of the forbidden” to ADAM and not EVE (Genesis 2:15-17). Who does God blame for the fall of man into sin? Though EVE was the first one to eat of the forbidden, the Bible says:

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Since sin entered the word “by one man” (Adam), when the Savior came the Savior was a MAN and not a WOMAN:

Romans 5:15, 17 … For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. (17) For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

It is God Who establishes the standard, not us. Many Churches today are setting up their own standards, but this is very dangerous. The Bible warns:

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Man made religion does not please God. We must approach Him the way the He demands. There is no other way to peace with God.

In Judges 17 we see how Micah creates a man made religion. In Judges 18 we see Micah’s religion spread to infect the Tribe of Dan.

Judges 18:1-2 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

Those of the Tribe of Dan had an inheritance given them of God, but because of disobedience “all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel”. The land was theirs, but it was still occupied by the Canaanites. In order to take the land Israel had to heed the Lord God and His directions. This is what God told Israel through Moses:

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 (CEV) Israel, listen to these laws and teachings! If you obey them, you will live, and you will go in and take the land that the Lord is giving you. He is the God your ancestors worshiped, 2 and now he is your God. I am telling you everything he has commanded, so don’t add anything or take anything away.

God never promised Israel the land of Canaan outside of their obedience to Him. So when the Bible tells us:

Judges 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel

this tells us that the Tribe of Dan was NOT following God, but still wanted the blessings of God. Moses told Israel,

Deuteronomy 4:25-27 (CEV) … I am giving you fair warning today, and I call the earth and the sky as witnesses. If you ever make idols, the Lord will be angry, and you won’t have long to live, because the Lord will let you be wiped out. 27 Only a few of you will survive, and the Lord will force you to leave the land and will scatter you among the nations.

God will not bless disobedience. The Tribe of Dan is not obeying God, so rather than REPENTING and doing as God says, they send …

Judges 18:2 … five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land

They sent 5 brave men from Dan on a Lewis and Clark expedition to find a better place to settle. As they traveled, the Bible tells us that they …

Judges 18:2 they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah…

When you’re disobeying God and following the devil, he will give you opportunities to destroy yourself! They come to the House of Micah, and find a hired priest there.

Judges 18:3-6 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. 5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.

My commentary notes: “These Danites on a sinful mission met with a sinful Levite and wanted to know from a righteous God if their mission would be successful. Then the sinful Levite sent the sinning men on their way with God’s blessing.”

Based on this false promise from God, the Danites move outward and go to “Laish”:

Judges 18:7-9 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. 8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? 9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

In Laish these men found the Sidonians, and believed them to be an easy mark. Believing the Levite false priest, these men return home and gather 600 soldiers to take Laish. On the way back to Laish they will stop at Micah’s home once more. We’ll return to this point next week! May God bless you all to follow HIM, and not the spirit of Dan or of Micah. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Judges, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Are You A Christian?

Posted on July 2, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

1 Peter 1:1-3 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead …

A Christian is a miracle of God’s creation. Are you a Christian?

As I read these words today – as you read them with me – our focal text is just 85 words long. This text is addressed to the Christian.

It’s not addressed to the religious person, but to the Christian.
It’s not addressed to the good person, but to the Christian.
It’s not addressed to the Churched, but to the Christian.

Are you a Christian?

I didn’t ask if you identify as a Christian. Are you a Christian? My prayer is that, as I preach this text today, God will speak to your heart and you will know that you are a Christian. If you are not a Christian, my prayer is that you will open your heart to God and hear His call today.

A Christian Is CALLED By Jesus

The best place to start is the beginning. Let’s start at the beginning:

1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ…

Who is “Peter”? In the Bible there were many called “Mary”, “James”, “Simon”, and “Judas”. Yet there is only one “Peter” given in Scripture, and I believe God did this on purpose. When Andrew, the son of Jona first met Jesus, after spending the day with the Lord he ran home and told his brother Simon:

John 1:41 … We have found the Messiah, the Christ …

Andrew led his brother Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw Simon, He told him:

John 1:42 {AP*} … you are Simon the son of Jona, but you shall be called CEPHAS, meaning “A stone” …

Jesus gave Simon the FUTURE nickname Cephas (kēphas) or “A Stone”, though He did not explain why that name was given.

CEPHAS is the Aramaic name for “Stone”, but
PETROS {PETER} is the Greek equivalent.

Matthew 16:18 {AP} … I say unto you, you are PETER {petros}, and upon this Rock {petra} I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it …

Though the Jews of Jesus’ ministry commonly spoke Aramaic, MORE PEOPLE spoke Koine Greek. This is why we see the name CEPHAS only 6 times in our Bibles, but PETROS or PETER some 159 times. When the Apostles were CALLED by Jesus, we read:

Matthew 10:2-4 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

The first twelve disciples of Jesus were fishermen, Levites, Canaanites, yet no Sadducees nor Pharisees. They were common people, not highly educated Priests. “Simon, who is called Peter” is always listed first when the Apostles or Leading Disciples are mentioned. In this group of twelve, Jesus chooses three to be His inner circle: Peter, James and John. And what is very interesting is that

one of these twelve that Jesus has purposely chosen is a lover of money and power, not a lover of God

This is the one called “Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him”. Jesus would later say of Judas:

John 6:70-71 … Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

Jesus hand picked Judas Iscariot, knowing that he would be the one to betray Him to the Chief Priests and Pharisees. Jesus chose Judas, because it was prophesied that the Messiah would be betrayed by a close friend (Zechariah 11:12-13; Psalm 41:9; 55:12-14). Judas was a betrayer, hidden to the other eleven Apostles, until it came time for his betrayal of Jesus. The Bible says:

Luke 22:3 … Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, being one of the twelve {Apostles}

