Do Not Join With Sinners: Proverbs 1:8-19

Posted on March 22, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Maruxa Lomoljo Koren: https://www.pexels.com/photo/red-neon-light-signage-3887574/

Proverbs 1:8-9 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

Parents are supposed to teach their children righteousness. Righteousness defined is, Biblically, “To adhere to the standard that God has set”. The Bible says in:

Isaiah 33:22 For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.

God created the Laws of Gravity, Motion, Energy Conservation – the Laws that make life on Planet Earth possible. This same God “loves righteousness and justice” (Psalm 33:5, ESV). His righteousness is like the mighty mountains, and His justice like the ocean depths (Psalm 36:6, NLT). Christ paid the penalty for the believer on the Cross of Calvary. Everyone who believes in Christ has been given imputed righteousness.

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

Through the indwelling Holy Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) we who are saved by the Grace of God are drawn to live practical righteousness:

1 Peter 2:24 (ESV) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

The Christian is drawn by God to “seek first His Kingdom and His RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Matthew 6:33). We are to “flee sin, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11). The Christian parent is to teach their children righteousness, whether that child is saved or not. The righteous instruction of the parents is:

be an ornament of grace unto thy head

Word Study: The word translated “GRACE” is the Hebrew ḥēn (pronounced khane). This refers to Divine Favor and Blessing. The first use of ḥēn in Scripture is with the Prophet Noah:

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found GRACE (ḥēn) in the eyes of the LORD.

When God looked at the evil of the world, He cursed it, and decided to destroy it. But Noah found GRACE because he sought and honored the righteousness of God. Noah did not EARN grace, but FOUND grace in God. Noah turned away from the evil of his day and positioned himself to find grace. Noah heeded the Word of God, not the word of man.

The child who listens to righteous instruction from their parents will find grace unto thy head. When I read this, I think about children wearing bike helmets when riding. The helmet protects their head, the seat of the human soul, in the event of a fall. Grace around your head protects your soul. This is why the Bible tells us:

Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

And as the Apostle describes the armor of God, what is the HELMET that is on the head? It is “the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:17), that which protects the soul.

Parents are to teach their children righteousness as God defines it in the Bible. No righteousness = No Grace.

Illustrate: I was watching an episode of CSI the other day, the one where a little girl on a bike was run over with a car, killing her. As they investigated, they traced the car back to an elderly black man who said he ran over the child. They searched further, and it turned out that it was the elderly man’s grandson who was driving the car. When the child was hit – a black child – the grandfather convinced his grandson to run away and to lie to the police. Had the young man contacted the police, and stayed at the scene of the accident, more than likely the young man would have been given probation. It was just an accident. But hiding the act, and lying to authorities, compounded the problem. When sentenced, the elderly grandfather begged to serve the grandson’s time. Though Jesus died for our sins, we cannot pay the penalty for another. Had the grandfather taught his grandson righteousness, they both would have been better off in the long run. Running away and hiding, both showed a poor view of the value of that child’s life. The grandson went to jail. In my opinion, the grandfather should have served along with him.

You say that this is but a drama, but it plays out in our criminal justice system every day. Children who are not taught righteousness and respect for life grow up to do horrendous things.

The First Lesson Of Solomon: Avoid Those Who Love Sin

Proverbs 1:10-14 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: 13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

Word Study: The word translated “sinners” is the Hebrew ḥaṭṭā’, which means “those exposed to condemnation, of criminal intent, one accounted guilty”. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23; 5:12). King Solomon wrote, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). There are none born of humanity outside of Christ who does not fail God, and at times sin. It doesn’t matter who it is. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 3:9 (ESV) … both Jews and Greeks, are under sin …

and in Romans 11:32 (ESV) … God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

In one sense we are all sinners. The Hebrew ḥaṭṭā’ (pronounced khat-taw’) does not refer to the universal nature of sin, but of people who deliberately seek out and rejoice in sin. The first time this word is used in the Bible is in:

Genesis 13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners {ḥaṭṭā’} before the LORD exceedingly.

These are people who rejoice in their evil. You see them daily on television, saying “just follow your heart” or “you do you”. The Bible prescribes a different way of life. In the Bible, the great commandment is to “love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength”. The second great commandment is “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:38-40). Our Lord Jesus said that these two commandments are the string that holds up the entirety of “the Law and the Prophets”, the Holy Bible.

When a person embraces their brokenness, declaring it to be right and God sent rather than a thing to be repented of, then they step into the pig trough of sin.

Though All Sin, We Do Not Embrace Nor Normalize Sin

Those who embrace sin wants everyone to celebrate the evil and elevate the evil. Those who embrace sin create a rainbow flagged month where everyone should say that the lifestyle is normal. Those who embrace sin look the other way when theft occurs, saying “It is racist to stop the thief, or to expect responsible behavior from all citizens”.

When people pursue brokenness as normal, it is not long before they become MORE broken.

Proverbs 1:11-12If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit…

The one who loves and pursues sin “LAY WAIT FOR BLOOD”. They have no respect for life unless it is their own life. Other translations of this text state:

Proverbs 1:11 (NKJV) If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

Proverbs 1:11 (ESV) If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;

Proverbs 1:11 (NASB-20) If they say, “Come with us, Let’s lie in wait for blood, Let’s ambush the innocent without cause;

Word Study: The Sinner, the ḥaṭṭā’ (pronounced khat-taw’) has no respect for life. Told that a fetus has blood about the 16th day from conception, and by the 20th day the heart pumps red blood cells through the blood vessels, the Sinner says “So what? It’s my body, and I’ll do what I want to do with that fetus”. They have no love for God nor man. They delight in shedding blood, just as long as

Proverbs 1:13-14We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

The “SINNER” values stuff and self more than the life of others

Word Study: They want “precious substance”, yāqār hôn, that which is rare and valuable like gold or silver. They do not cherish God’s Word, but cherish the rocks and metals that God made, considering them greatly to be treasured. They say, “let us all have one purse”, that is, you help us rob others of their valuables, and we’ll do like the pirates did – we’ll divide the spoil evenly. Jesus warned us:

Luke 12:15-21 (ESV) “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

God is the Source of life. I do not know of one millionaire or billionaire who, on the last day of their lives, would not give all they had for just a little more time. The stuff that the Sinner entices us with will one day be left behind.

It is better to be RICH TOWARD GOD. He is the Source of Life. Those who are RICH TOWARD GOD, who have received Christ by faith and live according to the Kingdom Principles, these will live forever!

Proverbs 1:15-16 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

Jesus said “I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE” (John 14:6). To walk “in the way with them” is to court death – for the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When Adam and Eve took just one bite of the forbidden, they thought it would be innocent. But their eyes were opened, and they died spiritually. It wasn’t long before their son Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4:8). It all started with just one bite.

Death Starts With One Bite

I like to think of Judas Iscariot. Here was a man that Jesus hand picked to be an Apostle. Jesus loved Judas. When Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, Jesus said “Friend, do what you have come to do” (Matthew 26:50). Jesus called Judas to follow Him, and Judas did follow Jesus when many others abandoned Him (John 6:53). Along with the other eleven, Judas left everything to follow Jesus (Matthew 19:27). Judas was not a monster. But Judas had a flaw that he did not repent.

Judas loved money.

Just before Jesus was brought to trial, a woman with an Alabaster Box of very precious ointment (Matthew 26:7) came and anointed Jesus with the ointment as He ate dinner at Simon the Leper’s home. The Bible tells us that Judas asked, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” (John 12:5). Judas didn’t care about the poor, but was the Treasurer for the disciples and carried the purse. Judas starting pilfering money from that moneybag (John 12:6) – probably just a little at a time. But over time he became accustomed to getting money from that bag. I’m sure Jesus knew he was doing this – but Jesus loved him anyway.

When Judas said what he did, Jesus said “Why are you troubling this woman. She is doing a good thing, for she is preparing my body for my burial” (Matthew 26:10-13). “When the Gospel is preached, remember what she did”. What happened next?

Judas wanted to sell the Alabaster Box for three hundred denarii – about 300 days labor for a blue collar worker.

When he was rebuked, the Bible says:

Matthew 26:14-15 (ESV) … Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.

One commentary notes:

“In the Hebrew culture, thirty pieces of silver was not a lot of money. In fact, it was the exact price paid to the master of a slave if and when his slave was gored by an ox (Exodus 21:32). In order to compensate for a slave’s death and burial, it was written into law that 30 pieces of silver would account for the cost. … When Judas Iscariot bargained with the leaders of Israel for the betrayal of Jesus, he asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?” The leaders then counted out a mere “thirty pieces of silver,” (Matthew 26:15). They considered the cost of Jesus’ death to be that of a slave.”

As close as I can tell, 30 pieces of silver is worth about a hundred denarii, or a hundred days wages (A denarius is one day’s wage: Matthew 20:2). Judas valued Jesus’ life at one third of that Alabaster Box of ointment, or the price of a common slave.

Sin Shortens Your Life

Proverbs 1:17-19 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. 19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

What the sinner does, eventually comes back on them. We are told “they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives”. After Judas saw Jesus hanging on that Cross – an innocent Man suffering and dying for thirty pieces of silver – the Bible says that it was then that Judas had second thoughts.

Matthew 27:3-5 (ESV) … {Judas} changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.

Judas did NOT repent. He did NOT go to God and seek forgiveness. Instead, Judas punished himself by committing suicide. He lived by his own hand, and died by his own hand. How said it is, for Numbers 32:23 tells us, “be SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT”. Judas died in his sins, unrepentant, and is probably in hell today. Ancient English Austinian Mystic Walter Hilton wrote in his book “Toward A Perfect Love”:

“Stop and think how Christ loved Judas, who was both his mortal enemy and a sinful dog. How good Christ was to him, how benign, how courteous, how humble toward him whom he knew to be damnable. He chose him for his apostle and sent him to preach with the other apostles. He gave him power to work miracles. He showed to him the same good cheer in word and deed. He shared with him his precious Body, and preached to him in the same manner as he did to the other apostles. He did not condemn him openly; nor did he abuse him or despise him, nor even speak evil of him (and yet even if he had done all of that, it would simply have been to tell the truth!)”.

We do not bless the Sinner when we help them justify their sin. We bless the Sinner by bidding them repent, and walk with Christ. In time, those who pursue sin will reap the death that comes with it. We who love the Lord should warn the Sinner, remembering that though Jesus often sat and ate with sinners, Jesus never justified their sins as righteousness.

That is like saying cancer is normal growth. It is not, and never will be. Sin must not be condoned, nor celebrated, nor courted. We who are wise will reject what God has called sin. We will walk in love, putting God first, and treating others with love and respect.

May God touch your hearts with His Word. Amen and Amen.

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

The House Of Christ: Hebrews 3:1-6

Posted on March 17, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Finn Semmer: https://www.pexels.com/photo/travel-20590867/

Hebrews 3:1-6 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; {2} Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses [was faithful] in all his house. {3} For this [man] was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath built the house hath more honor than the house. {4} For every house is built by some [man]; but he that built all things [is] God. {5} And Moses verily [was] faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; {6} But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Internal Erosion Of The Church

The reason that the Book of Hebrews was written was because the devil began to try and erode the Church from the inside. As people came to know Christ as Lord and Savior, being “born again” into the Kingdom of God, the Church began to grow. Satan attacked the Church externally, but this only made it stronger. So Satan infiltrated the Church. He put on a suit and tie, and joined the local Churches. Through the Pharisees he began to teach that – in order to be saved – the Christian had to return to the “shadows” of the Law.

Males had to be circumcised.
The Church must keep the Feasts.
Every believer must continue in the animal sacrifices.
The priesthood would continue with a few select men.
Christ is our Savior, the Law our Lord.

In congregations where this didn’t work, the Devil came in the guise of the liberal Sadducees. He came teaching:

Most of the Bible is to be disregarded.
Since Christ paid for sin, we are free to sin.
God has no standard for us other than our satisfaction.
Christ is our Savior, but not our Lord.

The Devil brought POLITICS into the Church through the Herodians. He brought PERMISSIVENESS through the Sadducees. He brought the yoke of PONTIFICAL PRECEPTS through the Pharisees. Through it all, his intent is that we take our eyes off of Jesus.

Let Us Compare Jesus To Moses

Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Word Study: We are told to “CONSIDER” Jesus. This is the Greek katanoéō, {pronounced kat-an-o-eh’-o}, which means “focus your mind on the standard of”. In chapter one, we were shown that Christ is the Son of God, made lower than the angels to bring us salvation. We were shown that Jesus is in fact Eternal God in the flesh, who hates sin just as much as the Father does. We are shown that Jesus changed once when He became flesh, but Jesus never changes, for He is eternal. Jesus, Who was made lower than the angels for our sake, has always been greater than the angels.

In chapter two we learned that the Father offers a great salvation through Jesus Christ alone. God proved Christ is Messiah by signs and wonders, by miracles and supernatural giftings of the Holy Spirit. We saw that Jesus is Lord, and the High Priest of His Church. We saw that His Church is comprised of those who are “His brethren”, those who are “born again” by faith in Him.

Now as we come into Chapter Three we see a comparison between Jesus and Moses. In verse 2:

Hebrews 3:2 Who {Jesus} was faithful to Him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

Both Jesus and Moses were equally faithful to what the Father called them to do. However, Jesus is greater than Moses:

Hebrews 3:3 For this Man {Jesus} was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house.