John 13:2 … supper being ended, THE DEVIL PUT INTO THE HEART OF JUDAS ISCARIOT to betray Jesus …

Jesus CALLED the twelve Apostles, just as He calls every Christian to His side. Though it appeared that Judas was equal in every way to his eleven brothers, Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas was not responding to His call nor to His love. Judas followed after Christ for personal gain. The Apostle John wrote of Judas that:

John 12:6 {AP} {Judas Iscariot} did not care for the poor, but was a thief. He kept the treasury of the Apostles, and had access to the money …

With Peter and Judas we have a similarity: both were called by Jesus. Both were in Jesus’ company. Both outwardly looked like they were saved Christians. However they were not. Though Jesus gave equal power to both Peter and Judas Iscariot:

Mark 3:13-15 {AP} and Jesus went up into a mountain, and CALLED WHOM HE WOULD, and THEY CAME TO HIM. 14 And Jesus ORDAINED TWELVE, that they would be with Him, and that HE WOULD SEND THEM TO PREACH, 15 AND TO HAVE POWER TO HEAL SICKNESSES, and TO CAST OUT DEVILS …

Jesus called all twelve. Jesus ORDAINED all twelve. He called all twelve in love. Eleven responded to His love – but one came for other reasons. One came for money, for notoriety, for fame, for Jesus’ power was well known.

Peter was there because he loved Jesus. Judas Iscariot was there because he loved what he could get from Jesus.

You’d think “If anybody would be saved, it would be an Apostle”. You’d think, “I know that preacher is going to go to Heaven”. Jesus called him, and he came. He went out with the group. He healed the sick, and cast out devils. Surely someone who casts out devils is all right with God! But he wasn’t. Judas Iscariot is like so many who profess to be saved because they are in proximity to Jesus. They know the lingo. They’ve been to the seminary. They’ve had the education, and have the titles of “Doctor” and “Master’s Degree in Theology”. Beloved, a Master’s Degree doesn’t impress God if you don’t love the Master.

Do you love Jesus? Or do you love what Jesus has to offer? Are you Peter, or are you Judas Iscariot?

Jesus CALLS Christians,
But The Spirit CONVERTS Christians

Both Peter and Judas Iscariot were called by Jesus. But here’s a question I want to ask you:

Why did Jesus change SIMON’S name, and not JUDAS ISCARIOT’S?

I believe Jesus was showing us the POSSESSED Christian life in the first Apostle, and the PROFESSED Christian life in the last Apostle.

Though Jesus’ call to both Peter and Judas were genuine, Peter would give his heart to the Lord and be brought into the family of God. Judas, however, withheld his heart from God. His love was not Jesus!

Illustrate: How many of you have the name you are born with? I remember years ago when I first came to this Church, I had trouble finding all your names! When I heard that Brother Witherspoon was in the hospital, I called patient information and asked for the room of “Loyd Witherspoon”. The nice lady told me there was no Loyd Witherspoon in the hospital, and by law couldn’t tell me anything else. He wasn’t registered as “Spoonie” either. After calling around, I found out Brother Witherspoon was registered as “Harvel”, which is the rest of his name. I had the same problem one time trying to find out what hospital room Brother Billy Benefield was in. He was registered as “Warren Benefield”.

Whatever name you have today is more than likely the name you were given at birth by your creators – your parents. Your name is tied to your birth, your creation.

So why did Jesus change Simon the son of Jona to “Peter”. Because Jesus called Simon to be a Christian. Simon turned his life over to Jesus, and in time Simon would be re-born. He would be “born again” of God. Unless you are “born again”, you are not a Christian. That is not my standard, but God’s standard.

Illustrate: A religious and highly placed Pharisee came to Jesus one night by the name of Nicodemus. As he began to speak to Jesus, the Lord told him – and us:

John 3:3 (ESV) … Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see {horaō} the kingdom of God.

Jesus told Nicodemus that his experiences with religion, with Judaism, with Pharisaism, with the Temple Priests could not let him see {horaō} – that is, to perceive with the mind, to experience, or to know – the Kingdom of God. Human birth is not enough to let us see the intricacies of God’s Kingdom, nor to perceive that which is to come. There must be a second birth. Jesus went on to tell Nicodemus:

John 3:5 (ESV) … Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

A person must be “born of water”, a reference to physical human birth (breaking your mother’s water). There is no salvation offered to the angels of God who revolted – only to humanity. But a person must also be “born of the spirit”. Jesus said,

John 3:6-7 (ESV) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

It is Jesus Who CALLS Christians, but the Holy Spirit Who CONVERTS a person into being a Christian.

We see this in today’s text. Peter says:

1 Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

The Christian is “Elect” {Greek eklektos}, that is “Chosen, called of Jesus”. The Apostle wrote in:

1 Corinthians 12:18 … now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, {the Church} as it hath pleased Him.

And our Lord Jesus said “upon this Rock I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus CALLS the Christian. It is the “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” that enables our salvation. But it is the Spirit Who CONVERTS the Christian. It is “through sanctification of the Spirit” (vs 2). The Apostle Paul says the same thing in

2 Thessalonians 2:13 … we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

Word Study: The Holy Spirit CONVERTS the believer, the follower of Christ into a child of God, a Christian. You are NOT what you were before you were saved. Though flawed, a profound change occurs in your life. Sinners must be CONVERTED {Hebrew shûwb} unto God (Psalm 51:13). Jesus said that He spoke to the crowds in parables because:

Matthew 13:15 … this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, (Greek epistrephō) and I should heal them.

IT IS NOT JESUS’ JOB to CONVERT the believer. It is the HOLY SPIRIT’S JOB. The Christian is CALLED of Christ, but CONVERTED of the Spirit.

Matthew 18:3 … Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, (Greek strephō) and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Illustrate Conversion: Peter was always brash, always speaking up. He followed Jesus, and gave his heart to Jesus. Why do the Gospels spend so much time talking about Peter? As I read through the Gospels, I came across an interesting section of text of Scripture. Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 22. Jesus came into the midst of His twelve Apostles one day as they were arguing.

They were arguing about who was the greatest!

Jesus had just revealed to the twelve that there was a betrayer in their midst (Luke 22:21-23). Though He did not name Judas Iscariot, I suspect it was Judas Iscariot who brought up the argument about who was the greatest. Usually the false Christian in the bunch will bring out the worst in the rest of the apples! Anyway, we read:

Luke 22:24-27 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. 25 And {Jesus} said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. 26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

As Jesus speaks to the twelve, the mind of Judas Iscariot is on money and power. But as our Lord speaks, He reveals something about Peter. Though Jesus named Simon the son of Jona “Peter” or “Cephas”, Jesus goes back to his given birth name. Read with me:

Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Peter has been following Jesus from the day that our Lord called him from his fishing boat. He has been with Jesus with the twelve, has been there casting out demons and healing people, empowered of Christ. Peter was with Jesus, along with James and John, at the Mount of Transfiguration when our Lord talked to Moses and Elijah. Peter was there when Jesus rose Lazarus and Tabitha from the dead. Peter handed out bread and fish to 5000 men one day, as Jesus did His great miracle of multiplication of food, and Peter was there when Jesus similarly fed 4000 Gentiles. Peter is mentioned 159 times in 153 verses of Scripture. And after all this, and just before Jesus goes to Gethsemane, our Lord says to Peter:

when thou art converted

Unless you are CONVERTED and become as little children, you shall not ENTER into the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:3). As Peter hears these words, they pierce his soul. Peter – the the power of his human ego, speaks up!

Luke 22:33 … Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

Was Peter sincere? Absolutely! But was Peter RIGHT? No. He has not yet been CONVERTED {epistrephō}. He is following Christ in his own power, in his own strength. That wasn’t Peter’s fault. The Bible says that “the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). The blood of Christ had not yet been shed. So Peter is following Christ as best he can. Jesus tells Peter:

Luke 22:34 … I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

What would cause Peter to deny Jesus three times? Fear of man. Caring more for what others think or want than what God wants. Peter had a powerful ego, but what he lacked is what many professing Christians today lack. Peter, you must be converted. God must work in your life, that you be saved. Salvation is entirely a gift of God to the broken. You must surrender yourselves to Him wholly. God will not save part of you, but will have ALL of you. This is what a Christian is.

Illustrate: Compare the Peter who denied Jesus three times to the later Peter who preached so boldly on the Day of Pentecost. The Peter before he was CONVERTED was scared of the words of a milk maid. The Peter after CONVERSION preached boldly, and 3000 souls were saved (Acts 2:41).

Illustrate: Not long after Peter preached on Pentecost, he and John returned to the Temple about the ninth hour to find a man lame from his mother’s womb (Acts 3:1-2). This is symbolic of us all. We are “lame from our mother’s womb”, broken, fallen children of Adam, lost in sin and blindness to God’s goodness. As this pitiful man looked to Peter and John for alms, Peter said:

Acts 3:6 … Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

The man – previously crippled – now goes to worship God with Peter and John. He enters the Temple “walking, and leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8). As a crowd forms around this man on Solomon’s Porch, the place where Jesus often preached, Peter preached his second sermon. Though I don’t have time to explore that sermon in detail, Peter outlined the need for Christ Jesus to die on the Cross. Peter then told the gathering crowd:

Acts 3:19-20 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, (Greek epistrephō) that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

Jesus CALLS Christians,
The Spirit CONVERTS Christians,
But the Christian must CONFESS Christ

Judas Iscariot followed the money. He desired the power, the things of this world. But the Christian is called to CONFESS Christ, to stand out from the crowd, to be unashamed of our Savior and Lord. Again we read:

1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect …

Word Study: Christians are “Elect” {Greek eklektos}, called of Jesus. We are called to be Christlike. God saved the elect (Romans 8:33) by the Blood of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are a born again people. As a born again people, we are also “strangers scattered”. The word “strangers” is the Greek parepidēmos, which means “foreigners, ones who come from a foreign country to another to reside, travelers, aliens”. We are of the Household of God, Christ Jesus being our High Priest. We are blood bought Children of the Highest. We are “STRANGERS and PILGRIMS on this earth” (Hebrews 11:13). We are not supposed to be like the lost world nor the son of Adam. In the very next chapter Peter encourages us:

1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, {parepidēmos} abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

It shocked me when Amy Grant stood up and justified sexual perversion. It disturbs me when Christian artists justify that which the Bible has decreed is wrong. Christians are not supposed to be sexually perverse. Christians are not supposed to support the devil’s agenda. As the Chosen of Christ, you are to be “HOLY in your behavior, LOVED of God, acting toward others with MERCY, KINDNESS, and HUMILITY. You are to be PATIENT with others, for God the Spirit must change them. You are to PUT UP WITH and FORGIVE others. As Jesus Christ forgives you, so you must forgive others. You must LOVE as God loves, and rest in His arms daily. You must DWELL ON CHRIST’S TEACHINGS, and do whatever you do knowing that you REPRESENT JESUS to a lost and dying world. And never forget to be THANKFUL, praising God for what you have.” (Colossians 3:12-17)

Christian, the best is yet to come. Are you a Christian? Have you heeded Christ’s CALL. Has the Holy Spirit CONVERTED you, CHANGING you daily? Have you CONFESSED Christ Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, unashamedly and before the world.