Jesus has more glory than Moses. Now, why is the Bible comparing Jesus with Moses? Because the Pharisees often attacked Jesus for violating the Law of Moses. They claimed that Jesus was

Matthew 12:2 [AP] {allowing} Your disciples to DO WHAT IS UNLAWFUL on the Sabbath …

They attempted to stone Jesus to death “for BLASPHEMY, because You Jesus are no more than a Man, but You make Yourself God” (John 10:33, AP).

Jesus IS a Man, but He is NOT a Man as Moses is a Man. Though both Jesus and Moses are equally faithful, we have learned that Jesus is both fully Man and fully God.

Hebrews 3:4 For every house is builded by some man…

Why is Jesus superior to Moses? Because Jesus is THE SON, but Moses is THE SERVANT.

Word Study: The Bible is now going to compare two “Houses”. We’re all familiar with the word “House”. The word “House” is the Greek oikos (pronounced oy’-kos), which means “The Family, the place one dwells, the House”. We’re told that “every house is builded by some man”. Let me say this while I’m thinking it:

There are HUMAN houses, and there is a DIVINE house.

Human houses are built by men and women. A human house is where you live. If you built that house, you have authority in that house. If I go to Tony and Jane’s house, they decide what rooms are used for what. They decide when to eat, what they’re going to eat, how they’re going to cook it. When they raised children, they determined when the children would go place, where they attended school, and so on. If you are in their “house” you are under their authority.

Hebrews 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

Though men build the “house”, GOD builds ALL THINGS. God built the men that built the “house”. God provides the materials that make the “house”. The “house” is the place you live and have authority. It is not a hotel, but a house. When Sherry and I go to see our grandchildren, we stay at my son’s house. We’re comfortable there – of a sort. But we’re not at our house. If I need a drinking glass, I look in his cabinet to get one – but it doesn’t feel right. We stay in the room that the owner of the “house” puts us in.

Moses Built The House As A SERVANT

Moses was raised up by God to lead His Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land of Canaan. Egypt was a land of bondage, dominated by false gods and huge tombstones called pyramids. The Lord did not want His Israel to stay bound in a land of death and destruction, slavery and destitution. God wanted to raise His people up. He wanted to save whoever would follow Him and lead them from death and unto life.

Where did Moses come from? Israel was enslaved by Egypt, a fulfillment of a prophecy God gave to Abraham, the Father of faith:

Genesis 15:13-14 … your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

Moses was the son of Jochebed, a Hebrew, the wife of Amram. They were living in slavery, and the child was supposed to be drowned in the Nile river. His sister Miriam put her brother in a basket, and floated him down the Nile. He was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, who named him “Moses” (mōšê, pronounced mo-sheh’), meaning “drawn out of the water”. (Exodus 2:10). Though Moses was a slave, he was raised in the household of the King, the child of the princess.

Moses was not born into the House of Pharaoh, but was adopted by the princess. Moses was born into the House of Israel. Appearing to be royalty, he was a slave.

Hebrews 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant (therapōn, a God called servant), for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;

Raised in the House of Pharaoh, when Moses discovered he was actually a Hebrew, he killed a Egyptian Taskmaster (Exodus 2:12). Moses broke the Law of Egypt, but he also broke the Law of God. God told us all:

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

Moses knew his action was both unlawful and sinful, for he tried to hide the man he murdered in the sand. But Moses was seen, and he fled into the wilderness for forty years. Marrying and raising a family, Moses shepherded the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. As Moses “led his flock to the west side of the wilderness of Midian, near Horeb the Mountain of God”. It was at Horeb, also called Mount Sinai, that God called Moses to serve Him from a burning bush (Exodus 3:6). As God called this man’s name, He said:

“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”

But God did not say to Moses, “I am YOUR God”. Moses was a lost man. He was a fugitive from justice, a murderer. But God in Grace called Moses to salvation and to service. Moses was to go to Israel, to free Israel from the House of Pharaoh. Moses’ struggled with God’s call, saying:

Exodus 4:10 “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent”
Exodus 4:13 “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

Moses was not worthy – but God never calls the worthy. Moses could not serve God in Midian. He had to go to Egypt for God. Israel could not glorify God, nor be His House, while it was part of the House of Pharaoh. Israel had to follow Moses out of Egypt. God tells His people:

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (ESV) Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

The House of Moses was to leave the House of Pharaoh. The House of Moses would bind with the House of God. God built Israel as His House, and Moses was faithful as a servant in his house.

Through the House of Moses, God brought forth the Law of God. He brought forth the Feasts and the Ceremonies, the Sacrifices and the Priesthood. Moses was faithful in building that House:

Hebrews 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;

Moses wrote the first Five Books of Scripture, called the Books of the Law or Torah. What Moses wrote, he faithfully wrote. God said of Moses in:

Numbers 12:6-8 (ESV) … If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord.

God spoke to Moses face to face, mouth to mouth, clearly. Moses was faithful IN ALL GOD’S HOUSE. Saved by Grace, and ex-murderer, Moses was faithful to what God called him to do. But that which was given to Moses was “a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after”. The House of Moses introduced the coming House of Christ. When our Lord Jesus spoke of Moses to the Pharisees, He said:

John 5:45-47 (ESV) Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

When God established the House of Moses, it was an introduction to a greater House, the House of Christ. We are later told in Hebrews 10:1, “the LAW WAS BUT A SHADOW of the GOOD THINGS TO COME”. The animal sacrifices were a shadow that foretold the death of Christ on the Cross for our sins. The Feasts were a shadow of the joy we who know Christ have in our hearts every day. The Priesthood was a shadow of the Priesthood of the Believer, where Christ is our High Priest, and we all have access to God.

Jesus Is Building His House As A SON

Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Moses was a SERVANT over his house, over God’s House. He was a faithful servant, but Moses is just like us all:

“There is none righteous, no, not one. “ (Romans 3:10).

Not me. Not you. Not Moses. Not Paul the Apostle, nor Peter. No naturally born human is born flawless and without sin. But Jesus IS A SON OVER HIS OWN HOUSE. Not a servant, but a Son.

Moses the faithful servant was a SINNER, but Jesus is SINLESS. Pastor Nick Batzig wrote:

“Job declared that man is “abominable and corrupt,” one who “drinks injustice like water” (Job 15:16). Solomon acknowledged, “there is no one who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46). The apostle John warned, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” and “make Him a liar” (1 John 1:8, 10). The apostle Paul summed it all up when he said, “none is righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). Yet, when the Son of God took to Himself a human nature, a sinless man entered into time and space.”

The Scripture says that Jesus is our High Priest,

Hebrews 7:26 (ESV) … holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Moses was flawed with sin, but Jesus COULD NOT BE a sinner. Under the House of Moses, animals were frequently sacrificed to cover or “atone for” sin. But in the House of Christ Jesus HIMSELF, as a LAMB WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH (1 Peter 1:19) paid for our sins. Whereas under the House of Moses people took lambs to the Priests to be sacrificed, under the House of Christ the Father sent the Son to be judged in our place.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) For our sake {the Father} made {Jesus} to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and Moses came calling Israel to be part of his house. Moses was called by Grace, and knew his work foreshadowed that which Christ would do. Jesus calls to everyone who will hear:

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. {29} Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus calls us into His House. But we are not called as SERVANTS, but as SONS. Go back to the beginning:

Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Word Study: If you have been saved by faith in Christ – if you have heard His call and answered Him by faith – then you are “holy brethren”.

People misunderstand the word “HOLY”, the Greek hágios, {pronounced hag’-ee-os}, means “sacred, set apart for God’s Kingdom, consecrated – a saint”. Every believer in Christ has been “born again of the Spirit” (John 3:7). Because Christ paid the penalty of your sin, His righteousness is imputed to you. You are “made the righteousness of God” because of Jesus. You are to live within the House of Christ, devoted to Him. He is a Son, but you are sons of God because of Jesus! We as members of Christ’s House are to be:

Philippians 2:15 … blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

We who were bound to the House of Satan have been freed from sin and death by Jesus. The Scripture says:

1 John 3:1-2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Moses was a servant. Jesus is a Son. And He, the Son of God, made us sons of God. We are …

1 Peter 1:23 … Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

We as God’s people do not live in Egypt, in the world, subject to its whims and foolishness. We are dead to sins so that we can live in the House of Christ.

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

By His Blood we who believe have been set free. His Blood, poured out on Calvary, satisfied the eternal offenses that stood between us and God – blessed be the Name of the Lord forever! We are told that:

John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

It is God’s desire that all might be saved. Yet whether you are saved or not depends on whether you believe on Him or not. The Scripture goes on to say:

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Though the Bible tells us that Christ Jesus came to this earth to suffer and die for sinners, the Bible is also careful to tell us that we must believe in Him and Him alone or we remain condemned. The saved do not have a hope so salvation, we have a know so salvation Just as Israel followed God out of Egypt, we who believe follow God out of this world. We repent of our sins, turning away from the ways we used to go. We follow Jesus, believing in Him, trusting Him, loving what He loved and hating what He hates.

The Christian Way of life begins by surrendering to Him in Whom is all life.

All to Jesus, I surrender,
All to Him I freely give,
I will ever love and trust Him,
In HIS PRESENCE daily live!

Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

We are

partakers of the heavenly calling

Word Study: “partakers” is the Greek metochos (pronounced met’-okh-os), which means “partners together with God”. We are “holy partners”, set apart to glorify God. If you are saved, you belong to the House of Christ. If you are going to succeed and win this land for God, then you will only do so as a partner with the House of Christ. Listen Beloved: your success or failure as a local Church is conditioned on whether or not you heed the One Who leads you. Look at verse 6:

Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Did you notice that? Whose House are we – we are the House of Christ – IF WE HOLD FAST. What do we hold fast? The confidence and rejoicing of the hope.

The House of Christ is designed by God to triumph in this land by leading others to Jesus. We are called to take the land for God. But we must continue to follow the One Whose House this is. Israel refused to follow Moses – God’s representative – and though Israel was saved from Egypt she died wailing in the desert. Too many professing Christians believe that they can ignore the Lord now that they have been saved. How foolish is such a concept! Israel was saved to serve the Lord Who rescued them. You are saved so that you can serve the Living God!

God is able. Follow Him. Look unto Jesus. He is our Apostle, our Lord, as well as our High Priest. Consider Him, and do as He tells you. If you do not know Him as Savior and Lord, turn to Jesus this very day. Enter His House, and obey His Word. May God touch your hearts with His Word. May God the Holy Spirit pierce the hardened heart. Amen. Amen and Amen.

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

The Fear Of The Lord: Proverbs 1:1-7

Posted on March 15, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Sebastian Arie Voortman: https://www.pexels.com/photo/body-of-water-during-golden-hour-189349/

Proverbs 1:1-7 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. 5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: 6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Introduction To Proverbs

We’re starting our study through the Book of Proverbs. The Book starts with:

Proverbs 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel …

Word Study: First of all, what is a “Proverb”? The word “Proverb” is the Hebrew māšāl (pronounced maw-shawl’) which means “a parable, a concise or forceful observation that contains a general truth”. Some of our modern proverbs would be like:

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Actions speak louder than words.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
You can’t unring a bell.
Many hands make light work.
Strike while the iron is hot.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Life is just a bowl of cherries. With it you get the pits.

These are all man-made proverbs. The proverbs found in the Book of Proverbs are GOD MADE proverbs. Though the Book starts with:

The proverbs of Solomon

Solomon himself had a God-given wisdom.

When he was first called by God to lead Israel as King, Solomon honored God by offering a thousand sacrifices on the altar (1 Kings 3:4). That night, God came to Solomon in a dream. God asked Solomon:

Whatever you ask Me for, I will give it to you.

God gave Solomon a blank check. If God gave you a blank check, what would you ask for? I’d be tempted to ask for immeasurable riches, or fame, or immense power. There was a song years ago that said “Everybody wants to rule the world”. What would Solomon ask for? Solomon told God:

1 Kings 3:7-9 (ESV) … O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?

Solomon did not ask for riches or fame, but for the wisdom to serve His God as King of Israel. Solomon showed fear of the Lord.

Our Lord Jesus told us:

Matthew 6:31-33 (NKJV) … do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Fear of the Lord is to put God first, to glorify Him first. Fear of the Lord is to listen to and DO as God says. Proverbs teaches fear of the Lord.

God said “Put Me first. Put My concerns and My Kingdom and My glory FIRST, not last. If you do this, then I will take care of your physical needs”. This is fear of the Lord. This is what Solomon did. As David’s son, he was next in line by birth to be King. But Solomon did not see his kingship as a birthright, but a privilege. As he prayerfully looked over what his calling entailed, Solomon realized he was incapable of ruling Israel in a way that would glorify God. So Solomon asked God to give him wisdom to do what he was called to do.

And God complied.

God said (1 Kings 3:11-13, ESV) “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise (ḥāḵām, pronounced khaw-kawm’, skilful, shrewd, learned, cunning, wily) and discerning (bîn, pronounced bene, understanding, prudent, that which perceives) mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.”

In short, God made Solomon’s mind the most wise, the most thoughtful, the most able of any other person who lived on the face of the earth. Solomon had a supernatural wisdom. The Bible says:

1 Kings 4:29-34 (ESV) … God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

When you exercise fear of the Lord, God will give you a long and blessed life.

God told Solomon:

(1 Kings 3:14, ESV) And IF you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.

If Solomon walked with God, the Author of Life, then God would give Solomon a long life. The Bible says that “The wages of sin is DEATH” (Romans 6:23). God gave Solomon immeasurable wisdom – but it was up to Solomon to follow the wisdom that God gave him, or else pay the consequences.