Illustrate: I had a fellow years ago call my office, and asked if I would baptize him. Not too long after that I had another lady call me, and ask if I would baptize her. After discussing the meaning of water baptism, both revealed that they wanted to be baptized in a secret way, not in the public eye. I told them that no, I wouldn’t do that. That would be no more than just a sham. Those who are Christians CONFESS Jesus before the eyes of a critical and unbelieving world. Our Lord Jesus warned:

Matthew 10:32-33 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

If you are a Christian, you are a miracle of God. The best is yet to come for us, dear Christians. The Holy Spirit CONVERTS the Christian, then lives within us to CHANGE us daily, making us more like Christ. But we must CONFESS Him publicly.

Jesus was beaten and bruised for you PUBLICLY.
Jesus hung naked on the Cross of Calvary for you PUBLICLY.
Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb for you PUBLICLY.
Jesus rose from the grave on the third day for you PUBLICLY.
Jesus calls you PUBLICLY. Will you come? Or will you dally?


The choice is yours. My prayer is that you come to His call this very day. For God’s glory, and your eternity. May the Holy Spirit make it so. Amen and Amen.

Posted in 1 Peter, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

After These Things

Posted on June 29, 2023 by bibleteacherorg

John 7:1-2 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2 Now the Jew’s feast of tabernacles was at hand.

Review: The Christian Feeds On Christ

In John chapter 6 Jesus fed over 5000 men with two fish and five small biscuits. Multiplying the biscuits, the emphasis our Lord was making is that He is God’s True Manna from Heaven. After feeding the crowd, the disciples gather twelve baskets filled with bread, showing Jesus to be the true Messiah of Israel. Rather than heed what Jesus was telling them, the people followed Jesus to Capernaum to be fed again. Jesus told them:

John 6:26-27 … Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Jesus came as Messiah not to feed people bellies nor to satisfy their temporal needs, but to give whosoever will the life of God. The Apostle warned of those who are …

Philippians 3:18-19 … the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things…

There are many who presumably follow Christ, but are really pursuing not Him but what they can temporally gain from Him. Such a mindset leads toward hell. In the latter half of John chapter 6 our Lord clarifies His reason for being on this earth. He is not here to be a present King over Israel, come to save God’s chosen from Rome.

Jesus has come to save us from ourselves, from our sins and our flesh pursuing lives.

He does this by being our Passover. This is the background of Chapter 6.

John 6:4 the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

Jesus Christ is our Passover. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says,

“Christ OUR PASSOVER was sacrificed for us”

As the Messiah, Jesus was Israel’s Passover. As Israel consumed the Passover Meal and found release from bondage from it, Jesus told Israel that He Himself would have to be symbolically eaten.

John 6:53-54 Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

When Jesus said this, He shocked His Jewish listeners. The Law of God forbade the eating of blood (Leviticus 17:13-14). The Blood was given to make atonement for sin. The blood of man (Genesis 9:4-6) was not to be shed. Jesus was not speaking literally, but figuratively, and provocatively. Faith in Christ – the faith that saves us from Hell and sin – is more than a cursory thing. We receive Christ and His Words as our very sustenance. He is more to us that food and drink. Without Jesus, we have no spiritual life.

The life of the Pastor, his deepest calling, is to “feed Christ’s sheep”. After His resurrection, Jesus would ask Peter three times, “Peter, do you LOVE Me?” (John 21:15, 16, 17). When Peter said he did love the Lord, Jesus told him:

“Feed My lambs”
“Feed My sheep”
“Feed My sheep”

Those who love Jesus, who are saved by faith in Him, are sustained by feeding on His Words, His truths, His life. We consume Christ. As Jesus taught these things, the Bible says:

John 6:66 .. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Were these people “saved”? No, they were not. They followed Jesus FOR something. Christ’s disciples went from thousands to just a hand full. Judas Iscariot stayed with Jesus to fulfill prophecy (Psalm 69:25; Acts 1:16, 20; Zechariah 11:12-13). The other eleven stayed with Christ because, as Peter said,

John 6:68 … Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.

Six Months Pass To The Feast Of Booths

There were three great Jewish Feasts that every Jew was expected to attend. There was the Passover (John 6, Spring), Pentecost (50 days after Passover), and Booths or Tabernacles (John 7, Fall). God established these Festivals (Leviticus 23:33-44; Numbers 29) to do two things:

1 – To remind Israel that our God keeps His promises, that He is always faithful

2 – To prophetically describe the coming ministry of the Messiah, the Christ

Passover: reminded Israel that, though a great deal of time may pass, that God will ultimately do as He says with His people. In Exodus 12:40 we are told Israel was in Egypt 430 years, though God told Abraham that Israel would be afflicted 400 years (Genesis 15:13-16). God does not forget His people He has engraved you on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:15-16). God did not forget that He promised to save us by “the seed of the woman” (Genesis 3:15).

Though a great deal of time passed between the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane, God never forgot that He would send His Son to be our Passover.

Galatians 4:4-5 (ESV) But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

God does not operate on our time table, but on His. Passover reminds Israel and us that God is faithful.

Pentecost: commemorated the establishment of Israel as a nation, occurring 50 days after Israel was freed from Egypt. It commemorated the giving of the Law of Israel. Once Christ went to the Cross for our sins, and rose from the grave for our salvation, Pentecost commemorated the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. The Law of God was not given after the Cross, but the Holy Spirit of God was out-poured on the Church, empowering the Kingdom. Jesus had promised the future “Spirit of Truth” to His people, saying:

John 14:17 … the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Holy Spirit would live inside the Christian. Whereas God explained His Law only through Moses, the Holy Spirit would indwell us so that He could teach us the Word of Christ (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit will GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH (John 16:13). The Christian will “know the Spirit of Truth” (1 John 4:6), as the Holy Spirit will guide us in the truth of God’s Word (John 17:17).

Booths or Tabernacles: reminded Israel that God was with them as they traveled to the Promised Land. Booths also looked forward to the Church Age, wherein God has promised us in Christ:

Hebrews 13:5 … I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

As Moses headed toward the Promised Land, he told the Lord:

Exodus 33:15 (ESV) … If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

Neither Heaven Nor Canaan Is
The Christian’s Promised Land.