The Proverbs of Solomon are God given

Some of the Proverbs in this Book were written by Solomon during his lifetime. After Solomon died, chapters 25-29 were added by the scribes of King Hezekiah 254 years later:

Proverbs 25:1 These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out (ʿāṯaq, transcribed).

These were proverbs known to have been said by Solomon, but for whatever reason were not added to the text of Scripture until then. However, not all of the Proverbs are from Solomon. One chapter of Proverbs – chapter 30 is the Proverbs of Agur.

Proverbs 30:1 (KJV) The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal …

We know little about Agur other than what is read in the Proverb. One commentary notes:

“Agur was writing “to Ithiel and Ucal” (NAS); these men could have been disciples or friends of Agur, although some Bibles translate the meaning of the two names with the assumption that they do not refer to actual people. Most commentators believe Agur lived in the same era as Solomon.”

The last chapter of proverbs was written by King Lemuel:

Proverbs 31:1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

We know little about King Lemuel, though his name means “devoted to God”. My commentary notes:

“… we know that Lemuel was a king, he had a wise mother, and he wrote some poetry. Many commentators have surmised that Lemuel is actually King Solomon—in which case the mother would be Bathsheba. It could be that Lemuel was a pet name for Solomon, used by his mother in tender address, and that Solomon wrote down her advice in the manner she would have expressed it. Another theory is that Lemuel is actually King Hezekiah. A third theory is that Lemuel and his mother are fictional characters created by Solomon as a picture of an ideal king and queen mother.”

All of the Proverbs were considered the Word of God by the Jews, who were keepers of the Scripture. My Jewish Commentary notes:

“The Book of Proverbs is the second book in the Ketuvim (or Writings), the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The full Hebrew title is Mishlei Shlomo, or The Proverbs of Solomon, a reference to King Solomon, who, according to Jewish tradition, is the author of Mishlei. … Proverbs offers statements about how to conduct one’s life wisely. While the book does not offer a systematic presentation of specific doctrinal principles, Israelite or otherwise, Proverbs does convey a clear view of reward and punishment connected directly to God. Chapter 1, verse 7 sets the tone: “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.””

Fear Of The Lord Defined In Proverbs

The phrase “The Fear of the Lord” is mention fourteen times in the Book of Proverbs. That’s amazing, because the phrase is only found sixteen times in the rest of the Bible.

The Book of Proverbs is therefore focused on teaching us how important it is to fear God, and what it means to fear God. Because Solomon feared God, and put a priority on glorifying Him in all that he did as King, God gave Solomon riches and worldwide fame. Solomon put God first, so God made Solomon first.

Fear of the Lord is to respect and honor God ABOVE YOURSELF.

Proverbs 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

Let’s break this down:

To know wisdom and instruction

It is not enough to “know wisdom”. You can KNOW (Hebrew yāḏaʿ) WISDOM (Hebrew ḥāḵmâ, pronounced khok-maw’), but you also have to have with that knowledge “instruction”, the Hebrew mûsār (pronounced moo-sawr’) meaning “chastisement, discipline, correction”. You can know the right thing to do, but not do it – and it doesn’t benefit you at all. Wisdom is when God tells you the direction to take – then physically disciplines or corrects you when you don’t take the way prescribed. The Prophet Job said:

Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening – mûsār (pronounced moo-sawr’) of the Almighty:

Illustrate: I heard a preacher just this week refer to a Jerry Clower story he heard. He said Jerry came in after a long day in the field, sat on his front porch, and tried to relax. About that time his neighbor’s hound dog began to wail. The dog wailed and wailed, over and over, and Jerry got upset. He got up from his porch, walked to his neighbor’s farm, and asked him “Why don’t you do something about that dog wailing? He about to drive me crazy”. The neighbor said, “He’s wailing because where he’s sitting on the porch, there’s a nail poking up, and the nail is poking him. When he gets tired of being poked, he’ll get up and move to another place.”

A lot of people are like that old hound dog. God tells them where a nail is poking up, and warns them against sitting on it. They sit anyway.

They hear the warning – the wisdom of God – but reject the leading and discipline of God. Then they moan and moan, suffering more and more, until they repent and get up and move away from what God forbade. When you do what God says do, this is to RECEIVE it – mentioned in the next verse.

Proverbs 1:3 To RECEIVE the INSTRUCTION mûsār (pronounced moo-sawr’) of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

You RECEIVE THE DISCIPLINE of God when you hear what He says and, in respect for God Who knows best, DO what God says. Wisdom not received is useless. When Jesus came through Samaria, the Samaritans rejected Christ:

Luke 9:53 … they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

They knew Who Jesus was, but refused to RECEIVE Him as Lord and Savior. Many people know Who Jesus is, and will one day end up in hell. Why? Because of that word RECEIVE. The Bible says:

John 1:11-12 {Jesus} came unto His own, and His own {the Jews} received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

To RECEIVE – a technical term in Soteriology (the study of Salvation) – is to not just hear but to SURRENDER to, to acquiesce, to agree with and live by.

The step brother of Christ wrote:

James 1:21-25 (ESV) put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

A lot of people know what the Bible says, but have no fear of God. They do not DO what God says. To DO is to RECEIVE, to RECEIVE is to DO. The Christian not only HEARS, but DOES what God says. To hear and not DO, not RECEIVE, is to waste your time. Jesus said:

Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV) Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

You can have wisdom, but do nothing with it, and it will not do you any good at all. As we come to these Proverbs, God expects action from what we hear.

Proverbs 1:5-6 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain (Hebrew qānâ, pronounced kaw-naw’, means “to make one’s own, to possess as owner”) unto wise counsels: 6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

Those who would be wise like Solomon are encouraged to LISTEN and then APPLY what is heard to their lives. Solomon warns that what we will read as we go through Proverbs will not necessarily be pleasant. This is one of the problems with American Consumer Christianity.

If it is PLEASING, if it AFFIRMS me, then I will absorb it. But if it is DARK, unpleasant, something I don’t want to do, I will reject it. This is NOT fear of the Lord.

the words of the wise, and their dark sayings

Word Study: The phrase “dark sayings” is the Hebrew ḥîḏâ (pronounced khee-daw’), which means “perplexing or difficult questions, riddles”. Some of the Proverbs may be uncomfortable. Some of the Proverbs may hurt our feelings. However, regardless as to whether the Proverb gives you a “Joel Osteen Happiness” or bring “John MacArthur Heaviness”, we must, if we would be wise, ask ourselves …

What does God want me to do with this information?
How can I put this at work in my life?

The Proverbs are not given to entertain, but to make us more like Christ, more like children of God. We will put His Word into action in our lives.

There Are Two General Types Of People: Those Who FEAR The Lord, And Those Who Are FOOLS

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

God’s children want to glorify God in their lives. We want to magnify Jesus. But “fools” hear the Word of God, but refuse to put it into practice. Who are “fools”? They are generally the lost, the people destined to go to hell for all eternity, for they will not repent and turn. The word “fool” is the Hebrew ĕvîl (pronounced ev-eel’), and is used in Scripture for those who care nothing for God. We are told:

Proverbs 14:9 FOOLS {ĕvîl (pronounced ev-eel’)} make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favor.

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a FOOL {ĕvîl (pronounced ev-eel’)} is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

The “FOOL” {ĕvîl (pronounced ev-eel’)}) rejects the concept of sin, and choose his or her own way above the directive of God. This type of fool may not be as bad as the “FOOL (nāḇāl, pronounced naw-bawl’) who has said in his heart, ‘there is NO GOD’ (Psalm 14:1; Psaalm 53:1). But whether nāḇāl or ĕvîl, neither person honors God in their lives. Both type of “fool” has chosen glory of self over glory to God.

They are treading a dangerous path. You are treading a dangerous path if you are not hearing and RECEIVING what God has said in His Word. May God move you to do so this very day. Amen and Amen.

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

The Danger Of Drifting And Not Walking With Jesus: Hebrews 2:1-4

Posted on March 10, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by James Wheeler: https://www.pexels.com/photo/foot-prints-in-gray-sand-1522285/

Hebrews 2:1-4 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

Opening: I often order items through companies like Amazon or Walmart, because I can’t find what I want locally. It saves a lot of gas and running around, especially when I’m looking for something like an “UHB to Ethernet Adapter”. I may have to pay shipping, but I can find exactly what I want and have it delivered. Most of the time. There are times when what I ordered is late coming in, and I get a little nervous if it was delivered to the wrong address. Thank goodness that the UPS Driver always takes a picture of what he delivered when he delivered it, so I can find it.

If you weren’t at Church when I presented this, you can’t see the confusing, blurred, indecipherable image that UPS sent to my email. Take my word for it, I couldn’t tell (ane neither could you) where the package was delivered, nor even if it was dropped off on Planet Earth.

Are You Walking With Purpose Or Are You Drifting?

Word Study: In Chapter One the Lord emphasizes that Jesus is God’s only Christ, the Only Messiah. As we enter Chapter Two the Word of God uses the word THEREFORE, which is two words in the Greek dia touto, a prepositional phrase which means “on account of this”.

Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

In Chapter One of Hebrews we were given no commands, but God put the spotlight on Jesus. God told us:

God spoke to humanity through His Son (vs 1-2)
God’s Son created and upholds all things (vs 2-3)
God’s Son is greater than the Angels (vs 5-7)
God’s Son is God, enthroned in Heaven (vs 8-9)
God’s Son never changes but is eternal (vs 10-12)

God’s Son sits on the right hand of the Father (13)

As God’s Son Jesus is the center of all power and prestige with the Father, dia touto – “on account of this” we are told:

Hebrews 2:1 … we ought TO GIVE THE MORE EARNEST HEED to the things we have heard …

We are given our first command in Hebrews. As all that was said in Chapter One established Jesus as the center of God we are called to FOCUS on what was said … continue reading:

Hebrews 2:1 … lest at any time we should let them slip.

Word Study:The words “let them slip” is the Greek pararrhyéō, {pronounced par-ar-hroo-eh’-o}, a NAUTICAL term which means “to flow past, to glide by you, to drift away”. Most of the other translations use “drift away” (NKJV, NIV, ESV, CSB, NASB 95 & 20, LSB, NET, RSV, ASV, NLT, AMP). Again, this is a nautical term. It’s only used here in the New Testament, but is used in ancient literature for what happens when someone doesn’t properly tie up their boat.

I love watching these Discovery Channel shows about people who live in harsh climates like Alaska. In one show a man had come in with his large fishing boat, but he neglected to properly tie it to the dock. A storm came that night, and the boat was taken by the wind and the current. The next day he came out to find his boat was gone. He had a smaller bass boat that he took out, trying to find his fishing boat. When he found it it was wrecked, up on the shore. It was badly damaged, and would end up costing him thousands of dollars to repair it to make it sea worthy once more.

How does your boat get adrift? How does your life drift and find itself destroyed in the storms of this world? How did you get to that point?

You failed to tie your line to a proper anchor. You tethered yourself to the wrong thing, or failed to tether yourself to the right anchor.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 6:19-20, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf..”

The place we need to be tied to – the anchor of our soul – MUST be JESUS. The devil and the world is CONSTANTLY seeking to get us to tie ourselves to the wrong anchor. For instance, one thing I often hear is,

“Follow your HEART”

This is foolish. If the anchor of your soul is your heart, you have anchored yourself to a crumbling structure. The Bible says

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

What did Jesus say about the HEART? He told us that the source of all that is evil is the unregenerate heart. Jesus said:

Mark 7:21-22 … from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.

The heart is not a good thing to anchor to. Jesus told us to anchor our hearts to God. He said in Matthew 22:37, “Love the Lord your God WITH ALL YOUR HEART”. The Bible says:

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

We are to anchor ourselves to God, to Jesus Christ, not to our hearts. Our confidence must be outside of our feelings and desires. Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the one who TRUSTS IN THE LORD, WHOSE CONFIDENCE IS IN HIM”. God knows what’s best for us in every situation. Tie the boat of your life not to your heart, not to your feelings, but to what God has said and has done. Give your heart to Jesus. Trust only in Him. He can keep your life anchored.

Another foolishness to anchor to is false truth. I often hear people say today,

“Live your OWN TRUTH”

Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson is the father of this philosophy. He said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”. This is why people are trying to re-envision pronouns and human sexuality. God never said to “Live your own truth”. Jesus said:

John 17:17 … God’s WORD (the Bible) IS TRUTH

Ever since Adam ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we as humans have tried to establish what WE think as truth. To this, Jesus says NO! Jesus said:

John 14:6 (ESV) … I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

“Jesus is the POWER of God and the WISDOM of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). We as believers WALK with Jesus. He is the WAY, the Path that God would have us walk. We define right and wrong by Jesus. Jesus is THE TRUTH. He is not A TRUTH, but THE TRUTH. Finally, Jesus is THE LIFE. This is how God wants His Children to live. We live as Jesus says. When we define our own truth, we are adrift, hopelessly carried by the currents of this life.

Illustration: Many years ago Napoleon’s Army was marching through a desert. As the way got harder and the water ran out, at one point a soldier thought he saw a lake in front of them. Yelling “water”, he started running toward it, but after a few minutes it became apparent it was just a mirage. As Pastor George Truett once said, “Human life without God is, at best, a mirage”. We must be anchored in Christ.