In his book Delights and Disciplines of Bible Study, Pastor Warren W. Wiersbe notes:

“It’s unfortunate that some of our gifted Christian poets and songwriters have used Canaan, the promised land, as a type or picture of Heaven because, while turning people’s eyes toward Heaven is essential, Heaven is not what the promised land stands for in the Christian life. … The book of Hebrews makes it clear that the promised land is a type of the spiritual inheritance believers have by faith today as they walk with God and obey His will”.

The Promised Land is to walk with God daily, trusting Him as we travels through this life. Booths reminded Israel that home is not where our treasure is, but that God is our Treasure. Wiersbe goes on to say:

“The Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte defined the victorious Christian life as “a series of new beginnings.” We all have our weaknesses and failures, but we can always make a new beginning as we feed on the Word of God, pray, and seek to serve the Lord … our Father wants to encourage us to repent and return. ”

John 7:1-2 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2 Now the Jew’s feast of tabernacles was at hand.

The “feast of tabernacles” is supposed to be the most joyful of God’s Festivals, for it commemorated walking with God. During the Feast the priests would draw water from the Pool of Siloam, and pour it out on the altar to commemorate how God gave His people water out of the Rock (Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-14) TWICE. The priests also had a candle lighting ceremony that reminded them that God led Israel as a Pillar of Fire and of Cloud (Exodus 13:21-22).

What is ironic is that – though Jesus has repeatedly proven Himself to be “God with us” (Matthew 1:23), the very Christ prophesied of in the Scripture (John 5:47), the Jewish leaders have decided to kill Him. The “Jews”, a reference to the Chief Priests, Sadducees and Pharisees, have decided that Jesus is an enemy of the state. Their faith has been in their power, their politics, their position, and their possessions. They are much like the “name it and claim it” prosperity preachers of today. They thought Jesus came to build up their power. He didn’t. Jesus came promoting the Plan of His Father – and this set the hypocrites on fire!

{JESUS} would not walk in Jewry, because
the Jews sought to kill him

Jesus confined His ministry to Galilee, and avoided Jerusalem because of the Jewish Leaders.

John 7:3-5 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.

Though the Catholics mistakenly believe that Mary the Mother of Jesus was a Perpetual Virgin, the Bible does not support this teaching. Jesus had step brothers and step sisters. Though Jesus Himself is a product of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit:

Luke 1:35 {Mary}, 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.

Though Mary was a virgin married to Joseph the Carpenter when she was given the Christ, the Bible says that “her husband Joseph did not know her intimately until after Jesus was born” (Matthew 1:25, AP*). Jesus’ “mother and His brothers” (Mark 3:31-32; Matthew 12:46-47) at times visited where Jesus was teaching. When Jesus first started preaching in His hometown of Nazareth, the Bible says that His neighbors said:

Mark 6:3 Is not this {Jesus} the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. (also see Matthew 13:55-56)

It is evident from the Scripture that Jesus had both brothers and sisters. Though we know Jesus had four brothers, we have no idea how many sisters He had, as the Scripture does not reveal this. Jesus’ brothers did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah until after His resurrection from the dead. We read later in Acts on the Day of Pentecost that Jesus’ mother Mary and His brethren (Acts 1:14) prayed together in the Upper Room. After Jesus’ resurrection His stepbrother “James” became the leader of the Jerusalem Church – after Jesus appeared to him in bodily form (1 Corinthians 15:7). James would go on to write The Book of James in our Bibles. Jesus’ other stepbrother “Juda” {ioudas, Judas or Jude} would write the Book of Jude in our Scripture.

At this point, Jesus’ brothers do not believe Him to be the Messiah. If He were the Messiah, they wanted Jesus to be a Political Messiah Who would aid them in over throwing Rome. They said:

vs 4 there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and He Himself seeketh to be known openly

Jesus, you’re not getting anywhere as “Messiah” by staying in Galilee. You need to be where the BIG CHURCH is, in Jerusalem. You need to get Your message out to the people. You need to be a people pleaser! This is very similar to what Satan tempted Jesus to do at the beginning of His ministry. The Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, and set Him on the pinnacle of the Temple. He told Jesus:

Matthew 4:6 (CSB) … “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Jesus did not come to be the people pleaser, but the God pleaser. Had Jesus went with His brothers and put on a show, He would not have done God’s Work. God had a specific time that He wanted Jesus to go to the Cross. God had a specific way that He wanted Jesus to die on that Cross.

John 7:6-8 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.

Jesus would die – not during the Feast of Booths, but during the Feast of the Passover – and 50 days later the Holy Spirit would come at the Feast of Pentecost.

Jesus said “My time” has not yet come”. The Bible says: “In the FULLNESS OF TIME GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON” (Galatians 4:4). “God so loved the world THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON” (John 3:16). Jesus came on the Father’s time, and clung to the scheduled Plan that the Father made for our salvation. Jesus’ discussion of our salvation before the Eternal Throne of God is recorded in Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:5-7 (ESV) Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book’.

Jesus “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross” (Philippians 2:8). He was not going to Jerusalem with the crowd, and possibly be captured and killed prematurely. Jesus would only die as a Passover Lamb, without spot or blemish (1 Peter 1:19).

The Passover Lamb can ONLY die during the Passover!

And He did. The Father said of Jesus, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am WELL PLEASED” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). I am gloriously happy that Jesus WELL PLEASED the Father. For when the Father looks at me, He is WELL PLEASED not because I am perfect, but because JESUS IS PERFECT!