How Shall We Escape …

Hebrews 2:2-3 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?…

Jesus is the only Anchor that is sure and steadfast. Now the Scripture asks us all a very good question. I love the questions of the Scripture, as they make us all think. The first question in the Bible was made by God. He asked it of Adam and Eve, but He asks us the same question today:

Genesis 3:9 … Where ARE you?

Other great questions:

Job 14:14 … if a person die, shall he live again?

Job 25:4 … Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing? How can he who is born of woman be pure?

Acts 16:30 … What must I do to be saved?

Matthew 16:26 … What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?
What will a person give in return for his soul?

Before God asks us this Great Question, He states:

For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward

God gave His Old Testament WORD, the Scripture, “by angels”. The Word that God gave was steadfast and true. The Bible tells us in:

Jude 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

We are told “every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense”. God made promises, and directed His Old Testament believers to trust Him, to anchor their hope on Him. When Israel refused to do this – though God had saved them – when they disobeyed they “received a just recompense”. God did right by His people, and God kept His Word. But Israel drifted. They tied their faith to the wrong thing. They tied their lives to the wrong anchor. They did not obey the Lord, and “received a just recompense”. The Bible says:

Hebrews 11:6 … without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Israel refused to follow God when God said. That generation of Israel died out in the wilderness, wandering about for forty years. Why? Because God said to go. To live tethered to Him. The questions we need to be asking ourselves AS CHRIST’S CHURCH is:

Are we listening to Jesus?
Are we here worshiping Jesus?
Is our motivation to glorify Jesus?
Are we pleasing our God?
Where are our lives anchored?

God gave Israel a great salvation, then Israel began to drift away from God. Every time things got tough, Israel murmured against God. They said:

Exodus 16:3 … Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

They drifted, because they were not tied to Jesus, but to Egypt. They were tied to their old life, their old ways. In the end, they lost all blessing. In the end, they lost the Promised Land. Pastor John Piper said:

“The life of this world is not a lake. It is a river. It is flowing downward to destruction. If you do not listen earnestly to Jesus … you will go backward. You will float by… {you will drift}”

The early Church grew by leaps and bounds because it tethered itself not to the world, but to Jesus and His Teachings. The Bible says:

Acts 2:42 (NKJV) {the Church} CONTINUED STEADFASTLY in the Apostle’s doctrine …

Acts 2:44 (NKJV) Now ALL WHO BELIEVED WERE TOGETHER, and had all things in common …

Acts 2:47 (NKJV) … PRAISING God

The Church and the Christian was firmly anchored to Jesus Christ. Focused on loving and serving God the Son, the Church enjoyed the promise of God:

Psalm 121:1-3 (NKJV) I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.

The Christian is a Christian indeed, born again of God’s Spirit, when he or she ties their hope and trust entirely to Christ.

Pastor Sam Storms wrote:

“One of the unmistakable signs that you are a true Child of God, born again and justified by faith … is that if you are drifting, you won’t continue in it for long … You will sense a desire to turn your eyes and ears and hearts back upon Jesus, and be attentive and devoted to Who He is and what He says and all that He has done”

It is as Jesus said – “you shall know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16), and “by this shall all know you are My disciples, that you love one another” (John 13:35).

God Has Offered Us A GREAT Salvation. What Will You Do With It?

Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?…

There is NO ESCAPE if we neglect the great salvation God offers to us through Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 3:1 … consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Hebrews 12:2 … Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith

If we neglect Jesus, the alternative is not good. If we anchor ourselves on ourselves and not Christ, we have no escape from the judgment of God. But if we cast ourselves on Christ, it is a GREAT Salvation for GREAT sinners. Salvation in Christ is great because IT IS ABLE.

Hebrews 7:24-25 (NKJV) But {Jesus}, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Illustrate: Jesus saves to the uttermost. Who? “Those who come to God through Him”. There is a beautiful picture that illustrates this in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 7. The Syrian Army has encamped outside of the Gates of Samaria, and four lepers are at the gates of the city. The lepers are starving to death. The lepers begin to discuss their predicament:

2 Kings 7:3-4 (NKJV) … “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.”

The lepers were in a hopeless and helpless situation. They could sit there till they died – for the city was in famine – or they could go to the Syrian Camp. They got up, went to the camp, and found that God had already defeated the Syrians. They went into the camp, and ate and drank – and carried away silver and gold and clothing – all by the Grace of God. They were not blessed because of their abilities, but because of God’s Grace.

Beloved, why do you sit there until you die? God has defeated the enemy, Satan and Death. He has given us a GREAT SALVATION. Why do you sit there until you die. You are leprous with sin. You are GREAT SINNERS. Jesus is a GREAT SAVIOR. The Apostles preached:

Acts 16:31 … BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and YOU WILL BE SAVED, you and your household ..

Untie yourself from any anchor but Christ and His Word. Tie yourselves to Him. Trust fully in what He has said. Jesus is able.

Jesus is not only ABLE to Save, He is AVAILABLE to Save.

Jesus did not come to this earth to save those who believe themselves righteous, but SINNERS. As “There are NONE RIGHTEOUS, no, NOT ONE” and “ALL have sinned, and FALL SHORT of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23) God makes salvation available to all. But Beloved, YOU MUST CONFESS YOURSELF A SINNER (1 John 1:9). Confessing yourself a sinner, YOU MUST REPENT. You cannot be saved if your faith is tied to a godless anchor. As the Apostle Paul preached in Athens at the altar of the unknown god:

Acts 17:29-31 … (ESV) we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

God is ABLE to save a person. Salvation is AVAILABLE to whosoever will. But God commands that we “repent”, knowing that there is a judgment day coming. No one will escape that judgment day if they neglect this GREAT SALVATION offered through Jesus Christ. God hates sin. But He has covered sin by the Blood of Christ. He offers complete salvation by the resurrection of Christ. He offers continuing salvation through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Unanswerable Question

Hebrews 2:3-4 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

There will come a day when we will all stand before God. We will give an account for our lives. When you stand before Him, and have neglected this Great Salvation offered in Christ, what will you say? A certain Welsh minister closed with this:

“Friends, I have a question to ask. I cannot answer it. You cannot answer it. If an angel from heaven were here, he could not answer it. And if a devil from hell was here, he could not answer it. The question is this?

How shall we escape is we neglect so great salvation?”

There is no escape but Christ. There is no anchor but Christ. There is no Way to live but Christ. The parameters to get into Heaven is PERFECTION. We ourselves are imperfect, but Jesus is perfect. We will all be judged before God one day. If we are imperfect, we will go to hell. But God has given us GREAT SINNERS a GREAT SALVATION in Christ. When we repent, and give our lives to Him, He stands in our place of judgment. There is no escape from damnation apart from faith in Christ Jesus. Then from the point of salvation:

TRUTH is what God says is true.
SIN is what God says is sin.
FAMILY is whatever God says is family.
SALVATION is whatever God says salvation is.
HEAVEN is whatever God says Heaven is.
HELL is whatever God says hell is.
GOD is the sole Definer and Determiner of all truth.
GOD is the highest Arbitrator of all truth.
GOD is the Judge of all that is true and what is not true.
And GOD will judge us by our relationship to JESUS CHRIST.
(taken from a sermon by Dr. Steven J. Lawson)

May God move on your hearts today. Do not sit there until you die. Choose to give yourselves to Jesus Christ by faith, and trust in Him for both temporal and eternal life. Holy Spirit, make it so. Amen and Amen.

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

The Tenth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet

Posted on March 8, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Michael Steinberg: https://www.pexels.com/photo/gold-bars-366551/

The last nine weeks we have studied a commandment a week. Tonight we come to the Tenth and final of the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not COVET thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

When God gave the Tenth Commandment, He was very specific. The believer is not to “covet” (Hebrew ḥāmaḏ, pronounced khaw-mad’) that which God has given to another. God said:

“You shall not DESIRE your neighbor’s WIFE (or husband)”

This leads to adultery.

“You shall not DESIRE your neighbor’s employees”

This harms another’s business.

“You shall not DESIRE your neighbors vehicles”

Appreciate the tractor or car God has given you.

“You shall not DESIRE anything of your neighbors”

This leads to theft.

It is not wrong to desire. God created us with desire – but we are to desire the proper thing.

We Are To Desire – And Cherish – What God Has Given Us

God created us with desires. When God created the Garden in Eden the Bible says:

Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is PLEASANT (TO BE COVETED, Hebrew ḥāmaḏ, pronounced khaw-mad’) to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Word Study: God made things PLEASANT, ḥāmaḏ, right after He made man (Genesis 2:7). God made us with desires, then built a Garden to put us in that would satisfy our desires. Humans are called to cherish what God gave us – but not what God forbade us. To cherish the wrong thing is to commit IDOLATRY, as we are told in:

Ephesians 5:5 (ESV) For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

What led to the first sin, the sin that caused the fall of humanity? It was when Adam and Eve, LISTENING TO THE DEVIL, began to ḥāmaḏ or COVET that which God said was forbidden. The Bible says:

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be DESIRED (COVET, Hebrew ḥāmaḏ, pronounced khaw-mad’) to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Coveting leads to sinful behavior. James warned the Christian:

James 4:1-4 (ESV) What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Coveting anything other than the GLORY OF GOD leads to war and infighting. If we will seek God with our desires, wanting what He wants us to have, then we would be blessed. Israel never fully settled the Promised Land because they never put God first. Whereas Jesus told His Church to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33), God told His Old Testament Israel to put Him first. If Israel would covet God’s glory first, then God promised:

Exodus 34:24 … I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man DESIRE (COVET, Hebrew ḥāmaḏ, pronounced khaw-mad’) thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.

God said “Covet ME first. Desire only what I GIVE you. If you do so, I will protect what is yours. If not, you will lose your blessings”.

Why did the first generation of Israel lose the blessings of Canaan, dying over 40 years in the wilderness? It was because they were never satisfied with what God gave them. They never thanked God for the blessings of His salvation. Anytime the life they were living got slightly uncomfortable, they began to moan, and to accuse their leadership and God Himself of hating them. When God sent the twelve spies into the Promised Land, they came out knowing it was “a land of milk and honey” (Exodus 3:5, 8) just as God promised them. Yet they complained because there were giants in the land. They complained that when God saved them, that He brought them out of Egypt, out of a land of milk and honey (Numbers 16:13-14). Israel did not count their blessings, but began to curse God and the leadership.

Exodus 17:3 … the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

They continued down this pathway until they brought the wrath of God on themselves. The Bible says:

Numbers 14:2-4, 27-38 (ESV) all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” … {God replies} …. 27 I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” 36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— 37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the LORD. 38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

God Is Serious About His People Controlling Their Desires

The first generation of Israel died in the wilderness because of coveting, which is idolatrousness. When God sent the second generation of Israel into the land, God told His people that when they went into the Land of Canaan, they were to never bring the cursed thing into their homes. What was “the CURSED thing?” It was the idols of the Canaanites.

The Canaanite false gods were created from stone or wood, and adorned with gold, silver, and precious stones. When Israel conquered a city they were to DESTROY, not covet the CURSED THINGS, but utterly destroy them.

God warned in Deuteronomy 7:25-26 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not DESIRE (COVET, Hebrew ḥāmaḏ, pronounced khaw-mad’) the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. 26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

The “cursed thing” was anything that you COVETED above your love for God and His glory. The “CURSED THING” is an idol hidden among the people of God. Once Israel settled the Promised Land, if any city of Israel departed from loving God, and started COVETING anything more than God, then the Lord said:

Deuteronomy 13:15-17 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. 16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. 17 And there shall cleave naught of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;

As the second generation of Israel moved into the Promised Land, led by Joshua and loving God, they defeated every enemy they came against. Israel coveted only God, and His glory.

Then Israel came to the City of Ai (pronounced EYE).

Unknown to Joshua and Israel as a nation, a man named Achan was with Israel as they marched around Jericho. He was there when the walls fell down (Joshua 6:20), and witnessed the salvation of Rahab and her family from the rubble. God knocked the walls of Jericho down. God gave Israel the victory. Their next stop was Ai (pronounced EYE). Jericho was an armed and walled city, impenetrable according to those who knew. Ai was, in comparison, a tent city. It wasn’t much of a challenge. When Joshua decided to attack Ai, he just sent three thousand (3000) men (Joshua 7:4). This was going to be a cakewalk. But it WASN’T.

Israel was easily repelled at Ai. When Joshua attacked Jericho, an armed fortress, he lost no one. At Ai, Joshua lost 36 men. Joshua fell down before the Lord, and began to pray:

Joshua 7:7-9 … Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! 8 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?

How did God answer Joshua? God told Joshua, “STOP PRAYING!”

Joshua 7:10-11 … Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 11 Israel hath sinned …

Quit praying. Quit crying out to Me. You have ALL sinned against Me. How did Joshua sin? Before Joshua attacked Ai, he didn’t pray and seek God’s counsel.

Joshua sent spies out, and presumed upon God. God was not being glorified. Joshua was over confident, and arrogant. Then when told “we don’t need the whole army”, Joshua sent just 3000 men without consulting God. Pastor Dave Miller writes:

“Where did this presumption come from? What had Israel done to defeat Jericho? One thing. One thing only. They obeyed. When God said march, they marched. And the walls came a-tumblin’ down. It was not Joshua’s leadership or Israel’s military prowess that won the battle. It was God’s power. But now, Israel was taking credit for what God had done. “A mighty army like ours, having just defeated Jericho, will find little challenge against Ai.” … Remember this: In the power of God, no enemy is too big. Greater is he that is in you… But in the power of self, no enemy is too small.”