John 7:9-11 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. 10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

Jesus Went To The Feast When The Father Said Go

It was good that Jesus waited, because the Pharisees and Chief Priests watched the earthly family of Christ to plan His abduction. Had He went with His brothers, He would have been killed during Booths, (John 5:16-18; 7:19, 30, 44; 8:37, 40, 59; 10:31, 33, 39;11:8,53) not Passover. This would have fouled the plan of God. But God was in control. God has said:

Isaiah 55:8-11 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

John 7:12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

It amuses me that Pastors like Rick Warren write books like “Purpose Driven Church”, encouraging the local Churches to dilute the light of God and the Word of Christ in order to reach the masses. When our Lord Jesus Himself walked the earth, He did not modify the Word of God nor the Method of God in order to gather big crowds. In fact, Jesus was both in your face and politically incorrect. As Jesus was misunderstood THEN, He is misunderstood TODAY.

1- Jesus’ Brothers thought Him a failed political Candidate. They thought that Messiah came to overthrow Rome, and as such encouraged Jesus to “broaden His campaign” from Galilee to the Holy City, Jerusalem. They were wrong about Jesus.

2- Some thought “Jesus is a good man”. The word “good” is the Greek agathos, which means of course “good, beneficial, useful”. In one sense Jesus is a “good” person, but if He is only a Man then He cannot be “good” when compared to God. When a young man called Jesus “good”, our Lord replied “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18, NASB). If Jesus were merely a “good Man” as many of you are, then we are yet dead in our sins. “There are NONE GOOD but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). Jesus is MORE than just GOOD. He is GOD. Among humanity there are none that are chrēstótēs, morally excellent (Romans 3:12). When God does “good”, it is absolute “good”, for God knows the final effect of His doing. What I perceive as “good” may not work out “good” in the long run – but God always does so!

3- Others followed the lead of their religious leaders, saying “Nay; but he deceiveth the people.” The word “” is the Greek planaō, which means “to lead astray, to lead from the truth or the path of virtue”. To these people Jesus was not a GOOD Shepherd, but a FALSE Shepherd. He was leading the Sheep of God from the safe pasture of His Word. If Jesus were NOT God in human form, then He certainly was a false Shepherd! My commentary notes:

“{Jesus} was always talking about Himself and telling people that they should believe in Him as the only way to have eternal life. He claimed that the Old Testament was written about Him (John 5:39, 46). He claimed to be the bread of life, who could satisfy the hunger of all who come to Him (John 6:35). He claimed that whoever believes in Him would have rivers of living water flowing from his innermost being (John 7:38). He claimed to be the Light of the world (John 8:12). He claimed that before Abraham was born, He existed (John 8:58). No good man, who was not God in human flesh, could say such things without being considered a deluded megalomaniac.”

Sadly we read,

John 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.

The people said NOTHING about Jesus, fearing that the religious leaders would ostracize them from the Temple. Silence allows error to march forward in the disguise of truth. In our day Christian silence has allowed denomination after denomination to be taken over by extrabiblical ideas like LGBTQ+, female Pastors, Bishops, and Deacons, and transhumanism. When God’s people refuse to stand together VISIBLY with Christ, the darkness advances.

Recently the Southern Baptist Convention (2023) met in New Orleans. Brother Lonnie Wilkey, the Editor of the Baptist and Reflector wrote an article entitled “ARE WE FOCUSED ON THE RIGHT THING?”. On the Internet when something is in UPPER CASE, it is like it is SHOUTED. Brother Wilkey was concerned that during the Convention we as Southern Baptists addressed some problems among SBC Churches. Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, California) and Fern Creek Baptist Church (Louisville, Kentucky) were “disfellowshiped for having women in senior pastor roles”, while “Freedom Church {Vero Beach, Florida} was deemed to not be in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC because it failed to cooperate to resolve concerns regarding a sexual abuse allegation”. In response to this Brother Wilkey wrote:

“Southern Baptists are once again in the national news. Here are a sampling of headlines from across the nation last week: “Southern Baptists take first step in approving ban on women pastors” — The Tennessean “Southern Baptists move to purge churches with female pastors” — The New York Times “Southern Baptists vote to expel two churches led by female pastors” — NBC News And the list continues to grow. Sadly, this did not need to be national news”…

Since the drift of the local Church was NOT addressed at the Associational and State Convention levels, the SBC had to do so at the National level. Local Churches are free to operate independently as believer-priests before God. But at the Local, State, and National level the SBC is free to choose our associations. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) is very clear that “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture”. A few local Churches decided to step outside that Scriptural teaching (1 Timothy 3:1-13) and modify the word “Pastor”, and then moved on to ordain women to the Pastoral ministry with laying on of hands. This is patently unscriptural.

Did the world howl about it? Sure it did. The world howled about Jesus, for He was not politically, but Biblically correct. We can do no less. “It is written”. Baptists are supposed to be people of the Book. I praise God that our messengers had the courage to stand up for the Scripture, for the Book, regardless as to what the world thinks. Though we do not intentionally seek to make enemies, we must as Bible believers SHINE, not hide. We are the “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14, ESV). We do not make our own Light, but like the moon reflect the Light of the Son (John 8:12; 9:5). Every local Church that has compromised on Scripture in order to “reach the masses” has continued to drift to where aberrant sexual lifestyles are celebrated (consider Andy Stanley & the North Point Community Church). I praise God for our messengers. It takes courage to stand against the world. Keep standing for God’s Word, regardless as to what the world may say. Amen and Amen!

Posted in John, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Diotrephes or Demetrius?

Posted on June 13, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Ron Lach : https://www.pexels.com/photo/unrecognizable-hands-doing-jigsaw-puzzle-9786061/

3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

As John speaks this morning, he is addressing the “Beloved”. Who are the “Beloved”? In the Old Testament, God called His people Israel the “Beloved”:

Deuteronomy 33:12 (ESV) Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”

In the New Testament, God calls His Church the “BELOVED”.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The “BELOVED” are those who have heard the Gospel of salvation, and have surrendered to its call.