Before Joshua could pray, he needed to REPENT. Israel needed to REPENT. God will hear our prayers, but will not bless us until we REPENT. Had Joshua sought God before Ai, then God would have told him sin is in the camp. God now tells Joshua:

Joshua 7:11-12 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

Joshua coveted and took the glory of God, presuming on God. He sinned. Israel presumed on God by attacking Ai without God’s blessing. They sinned. A citizen named Achan stole idolatrous items, and his them in his family’s tent. Achan sinned. When confronted, Achan confessed:

Joshua 7:20-21 … Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

The 200 shekels of silver is worth $52.97. The gold of 50 shekels weight is about 550 grams, or 19.4 ounces. This would be about $38,712 today. What Achan took was under $40,000 in value today – a year’s wages for a middle class worker. It cost him his life. It cost him his family. It cost him everything. God is serious about coveting what He has not given us. We need to run from it!

Love God – Don’t Be Like Satan

Christians are to be like Jesus, not like Satan. The Bible tells us that Satan is the original coveter. The Prophet said:

Isaiah 14:12-14 (NKJV) “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Satan – the fallen Angel originally named Lucifer or the Shining One – made five “I WILL” statements. He coveted Heaven, seeking to enter it as his own. Satan coveted the worship of the angels, to elevate himself high above his brethren. Satan wanted to rule the earth. But most importantly, Satan wanted to depose God, and assume the Throne of Heaven for himself.

Though Satan deceived Eve, and has stolen dominion of the world from Adam, he only led a third of the angels of Heaven in revolt against God. Satan could not assume God’s Throne, though he tried.

Christians, we should covet – but only the things that God wants us to covet. The Apostle tells us to “COVET earnestly the BEST GIFTS” (1 Corinthians 12:31), to “COVET the Kingdom of God”(Matthew 6:33). We are to trust God with our desires. I end with these words:

1 Timothy 6:7-8 (ESV) for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

1 Timothy 6:9-10 (ESV) But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Greed and covetousness keeps us from the blessings God wants us to have. Let us be grateful for what the Lord has given us. Remember that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35). May God bless the reading and preaching of His Word. Amen.

Posted in Exodus, Sermons Preached, Ten Commandments | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ninth Commandment: Do Not Bear False Witness – Exodus 20:16

Posted on March 3, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Rodrigo Santos: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-lighted-oil-lamp-1585584/

We’ve been working our way through the Ten Commandments. We’ve found out that the Ten Commandments are not just for the Old Testament, but that they apply today.

The FIRST Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3), before the God of Scripture, was quoted by Jesus in

Matthew 4:10 (ESV) … You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve …

The SECOND Commandment, “You shall not make an idol to bow down to it” (Exodus 20:4-6) is found in:

1 John 5:21 (ESV) Little children, keep yourselves from idols …

The THIRD Commandment, “Do not take the name of God in vain” (Exodus 20:7) is in:

1 Timothy 6:1 (ESV) … the Name of God and the teaching may not be reviled

We found every commandment but ONE, the FOURTH Commandment, repeated in the New Testament. As Christians we realize some still keep the Sabbath, whereas others celebrate Christ on FIRST DAY, the day He rose from the grave. We are told in Romans 14:5-6 that we are not to judge one another on what day we celebrate the Lord. The Sabbath was a shadow (Colossians 2:16-17) that was fulfilled in Christ’s first coming.

As long as the believer sets one day aside to worship the Lord our God, whether Saturday or Sunday, we have fulfilled the FOURTH Commandment.

The first FOUR Commandments deal with our relationship with God, but the next SIX deal with our relationship to our fellow man. We are to honor our parents (5th Commandment, Exodus 20:12). We are not to murder (6th Commandment, Exodus 20:13). We are not to violate the sanctity of marriage (7th Commandment, Exodus 20:14). We are not to steal (8th Commandment, Exodus 20:15). Tonight we come to the NINTH Commandment:

Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

The Commandment Does NOT Say You Shall NOT LIE

The Ninth Commandment is often mis-stated as “You shall not lie”. That’s not what it says. It says, “You shall not lie ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBOR”. The Ninth Commandment is to humanity as the Third Commandment is to God. In the Third Commandment we are told:

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
(Exodus 20:7)

One commentary notes:

“In the Old Testament, bringing dishonor on God’s name was done by failing to perform an oath or vow taken in His name (Leviticus 19:12). The man who used God’s name to legitimize his oath, and then broke his promise, would indicate his lack of reverence for God as well as a lack of fear of His holy retribution. It was essentially the same as denying God’s existence. … There is a larger sense in which people today take the Lord’s name in vain. Those who name the name of Christ, who pray in His name, and who take His name as part of their identity, but who deliberately and continually disobey His commands, are taking His name in vain. Jesus Christ has been given the name above all names, at which every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:9-10), and when we take the name “Christian” upon ourselves, we must do so with an understanding of all that signifies. If we profess to be Christians, but act, think, and speak in a worldly or profane manner, we take His name in vain. When we misrepresent Christ, either intentionally or through ignorance of the Christian faith as proclaimed in Scripture, we take the Lord’s name in vain.”

We take God’s Name in vain when we misrepresent Him. When we misrepresent our neighbor, bearing false witness against them, then we have violated the Ninth Commandment.

Though some say “Thou shalt not lie” is the Ninth Commandment, it is really “Thou shalt not lie ABOUT ANOTHER HUMAN”.

Though the Ninth Commandment does not say “Thou shalt not lie”, the Bible is very clear that we as Christians are to “speak the Truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). We are to be truth tellers, just as our God is. The Bible says in:

Proverbs 6:16-19 (ESV) There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

God hates “a lying tongue” as well as “a false witness who breathes out lies”. God says:

Proverbs 12:22 (ESV) Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

Proverbs 13:5 (ESV) … The righteous hates falsehood …

And God’s standard within the Church is:

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

The lying tongue is a mark of the lost person. The WOKE crowd lies when it looks at a man, and say’s “that’s a woman”. No, that’s a lie. The WOKE crowd says “men can have babies”. No, that’s a lie. The WOKE crowd says “marriage is two consenting adults, regardless of their biological sex”. No, that’s a lie. The WOKE crowd says “sex is a cultural construct. You can determine your sex by how you feel.” No, this is a lie.

Lies belong to the lost, because the father of lies is Satan. Jesus told the Pharisees – who often slandered Him – that:

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

The Devil, that fallen Angel called Lucifer and Satan, is “a liar and the father of lies”. It is Satan that first lied in the Garden of Eden, telling Adam and Eve:

“If you eat of the forbidden tree, YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE. God knows that the day you eat of this tree, your eyes will be opened, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD HIMSELF, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5, AP)

Adam ignored the truth that God spoke (The Sum of Your Word is TRUTH, O Lord, and EVERY ONE of Your RIGHTEOUS RULES ENDURES FOREVER – Psalm 119:160) and listened to Satan. Doing so, he plunged the world and his progeny into spiritual death. Since Adam brought sin into the world “and DEATH BY SIN” (Romans 5:12-21) humans have played with the truth to their detriment. The HEART OF THE WOKE MOVEMENT is found in Paul’s description 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.

They “exchanged the truth about God for a lie”. They rejected God’s Bible, His clear teachings. They rejected the Messiah, refusing to repent and turn to Him in faith. Lies belong to the lost. The Bible says to the Christian:

Colossians 3:9 (ESV) Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

and again:

Psalm 58:3 (ESV) The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

Those who are saved by faith in Christ should NOT lie. Who will be not in Heaven, but cast into the Lake of Fire on judgment day? The Bible says:

Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

God does not condone lying – and particularly does not want you lying about your neighbor.

The Ninth Commandment Says You Shall Not Lie ABOUT Your Neighbor

Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

When in American Law you make a false statement and present it as a fact about someone, you can damage someone’s reputation. The person you hurt can bring a defamation lawsuit. One commentary notes:

“Libel is an untrue defamatory statement that is made in writing. Slander is an untrue defamatory statement that is spoken orally. The difference between defamation and slander is that a defamatory statement can be made in any medium. It could be in a blog comment or spoken in a speech or said on television. Libelous acts only occur when a statement is made in writing (digital statements count as writing) and slanderous statements are only made orally.”

Among God’s Old Testament believers the Lord had a simple method for dealing with false witnesses. We are told in:

Deuteronomy 19:15-21 (ESV) “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16 If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. 20 And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

The often misquoted “Eye For An Eye And Tooth For A Tooth” was not about vengeance, but about false witnesses. If someone committed a crime in Israel, and it went before the Ruling Council or the Priests, if a false witness was discovered “then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst”. In short, the false witness got the EXACT PUNISHMENT that would have went toward the accused. If the accused was going to die, the false witness would die. If the accused was in danger of losing property, the false witness would lose the same amount of property. God said, “Do not pit them … life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”. God made an example of the false witness, and purged evil out of Israel.

“A true witness delivers souls, But a deceitful witness speaks lies” (Proverbs 14:25).

“A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies shall perish” (Proverbs 19:9).

God does not want us as believers telling falsehoods about those around us. If we do not know the truth, we should not “speculate” or “postulate”, but hush. What we say about others matters. There is never a time when bearing false witness against another will be blessed by God.

Are There Any Times When Lying Is Permissible?

There is never a time when we can legitimately bear false witness about a neighbor, but it is permissible to speak a lie when saving lives. For instance, in Exodus 1 Pharaoh commands that the Hebrew mid-wives:

Exodus 1:16 (AP) … if it is a son {being born}, kill him, but if it is a daughter {being born} let her live …

When the mid-wives didn’t do this and the Pharaoh asked why, they lied. They said “the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them”. God honored the mid-wives for NOT killing the baby boys, though God did not address the lie. Later in Israel’s history when Joshua sent spies into the land of Canaan, the King of Jericho …

Joshua 2:3-7 (ESV) … sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

Rahab purposefully lied to the King of Jericho in order to save the lives of the spies. Though the Bible does not address her clear lie, it commends Rahab for protecting the lives of the spies:

Hebrews 11:30-31 (ESV) By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

James 2:24-25 (ESV) You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

Rahab feared God, and protected the lives of God’s spies. She knew where the spies were hidden, and told the soldiers who hunted for them that they had left the city whereas they were hiding on Rahab’s rooftop. She lied to save lives. Rahab was honored for her faith, and is actually in the lineage of Christ (Matthew 1:5).

Lying to save others lives may be necessary, but be aware there is no where in Scripture where God praises a lie. We need to understand that our God is the God of Truth. Jesus said in John 8:32, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” If you tell a lie, you have to remember the lie you told, or else you’ll be tripped up in time. During World War II Corrie Ten Boom as part of the Dutch Resistance helped hide Jews from Nazi soldiers, knowing that these people would be murdered if found. When discovered, Corrie and her family were put in concentration camps. Her entire family died to save the lives of innocent people.

I want to end with this note from one commentary:

“Our goal should never be to wiggle our way around the truth or search for an ethical loophole. When the psalmist describes the person who is privileged to “sojourn” in God’s tent and to “dwell” on his holy hill (Ps. 15:1–5), among the qualities cited is speaking “truth” in his heart, refusing to “slander with his tongue,” and being the sort of person “who swears to his own hurt and does not change.” “He who does these things,” David insists, “shall never be moved.”

May God touch your hearts with His Word. Amen.

Posted in Exodus, Sermons Preached, Ten Commandments | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Divine Destruction Of Death: Hebrews 2:14-16

Posted on March 3, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by NEOM on Unsplash

Hebrews 2:14-16 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Last week we saw that Jesus was NOT an Angel. Angels are superior to humans in strength and duration. Angels are spirit beings, composed of light. Humans are carbon based, who have limited earthly lives. We saw that:

Hebrews 1:4 {Jesus is} … so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Jesus is God the Son. He is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father and the Spirit. Jesus is Creator God. Hebrews 1:2 noted that through Jesus God made the worlds. So Jesus is NOT an Angel, He is BETTER than the Angels. But Jesus is also – willingly – LESSER than the Angels. We read:

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Jesus was made LOWER than the Angels. Why?

Jesus Was Made Like Us To Defeat Death

“Monster” movies just don’t scare me anymore. I remember as a child going to see movies like “Dracula” or “Frankenstein”, or watching something produced by a man named Alfred Hitchcock. It wasn’t long before I started noticing that monsters always hid behind doors, in the back seats of cars, in dark places, and always attacked just before the scary music started playing. When I’d hear the music I’d want to yell “Get out! Can’t you hear the music!” But they inevitably went to the wrong spot – the dark alley – and suffered the consequences.

What made the “Monster” movie scary wasn’t the monster, but the fact that the imaginary monster brought with it the real monster we call “death”.

We’re all familiar with death. We’ve been to funerals. We’ve seen unfortunate animals lying in horrid piles on the side of the road. We’ve seen vultures and crows feasting on the sides of roadways. But what actually is “Death”? Is it just the cessation of life? Atheist Richard Dawkins – now 82 years old – said of death “It will be like being unborn, a great nothing. Or rather as much of a nothing as before we were born.” How does he know this? He doesn’t for sure. He also said “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

What is death? Let’s define the word “Death”, not by our experiences or opinions, but by what the Bible says. The first time the word “Die” (Hebrew mûṯ, pronounced mooth) is found in the Bible is in a warning God gave to Adam. God told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV) … Of every tree of the garden {the Garden in Eden} you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die {mûṯ}.

God was very specific. Adam had free reign over the Garden, in fact, over the whole earth. God told Adam and Eve “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over {all the earth}” (Genesis 1:28). Humanity had absolute control over creation. In the midst of the Garden there were two trees: “The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9). Adam and Eve – along with their progeny – were free to eat of the Tree of Life. But they were forbidden to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God warned Adam, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die {mûṯ}”.

God promised Adam that death would immediately come on him when he ate of that forbidden tree. Adam, just like all of us, paid little attention to God, and ate of that which was forbidden.

Did Adam “cease to live” or “stop functioning as a human being” IN THE DAY he ate of the forbidden tree?

The Bible says in Genesis 5:5, “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died”. Wait a minute. Did God err? God said “IN THE DAY you eat of the forbidden, YOU SHALL SURELY DIE”. But Adam lived to be 930 years old. Did God LIE? As the Scripture says:

Numbers 23:19 (ESV) God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

What God has said He would do, He did. What God warned Adam against was not PHYSICAL death, but SPIRITUAL death. Richard Dawkins is SPIRITUALLY dead. He may still be walking the earth at 82 years old, but he – along with many others – is SPIRITUALLY dead. You see, God is the Source of Life and Light. It is God Who said, “Let there be LIGHT – and there WAS LIGHT” (Genesis 1:3). It is God Who “breathed into Adam the BREATH OF LIFE” (Genesis 2:7), and because of this “man became a LIVING SOUL”. God is the Source of Life. Moses told Israel to be …

Deuteronomy 30:20 (ESV) … loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days …

And the Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

And King Solomon wrote:

Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

God was not telling Adam that he would PHYSICALLY die the day that he disobeyed and ate that which was forbidden. God was telling Adam that he would SPIRITUALLY die, that he would be separated from the Source of Life by his sin. When the Bible speaks of Adam’s sin and it’s repercussions, it states:

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:

When Adam sinned against God, he IMMEDIATELY – IN THAT DAY – separated himself from God. The Bible says that Adam first tried to cover his sin with fig leaves. Then when Adam heard God coming,

Genesis 3:8 … Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Before Adam sinned, he walked with God in the cool of the day. After Adam sinned, he hid himself from God. Those who are SPIRITUALLY dead have no thought of God.

Psalm 10:4 (ESV) In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek {God}; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

The SPIRITUALLY dead are dead because they are separated from God. If you are SPIRITUALLY dead you will eventually PHYSICALLY die – but you will STILL be separated from God, the Source of Life.

Illustrate: We see the evidence of SPIRITUAL death daily. I was at Wendy’s just today getting their “two sausage biscuits for three dollars”. I’d been there before, so I knew that the bill would be a certain amount. I had a bunch of change, so I gave the attendant more than the bill, thinking he’d give me a few pennies back. He put the money in the register, closed it, and gave me the biscuits. It wasn’t much money so I didn’t grouse about it. But either that man was lazy and didn’t count the money, or was a thief and stole it. Either way, it is dishonest – spiritual death.

Illustrate: We see spiritual death in other ways in our world. We see it in people who murder, in school shootings. We see spiritual death in people who deny their own existence, their own DNA and sexuality. We see spiritual death in broken families, orphaned children, and aborted babies. We see spiritual death in racism and hatred. A young man just the other day – an Airman in the US Air Force – stood in front of Israel’s Embassy and – pouring lighter fluid over his body, set himself on fire. As he died screaming, he cried out “Free Palestine”. To so treat the life God gave you is spiritual death. There is spiritual death in the suicide, the alcoholic, the drug abuser, the child molester. All that is evil and horrid in this world is a result of SPIRITUAL death.

Jesus Defeated Death By Defeating The Devil

Hebrews 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; {15} And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Who has the power of death? Look at the latter part of verse 14: “through death He (Jesus) might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil”. Who has the power of death? Satan! Again, going back to the proper definition of “death”, death is “separation from God”. Satan was the very first one to rise up in revolt against God, separating himself from God, dying spiritually as it were. The Book of Revelation speaks of the Angel Lucifer. Created by God as an Arch Angel, it was Lucifer’s job to lead the other angels of Heaven in celebrating the God Who created all things. But Lucifer revolted from God, and led a third of the angels of Heaven in revolt against God (Revelation 12:4). Trying to take over Heaven (a lesson in futility) the Bible says:

Revelation 12:9 … the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Cast to the earth Satan, “that old serpent” was in the Garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden. “You shall not surely die – but the day you eat of it, you’ll be like gods!” (Genesis 3:5). It was the devil who tempted Adam to betray God. Adam took the bait, and brought SPIRITUAL death into the world.

Adam is a sinner, and his children are sinners. Spiritually dead because of sin, Adam and his children are separated from God by our own sin. We cannot make ourselves right with God. We are broken, in a hopeless and helpless situation. The devil, the author of sin and death, continued to egg us on to reject God. The scripture said:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

What hope do we have? We have Jesus. The Scripture says:

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Jesus took upon Himself “flesh and blood”. He brought Himself into the creation that He made. Though Eternal God Jesus Christ stepped away from glory to become like us. Imagine! The Creator became the created! Though …

Colossians 2:9 … in {Jesus} dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Jesus did not hesitate to take humanity upon Himself. He did not come to this earth in robes and splendor as was His right. He did not come with a crown upon His head, or a scepter in His hand. He did not come with ten thousands of angels heralding His approach. He did not come on a chariot of fire, nor did He come to the applause of thousands. The Bible says that Jesus …

Philippians 2:7 .. made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men …

Jesus came as a Servant. He was born the Messiah in a little town of David called Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy (Micah 5:1-2; Matthew 2:1-10; Luke 2:1-21). Jesus grew up in Nazareth to fulfill Messianic prophecy (Matthew 2:23; Isaiah 11:1). It was a saying in those days “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46), as Nazareth was such a poor and pitiful area. Jesus came from the least and the less. Though He is the “blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto” (1 Timothy 6:15-16), Jesus came into the world lowly. Why?

The Greatest of all became the Least of us so He could reach the Lowest of us. Jesus took death on Himself so that we could receive life through His sacrifice.

When God told Adam “the very day you eat the forbidden, YOU SHALL DIE”, God was serious. Adam brought spiritual death on himself and on us all. Jesus saves us from this death by being punished in our place. Jesus died to Heaven – separated Himself from Heaven – so that He could reunite us with God. Jesus died to glory – separated Himself from the glory that was rightly His – so that He could “bringing many sons unto glory”. What does the Scripture tell us?

Philippians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus Christ took death on Himself for you and for me. All of your offenses and my offenses against Eternal God were nailed to His Cross – and Jesus was then nailed over top of them! The rain of Judgment struck the Son of God on that terrible Hill Golgotha. Jesus bore the penalty for our sin then, though Immortal God, willingly surrendered His physical life. He said:

Luke 23:46 … Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

He suffered SPIRITUALLY for us, then died PHYSICALLY. Laid in a grave, He was sealed in His tomb for three days and three nights. The Devil thought he had defeated the Messiah, but he was wrong.

Jesus delivered us from spiritual death. Jesus crushed the power of the devil. Jesus defeated physical death. Oh, how Satan hated that day when death died! When Jesus Christ took the penalty of our sin on Himself He made a way whereby God could make us alive again through the operation of the Holy Spirit. ALL Trespasses are forgiven the Christian. As The Scripture aptly puts it:

Colossians 2:13-15 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; {14} Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; {15} And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Before you believed on Christ, you were dead in trespasses and sins. You walked apart from God. Once you believe on Jesus, repenting of your sin and calling on His Name, God sends the Holy Spirit to you. You are made alive apart from the works of the Law.

The Christian Is Dead To The Law Of Sacrifice, But Alive To Righteousness

Hebrews 2:16-17 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

When Jesus came, He came by showing us that God keeps His promises. In the Old Testament God promised a man named Abraham:

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God promised to give Abraham children, to bring a nation out of Abraham, and to bring the Messiah through Abraham and thus bless “all the families of the earth”. God keeps His promises. When Jesus came to this earth, the Messiah came from “the seed of Abraham”. Jesus came to replace the sacrificial system, where animals were killed to cover or “atone” for our sins. When Jesus died on the Cross, He died as:

John 1:29 … the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Those who are saved are saved from SPIRITUAL death by believing on Jesus. We are saved because we are ransomed …

1 Peter 1:19 (ESV) … with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The Christian is “BORN AGAIN” or “QUICKENED” because we have received the Word of God as our own. We have heard and believed the good news that, though we are sinners, Christ died to cover our sins.

Dying for our sins as the Lamb of God, Jesus rose from the Grave and is now our Great High Priest. He is “a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people”. His death defeated Satan. His death defeated SPIRITUAL death. His resurrection defeated PHYSICAL death. Satan has no hold on the child of God.

God keeps His promises. Jesus is God. Jesus keeps His promises. He has promised:

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Those who believe in Jesus are passed from death unto life. We are no longer separated from God, but we are intimately bound with the Source of Life. Furthermore, the Christian knows that he or she has passed from death to life. How? The Scripture says:

1 John 3:14-16 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. {15} Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. {16} Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

How does the Christian know that he is a Christian? Life reigns in Him. God the Source of Life is also defined as Love, and He lives in the hearts of those who are His. Dead things exude death, but New Creatures in Christ exude Life. We as Christians are saved to LIVE above death, to LIVE outside the devil, to LIVE in victory. The devil condemns. The world condemns. The spiritually dead condemn. We who have believed on Him are ALIVE!

Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Death is dead, it’s Source is defeated, and we who believe have a High Priest Who sits in the Heavens representing us before the Heavenly Father. We are saved to the uttermost. I conclude with this.

Are you part of the Redeemed? Are you part of the Saved? Does Jesus make reconciliation for you? If you do not have a relationship with God by faith in Him then you are yet dead in your sins. The monster is out of the closet, and rules your life with glee. My prayer is that you know Him and the power of His resurrection. That you know death is dead for you. That you know Satan is a defeated enemy because He Who loves you gave Himself for you. And if you don’t know Him, today is a great day to come unto Him and be saved. May God touch your hearts with His Word. Amen and Amen.

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

Jesus Is No Angel

Posted on February 27, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-hands-on-holy-bible-267559/

One of the heresies that crept into the Church was that Jesus is a great Teacher, but just a Man. Last week God told us in Hebrews that Jesus is no mere Man – that He is God in the flesh. A mere Man, no matter how moral, could not have paid for our sins on Calvary. We are all born sinners, all, that is, but Jesus Christ. He was born into humanity to save us from the condemnation of our sins.

While some were saying that Jesus is just a Man, others claimed that Jesus was no Man, but an Angel of God. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and the Muslim cults teach that Jesus was an Angel or an Angelic messenger. But as we come to Hebrews once more we find out, NOT ONLY is Jesus NOT JUST a Man, but

Jesus Is Better Than The Angels

Hebrews 1:4-8 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

We can read the first verse of today’s text:

“Being made so much better than the angels”

Word Study: That’s very plain. Jesus is NOT an Angel, because Jesus is “so much better than the angels”. The word rendered “better” is the Greek kreittōn, which means “being more advantageous, more excellent, stronger, nobler, best or superior to”. This word is used frequently throughout the Book of Hebrews to show how superior Jesus is. God spoke His Word to the Old Testament Saints often through Angels. For instance, God sent the Angel Gabriel to speak to both Zechariah and Mary of Nazareth:

Luke 1:19 (ESV) … I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

To Zechariah the Angel Gabriel brought the news that John the Baptist, the Greatest Prophet who ever lived according to Jesus (Matthew 11:11) would be born out of his Elisabeth. To Mary of Nazareth the Angel came with the great news that she would bear the Son of God. In fact, the Bible says that

Galatians 3:19 (ESV) … {the Law of God} was put in place through angels by an intermediary

God used angels to bring the good news, and to share aspects of the Law of God with humanity through the Prophets. But angels could not bring what Jesus brought. Angels helped bring the Law, and told of the coming Messiah. But Jesus as THE MESSIAH brought us a BETTER {kreittōn} HOPE

Hebrews 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a BETTER {kreittōn} hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

The Law of God – ordained by angels – gave man HOPE that we could be at peace with God, but the Law “made nothing perfect”, for it relied on animal sacrifices at a Temple on an altar. Animals cannot adequately atone for our sins. But Jesus, God become Man, Perfect Man, died once for all for our sins. Because of His Blood shed for us, we stand justified, righteous in the eyes of God. We are, as believers, sons and daughters of God because of our position in Christ.

Jesus took the animal’s sacrificial position for us, so that we could positionally be made sons of God in Him.

The Law was the Old Covenant, the Covenant of works. Sins could only be covered or atoned for by animal sacrifice. Various ceremonial and cleansing laws had to be strictly followed under the first covenant. But Jesus brought in a BETTER {kreittōn} covenant that offered BETTER {kreittōn} PROMISES. We read:

Hebrews 8:6 But now hath {Jesus} obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also {Jesus} is the mediator of a BETTER {kreittōn} covenant, which was established upon BETTER {kreittōn} promises.

Jesus Is MADE BETTER Than The Angels

Hebrews 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels

Word Study: The words translated “Being made” is the Greek ginomai, which means “to come into existence, to come from one form into another”. We studied last week where Jesus Christ is eternal God alongside the Father and the Spirit. In order to save us, He had to enter humanity. God had to become flesh. When the Angel told Mary that she was going to have the Messiah, he said:

Luke 1:35 … 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.

God would, through the virgin birth, become Man. Jesus did not become an Angel, but a Human.

Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels {The Lord our God} saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

This is a quotation of:

Psalm 104:4-5 {God Who} maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: 5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

Angels are not like humans. Humans are created from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7; 3:19). But Angels are different in their creation. They are “spirits” (Hebrew rûaḥ, pronounced roo’-akh), which means “like the wind, breath, or spirit”. When Jesus resurrected from the grave the disciples, on first seeing Him, thought He was a ghost or an angel. Jesus said:

Luke 24:9 … a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

Mankind is carbon based, just as the earth is. But Angels are SPIRIT. They are also “a flaming fire”, the Hebrew lāhaṭ ‘ēš (pronounced law-hat’ aysh) meaning “that which blazes and burns but does not burn up”. Angels are like the sun, which is why they are often referred to as “stars” (Revelation 12:4). Angels “excel in strength” (Psalm 103:20), and are so powerful that one angel killed 185,000 armed Assyrian soldiers in one day (1 Chronicles 21:15; 2 Kings 19:35). In the Created Order, Angels are much more powerful than humans. Though Jesus as Infinite God is GREATER than the Angels, in order to become human – like us – Jesus had to become LOWER THAN the Angels.

Humans are LOWER than the Angels. We are not as powerful. They are created of light, and we of carbon.

King David wrote of how God honored humans in creation. He said:

Psalm 8:4-8 (ESV) … what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the {Angels} and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

Humans are LOWER than the Angels, but Jesus as eternal God is HIGHER and greater than the Angels.

The Law could not save us. Angels could not save us. So God lowered Himself, becoming “LOWER THAN THE ANGELS” to bear the wrath that we all so richly deserve.

The Scripture says:

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Jesus Who is GREATER than the Angels allowed Himself to be made LOWER than the Angels – just like us – so that He could take the penalty of death in our place. We are told again:

Hebrews 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Word Study: The word “inheritance” is the Greek klēronoméō, which means “he is the HEIR”. The HEIR of something is the one who legally is the “next of kin”, the person who will receive properties or goods from a relative. The Angels are not HEIRS of God. They are created beings. We previously studied verses 2-3 which says that “God appointed Jesus HEIR OF ALL THINGS, through Whom HE ALSO MADE THE WORLD”. Jesus is God’s Son. Jesus is eternal, without origin (John 1:1-3). The Angels had beginnings and endings. But Jesus is God. God the Father said of the Messiah:

Psalm 2:7-8 (ESV) … The Lord said to Me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Everything created – even the Angels – belong to Jesus. He is the Heir of all things. This is why the Bible says:

Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Both We And The Angels Worship Jesus

Hebrews 1:5-6 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

Jesus is “BEGOTTEN” of God:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Word Study: The word rendered “begotten” is the Greek monogenes. My commentary notes:

“According to the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG, 3rd Edition), monogenes has two primary definitions. The first definition is “pertaining to being the only one of its kind within a specific relationship.” This is its meaning in Hebrews 11:17 when the writer refers to Isaac as Abraham’s “only begotten son” (KJV). Abraham had more than one son, but Isaac was the only son he had by Sarah and the only son of the covenant. Therefore, it is the uniqueness of Isaac among the other sons that allows for the use of monogenes in that context. The second definition is “pertaining to being the only one of its kind or class, unique in kind.” This is the meaning that is implied in John 3:16 (see also John 1:14, 18; 3:18; 1 John 4:9).”

There are many Angels, and many humans, but Jesus Christ is unique. He is the monogenes, the unique Son of God. Jesus as God was never created (as we have established before), but “became flesh and dwelt amongst us” (John 1:14). When Jesus became perfect Human, entering the world through the virgin birth, the Father said of Him “let all the angels of God worship him”. This is what happened when – that wonderful night in Bethlehem – the Angel announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds. After the announcement:

Luke 2:13-14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Angels are NOT to be worshiped. Angels serve as guardians of those who are saved by faith in Christ (Hebrews 1:14). When John the Revelator saw an angel in Heaven, he bowed down to worship it. But the angel said, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets. … Worship God!” (Revelation 22:9). Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 4:10 (ESV) … You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.

Only God is to be worshiped. Man is not to be worshiped. Angels are not to be worshiped. Taylor Swift is not to be worshiped. Donald Trump is not to be worshiped. Only God. Jesus is God.

And God the Father directed the angels to worship Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is God Incarnate. To hammer this point home we are told:

Hebrews 1:8-9 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Jesus Occupies A Righteous Throne

Humans sit on thrones. The fallen Angel Lucifer sought to take God’s Throne. But Jesus legitimately sits on an eternal throne. The Bible here quotes the Messianic Psalm:

Psalm 45:6-7 (ESV) Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

Jesus sits on a Throne. There are those who say that you can be saved by receiving Jesus as Savior only, and if you later want to do so, you can receive Him as Lord. This is false doctrine. The Bible makes it clear that Christ is to be received as BOTH Lord and Savior. We read in:

Romans 10:9-13 (ESV) … if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

In the early Church Christians would never have been bothered by the Romans and the Pharisees and Chief Priests had they just said “We believe Jesus is Savior”. Had you believed that, and kept your belief to yourself, there would never be any problem. The problem was that the early Church believed Jesus was BOTH LORD AND SAVIOR, and preached this as the Gospel. Christians were not only imprisoned, but KILLED OUTRIGHT because they believed Jesus to be both Lord and Savior. In Acts chapter 5 the Apostles were brought before the Ruling Council of Israel called the Sanhedrim. The Council demanded:

Acts 5:28 … Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.

The Apostles did not hesitate, saying:

Acts 5:29-32 … We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

The Apostles make some startling claims here. First, “We ought to obey God rather than men”. A “Christian” who claims to be saved, but who will not follow and obey Jesus, is no threat to anyone. I doubt they are even Christian. But second, the Apostles identified Jesus as “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior”. Jesus is both Lord and Savior. Finally, the Apostles said “God hath given to them that obey him … the Holy Spirit”. Those who OBEY Jesus are given the Holy Spirit. The Bible is clear that:

Romans 8:8-9 … they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Jesus sends the Holy Spirit of God to those who believe on Him, those who have received Him as both Lord and Savior. Obedience to Christ is the condition of receiving the Holy Spirit. Jesus said:

John 14:15-17 (ESV) “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Jesus is both Lord and Savior. We as His people are His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. We love Him, and we follow Him.

Hebrews 1:8-9 … a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Those who are saved by Grace – like myself – often fail the Lord. But we do not revel in the failure. When we fail, we confess our sin. We repent, and turn back to the Blood of the Cross.

We as members of His Kingdom do not endorse sin, because Jesus LOVES righteousness but HATES iniquity. His scepter is RIGHTEOUSNESS.

What is “RIGHTEOUSNESS”? It is what God has said is right. God is the Creator. Jesus is Creator God.

Hebrews 1:10-12 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

People change. Times change. Fashions change. Our earth changes. In my lifetime I have seen public morality change drastically through the false doctrines of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”. I read that a “professor” wrote in Scientific American:

“[T]he science is clear and conclusive: sex is not binary, transgender people are real.”

New Atheist and Oxford Biologist Richard Dawkins (who believes there is no such person as God) replied to the foolish professors article:

“This ridiculous article (shame on the once-great Scientific American) ignorantly misunderstands the nature of the sex binary. … Sex is not defined by chromosomes, nor by anatomy, nor by psychology or sociology, nor by personal inclination, nor by “assignment at birth”, but by gamete size. It happens to be embryologically DETERMINED by chromosomes in mammals. … But it is universally DEFINED by the binary distinction between sperms and eggs. You may argue about “gender” if you wish (biologists have better things to do) but sex is a true binary, one of rather few in biology.”

God created all things. He has given everything order. Though we may try to manipulate right and wrong, God has set all things according to His standard. If you are saved by Grace, you are called to live to honor Him Who saved you. There is not an Old Testament God and a New Testament God. What God said is wrong in the Old Testament – unless He has rescinded it – it is still wrong in the New Testament, and today.

Christians, we are to live to glorify Jesus. Jesus is coming again. Until He returns, we are to live for Him. If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I pray that God the Holy Spirit will pierce the hardness of your heart, and lead you to Him this very day. And once in Christ, I pray that you persevere, loving the Lord Who gave Himself for you.

Amen. So must it be, dear Lord. Amen.

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

Exodus 20:15: Thou Shalt Not Steal

Posted on February 23, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-handcuff-holding-rolled-dollar-bills-6266297/

Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

Just four words in the English, but only two words in the Hebrew, the EIGHTH Commandment says:

lō’ gānaḇ (pronounced gaw-nab’)

The words mean “you shall not carry away or steal”. The earliest use of this word is found in the story of Jacob and his father in law Laban. Laban was aging, and wanted Jacob to stay with him and tend to his herds of goats and flocks of sheep. Jacob agreed to do so, but only if Laban gave him all the speckled or spotted goats and black sheep. Laban quickly agreed to this, as the animals that were spotted or the black sheep were considered inferior quality (Genesis 30:32-36). The majority of Laban’s flock was pure white, and the goats were pure white or black. So it seemed as if Jacob was making a lopsided deal. But Jacob was in communion with God, and the Lord told Jacob how to breed the animals so as to birth speckled animals (Genesis 31:10-12). Laban was trying to STEAL from Jacob, and God wasn’t going to have it. In the end, Jacob ended up with a greater herd of speckled and spotted animals.

God knows the DNA of every person, creature, and living thing. It was nothing for God to direct Jacob in the breeding of animals to enrich His people!

Sadly, when Jacob took his leave of Laban, and carried his superior flocks and herds off, his wife Rachel “had STOLEN (gānaḇ) the idols that were her father’s” (Genesis 31:19). Rather than trust in the Lord as Jacob was learning to do, she superstitiously stole Laban’s idols, thinking they would bring blessing upon the household. Jacob allowed Rachel to keep Laban’s idols until Genesis 35:

Genesis 35:1-4 (ESV) God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

By keeping idols, Jacob’s family was STEALING GLORY from God. They had to put away all their theft before God could change Jacob to ISRAEL:

Genesis 35:9-12 (ESV) God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. 11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. 12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”

While Jacob had family members stealing God’s glory and worshiping false gods, God could not bless him as He wanted to do. With repentance comes blessing. “You shall not steal”.

People Rob From God When They Worship Money

God spoke to His people in:

Malachi 3:8-12 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

God gives us blessing every day. He does not want us to worship that which He has given us, but to worship Him. In faith, we return a portion of our time and tithe (our money) to the ministry of God. In the early Church God established Apostles and Pastors who tended to the Church of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 9:7-12 (ESV) Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? 8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?…

1 Timothy 5:17-18 (ESV) Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

When you hoard your money, stashing it away, greedily worshiping it rather than contributing to God’s Kingdom, you have in essense robbed God. Your treasure is not to be your bank account, but God your Savior. Jesus warned:

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When you leave this earth, your bank account will not go with you, nor will your home, your cars, your four wheelers, your fishing boats, or your businesses. When you stand before God every possession you have held onto a worship will not be with you. All that will be with you is your relationship with the Father through Christ. The Bible says:

Matthew 6:24 (ESV) No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (see also Luke 16:13)

It Is Wrong To Rob God, But It Is Also Wrong To Rob Government

When Jesus walked this earth, a number of groups of people despised what He had to say. One day the Herodians (supporters of Rome and King Herod) and the Pharisees (supporters of the written Law of God and the traditions of the elders) came together to try and trap our Lord. Jesus had been teaching the Jews in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, and large numbers were gathered around Him.

Matthew 22:15-22 (ESV) Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

If Jesus had answered “As a Jew, I don’t want to give to Rome”, the Herodians would have reported Him as a traitor to the nation. If Jesus had said, “Yes, we should pay our taxes to Rome”, the Pharisees would have said Jesus was a traitor to Israel. But Jesus merely had them hold up a coin. Every coin minted is minted by the government. Jesus asked, “Whose inscription is on the coin?”, to which they replied, “Caesar’s”. Jesus said:

render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, that is, Pay your Taxes!

render to … God the things that are God’s, that is, give glory and tithe to the Lord!

The government provides services to its citizens to protect them from foreign invasion and internal evil. The government has been given authority by God to protect not only the people of God, but all citizens so that they might hear the Gospel of salvation. When citizens do not pay their fair share the government cannot hire police, fire, and military services. As I am coming up on tax season (as we all are) I am aware that as an American citizen it seems like – at times – I’m taxed to death. However, taxes pay for services that we all need, whether we like it or not. The Bible tells us:

Romans 13:1-4 (ESV) Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. … 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

The One Who Steals – The Thief – Is Not Saved

Those who are saved by faith in Christ do not follow their old pattern of life. The Apostle said to the Church:

1 Peter 4:15-16 (ESV) … let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

The thief brings suffering on themselves as well as others. Judas Iscariot, one of the Apostles chosen by Christ, “was a thief” (John 12:6). He started out down the wrong path by stealing from the treasury of the Apostles. After a time, the money Judas so wanted led him to selling Christ for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 26:15; Matthew 27:9). After realizing that he was instrumental in the murder of the Lord of Glory, Judas “hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5) and was buried in an unmarked grave in a place called “The Field of Blood” (Matthew 27:8). Peter said of Judas:

Acts 1:17-18 For {Judas Iscariot} was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

People who steal often believe that they are not hurting anyone – not really – but they are. They are hurting themselves, and those around them. An NPR article entitled “Major Retailers Blame Theft For Their Decision To Close Locations” noted:

“Target announced this week that it will close nine stores in locations where the company has experienced too much crime. Whole Foods and Nordstrom recently closed locations in San Francisco for the same reason. Shoplifting is a problem, and so are looting incidents…”

The largest retailer in the whole world is Walmart. It is closing half its stores in Chicago. One article notes:

“In December 2022, {Walmart CEO Doug} McMillon noted that theft rates at Walmart alone were “higher than what it has historically been” and called it a significant “issue” facing the industry.” Walmart closed 20 locations in 2023 nationwide. “Eight of the closures were in Illinois, two in Oregon, and two more in Georgia, per Daily Mail. The remaining stores were scattered across 12 states, with one closure each in Florida, Washington, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, Wisconsin, Virginia, Arkansas, and Hawaii. Walmart is one of 19 other retailers that closed a combined 2,847 locations as of Christmas”.

Theft by shoplifting and robbery closes stores down in high crime neighborhoods. Bed Bath and Beyond, Party City, and Rite Aid filed for bankrupcy because of theft. When stores close down in neighborhoods, liberals say that it is because of racism. No, it’s because people steal. There is a principal of retailing that states:

If your OUTGO exceeds your INCOME, your UPKEEP will be your DOWNFALL.

Stores have tried combating this by locking up items most likely to be stolen. Sadly, customers will avoid such places. “Thou shalt not steal”. When you steal, you end up not only hurting others, but you also hurt yourself. God tells His Children – saved by faith –

Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

May God touch our hearts with His Word! Amen.

Posted in Exodus, Sermons Preached, Ten Commandments | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Importance Of Walking With Jesus

Posted on February 20, 2024 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-opening-a-scroll-5986492/

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…

Why did God give us the Book of Hebrews? Why Is “Hebrews” So Important For Us In America Today?

People are in a constant state of confusion in America. Many children are growing up confused about their sexuality. The vast majority struggling with sexual identity come from broken homes. Their mothers or fathers – or both – abandoned them, abused them in their formative years, and so the child is confused.

A child, like a plant, will only grow and be fruitful in the proper soil and in proper care. Left to its own, the weeds of life take over. Poorly tended, children turn to crime, drug abuse, or confusion of face (furries)!

How are we going to see the rips in American society repaired? Will a political party, some man made “god” do it? No! What will fix the Church in America, the Church that has so compromised that its ministers have become molesters, and it’s mission to fly a rainbow flag? Another denomination isn’t going to fix it.

We need to get back to the Source of Life. We need to get to God. That’s what the Book of Hebrews is about.

Let’s start with the name of the Book, “HEBREWS”. According to Allan P. Ross, the author of the Baker Academic textbook “Introducing Biblical Hebrew” (2001):

“Hebrew belongs to the CANAANITE group of languages. Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages”

That’s fascinating. Our Old Testament is written in Hebrew and Aramaic, both languages coming from Canaan. Though Canaan was a land of “milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8; Numbers 14:8; Deuteronomy 31:20; Ezekiel 20:15), Canaan was filled with an evil and idolatrous people. Rather than worship the God Who made them, they created their own gods and goddesses. When God sent Israel into Canaan, He ordered that they “utterly destroy all in the cities” (Joshua 6:21). Why did God want the Canaanites all gone? Because God gave the Canaanites a beautiful and bountiful land. God gave them rain in due season, great harvests, and wonderful weather along with fertile soil. Rather than walk with God, the Canaanites despised God, abused that which He gave, and created false gods that they paid homage to.

And their civilization fell apart. They became savage.

Pastor Don Stewart notes:

“The Promised Land in which the Israelites were to settle was populated by the Canaanites who had corrupted and perverted God’s truth. They had corrupted themselves to the place where they were beyond saving. Had any been permitted to live, they would have infected Israel with their moral depravity.”

Canaanites followed false gods. They murdered and abused their children. They rejected a walk with God. In the midst of all this madness, we see God reach out to a person of Canaanite heritage. A HEBREW by the name of Abram.

Genesis 14:13 (ESV) … Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre …

Abram – who would follow God and become known as ABRAHAM – was from Canaanite stock. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). God reached out to Abram, Abram didn’t reach out to God. Abram was broken. He had no children, nor any prospect of children. God reached out and called this Hebrew to salvation. God said:

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) … Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Abram-Abraham was a pagan who heard a call to salvation, and began to follow the Lord because of it. He separated from his Canaanite family and Canaanite religions to honor the Lord who saved him. What did God promise Abram/ Abraham? He promised Abram a child. God said, “I will fix your broken life and the broken life of your wife if you follow Me”. God promised Abram many children. God said, “I will make of you a great nation”. God promised not only to fix Abram, but to give him a SUPERABUNDANCE OF GRACE. But what else did God promise Abram? God said, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”. God would give Abram GRACE, but a GREAT GRACE would come through Abram’s heritage. Now here’s a question for you to ponder.

What did God NOT promise the Hebrew Abram? He did not promise him HEAVEN. And yet, that is so much of the focus of preaching in America today.

It was through the lineage of Abraham – the Hebrews – that God would send the Messiah. Why did God call out to Abram/ Abraham? To lead him out of the mess of Canaanite society, and to invite him to walk with God Himself. Why did Jesus come to this earth? He came through the Hebrews to give us life RIGHT NOW. It’s not about eventual Heaven. Yes, we want to go to Heaven. The Bible tells us:

John 3:16-20 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

If you walk through this life without Jesus, without the One that the Hebrew Abraham followed, then you have CONDEMNATION. Your life is in pieces. You are not living the life God meant you to live.

Jesus came into this world to not just save you from Hell, but to lead you in this life. He came to take your brokenness and, through His Grace, bless you and give you the life the devil doesn’t want you to have.

The Target Of Salvation Is To Walk With God

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets

God has been reaching out to mankind since our start in the Garden of Eden. We’re told in verse 1 that God reached out “at sundry times and in divers manners”. This is two Hebrew words, polymerōs polytropōs. The God Who is “the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 40:28) reached out “at many different times, and in many different ways” to SPEAK or COMMUNICATE with us. God wants us to understand that He is the Creator of life. He is our Maker. When we walk apart from Him, we walk in darkness and in misery. God called out men whom He called “prophets”. The Prophets were the oracles of God. They, like Abraham, were willing to listen to God. These men in turn told others what God wanted them to hear.

God kept His Word, and out of Abraham raised up a nation called Israel that was to introduce the whole world to life with God. But Israel went to Egypt, and there got away from God. They gave their hearts to the gods of Egypt, turning back to the darkness. As a result the nation that was supposed to BLESS the world was CURSED in their world. Pharoah told the midwives, those who delivered the babies of the Hebrew mothers:

Exodus 1:16 … When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

When you get away from a relationship with God, He will often allow troubles to come. It is God Who brings stability to our lives.

Jeremiah 3:25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

The Pharoah determined that he wanted the male babies of the Hebrew women to be killed. Had this happened, the Nation that God was going to bless the whole world with would have died out. When the midwives wouldn’t do this evil, Pharoah tried working the Jews to death. As slaves, he made their lives more and more difficult.

Israel cried out to the Lord for salvation when the whip of the taskmaster cut their skin. The prodigal son decided to go home to his father while he was eating out of the hog trough. Trials wake us up and remind us of God.

Israel cried out to God,

Psalm 3:7-8 Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For You strike all my enemies on the cheek; You break the teeth of the wicked. SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD … Selah!

When Israel called out to God, repenting and trusting in Him, God heard them. God always hears when we cry out. God called to Moses from a burning bush, saying:

Exodus 3:7-8 (ESV) … I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…

Israel was saved by calling on the name of the Lord. They heard the voice of the Prophet Moses. God spoke to His people, saying “Follow Me and I will bless you, I will save you from wasted life.

Psalm 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord …

Romans 10:13 … For WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED …

Salvation has always been by GRACE, by REPENTANCE, by turning from yourself and thrusting yourself by faith into the arms of God. Israel was saved by Grace. Abraham was saved by Grace. The New Testament tells us that:

James 2:23 Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. And he was CALLED THE FRIEND OF GOD ..

Romans 4:3 … Abraham BELIEVED GOD, and {this faith} WAS CREDITED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS (a quotation of Genesis 15:6)

Abraham was not saved by keeping a Law, but by loving and following Him Who made us. We are all broken. We think we know best, but apart from God, we do not. When we hear God’s call and follow Him, He covers our sins, and guides us into His light.

Romans 4:6-8 (ESV) … just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

To Be Saved Is To Follow God. Jesus Is God.

Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

God called humans to walk with Him through His prophets. Moses was a great Prophet. But God also wanted us to understand that, though salvation is free to us – it comes at a GREAT COST.

How could God describe the GREAT COST of our salvation? He first did it with the Law, with animal sacrifice. Israel followed the Prophet Moses to Mount Sinai, and there God gave Israel an elaborate series of feasts, festivals, and sacrifices. God established a Tabernacle and later a Temple for worship. The center of the Hebrew’s life was the animal sacrifice. God told the Hebrews to gather

Exodus 12:5 … year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats

The animal was killed as “a sin offering for atonement” (Exodus 29:36). The blood of the blemishless creature COVERED the sin of the people. The Hebrews were to “make atonement for their souls” (Exodus 30:15). The animals were to be killed on an altar to God, then burned to signify the wrath of God being poured out on the blemishless creature for the penitent sinner. The animal suffered the punishment of sin. The animal sacrifice was prophetic, for it had no ability to actually pay the price of sin. Salvation is a gift of Grace, but Someone MUST pay the penalty of sin, which is death.

Some 80 times in the Bible God through the Prophets spoke of ATONEMENT, the covering of sin. In each instance, an animal without blemish was PUNISHED, killed and BURNED to pay for the sins of the people.

Word Study: The word ATONEMENT (Greek katallagē, “Reconciliation with God”) is only found FOUR TIMES in the New Testament (Romans 5:11; 11:15; 2 Corinthians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:19). In these passages it never refers to an animal sacrifice – but to what Jesus did for us. For instance, the Bible says:

Romans 5:8-11 (ESV) … but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (ATONEMENT (Greek katallagē).

We have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew was called to walk with God by faith, and to temporarily cover his sins by animal sacrifices. In the New Testament “we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son”. The Old Testament Law was a shadow, looking forward to the Messiah. We now walk with God by faith in Jesus Christ, believing that HIS DEATH ATONED FOR OUR SINS.

It was prophesied in the Old Testament that God Himself would come into humanity. The Scripture says:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (meaning “God with us”)

This Messiah would come forth from God to be born in Bethlehem:

Micah 5:2 (ESV) But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

This Messiah is Jesus. He would come into the world to ATONE for our sins, so that we can, by Grace, walk with God. We are told later in this Book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:5-10 (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; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 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.’” 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

God was never satisfied with the sacrifices of animals, no matter how spotless they appeared. God never considered the sacrifice of animals to be an atonement for sin. No, the Messiah must come. The Prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah.

How Much Does God Want You To Walk With Him?

The Jesus that God sent into the world is no mere Man. We are told:

Hebrews 1:2 {God} Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

The Jesus Who came into this world is co-eternal and co-equal with God. Though He took upon Himself humanity, being made of virgin and Holy Spirit, Jesus is the Eternal Word of God. The Scripture says:

John 1:1-3 (ESV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

When God said “Let there be Light”, and there was Light, JESUS WAS THAT LIGHT (Genesis 1:3). God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit made life. When you walk with Jesus, you are walking with the Creator of Life:

John 1:4 (ESV) In Him {Jesus} WAS LIFE, and the life was THE LIGHT OF MEN …

Before Jesus Christ “the Word became FLESH and DWELT AMONG US” (John 1:14), Jesus is co-equal and co-eternal with the Godhead. Jesus is no mere man, a sinner like us.

Jesus is Eternal God Who BECAME FLESH so that He could BE MADE SIN FOR US, that is, in our place. “God the Father MADE Jesus to BE SIN FOR US; that WE might BE MADE the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The Bible says of Jesus that

Colossians 1:13-17 (ESV) {God the Father} has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom {Jesus} we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 {Jesus}| is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by {Jesus} all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

In Jesus, all things are held together. YOUR LIFE WILL FALL APART IF JESUS IS NOT IN IT!

Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

Jesus is the Maker of all things, so He is the HEIR of all things. It is Jesus Who holds all things together. It is Jesus Who “by himself purged our sins”. I read somewhere that in all of the Temple, there was no place, no chair for a Priest to sit down. The Priests worked around the clock, making sacrifices, and had no time to sit. But Jesus, once He purged our sins by dying in our place, He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”. When He said from the Cross,

“It is finished” (John 19:30)

He drank the Cup of punishment for us. Instead of giving us a Cup of punishment, Jesus gave us a Passover Table and a Cup to remind us:

Matthew 26:27-28 (ESV) … {take this Cup}, drink of it, all of you; for this is My Blood of the {New} Covenant, which is poured out for many FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS …

If you have believed on Jesus, then the Bible says:

Ephesians 1:5 (ESV) {God the Father} has PREDESTINED US FOR ADOPTION AS SONS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, according to the purpose of His will…

We are not what we were, but are “new creatures in Christ”. We have received “the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Romans 8:15), and await eagerly for our Heavenly redemption (Romans 8:23). We are not saved by Law, but by the Blood of Him Who satisfied the Law. Now saved, we DO NOT TURN THE GRACE OF OUR GOD INTO LASCIVIOUSNESS (Jude 4), denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. We live our lives following Him Who saved us, pleasing Him in all that we do.

May God touch your hearts with His Word and Spirit. Amen.

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