Though “God so loved the world” (John 3:16), the world itself is NOT the Beloved of God. The Christian and the Church are “BELOVED” because we have received Jesus as both Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ is the Father’s “BELOVED” Son in whom He is well pleased (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; Matthew 17:5). The word “BELOVED” is the Greek adjective agapētos which is a term of deep affection meaning “well favored, highly esteemed”. In the Hebrew, the adjective yāḏîḏ adds the word “lovely” to the mix. It is the word God uses when He looks at His Children by faith in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:16; Galatians 3:26). The “BELOVED” of God do the things that Children of God should do. We previously studied this text:

1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Illustrate: When I drive my car, sometimes I forget to put gas in it. When I get so low a little warning bell goes off, and the fuel gauge lights up. This lets me know that – unless I stop and gas up – I’ll be dead in the water (or at least on the side of the road) pretty soon. Just as vehicles all gave gas gauges, those who are God’s Beloved have gauges, indicators that they are what they need to be.

John tells us that if you do not do what God says is RIGHTEOUS, then you are acting like a child of the Devil. Further, if you do not love your brother or sister in Christ, then you are mimicking a child of the devil.

Are you God’s “BELOVED”? Have you been saved – born again of the Holy Spirit – because of your faith in Christ Jesus? Have you called upon His Name, believing? Then God gives you a standard by which you MUST live:

3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

“follow not that which is evil, but that which is good”. Those who are God’s BELOVED, His Children, are NOT to follow EVIL, but to follow that which is GOOD.

The Christian Does Not Follow After Nor “Do” Evil

There are times when God’s Children do the wrong thing. Why? Because we all are as broken things. We can drift if we do not come together to “spur each other on to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24, CJB). When Moses, that grand old Saint of God, was leading Israel to the Promised Land, the children of Israel kept murmuring and complaining instead of doing righteousness. When they reached Kadesh in the Desert of Zin the people quarreled with Moses because there was no water in that place. When Moses went to God in prayer, the Lord told Moses to “Take the staff … and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” (Numbers 20:8, ESV). Moses did as God said, but being provoked of the people:

Numbers 20:11-12 (ESV) Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

The BELOVED of God is not to do as he or she wants, but to do RIGHTEOUSNESS. Our Lord Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary not just to take us to Heaven, but to bring Heaven to us. Jesus died for our sins to free us from sin. The sacrifice of Jesus sets us apart as Children of God:

Hebrews 10:10 (ESV) … we have been sanctified (set apart) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The Christian is God’s “Beloved”, not the devil’s plaything. The Christian is God’s Child, a Child of Light, not of darkness. Because of Jesus we are presented to God “holy and blameless and above reproach before {God}” (Colossians 1:22, ESV). Positionally, we are Children of God. But practically, we are to live as Children of God do. The Apostle said:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) {God the Father} made {Jesus} who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We are to BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST. We are to walk like Christ, to talk like Christ, to be like Christ. We are NOT to be like the world, nor to be imitators of this present evil age. The Bible says:

Galatians 1:3-4 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus did not die for our sins so that we might become more effective sinners. He died for our sins so that we might be DELIVERED FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD. We are to be God’s light in this dark world. We are to live our lives so as to honor and glorify the One Who gave Himself for us. John said:

3 John 1:11 He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

Those Who DO GOOD Are Of God

If you are of God, you are to DO GOOD as the Beloved Children of God. Salvation is by faith in Christ. You are not saved BY your works, but BY THE WORK of Christ. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And again,

Titus 3:5-7 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Salvation cannot be earned nor purchased by your efforts. Prior to Christ every deed that we do – even the ones we rightly try to do – are deficient and short of the glory of God. The Prophet said:

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Apart from Christ, anything we do falls short. But once we are saved, we POSITIONALLY become the Children of God. Once POSITIONALLY we are the Children of God, indwelt by the Spirit we are to PRACTICALLY follow Him.

We are called to DO GOOD.

Now DOING GOOD is NOT DOING NOTHING. Those who DO NOTHING are not doing good. They are doing NOTHING. They are no value whatsoever. Jesus preached to us:

Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Some of you who profess Christ saved you are saltless salt. You are salt that has lost its savor. You have blended with the world. May 12, 2022 (last year) the “American Worldview Inventory, a survey of America’s Christian Pastors reported:

“a majority of pastors lack a biblical worldview. In fact, just slightly more than a third (37%) possess a biblical worldview and the majority—62%—hold a hybrid worldview known as Syncretism. … This trend is also being seen more widely in American culture, with almost nine out of 10 U.S. adults (88%) embracing Syncretism as their primary worldview.”

It was years of study before I understood Jesus’ parable of salt that lost its savor. It made no sense, that salt that lost its savor would “be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men”. The closest correlation I had to this was when we put salt out on snow and ice patches in the winter to melt the ice. But that’s not what God is referring to. When ancient Kings destroyed cities, they:

Judges 9:45 … took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

One source notes: “Salting the earth, or sowing with salt, is the ritual of spreading salt on the sites of cities razed by conquerors. It originated as a curse on re-inhabitation in the ancient Near East and became a well-established folkloric motif in the Middle Ages. The best-known example is the salting of Shechem as narrated in the Biblical Book of Judges, 9:45.”

Those who “lost their savor” or refused to be used of God are sometimes used by God when He judges the nation. He casts out those who are unsalty, so that they will be “trodden underfoot”, curses in the land. The point is, dear Christian – DOING NOTHING IS NOT AN OPTION. Some of you, when any suggestion is made in the Church, will find numerous reasons to DO NOTHING.

Those who DO NOTHING BLESS NOTHING. If you PLANT NOTHING, you GET NOTHING.

God wants you to DO GOOD, to DO LIGHT, to SHINE for Jesus. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

You are called of God to do good, not nothing. Are you “Let(TING) your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works”. In our context we read of a professing Christian who is resisting the work of God:

3 John 1:9-10 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. 10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Word Study: The Apostle – under the inspiration of God – “wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes”. The name “Diotrephes” is a Gentile name meaning “nourished by Jupiter”. Jupiter was a Roman idol, a false god who oversaw all aspects of life. Oddly enough, he who was named “Diotrephes” thought he was in charge of God’s Church. He oversaw everything. He was involved in everything. He “loveth to have the preeminence”, to be in first place, to be the center of attention. The word translated “PREEMINENCE” is the Greek philoprōteuō, a compound word philo (to love) and prōteuō (to be first). What is interesting about this word is that prōteuō is a word that is to applied only to Jesus Christ in the Church:

Colossians 1:18 And {Jesus} is the Head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The Church exists to glorify Jesus. The Church exists to magnify His Gospel and His Kingdom. “in all things he (Jesus) might have the preeminence”. Anyone who puts themselves first in the Church – like Diotrephes did – is trying to take Jesus’ rightful place. When John – the Beloved Disciple and Apostle of Christ – wrote the Church, Diotrephes “receiveth us not”. He not only rejected John, he rejected Jesus and the other Apostles. Diotrephes was the boss of the Church, and nothing was getting done or passed without his explicit permission.

Diotrephes was like one of those orange traffic cones you see on Tennessee highways. They block and slow down traffic, but really do NONE of the work.

3 John 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Word Study: Rather than help the Gospel advance, Diotrephes was “prating against us with malicious words”. Let’s break that down. “prating” is the Greek phlyareō, which means “to utter nonsense, to bring forth idle accusations or empty charges, to falsely accuse another”. The Bible tells us that:

Proverbs 10:8-10 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall. 9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth {God’s} ways shall be known. 10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.

Those who are WISE hear the Word of God and His Apostles, and RECEIVE the COMMANDMENTS of God and are blessed. But the PRATING FOOL will eventually fall. Those who WALK UPRIGHT WALK SURELY, but those who PERVERT GOD’S WAYS will eventually be found out. Those who teach untruths with a WINK OF THE EYE bring about sorrow. The PRATING FOOL will fall.

Diotrephes was a PRATING FOOL. He thought he knew more than God and His messengers. He used malicious wordsagainst the Apostles. This is the Greek ponēros, which means “evil” or “wicked things”, or “that which is diseased or bad”. Jesus used this same word when He said:

Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil (ponēros) against you falsely, for my sake.

When Jesus taught us the Lord’s Prayer, He taught us to pray:

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (ponēros) For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Those who will not do the RIGHT as God defines RIGHT, but instead stand against God’s Apostolic Word, are evil (ponēros), the very thing Jesus warned us to pray against. This evil man – supposedly a leader in the Church – is hindering the work of God. Those whom God calls are to support God’s Word. We are not to blend with the world, but to stand firm – not under a rainbow flag, but under the Cross of Christ. We who are His are to be

Ephesians 4:15 … speaking the truth in love, … grow(ing) up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ:

That which is blessed of God will teach the child of God to be like Jesus in ALL THINGS. God is glorified when we grow up to be like Jesus. Diotrephes was not aiding others to be like Christ by keeping the Apostles out of the Church. He was hindering the work of God. He was actively “cast(ing God’s people) out of the church”.

Do Not Be Like Diotrephes. Be Like Demetrius!

After discussing Diotrephes, John says:

3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

Don’t be like Diotrephes. He’s EVIL. He’s NOT a Child of God, but a Child of Satan, a Judas Iscariot among us. No, be like Demetrius.

3 John 1:12 Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.

The New International Version renders this passage a little clearer:

Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

Don’t follow Diotrephes. Follow Demetrius. Demetrius follows the TRUTH ITSELF. He knows what Jesus has said, and has built his house on the Rock that is Christ. Demetrius is not a hypocrite. He doesn’t behave one way at Church, and another was at work or in the marketplace. He let’s his light shine so that others can see Christ within him.

Dear ones, I tell you there is no salvation outside of REPENTANCE, no restoration to God outside of a surrendered faith in Jesus Christ. Many years ago there was an Evangelist few people know of today called Mordecai Ham. Mordecai was preaching in Charlotte, North Carolina, preaching the need to REPENT and turn to JESUS. One man stood up and angrily said that Mordecai was slandering the “good people” of North Carolina. One of the statements Mordecai made was …

“There are a lot of Christians who are halfway fellows. They stand in the door, holding onto the Church with one hand while they play with the toys of the world with the other. They are in the doorway, and we can’t bring sinners in. And, until we get some of God’s people right, we cannot hoppe to get sinners regenerated. Now they always accuse me of carrying around a sledge hammer with which to pound Church members. Yes sir, I do pound them. Every time I come down, I knock one of the halfway fellows out of the doorway, and every time I knock one out, I get a sinner in.”

One night in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mordecai Ham preached. He started out with, “There’s a great sinner in this place tonight”. There was a young man in the choir that night, raised in the Church, a young man who wanted to grow up and be a professional ball player. Hearing Mordecai preach, this young man came forward, and gave his life to Jesus Christ.

This young man was called Billy Graham.

We cannot win the world for Christ doing nothing. We cannot win the world for Christ standing against God’s direction. We cannot win the world for Christ compromising with the world. We can only win the world for Christ by standing strong in the Word of God, holding firmly to His Truths regardless as to whatever nonsense the devil has the rest of the world stuttering. We must cling to God’s Word, and do good. And, dear one, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, let today be the day you come to Him. For God’s glory, and your blessing. Through His Spirit I pray this. Amen and Amen.

Posted in 3 John, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment