The King of Kings Becomes The Son Of Man

Posted on February 9, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Julius Silver: https://www.pexels.com/photo/landscape-of-brown-mountain-and-lake-753312/

Who Made God?

We started last week studying in the Gospel of John, and found out that Jesus had other names (we called them nicknames) – The first name we see for Jesus in this Book is “The Word”. There are other nicknames we’ll see for Jesus in this Book:

The Bread of Life
The Son of the Living God
The Only Begotten Son
The Christ or the Messiah
The Living Water
The Savior of the World
The Light of the World
The Door of the Sheep
The Good Shepherd
The Resurrection & The Life
The Way, The Truth, and the Life
The True Vine

Jesus is also called “God”. Now Jesus was made flesh by God, but Jesus was never made God. One of the questions I’ve often been asked by intelligent people is:

“I don’t know if I believe in God. If God made everything and everyone, who made God?

If someone made God, then you’d have to have Someone BIGGER than God to make God. Then you’d have to have Someone BIGGER than that God to make the bigger God. And you’d have to have a BIGGER God to make that big God. So the answer is this. God is the BIGGEST Person, and He was never made. No one is bigger than God. God made the human part of Jesus, and sent Jesus to the earth. But the Bible says that Jesus was in the beginning with god, and WAS God. Only CREATED THINGS have a CREATOR. Only God is eternal, self existent, without beginning or end.

No one made God, but God made everyone.
That’s why He’s God.

The Book of Psalms (90:2 – TLB) “Before the mountains were created, before the earth was formed, you are God without beginning or end.”

People make up or imagine gods that is not the God of our Bible. King David said,

Psalm 121:2 (TLB) “Shall I look to the mountain gods for help? 2 No! My help is from Jehovah who made the mountains! And the heavens too!”

God became a perfect Human in Jesus because He wanted to do this to save us. But God is not made, but He is the Maker. We are told in:

Hebrews 3:4 … many people can build houses, but only God made everything.

God made us to share some of His qualities – this is why the Bible says that “we are made in God’s image and after His likeness” (Genesis 1:26). We share some of God’s characteristics. God builds, and we build. God makes things, and we make things. But God never gets tired, nor hungry, and God never needs anything. If we don’t drink food and water we will perish – but God never gets thirsty. God is always satisfied. He never wants anything like clothing or cars. We live inside of time. We base everything we do on a clock and a calendar. I am 64 years old, which means I have lived 23,360 days or 560,640 hours. If I live until I’m 80, I will have lived 42,048,000 minutes. I will also be very tired and old! But God does not have a clock or a calendar. God created time, as time is a product of our sun. Isaiah said:

Isaiah 40:28 Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? No one can fathom the depths of his understanding.

God does not need us – but we need God. God is independent of the world, but we are very dependent on Him. Sadly the Bible says that when God chose to become Perfect Man and walked among us:

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.

In John 1:10 we see that Jesus was IN the world, but Jesus is not OF the world.

You and I are OF this world. We were created because we had two people who came together in love, and we are products of that love. But Jesus Christ is unique. He was in the beginning with God and was God. But Jesus was made perfect human, and was born of the Virgin Mary. During Christmas we celebrated the birth of the human side of Jesus. The Angel Gabriel told Joseph of Nazareth, Mary’s husband,

Matthew 1:20 (TLB) “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “don’t hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit….

God the Holy Spirit made the humanity of Jesus. When Jesus was born into the world – a world made by Him – the world did not recognize that He was God become Man. The Bible says, “the world knew Him not”. This is so sad. Why is Jesus rejected by the world? Everywhere He walked the Glory of God shined round about Him. Jesus touched, caressed, loved, healed, replaced, raised the dead.

Jesus Christ walked this earth as a perfect
expression of God in the flesh.

Jesus did 37 miracles. He also did 26 specific healings and raised 3 from the dead while on the earth. Yet the Bible says:

John 20:30-31 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

When God Made Himself Into Man (The Messiah),
This Amazing Event Requires A Herald

Illustrate: A “Herald” is someone who goes before an important Person and announces they are coming. If the President of the United States was going to come to Riverview Baptist, the Secret Service would first come and let us know he’s coming. If the Governor of Tennessee were to visit, he would be proceeded by heralds.

When God chose to become perfect Man, this was a special event that required a Herald. God is the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14).

John the Baptist is that Herald. John was actually a cousin of Jesus. When Mary found out that she was going to bear Jesus, she also found out that her cousin Elisabeth (Luke 1:36) was going to have a child. The Angel said of John:

Luke 1:15-17 (TLB) {John} will be one of the Lord’s great men. He must never touch wine or hard liquor—and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from before his birth! 16 And he will persuade many a Jew to turn to the Lord his God. 17 He will be a man of rugged[a] spirit and power like Elijah, the prophet of old; and he will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people for his arrival. He will soften adult hearts to become like little children’s, and will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith.

John was actually a special priest of God called a Nazarite. The Nazarites were described in Numbers 6:1–21. You could choose to be a Nazarite by dedicating your life to God, but a few great men in the Bible were chosen by God to be Nazarites from birth. The strong man and Judge called Samson and the Prophet Samuel, as well as John the Baptist were all Nazarites from birth (Judges 13:4, 5; 1 Samuel 1:11; Luke 1:15). The Apostle Paul took the vow of the Nazarite temporarily two different times. The Nazarite vow usually lasted 30 to 100 days, then you were to shave your head (Acts 18:18; 21:23-26) to show that your vow was ended.

John was a Nazarite for life. He never cut his hair, and turned away from anything fancy or civilized. His diet was locusts and wild honey, and his heart was dedicated to God.
John watched for the Messiah to come.

John 1:19 And this is the record of John {the Baptist}, when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

When John the Baptist came preaching, he went out from Jerusalem and from the Temple to “the WILDERNESS of Judea” (Matthew 3:1). John’s message was very simple. He said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. The King of Heaven – God the Son – is coming. He is at hand. He is coming where He can be touched, and heard, and seen. The Bible says of John the Baptist:

Matthew 3:3 (ESV) For this {John the Baptist} is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

God spoke through the Prophet Isaiah 700 years before John preached in the wilderness, prophesying that John would come before Jesus. Isaiah wrote:

Isaiah 40:3-5, 9 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. … 9 lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Israel’s priests and Pharisees knew that there were prophecies where God foretold the coming of the Messiah. God foretold in Numbers 24:17, 19 “a SCEPTER will rise out of Israel … a Ruler will come out of Jacob”. But one of the greatest signs was that God would send a Herald before the Messiah. When John the Baptist went out in the wilderness of Jordan to preach the coming of the King of Heaven, the priests and Pharisees sent a delegation to him. These were important people who demanded an answer! They asked John, “Who are you?”, wondering if John might be the Messiah.

John 1:20 And {John the Baptist} confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

Though John the Baptist is SPECIAL, a Nazarite from birth, he knows that he was made SPECIAL for a reason. You are special. Every human is a walking miracle. But no matter how pretty we are, no matter how talented, no matter how rich or famous ….

what matters most is JESUS CHRIST. He is the MOST SPECIAL of us all!

John told them he was NOT the Christ, the Messiah. Since John wasn’t preaching from the Temple or the Synagogue they DEMANDED to know by what authority he was doing what he was doing. They continued …

John 1:21-22 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

In the King James the translators brought the Greek name for Elijah into the English text (ēlias). They are asking, “Are you Elijah?” God promised in

Malachi 4:5-6 (TLB) “See, I will send you another prophet like Elijah before the coming of the great and dreadful judgment day of God. 6 His preaching will bring fathers and children together again, to be of one mind and heart, for they will know that if they do not repent, I will come and utterly destroy their land.”

Elijah was one of two men in the Bible who never died (the other was Enoch). Elijah preached for God until he retired, and passed the ministry of prophecy over to his follower Elisha. The Bible says in:

2 Kings 2:11 (TLB) As {Elijah and Elisha} were walking along, talking, suddenly a chariot of fire, drawn by horses of fire, appeared and drove between them, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.

The Jews knew the prophecy of Malachi, so from the time that Elijah went into Heaven with God, they started looking for Elijah. The Pharisees ask John the Baptist, “Are you ELIJAH?”, that is, “Are you the Elijah that God took to Heaven?” John said that he was not Elijah. Then they ask, “Art thou that Prophet”? This is a separate question. When Moses got ready to leave Israel, He told them in:

Deuteronomy 18:15 (NASB 20) The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen; to him you shall listen.

They were asking if John the Baptist was the “Prophet like Moses” that they must listen to. John told them he was not that Man. The “Prophet like Moses” that Israel was supposed to listen to was Jesus Christ, the Man that John Heralded. Then they ask,

Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us.

John told them simply,

John 1:23-24 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. 24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

Once more the King James does not translate the name ēsaias, which is the Greek for Isaiah. John quotes Isaiah 40:3-5 which speaks of the Herald of the Messiah. The Pharisees are not satisfied, for they now ask:

John 1:25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias {Elijah}, neither that prophet {Moses}?

They believe that John has no authority to BAPTIZE if he is not one of these great men. John ignores the slight and the insult that they give to him.

John does what we all need to do when we are insulted
– ignore the insult, and point to Jesus!

John 1:26-27 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

Why Is Baptism Important? Is It Important?

The Pharisees and Priests asked why John was baptizing in water if he was neither Christ (the Messiah), nor Moses or Elijah. Why would they care? It is because water baptism was considered very important by the Priests and Pharisees. In an article “The Jewish Roots of Baptism” we are told:

“The priests had to be ritually clean (tahor) in order to serve at the tabernacle, and Israelites who had become ritually unclean (tamay) had to restore their situation with the passing of time and bathing their whole body in fresh, ritually clean (tahor) water, according to Leviticus 15. Later, when the temple had been built, it was necessary for everyone to be immersed in a mikveh {a baptistery with with 40 se’ahs (300 liters) of water} to become ritually clean before entering the temple.

The Mishnah {Jewish commentary & teachings} specifies what makes the water clean or unclean, and expresses a preference for a larger, fresher body of water, “For in it persons may immerse themselves and immerse others”. So Yochanan (John the Baptist) immersing people in the “Living waters” of the River Jordan was perfectly within Jewish law and practice at the time.”

Baptism was, to the Jews, a ritual cleansing that was performed before you entered into
the Presence of God (the Temple).
John is nowhere near the Temple.

The Pharisees wonder why he is baptizing in the wilderness, and who authorized him to do so. John said:

vs 26 I baptize with water: but there standeth
one among you, whom ye know not

John is representing Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God become perfect Man. Jesus is standing there with them at the time, but they do not see Him, because they do not know Him. God is always around us. The Apostle Paul said that “in God we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). God’s handiwork is all around us in nature. And yet many times even religious people do not see God, because they do not know God.

John baptized with water because God commissioned him to do so. John is representing Jesus. Constable’s Commentary notes:

“John did not identify {Jesus} then. This would have exposed Jesus to the scrutiny of Israel’s leadership prematurely. John simply referred to this One here, and implied that he himself baptized in water under His authority. He stressed the great authority of Jesus, by saying that he himself was unworthy to do even the most menial service for Him.”

Baptism is important because Jesus commands baptism.

The last words Jesus said before ascending into Heaven is:

Matthew 28:18-20 … All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Why should one be baptized? Because Jesus commands it. Jesus is God the Son IN THE FLESH. John the Baptist baptized people in water at the command of Jesus. Jesus Himself came to John the Baptist to be baptized. We are told in:

Matthew 3:13-17 (ESV) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Water Baptism is a visible witness of your faith in God. Jesus considered water baptism to be essential for the Child of God. He told John, “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”. It was after Jesus was baptized in water that the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. The Apostle Peter tells us in

1 Peter 3:21 (ESV) Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

And the Apostle Paul showed water baptism to be a outward ceremonial washing that represented an inward real change of heart. He wrote in Romans 6:

Romans 6:1-4 (ESV) What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Baptism is a command of God. Baptism is a witness you have received Christ as both LORD AND SAVIOR. When God saves you, He changes you from the heart outward. If you are saved, you want to please your Savior. Jesus said,

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

If you are saved, you obey your Savior, for He is your MASTER. Baptism reveals your heart. Jesus was baptized – you should be, too.

John 1:29-34 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

John did not reveal Who Jesus was until after he baptized Jesus in water. Once Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and the Father spoke from Heaven, declaring “this is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11). Jesus Christ – the Son of God – was baptized. The believer should be baptized. He is our Savior AND LORD. I’ll close with a word from John Piper:

“… the thief on the cross was told by Jesus that that very day he would be with him in paradise. He was not baptized. I know he’s a special case. I don’t think you build a theology of baptism on the thief on the cross. But one thing it says is baptism is not an absolute necessity, because it wasn’t in his case. … Paul treats baptism as an expression of faith … expressed outwardly in baptism.”

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

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Lord, Give Me A Blessing

Posted on February 7, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Simon Berger: https://www.pexels.com/photo/scenic-view-of-mountains-during-dawn-1266810/

I thought we’d start our new study in the Book of Judges. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, JUDGES. Most people look at the Old Testament as old news and unimportant to our faith. That’s not true. The Bible tells us that:

2 Timothy 3:16 ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable …

God gave us the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. There are some cults that ignore the Old Testament – but that’s what makes them cults. God gave us the WHOLE Bible. He gave us the Old Testament to show us that God is always faithful to His promises, and always does what He says. God also gave us the Old Testament to show us examples that we are to follow – and examples we are to avoid. We are told by the Apostle Paul, who was a highly regarded Rabbi before finding Christ as Savior:

1 Corinthians 10:6-11 (ESV) Now these things {recorded in the Old Testament} took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction

Why study the Book of Judges? Judges is very applicable to America today. When our nation followed some semblance of God’s Laws (the Ten Commandments), we prospered and were blessed to become one of the most powerful nations in the world. But when we wandered from God (and we have REALLY WANDERED), it was long before that nation started to cripple itself.

This is what we see in the Book of Judges.

Just before Judges, we see the Book of Joshua, and just before Joshua we see Deuteronomy. Let’s start with Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy was the second giving of the Law through Moses. God told Israel – through Moses – if they listened to His command, then as a nation they would be blessed. But Israel got away from God, and wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. At the end of 40 years, God had Moses turn over leadership of Israel to Joshua. Joshua himself made it a practice to follow the Lord, and because of this Joshua led Israel in successfully entering, conquering, and settling the Promised Land of Canaan. Before Joshua died, he gathered Israel together at Shechem. Shechem was where God first met and spoke to Abram, who would become Abraham. God told Abram, “Unto your seed – your children – I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). As Joshua gathered Israel at Shechem he told them:

Joshua 24:14-15 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua had a long history of following the Lord. He along with his friend Caleb went into the Promised Land to examine it along with ten other “spies”. Only Joshua and Caleb encouraged Israel to enter the Promised Land (see Numbers 14:6-10). The first generation of Israel died in the wilderness because they would not obey God – but Joshua and Caleb survived to lead Israel. The people swore to Joshua:

Joshua 24:24 … The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

Joshua had Israel set up a monument at Shechem to remind them of their promise (Joshua 24:25-27). Then Joshua died at the age of 110 years old, possibly the greatest military leader Israel ever had.

Coming into the Book of Judges we see that Joshua passes into glory, but Caleb his friend takes over leadership of the people.

Israel Starts Out In “Judges” Doing The Right Thing

Judges 1:1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

When Joshua died, Israel prayed and asked the LORD (the Great I AM):

Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

God chooses leadership among His people based on personal
honesty and adherence to GOD’S will.

When Jacob (who was named “Israel” by God) was dying, he wanted his twelve sons to know who was going to lead them. The twelve sons would become the twelve Tribes of Israel. Though Reuben was the firstborn, and though leadership should have gone to him, Jacob said:

“Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel” (Genesis 49:4)

Unstable and wishy-washy people are not chosen by God to lead His flock. Jacob also refused to nominate Simeon (the second born, son of Leah) or Levi (the third born, also of Leah) because they were cruel and unforgiving. God does not want such people leading His flock. Instead, the fourth born child Judah (son of Leah) was chosen to lead:

Genesis 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.

Though Judah was appointed leader of Israel’s Children by their father, Israel did not immediately call on Judah to lead them to battle. Israel had seen how Joshua led them through prayer and supplication to God, and knew that power comes in following the Lord. The Bible says:

Psalm 145:18 (ESV) The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.

Israel prayed, and God answered:

Judges 1:2 And the Lord said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

Though Judah was called to lead Israel, Judah knew that they could not do the job alone. God’s people are always called to work TOGETHER for the glory of God. Jesus said:

Matthew 18:20 (ESV) … where TWO OR THREE are gathered IN MY NAME, there am I among them

Joshua and Caleb saw how God can use unity among His people to defeat the enemy. When Joshua led Israel against the Amalekite army in Exodus 17, as long as Moses held up his hands Israel was winning the battle. But when Moses’ arms fell, the Amalekites started winning. The Bible says that Aaron stood on one side of Moses, and Hur on the other side, and together they held up Moses’ arms.

God blesses unity.

Judges 1:3-4 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 4 And Judah went up; and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men.

“Judah said unto Simeon his brother”. In the text the tribes of Judah and Simeon are personified, treated as if they are one person. The Tribe of Judah asks the Tribe of Simeon to join with them in battle, and the Tribe of Simeon agrees. The two tribes are actually related by blood. Judah and Simeon were sons of Leah and Jacob. Judah is larger than Simeon.

Is there an application for the Church here? Yes. Though Christians may be in “denominations”, believers in Christ should unite together against the common enemy. We are all one through the Blood of Christ (Galatians 3:28).

Who are the “Canaanites” and the “Perizzites” that Judah and Simeon are battling? They are the people who inhabited Canaan before Israel. God told Israel that – when they entered the Promised Land – they were to cast out (Deuteronomy 7:1-3) “the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites”. These were all unbelieving people who worshiped false gods and goddesses and, as a result, violated the civil and moral laws of the True God of Scripture. God told His people to make absolutely NO COVENANTS with the unbelieving nations. To do so would compromise Israel’s faith in God.

Judges 1:5-7 And they{Judah and Simeon} found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

“Adonibezek”is not a name, but a title. It means “The Lord or Ruler of Bezek”. They cut off his thumbs to keep him from ever wielding a sword or using a bow or spear. They cut off his big toes to make him lame, and to keep him from running. The ancient people would not accept a king who was lame or blemished, so by cutting off his fingers and toes it caused him to relinquish his throne. “Adonibezek” saw his mutilation as a punishment from God, as he had done the same thing to 70 other kings. This means that Bezek was a very successful warrior nation, and Israel defeated them by doing as God said. When we obey our God we have His promise:

Deuteronomy 20:4 (ESV) … the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’

Judges 1:8-11 Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. 11 And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher

Though Jerusalem will one day be the capital city of Israel, and the city where both the Temple and the Throne is kept, at this time Jerusalem (called Jebus. See 1 Chronicles 11:4) was occupied by the Jebusites. They worshiped the Canaanite god of the setting sun and the nether world called Shalim. Judah then went against the Canaanites “that dwelt in Hebron”, and destroyed its ruling lords “Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai”. To insure we understand these are literal battles and historically accurate, we are given alternate names to the cities that were conquered.

Lessons Learned From Caleb

Up to now we have seen nation Judah mentioned just as the nation Judah. But in verse 12 we are introduced to “Caleb”.

Judges 1:12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

I mentioned Caleb earlier as Joshua’s friend who went into the Promised Land as a spy. Of the twelve spies sent from Israel into the Promised Land, only Joshua and Caleb encouraged the first generation of Israel to enter the Promised Land. Caleb was actually given the city of Hebron (Joshua 14:13) by Joshua. The Bible says:

Joshua 14:14 (ESV) … Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.

Though Israel had not yet taken over the city of Hebron, Joshua promised the land to Caleb once it was conquered because of his faithfulness to the God of Scripture. One thing that is interesting about Caleb was that he is the “son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite”, which makes Caleb a Kenizzite. Who were the Kenizzites?

The Kenizzites were the original inhabitants of Canaan who Israel was supposed to chase out. God gave the lands of the Canaanites (of which the Kenizzites were one group) to Abram or Abraham
(see Genesis 15:18-21). Caleb was a Kenizzite!

So how did Caleb get to stay in the Promised Land? And WHY is Caleb leading Israel – through Judah – in battle? It is because God is NOT RACIST. I want top say that again.

God is NOT RACIST.

Romans 2:6-11 {God} will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

When God ordered the evacuation of the inhabitants of Canaan, it had nothing to do with their race, but everything to do with their godlessness. These people rejected faith in the God of the Scripture, and instead followed horrible gods and goddesses that endorsed sexual promiscuity and the murder of innocents. God punishes evil without discrimination. Those who do evil will suffer God’s wrath, but to those who repent, God will not only save but bless. The Bible says:

Colossians 3:23-25 (ESV) Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

God despises sin, because sin belittles the creation, and destroys the design of God. Sin always robs us of the image of God that He created us to be. The farther people get away from the God of Scripture, the more wicked they will be. When Israel refused to follow God, God allowed them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that first generation died off. People are SAVED BY FAITH, and people are BLESSED BY FAITH. But – hear me, dearly Beloved, “the wages of sin is DEATH” (Romans 6:23).

Caleb was a Kenizzite, but he believed in the Lord. Some commentaries note that the Kenizzites were descendants of Edom or Esau (see Genesis 36:40-43; 1 Chronicles 1:53). This just affirms what God tells us in the New Testament:

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) … {the LORD is} patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Caleb – though a Kenizzite – has repented and received our God as Lord and Savior. His name means “Dog”.

Though he was considered a Gentile, by faith Caleb became a son of God, and a prince of Israel (see Numbers 13:6). Caleb was adopted into the Tribe of Judah (Numbers 13:6; 1 Chronicles 4:15).

We All Need To Help One Another

Caleb led Judah to attack “Kirjathsepher” (a.k.a. “Debir”), a location in Southern Canaan that was given to Judah. Though a mighty warrior and a great leader, he decided he needed some help. So Caleb issues a challenge to Judah:

Judges 1:12 And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

There are times as Christians that we are to do our work for Jesus. There are other times when we should challenge and encourage those around us to step out in faith. Great leaders challenge the people to stand up for the Lord. Caleb offered his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man brave enough to step out in faith and take the battle to Kirjathsepher. We read:

Judges 1:13-15 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. 14 And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? 15 And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

“Othniel” the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, takes up the challenge. Since Caleb is a Kenizzite (a Gentile), so is his younger brother and his son. These Kenizzites have all given their faith to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. They are Children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).

When Othniel conquered Kirjathsepher, Caleb gave his daughter Achsah (her name means “beautifully adorned”) to Othniel, along with the daughter came lands.

What can we see in this text that we can apply to our lives today? When we give ourselves to the Lord and live for Him, He “marries” us to His blessings.

Our sins are forgiven. We become members of His family. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us. We have the surety of the Holy Spirit given to us. And we are predestined to be like Christ, to inherit a place in Heaven like Christ. Othniel received Achsah by stepping out in faith. He received lands, a great blessing. But he received more than that. Achsah went to her father, and asked

Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water.

What is land without water? It’s a desert! Achsah asked her father for greater blessing. The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon saw this as a pattern for Christian prayer (see Achsah’s Asking, A Pattern of Prayer”). She wanted to bring greater blessing to her family, so she went to her Father and asked for that greater blessing. She asked for springs of water. She went to her Father with a specific request, not just to bless herself, but to bless her family. Spurgeon wrote:

“As soon as she found that she had an audience with her father of the kindliest sort, she said to him, “Give me a blessing.” I like that petition it is a good beginning, “Give me a blessing.” I should like to put that prayer into every believing mouth here tonight “Give me a blessing. Whatever You do not give me, give me a blessing. Whatever else You give me, do not fail to give me a blessing.” A father’s blessing is an inheritance to a loving child. “Give me a blessing.” What is the blessing of God? If He shall say, “You are blessed,” you may defy the devil to make you cursed. If the Lord calls you blessed, you are blessed. Though covered with boils, as Job was, you are blessed. Though near to death, like Lazarus, with the dogs licking his sores, you are blessed. If you should be dying, like Stephen, beneath the stones of murderous enemies, if God blesses you, what more can you wish for? Nay, Lord, put me anywhere that You will, as long as I get Your blessing. Deny me what You will, only give me Your blessing. I am rich in poverty if You bless me.”

God loves to bless His children. The Scripture says:

James 4:6-8 {God} giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

If we will draw near to God and, in faith, follow Him as Joshua and Caleb did, God will bless us both spiritually and physically. If we will glorify and praise our God by believing and acting on what He has said, He will give us greater grace.

God is not done with Othniel. Othniel will be the first Judge God calls (Judges 3:7-11) to lead Israel back to a right relationship with Him. This Gentile Kenizzite convert and younger brother of Caleb is adopted into Judah. We’ll read about him more later. May God bless you as we go through Judges. Please pray with me that God will give us a blessing, and grow us as His Children in Christ. Amen!

Next Week: Israel Begins To Drift

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You DON’T Do You

Posted on February 5, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Cxpturing Souls: https://www.pexels.com/photo/unrecognizable-woman-with-horrible-makeup-pointing-at-camera-from-darkness-3151266/

1 John 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

The Apostle John wrote more of the New Testament – by word count – than any other Apostle. Last Wednesday we started looking at the Gospel of John (chapter 1 verses 1-14) where John spoke of the Incarnation of Jesus. The word “Incarnation” means to “come from a higher state where you are God into a lower state where you are perfect Man”. Only Jesus is in this unique state. We found out in

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is “the WORD that was WITH GOD, and the WORD Who WAS God”. Jesus Christ was with the Godhead from the beginning. We saw that Jesus Christ is also CREATOR God. “All things were made by him”. John said this in two different ways so that we can understand that Jesus is not just ASSOCIATE Creator, He is THE Creator of all things.

This Creator, this God Who made all things in six days, Who made all things “very good”, this God came to earth. He interjected Himself into the Creation proper. Why would God the Son become incarnate, lower Himself to be part of His creation?

Because “You Do You” Doesn’t Work.
It Is The Devil’s Lie.

One of the things I hear over and over on television shows, in the media news, and on the internet is “You do You”. People say this phrase as if it’s a new thing that someone made up, but it’s not new. Writer Colson Whitehead wrote an article back in March 31, 2015 entitled “How ‘You Do You’ Perfectly Captures Our Narcissistic Culture”. I like this paragraph:

“You will recall the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog. The Scorpion needs a ride across the river. The waters are rising on account of climate change, or perhaps he has been priced out of his burrow, who knows? The exact reason is lost in the fog of premodernity. The Frog is afraid that the Scorpion will sting him, but his would-be passenger reassures him that they would both die if that happened. That would be crazy. Sure enough, halfway across, the Scorpion stings the Frog. Just before they drown, the Scorpion says, “Aren’t you going to ask why I did that?” And the Frog croaks, ‘You do you.’”

This is exactly the problem with the concept of “You do You”. It makes “You” out to be god, or a type of god. When “You do You”, it becomes self destructive to society itself. It is “You do You” mentality that is erasing the police and bail for criminal acts. It is “You do You” that is causing local churches to normalize sexual sin. It is “You do You” that is secularizing our nation.

“You do You” is also killing people. Over the last few years there has been a rise in suicide rates among 15-24 year olds. These “deaths of despair” are many times brought about by alcohol or drug poisoning. Social media does not help us, by makes us more alone. Humans were not designed by God to be alone. God created Adam, and not long after that created Eve so Adam and Eve would have fellowship with one another, and fellowship with God. The phrase “You do You” may not have been uttered by the serpent in the Garden of Eden, but the thought is there. Listen to what that old serpent the Devil says:

“Go ahead and eat that which God forbade. You shall not surely die. God knows that in the day you eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, your eyes shall be opened. You shall be like gods!
You’ll know good and evil!”
(paraphrase of Genesis 3:4-5)

Doesn’t that sound like “You do You”? It won’t hurt you. If God loves you, He wants you to be happy. Just do whatever makes you feel good. Do your drugs. Seek sexual pleasure with who you want. Ignore what the Bible says – it was written by old men who have long since died. Nothing matters in life BUT YOU.

But that’s not true.

When John wrote the Gospel of John (under inspiration of God, 2 Timothy 3:16), He wanted us to see how God stepped away from His Throne and came down to this earth to show us how to live. When John wrote 1 John, the intent of the Book is thus:

1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto YOU, that YOUR JOY may be full.

John 1:16 (KJV) And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Joy does not come automatically to the Christian. It is God’s desire that we have fullness of joy as believers. How do we have fullness of joy? We imitate Jesus.

Jesus Lowered Himself To Us To Show Us
The Love Of God

1 John 1:1 That which was from the BEGINNING, which we have heard …

When John spoke of the Word being “in the beginning with God”, he was speaking of something he had never seen, but had heard from Jesus. John was not there with God the Father and God the Son as the world and our solar system was being created. But John was with Jesus “from the BEGINNING” of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

John, along with all of Israel, looked for the coming of the Messiah. Israel hoped that the Messiah would come and free Israel from Roman bondage. But Israel was in greater bondage than Roman bondage. Israel was in bondage to themselves. Israel believed in the devil’s doctrine, “You do You”. God had told Israel:

Deuteronomy 28:1 (ESV) If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

God loved His people. He saved them from Egypt so that they could “worship the God Who saved them” (Exodus 8:1). God calls His people to “worship Him in the wilderness” (Exodus 7:16). God did not save Israel so that they could be just like the rest of the world. God saved Israel so that they could worship God, and have fellowship with God.

When God became Man, He did not seclude Himself away in a palace. Where did God put Himself? Right where sinners were. Where the lowest person was.

We could not reach God, but God could reach us.

The High Priest went into the holy of holies after covering his sins with the blood of a blemishless animal. He went into the presence of God cleansed, wearing specialized clothing, and following prescribed formulas. Why is this? Because God wanted to emphasize that our sins separate us from God. God spoke in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 59:1-3 (ESV) Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.

God is holy, just, and righteous. God is without sin. Man, however, believes in “You do You”. When God became Man, He did not do “You do You”, but He lowered Himself so we could HEAR Him. He sat with us so we could SEE Him. He allowed us to touch Him.

1 John 1:1 that … which we have HEARD, that which we have SEEN WITH OUR EYES, which we have LOOKED UPON, and our HANDS HAVE HANDLED …

The IMMORTAL became MORTAL. But He did not go to a Palace, but to parlors and homes everywhere. The Pharisees couldn’t understand Jesus, because they thought that only sinners sat with sinners. They asked,

“Why does {Jesus} eat with TAX COLLECTORS and SINNERS?”
(Mark 2:16, ESV)

When God the Son heard this, He said to these confused people:

Mark 2:17 (ESV) … “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Illustrate: Let me see if I can simplify this. When you go to take a shower, do you go off and clean yourself up before you take the shower? No! You are dirty, so you come to the shower and allow it to clean you up. So it is with Jesus. Jesus came to heal us. Jesus came to cleanse us. Jesus came to save us.

God the Son did not segregate Himself from sinners, but came down and sat with them, reasoning with them from the Scriptures. Just as He did when He was twelve years old and in the Temple, Jesus “listened and asked them questions” (Luke 2:46).

You will NEVER find a place in the Scripture
where Jesus minimized sin.

Sin is a horrible thing that God came from Heaven to save us from. When Jesus healed the crippled man by the pool of Bethesda, our Lord told him, “Get up. Take up your bed and walk. But then Jesus said:

“You are now well. SIN NO MORE, that nothing worse may happen to you”
(John 5:14, ESV)

What is Jesus implying? It is that SIN – the desire to “You do You” – brings sickness upon us. It can cripple. It can kill. Sin destroys lives. When Jesus spoke to a woman caught in the act of adultery, by His actions He chased away the self righteous.

Beloved, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We cannot fix what ails us. However, Jesus can fix us. After Jesus chased off the self righteous, He told this woman:

“I do not condemn you; GO, and from now on SIN NO MORE”(John 8:11)

He doesn’t say “You do You”. No. Jesus says, “You do GOD. You do what GOD says!” John tells us:

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

We cannot have fellowship with the Apostles, nor with God, unless we approach fellowship through faith in Christ. John will tell us later in this Book:

1 John 5:11-12 … God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

We can only appropriate life as God intended
it by appropriating the Son as our own.

Without Jesus, our status before God is that our every work is unclean and unworthy.

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

What Is My Hope And Joy?
Jesus Is BOTH My Sinbearer & My Risen Savior

My hope and joy is not to hear “You do You”. It is first of all to acknowledge that – left on my own – I am a sinner, lost and undone. We read:

1 John 1:8 If we say we have NO SIN, we DECEIVE OURSELVES, and the truth is not in us.

We all can so easily fall into sin. We do not rely on ourselves, but on Jesus. We realize that our “You do You” mentality is wrong. We stop trying to be our own God. Jesus is the Word of Life (vs 1). We come to Him, and CONFESS our sins.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Word Study: The word translated “CONFESS” is the Greek homologéō, {pronounced hom-ol-og-eh’-o} which means “to agree with God, to assent to the truth as God has presented it, [by extension] to agree with God that you are guilty”. This word is used frequently in the Scripture. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall CONFESS (homologéō) me before men, Him will I CONFESS (homologéō) before My Father which is in Heaven.

Luke 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall CONFESS (homologéō) Me before men, him shall the Son of Man {that’s Jesus} CONFESS (homologéō) before the angels of God.

When you REPENT, and turn away from “You do You”, giving yourselves to Jesus, He FORGIVES you from all sin in the eyes of God. He also CLEANSES you from all works of evil. Those who belong to Jesus, walk with God.

I used to have a picture that was given to me of the place where the Twin Towers in New York City used to stand. On September 11, 2001, Muslim terrorists took control of two aircraft, and flew them into the Towers, destroying the building and killing thousands. The picture that was given to me was a fenced off area where the Towers used to stand, and a monument called the World Trade Center Cross stood there. Though Atheists tried to get rid of that Cross, it is still – to my knowledge – in the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. That’s interesting, don’t you think, that in even New York City, one of the most liberal cities in the world today, the only comfort that any can draw from 9-11 is the Cross of Christ!

The Cross is in the heart of mankind. It is written into our DNA just as surely as our height and natural hair color is. We instinctively know that the Cross was necessary. The Cross itself stands as a proof that Jesus Christ came as sinless Man to die for our sins. Since spiritual and universal death came on all creation because of Adam’s sin, it required that a Second Adam make payment for what the first Adam did in offending God.

The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (ESV) For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

The first Adam, a flesh and blood creature made from the dust of the ground, caused all humanity to fall into sin. A Second Adam, Jesus Christ – sinless and perfect – would come in the flesh and make payment for our sins.

Romans 8:3-4 (ESV) For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

God lowered Himself – in the flesh – to make payment for our sins. Now that we have believed on Christ we are saved – and are expected to walk as Children of God.

1 John 1:5-6 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

You are not saved by your works. But if you are a Christian, you are saved by the Blood of Christ. You are saved to walk – NOT in the darkness – but in the light of God. God’s way is not “You do You”. God’s way is, “You do JESUS. You IMITATE GOD”.

This is why we come to Church. We come to Church to praise God. We come to Church to learn a deeper walk with God. Then we leave Church and practice walking as Jesus walked. Dr. Thomas L. Constable writes in his commentary:

“If I were to boil down the message of this epistle into one sentence it would be this. Fellowship with God is the essence of eternal life. Both the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John deal with eternal life. John wrote his Gospel so his readers might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing they might have life through His name (John 20:31). John wrote this epistle to Christians so we might enter into the fullness of the eternal life that we possess (1 John 1:3; John 10:10). However the subject of this letter is not eternal life but fellowship with God. Fellowship with God is the essence of eternal life (1:3-4; John 17:3).”

That is a wonderful summation: Fellowship with God is the essence of eternal life. Modern evangelistic thought has produced a byproduct of Christianity that professes Jesus but does not live in Jesus … and this is a travesty. If our Christianity has absolutely no impact in our real world, then what value is it? Is this the type of Christianity that Christ taught? No, it isn’t.

Jesus Christ gave us a pattern of life that He first of all modeled for us. The Christian lives their life surrendered not to self, but to Christ. You will never be joyous as Christ wants you to be until you are walking with Him day by day and moment by moment. Pastor R.A. Torrey wrote:

“If we try to fight sin in our own strength, we are bound to fail. If we just look up to the Risen Christ to keep us every day and every hour, He will keep us. Through the CRUCIFIED Christ we get deliverance from the guilt of sin, our sins are all blotted out, we are free from all condemnation; BUT it is through the RISEN Christ that we get daily victory over the power of sin. Some receive Christ as a sin bearer and thus find pardon, but do not get beyond that, and so their life is one of daily failure. Others receive Him as their RISEN Savior also, and thus enter into an experience of victory over sin. … There is nothing more important in a right beginning of the Christian life than an unconditional surrender, both of the thoughts and the conduct, to Jesus. Say from your heart and say it again and again, “All for Jesus.” Many fail because they shrink back from this entire surrender. They wish to serve Jesus with half their heart, and part of themselves, and part of their possessions. To hold back anything from Jesus means a wretched life of stumbling and failure. The life of entire surrender is a joyous life all along the way.

May God lead us as His Church to live our lives daily for Him and through Him. The fate of our country depends upon our surrender. Amen and Amen.

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Why Follow Jesus?

Posted on February 3, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by solod_sha: https://www.pexels.com/photo/footprints-in-the-brown-sand-7663152/

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

When we come to John chapter 1, the Apostle John wants to tell us why its so important to follow Jesus. As an “Apostle” John walked with Jesus. This is what the Apostles did. Apostles were hand chosen by Jesus to walk with Him as He walked on this earth. The Bible says:

Ephesians 2:20 (TLB) What a FOUNDATION you stand on now: the APOSTLES and the Prophets; and the cornerstone of the building is Jesus Christ Himself!

Christians love the Bible, and trust the Bible because it was written by APOSTLES like John who walked with Jesus, touched Jesus, and listened to Jesus teach. John was not only called “The Apostle John”, but he had other names he was called.

How Many Of You Have A Nickname?

When I was in the service (I am retired Air Force), my nickname was “Buff”. I was called other things as well. Most people have nicknames, or names that they are called other than their primary name. A few of John’s nicknames were:

John of Patmos, (he was imprisoned on Patmos for talking about Jesus)
John the Evangelist, (he loved talking about Jesus)
John the Elder (he walked with Jesus the longest)
A son of thunder (Mark 3:17 he & his brother James were outspoken)

But John’s favorite nickname was “The one Jesus loved” (He uses it five times in his Gospel. See John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7; 21:20). Why did John love this nickname the best? I believe it’s because John was looking for love.

John heard a preacher called “John the Baptist” who preached that the Messiah – God our Savior – was coming. John talks about John the Baptist in …

John 1:6-8 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John’s Pastor Was John The Baptist: John the Baptist was a wonderful preacher. The Bible tells us that John the Baptist was born to preach about Jesus, telling people that Jesus was coming to be with them. The Bible said that John the Baptist wouldn’t preach in a Church building like we have here, but John would go out “into the wilderness” (Matthew 3:3; John 1:23) and tell people to get ready to meet Jesus. Why did John go out into the wilderness? I believe it was to test the people.

People who wanted to meet Jesus would have to get out of their comfortable homes and get out of their comfortable lives, and go out to a rugged place to hear about Jesus. Following Jesus can be uncomfortable, because the world itself offers the easy way, the wide way. Following Jesus means to believe what He says regardless as to what anyone else says. And that’s hard.

When you’re in a tough place, this is where you’ll find Jesus. John is listening to John the Baptist preach out in the wilderness one day when Jesus comes up.

John 1:15-16 … This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. 16 And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Let’s look at what John the Baptist told John in verses 15 & 16. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said that “Jesus is PREFERRED BEFORE me” and “Jesus WAS BEFORE me”. Let’s talk about “Jesus is PREFERRED BEFORE me”. Jesus is more special to God that John the Baptist is. John was a great preacher who shared the Word of God. But Jesus is THE Word of God. We’re told in …

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John the Baptist is just a man. The Apostle John is just a man. I am just a man. But Jesus is “The WORD”. When I speak, my words come out of my mouth. When JESUS SPEAKS, it is God’s Word that comes out of His mouth.

The SAVIOR (the One Who saves us)
The REDEEMER (the One Who covers our mistakes)
The BREAD OF LIFE (the One Who blesses our lives)
The Only Begotten SON OF GOD (He is God’s Child)

John the Baptist was a preacher, but Jesus is much MORE than a preacher. We read:

John 1:2 The same {Jesus} was in the beginning with God.

Jesus is called “The WORD of God”. Jesus “was in the beginning with God”. He was there in the Book of Genesis when God made everything. In fact, Jesus was necessary to the actual Creation of the earth and all that is in it. Jesus wasn’t standing by watching God the Father make everything. Jesus was active in the creation of this earth, and in the creation of every one of us.

Jesus Is Not Only God’s WORD Speaking,
He Is God WORKING

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

Jesus was “in the beginning with God”, and Jesus was involved in making EVERYTHING. Jesus as God the Son worked with God the Father to make the world.

John 1:10 He {Jesus} was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

The world was “MADE BY JESUS”, but most people “The WORLD” doesn’t know who Jesus really is.

This is very sad. Jesus is the One Who made everything – the planet, the animals, the sea, the atmosphere, the humans, the trees and grass, the bugs. Jesus made it all. Jesus knows how everything works best. Our problems grow greater when we try and solve them without Jesus. The reason we have so many problems in America today is because …

the world was made by him, and the world knew him not

We have RACISM and HATRED where people treat one another badly because of their color. This is because people do not know Jesus. Jesus made every color of people. There was a song I was taught when I was a little boy in Bible School. It was called “Jesus Loves the little children”. Maybe you know it:

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
You are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Jesus loves what He made. When He made humans the Bible says:

Genesis 1:27 God created us in His own image, in the image of God He created humans; male and female God created humans

God made animals, those that walked on the earth, swam in the ocean, or fly in the sky. God made creatures so small that we cannot see them without a microscope. God made “birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees”. He made planets so far away that we need a telescope to see them. God made so many stars that even the smartest scientist cannot count them all. But of all these things God created, when He created humans, He made them all – you and I – in “the image of God”.

This means that every person has value. Sadly, many people do not know Jesus. They are living their lives without the words of Jesus, without His help. It is Jesus Who made us. As our Maker, He knows what is best for us. It is Jesus Who gives us life. We read:

John 1:4-5 In Him {Jesus} was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Many people today try to live their lives without Jesus. But Jesus is the Creator of Life. We read, “In Him {Jesus} was life”. Then John write, “and the life was the light of men”. What does this mean? Simply,

Life Can Be Bright And Blessed When You Follow Jesus

Jesus tells us what makes life good. Jesus told us to “REPENT, for the KINGDOM OF GOD is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Now what does it mean to “REPENT”? This is a word you’ll hear if you go to Church very often. Preachers use this word, John the Baptist used this word, and Jesus used this word.

Repent: “Repent” is a misunderstood word – hard for adults to understand, much less young people. Let me describe it this way. I used to have a little dog named Scooter that I loved very much. When we bought our house, I bought a house with a fence around it so Scooter could run and play. Before we bought that house we had a home that we rented that had no fence. So I would tie Scooter to a tree out in the front yard with a long leash. Do you know what Scooter did? He would run around the tree – round and around – and each time wrap more and more of the leash around the tree. At the end of the day I’d go out and find Scooter wrapped tightly to the tree! I’d tell him, “Scooter, go the other way sometimes!” But he wouldn’t listen. Scooter refused to repent! He’d keep going in the same direction till he wrapped himself up on the tree.

The word “REPENT” means to stop going in the same direction that ties you up, and to hear the voice of Jesus and go in the OTHER direction!

Since Jesus is the CREATOR and the SOURCE of LIFE, Jesus knows the right way to live. When we follow Jesus and do the things Jesus tells us to do, we have good lives, or LIGHT. But when we don’t follow Jesus … when we hear what He says, then continue to go live our lives in the same way we always lived them – then we hurt ourselves.

And that makes life DARK.

People go through depression when they walk away from Jesus. People become hate filled of others when they are without Jesus. They walk in darkness. You can be overwhelmed, or confused, or have a poor self image. Without Jesus you walk in fear rather than in confidence. A Christian is a person who has realized that Jesus is Creator God, and that Jesus knows what is best for us. Christians follow Jesus. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 8:6 (TLB) … we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created all things and made us to be his own; and one Lord Jesus Christ, who made everything and gives us life.

Jesus Came From God To Bring Us Into God’s Family

John 1:11-13 He came unto his own, and his own 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: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jesus came to this earth a Man, a Perfect Man, God Who became Man. Jesus came to save the Jews first, or “his own”. The Jews were God’s Old Testament people, and God promised His Old Testament people that Jesus would one day come and bless them. Though Jesus came to Israel, a large part of Israel refused to receive Him as the Word of God or as the Working God. The Bible says:

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

Jesus Christ came to bless everyone, but He came to the Jew first (Romans 1:16). But most of the Jews – not all but most – rejected Jesus. The Bible says:

as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name

What does it mean to “receive” Jesus? It means to believe what the Bible says about Jesus. To believe that Jesus is the Creator of all life, and that, as the Creator, Jesus knows what is best for us. To “receive” Jesus is to believe that Jesus is the Way to God, and that what Jesus says is more important than what anyone else says – or what I think.

When Jesus made everything, He put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that when the Lord looked at all He made, He said:

Genesis 1:31 … it was very good.

Adam and Eve were made with a free will, the ability to choose to follow the Lord to to go their own way.

Adam and Eve were supposed to look after the Garden of Eden. But Adam listened to a fallen angel named Lucifer and did not listen to the Word of God. Adam ignored what Jesus said, and ate the wrong thing (Genesis 2:17), disobeying the Lord. The Bible says:

Romans 5:12 (TLB) When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned.

When we do not listen to God, when we do not hear “The Word of God”, then we hurt ourselves. Jesus came from God, and is God. He came to show us the right way to live. He came to save us. Jesus told us:

Matthew 7:13-14 (TLB) Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. 14 But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.

The Way to Heaven is to believe in Jesus. The Way to Heaven is to trust Him, to hear what He says. The Way to Heaven is to ask Jesus to walk with you every day. Jesus came to bring as many as will come into the Family of God. That’s what He tells us in this verse.

as many as RECEIVED Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that BELIEVE ON HIS NAME

Jesus wants you to be in the Family of God. He is the Source of Light. He is the Source of Life. Jesus is the Light of the world. Jesus is the Word of God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

To prove that Jesus is the very Word of God, He “was made flesh, and dwelt among us”. As we study through the Book that John the Apostle wrote, we will read about the wonderful things that Jesus tells us. I hope that you will come back each Wednesday as we talk about Jesus. But most of all, I hope that each and every one of you “receive” Jesus as He is. He is the Creator. He is the Word of God. Jesus is the Light of God. Jesus enables us to live life the way that God intended.

Without wrapping ourselves around the tree.
Walking in Joy, serving the Lord.

Human Laws Can Only Limit Human Flaws

How can we fix the problems in America? For years, the U.S. Government has waged a “war on crime”. President Lyndon Johnson declared a national War on Crime” March 8, 1965, when I was only 7 years old. Laws can put people in prison, but it can’t fix the human heart. Jesus said:

Matthew 15:19-20 … out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a {person}

We need Jesus to take over our hearts. When you let Jesus come into your life, He changes your heart, and changes how you look at things. He brings you into the Family of God, and teaches you that love is the greatest strength we can have. In the Old Testament God gave us the Law to live by. The Law given by God didn’t fix what was wrong with us. If the Law given by God didn’t fix us, why do we think human laws will fix us.

We all need Jesus. I’ll end with these words:

John 1:17-18 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Jesus is close to the heart of God. That’s what it means when we read, “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father”. The “bosom” is right here on your chest, right where your heart is. The Bible says that Jesus is in the heart of God. And Jesus speaks to us, inviting us to believe in Him, to invite Him into our lives. This is my prayer, that each one of you will know that God loves you, and God wants you in His family. Give your lives to the Lord Jesus. Ask Him to be your Savior and Lord. Let Him be a part of your daily life. May God the Holy Spirit lead you to Him! Amen and Amen.

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Blessed And Prosperous

Posted on January 31, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bullion-gold-gold-bars-golden-47047/
Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 112.

Psalm 112:1-10  Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.  2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.  3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.  4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.  5 A good man sheweth favor, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.  6 Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.  7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.  8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. 9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.  10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

I was in Ollie’s – a local discount store – with a 15% off coupon. I love coupons! What was great about this coupon is that it was for the entire sale – whatever I had in the shopping cart. Boy, do I love free. I stopped by the “Books” section to check out the Bibles and Bible study books when I saw a book on Psalm 112 written by an “Apostle”. Anytime someone takes the title “Apostle” to themselves, I’m immediately suspicious. The Apostles were appointed by Jesus, and were eyewitnesses of His earthly ministry. The Apostle Paul notes in:

Ephesians 4:11-13   And {Jesus} gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith

The Apostles and Prophets were appointed by God, along with the Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. Some say that this verse teaches there are Apostles today. That would be true if you read no other Scripture. Though there are Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers today, the Bible goes on to say in that same Book of Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:19-20  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;  20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 

The Apostles and Prophets were the FOUNDATION of the Church, and Jesus Christ is the Chief Corner Stone. When Paul was writing Ephesians (as an Apostle appointed by Jesus. See 1 Corinthians 15:8-11; Galatians 1:17, 19; Acts 9:15-16) there were still Apostles who were alive, and writing Scripture as God led them to do. The last living Apostle was John the Revelator, who wrote the Gospel of John, 1-3 John, and Revelation. The Office of Apostle closed with the death of John. God did set some in the Church Apostles and Prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28), but they were the foundation of the body. The Apostles saw Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1), and had the power to perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12). As one commentary notes, 

“The responsibility of the twelve apostles, laying the foundation of the church, would also argue for their uniqueness. Two thousand years later, we are not still working on the foundation. … There are some today who are seeking to restore the position of apostle. This is a dangerous movement. Frequently, those claiming the office of apostle seek authority equal to, or at least rivaling, the authority of the original twelve apostles. There is absolutely no biblical evidence to support such an understanding of the role of apostle today. This would fit with the New Testament’s warning against false apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13)”

Our foundation is the Scripture, what the Bible says. Why did I take the time to explain to you the Office of Apostle? Because there are people out there who will twist the Scripture for personal wealth and gain. There are no Apostles today – but God DOES want you to be prosperous.

Psalm 112 IS about achieving PROSPERITY, but it is not about having great health nor large amounts of money in the bank. It speaks to a different type of prosperity. 

Psalm 112 Focuses On SPIRITUAL Prosperity As Opposed To SPIRITUAL Bankruptcy

Psalm 112:1 Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

Psalm 112:10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

The “wicked” find their blessings in the things of this world. This is the Hebrew rāšāʿ {pronounced raw-shaw'} which means “the ungodly, the one guilty of sin, the morally wrong (as judged by God)”. Righteous Abraham called the Sodomites “rāšāʿ” (Genesis 18:23). Those who disrespect life and murder others are “rāšāʿ” (Numbers 35:31). We are told in:

Job 18:5  Yea, the light of the wicked {rāšāʿ} shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

To be “wicked” is not to be just immoral, but to approach life without God in view!

We are told in Solomon’s writings:

Proverbs 21:4  An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked {rāšāʿ}, is sin.

When I think of WICKEDNESS, or UNGODLINESS, I do not think about tilling your garden. But God says that very act of tilling the garden for the godless is sinful. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 10:4  the wicked {rāšāʿ}, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

To violate the Ten Commandments is wicked. But to live your life without a thought to God is also wicked. Our Lord Jesus spoke the parable of the wealthy farmer in:

Luke 12:15-21 And {Jesus} said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.  16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:  17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.  19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.  20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 

The rich farmer had a good season, and made so many crops that they were overflowing. So what did he do with his crops? Did he give the excess to the poor? He ponders. Did he give the excess to God – along with his praise for the great bounty? No! He asks himself, “What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?”. Why, since God is not in all his thoughts, and he has too much to store, he decides:

I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods

Many people say “But what’s wrong with that?” What is wrong is that he has cut out from his life anything to do with God. God made him. God gave him life. God gave him the good seasons that allowed him to have a record bumper crop. Yet he has no thought of God. He has no thought of those less fortunate. His universe is himself.

Then God says, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee”. That word “fool” is used in the Scripture for the unbeliever, such as in:

Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Those who cut God out of their thoughts are fools. They may have great physical prosperity. They may be:

Beautiful
Rich
Powerful
Famous

But without God they are spiritually bankrupt. Eventually well known stars Elvis Presley, Prince, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Whitney Houston, Steve Jobs, George H.W. Bush, Tom Petty, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Rivers, John McCain, Muhammad Ali … I could go on and on. Eventually you must meet your Maker and your God. 

Will you be spiritually prosperous when you meet the Lord? Or will He be a Stranger Who says, “Depart from Me, I never knew you”? (Matthew 7:23)

Psalm 112:1 Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

Here is the way to true prosperity. “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord”. What does it mean to “fear the Lord”? The Psalmist tells you. It is to “delight greatly in His commandments”. To love the Word of God. The wicked care nothing at all for God’s Word, for His Bible. But the one who is blessed knows that God’s Word is a treasury. There are great things in this wonderful old Book. The truths taught in this Book are not only the foundation of the Church (as we’ve previously noted), but they are the foundation for living the good life.

So many people think that vast riches and power are the ways to a good life. If that were true, then we wouldn’t see celebrities killing themselves. Marilyn Monroe, Charles Boyer, Kurt Cobain, Robin Williams, Ernest Hemmingway, Brian Keith, are just a few of those who thought the good life could be found outside of God. There is no good life outside of God. When we depart from God’s Word and ignore His commandments, it’s like trying to use a lawn mower in water! It just doesn’t work! Life doesn’t work without God!

When you “delight greatly in God’s commandments”, His Word to you, then God assures you that your legacy will endure. We read:

Psalm 112:2  His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

When you love the Word of God and teach your children to cherish the Word of God, they will be better equipped to live successful lives on this earth. Jesus loved the children. When the disciples tried to keep the parents from bring the children to Him, He rebuked them, and said:

Matthew 19:14-15  … (ESV) “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them …

Before God sent Israel into the Promised Land, He told them:

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

If you love God’s Word, and teach it to your children, your children will grow up to be successful and productive citizens in the Kingdom of God and in the nations of man. 

Psalm 112:3  Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

The “Name it and Claim it Prosperity Preachers” will tell you that this verse is proof that God wants all Christians to be physically wealthy. That’s not true. The Apostle Paul said of himself and the other Apostles:

2 Corinthians 6:4-10  (ESV) … as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

A “servant of God” is often going to be at odds with this world. Jesus warned us that “the world will HATE YOU, because it HATED ME” (John 15:18). If you are serving God, do not expect the world to cheer you on. If you are serving God, do not expect great wealth or fame. Yes, there are people like Adrian Rogers, Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, and others who are famous and well known. But I’ll guarantee you these same men went through hell on earth and the attacks of others. 

What do all Christians have that no one else has? Look at the phrase:

his righteousness endureth for ever

When you believed on Christ as Lord and Savior, God imputed His righteousness to your spiritual bank. 

We are born with NO RIGHTEOUSNESS of our own. The Bible is quite clear that:

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

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

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus corrected our ideas concerning holiness. He said “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). He said “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Holy Cow! The Pharisees were outwardly SUPER-righteous. They prayed at the right times, they were flawless in dress and decor, they tithed regularly, and were ALWAYS in Church. How can we – how can I hope to be BETTER than a Pharisee? How can we hope to be as perfect as God our Father?

It is only through Christ that we can achieve this excellence. Jesus Christ took OUR SIN on Himself, and paid the penalty of sin for us. The Scripture says:

Romans 5:9  (ESV) … Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

We who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are under the Blood of Christ. Jesus took our penalty, so we can take His righteousness. One of my favorite passages is in:

2 Corinthians 5:20-21  … we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

God has credited the righteousness of Christ to YOU, to your spiritual bank account. “his righteousness endureth for ever”. The salvation we have in Christ saves us, and keeps on saving us. This is the message the Apostle gave us:

Romans 3:21-25, 28  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;  22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:  23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;  … 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

The Christian stands right and righteous before God because of Christ. We have “riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). 

Saved By Faith, The Righteous Walk With God

Those who are saved by faith in Christ are changed, from inside out. We become very much the “Children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). The Holy Spirit enters our lives in a very real way. Jesus sends the Spirit to His Children. 

John 14:16-17 … I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;  17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Spirit Filled Christian does not walk in darkness, but in the light of God. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6). 

Psalm 112:4-5  Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.  5 A good man sheweth favor, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

Those who are God’s Children walk in the light of Christ no matter how dark the day. God’s Children are grace oriented – the saved are to treat others graciously. They are “full of compassion” for others, but they do not compromise the commands of God. God’s people are not stingy with compassion or sharing. They are imitators of Christ. Jesus was always careful to be “about His Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). Those who are Christ’s “guide {their} affairs with discretion”. Those who are saved by Grace are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We represent not ourselves, but our Lord. We are stewards of the life He has given us.

Psalm 112:6-7  Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.  7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

The saved are “OVERCOMERS”. We cling to God. We have no choice! Yes, doubts may come. Yes, we are frail. But those who are saved are bound to God. When John the Revelator wrote to the Churches, he repeatedly said:

1 John 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Revelation 2:7  … To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:11 … He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

We do not overcome in our power, but in HIS. Jesus said, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels”. I don’t know about you, but I have no choice but to cling to my Jesus! My heart is fixed. I’m going to trust in God, for this is where my riches are. 

Psalm 16:5; Psalm 73:26  The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup … My flesh and my heart faileth: but GOD is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever!

What a joy it is to be in Jesus! Let’s finish with these words:

Psalm 112:8-9  His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.  9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.

The believer in Christ is to make a difference where he or she is. Are you Christ’s? Then live for Him. Shine where you are. Let God be a part of your daily walk. If you consider yourself saved, but never consider the desires of God unless you are in Church or in pain – then perhaps you are NOT saved. Beloved, know that Christ died for you. Give your lives unto Him, believing Him to be both Lord and Savior. “Whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Amen and Amen!
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Following Christ

Posted on January 31, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Priyanshi Garg: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-trekking-following-a-trail-14970832/

This morning we will go to Luke chapter 9:

Luke 9:57-62 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

No one has ever been as misunderstood as the Lord Jesus is. One of the reasons Jesus is misunderstood is because Satan is battling against His Kingdom message. I was thinking about wars and thought, “What war has cost the greatest number of American lives?” It wasn’t World War I, the war to “end all wars”, or World War II. The war that caused the greatest number of deaths in America was the American Civil War. This war cost us 620,000 soldier’s lives, whereas World War II cost 405,399 military deaths. Those are horrible wars, and tragic deaths.

There is another war waging, a war between the Kingdom of God and the darkness of Satan. This is a war for the minds of people. The darkness redefines words, changes meaning, and does whatever it can do to confuse and enslave us to sin. Five black police officers recently were charged with murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct, and oppression in Memphis, beating a black man named Tyre Nichols to death. The officers knew they were wearing body cams, and knew they were being recorded. This is not the first time this has happened. Over and over we see more and more disregard for life – even among the police. The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is not “Pride Month”, or some special program by the Federal Government.

We need to get back to God.
We need to get back to what is important.
God is the Author of Life.
And God establishes what is GOOD and EVIL.

The government can tell you what is “legal” and “illegal”, but the government does not establish good and evil. God does.

Why Did Jesus Come?

Why did God the Father send God the Son to this earth? Did Jesus come to erase the Law of God – that which God has said is good and evil? No, He didn’t. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:17 (ESV) Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

The “Law” and the “Prophets” is what the Jews called the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God prophesied that the Messiah would come and lead His people to a right way of life. God called this a “New Covenant”. God said,

Hebrews 8:8 … Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah …10 I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people …

When Jesus prepared to go to the Cross, He said of His upcoming Cross “THIS is MY BLOOD OF THE NEW (COVENANT), which is SHED FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS”. Jesus did not come to allow us to sin more and reject God more.

Jesus came to FREE US FROM SIN and to BIND US TO LOVE.

Jesus came to heal us of our sin and confusion. He came to bring us to God. When we become self absorbed, making life about ourselves, we not only violate the Command of God, but we do evil. Jesus said:

Matthew 22:37-40 … Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Jesus said we are to love God with “ALL OUR HEART”. God is to be first in our emotions. We are to love God with “ALL OUR SOUL”. I’m supposed to love Him MORE than I love ME. We are to love God with “ALL OUR MIND”. Regardless as to what MY reason may say, I love God more. Why is this so important? Because the farther you get away from God, the more awful your life gets.

Illustrate: I was reading where Actor Paul Newman bragged in a book written about him as to how his year long love affair with Joanne Woodward, “Betraying my marital vows to [my wife] Jackie [and children] seemed insignificant”.

He justified the evil that he did based on the satisfaction he had of his lusts. When we drift away from God, it isn’t long before we become monstrous. When I was reading in the Old Testament the other day about the Battle of Jericho, God promised ONE PERSON – a Harlot named Rahab and her family – that they could live. Why? Because Rahab turned to God in love, and looked after God’s “spies”. But what did God say of the rest of Jericho?

Joshua 6:17, (ESV) … the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live … 21 Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

When many read those words, they try and “justify” what God did that day. May I say that we do not justify God, nor does God answer to us. I firmly believe the Scripture that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). I believe Jericho got so far away from God that, in the horrible grip of sin, God said “I want that nation gone”.

Jesus came to be the cure for sin.

Luke 9:1-2 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Disease, devils, and sickness are the side effects of sin. Sin entered the world, and brought death and destruction with it. Jesus came to this earth to show us the love of God. Jesus often said, “he that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Jesus Christ is the King of His Kingdom, the King of the Kingdom of God. The Father said of the Son,

Hebrews 1:8-9 (ESV) … Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness…

Jesus came to defeat evil, to destroy sin, and to create a Kingdom of right thinking and right behavior.

Jesus sent out His disciples to invite others into His Kingdom – but none were forced into it. Jesus told them:

Luke 9:4-5 And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. 5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

People have a choice. They can hear the call of Christ to His Kingdom and come – or they can refuse to receive Him. Jesus told His people, “Whoever receives YOU, receives ME, and whoever receives ME receives the FATHER WHO SENT ME” (Matthew 10:40). Jesus told His disciples, “If they will not RECEIVE you and the message I have given, then leave there and shake the dust off your feet”. The way of salvation can only be found through Jesus. You must RECEIVE Him as He is. We are told in:

John 1:11-13 {Jesus} came unto his own, and his own 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: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

When you RECEIVE {lambanō, take what He offers} Jesus, you receive all the benefits that come with Jesus. One commentary put it this way:

“When we “receive” a package, we take it to ourselves. When a running back “receives” the football, he pulls it to himself and clings to it. When we “receive” Jesus, we take Him to ourselves and cling to the truth about Him. To receive Jesus as our Savior means we look to Him and Him alone as the One who forgives our sin, mends our relationship with God, and provides us entrance to heaven. To reject Him as Savior means we either don’t believe we need salvation or are looking to another deliverer. Scripture is plain, however, that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).”

Did Jesus Come To Make Us Prosperous?

There are several false preachers today who tell us that “Jesus came to make us rich and wealthy”. That’s not true. Jesus Christ came to make us GODLY, more like God and less like the lost. Once Jesus proved Himself to be “The Christ of God” (Luke 9:20), He told His disciples that:

Luke 9:22 … The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

“Son of Man” was Jesus’ favorite nickname for Himself. He is referred to as “Son of Man” 88 times in the New Testament. In Daniel 7:13, the Prophet saw the Messiah, Whom he called the “Son of Man”, come from Heaven to earth. Why did Jesus Christ the “Son of Man” come to this earth?

The Son of Man came to forgive sin (Matthew 9:6).
The Son of Man came to be our Sabbath rest (Mark 2:28).
The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).
The Son of Man came to pay for our sins (Luke 9:22).
The Son of Man laid His life down for us, and tells us to do the same for one another.

The Son of Man came calling sons of men to His side. He came to show us the way that God means life to be. Jesus said:

Luke 9:23-25 And {Jesus} said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

Dear friends, do not believe that you can hold on to your old life and be saved. Jesus calls us into a RADICAL RELATIONSHIP with Him. Salvation occurs when we:

DENY ourselves
TAKE UP the CROSS DAILY
and FOLLOW JESUS

If you’re one of God’s sheep, you belong with the Shepherd. Jesus Christ is the Great Shepherd (John 10:10-11). When Jesus laid His life down for us, He showed us what love looks like. Love is self sacrificial. Love does not embrace sin. It embraces God. The Prosperity that Jesus offers us is not full bank accounts, good health, and the best foods.

The Prosperity that Jesus offers us is peace with God, and union with others in the family of God. We are promised Heaven. We are promised love. We are promised to be like Jesus.

Luke 9:57-58 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. (58) And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

This is a very interesting passage. In this day of mega-Churches and “Seeker Sensitive” Churches where the most important thing is to get “nickles and noses”, what Jesus said sounds strange. “Lord, I’ll follow you”. Will you?

Will you follow Jesus when the world hates you?
Will you stand with Jesus, and declare the Scripture true?
When they call you”homophobic” or “demon possessed”,
will you walk with Him?
Or will you sleep soundly in Gethsemane?
Or hide in the crowd while He’s being nailed to the Cross?

Jesus gave up EVERYTHING in order to save us and to bring us to God.

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: … 17 … if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Before you can be saved, you must be lost. If you come to Jesus lost, He will guide you to where life is – in self sacrifice and love.

ILLUSTRATE A little boy had come forward at the end of a worship service, professing to have been saved. The preacher sat down with the parents and the child to make sure he understood what he was doing. The preacher asked the child, “How do you know that you’re saved?” The little boy replied, “I know because I did my part, and the Lord Jesus did His part”. The preacher said, “Can you explain what you mean by that?” The little boy said, “Sure! I did all the sinning, and the Lord Jesus did all the saving!” That is an excellent description of salvation. We are all sinners, all lost, all unable to fix this terrible condition we’re in. My salvation is not based upon what I did, but on what God must do. The Scripture says “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). Oh how God loves you and I! “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8)”.

I have no choice but to follow Him. Without Him I have no hope. So I will follow Him, though none go with me. Adrian Rogers once said, “Americans are by and large, proud peacocks strutting their way to hell”!

Billy Graham wrote before his departure from this earth:

“ In every newspaper or magazine that we pick up, and in every newscast that we watch, we see a picture of hate and lust and greed and prejudice and corruption—manifested in a thousand ways. The fact that we have police and jails and military forces indicates that something is radically wrong with human nature. The Bible teaches that the human race is morally sick. This disease has affected every phase of our life in society. The Bible calls this disease by an ugly, three-letter word: sin. The Bible teaches that the only cure for sin is the blood that Christ shed on the cross. Christ became the Lamb of God who bled and died on the cross for our sins.”

This is not a popular truth in the progressive madness of our day. Beloved, if Jesus was hated, we who are His will be hated. He said:

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head

The Bible doesn’t say whether the man followed or not. Beloved, I MUST follow. Life is tough, but without Jesus life will be unbearable. If you follow Jesus, rarely does it lead to the PENTHOUSE, but usually to the PRISON. If you follow Jesus there will be few CHEERS, but many JEERS. But bear in mind you will never have the CROWN unless you first have the CROSS.

The Saved Must Put The Shepherd First

Luke 9:59-60 And {Jesus} said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

For years I misunderstood this text. It seemed to me that the second man asked a quite reasonable request. You see, Jesus commanded him “Follow Me”, but this man said “I’ll follow You Lord, but let me first go and bury my father”. I was researching this text when I came across a commentary by G. Campbell Morgan, a great Bible Teacher of the nineteenth century. Dr. Morgan said that a friend of his was trying to get a young Arab to come with him to be an interpreter as he preached in Arabia. Dr. Morgan said:

“At last the Arab looked at him, and said, “Suffer me first to go and bury my father,” in the very words of Scripture; and the old man was sitting by his side when he uttered them. What he meant was, “I have a filial obligation that prevents my coming.” (Westminister Pulpit, Volume IV, pg 164) The father wasn’t dead, but the man refused to go with Jesus because – perhaps as the older son – he had an obligation to his father’s house. He wanted to remain with his parents until his father died.”

Jesus expects us to put Him first. This should be no surprise. As the GREAT COMMANDMENT is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:36), and as Jesus Christ is GOD THE SON, then we are to put Him first. Jesus said:

Luke 14:26-27, 33 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. … 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Your greatest treasure is to be Jesus. We are to put Him first, and everything else second. But here’s the interesting truth: When you put Jesus first, following Him first, then you will become BETTER. You will be a BETTER husband if Jesus is first. You will be a BRAVER man if Jesus is first. Your live will be BOLDER. You will hold others in greater esteem.

There are so many good things that we can and should do. But we must never let a good thing keep us from doing the best thing. The best thing is to follow Christ, preaching by your life the Kingdom of God!

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God must be preached! God’s people must stand with and follow the Lord Jesus. The best thing you can do for your children is to put Christ first, to tell them of Jesus, to call them to salvation. The best thing you can do for your aged parents is to tell them that Jesus Christ died for their justification, and rose again for their sanctification. The best thing you can do for your job is to tell those you work with that you are a Christ follower, not a world compromiser. America has fallen because the Church has fallen, and the Church has fallen because the Christian has fallen.

The Gospel is the flag of the Church, and it flies proudly over the Kingdom of God. We who belong to Jesus must put Jesus first for our own sakes, and for the sakes of those we love. His Kingdom must take precedent, or we will lose America – and all we hold dear!

Do Not Allow The Enemy To Turn Your Attention
To The Dark Rear

Luke 9:61-62 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. (62) And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Sherry laughs at me while I watch “scary” movies. You know the kind. The killer is coming, and you know he’s coming because of the eerie music. Then they start running, and as they run, they look backwards … and inevitably FALL DOWN. And the monster gets them.

If you are saved, don’t look back. Look at Jesus. Imitate Jesus. Follow Jesus. He is your Guide in life and into eternity.

Illustrate:A missionary group wanted to go to the Far East, but had never been to the area they wanted to visit. So they made an arrangement with a reputable, well known guide. When they arrived at the train station the guide told them, “Give me everything: Your luggage, your purses, your wallets, your passports. Hold nothing back.” Some of the women in the group wanted to keep their purses. The guide said, “Your possessions are far more secure with me, and you’ll be far safer without these possessions – we will be in some rough territory.” The guide took their possessions, and left them so he could secure their luggage. A train came in, and all the missionaries got on it. The guide came up and said, “Will you please come out of there?” Once out of the train, the guide said “This is the wrong train, headed in the wrong direction. Will you please be kind enough to not go before me, but follow after me?”

We get in trouble when we get ahead of our Guide. Jesus Christ is our Guide. He is our Savior, our Lord. We are to follow Him, and to read His Word daily. What God has said, we will cling to. The devil will call us to compromise, but that is the way of destruction. Don’t look back. Look up. Look to Him Who alone knows the way. Amen and Amen.

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IF

Posted on January 24, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Trinity Kubassek: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sheep-288621/
Turn with me in your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 1. 

Leviticus 1:1-4  And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,  2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.  3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.  4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Leviticus 1:10  And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

Leviticus 1:14  And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

When Gentiles come across the Book of Leviticus in the Bible, many skip it over. What does Leviticus have to do with Christianity? I think is short sighted, and foolish.

The Bible says in:

2 Timothy 3:16-17  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 

When the Apostle Paul was writing the Book of Timothy, his Bible was the Hebrew Old Testament. Leviticus is part of that “all Scripture” that God has given us, and it is profitable. You cannot be a mature Christian unless you understand the truths in every Book of Scripture.

Leviticus is a book God wrote to the Priests of the faith. In the Old Testament, the Priests were of the Tribe of Levi. In the New Testament, every Christian is a priest before God. The Apostle said:

1 Peter 2:9  … ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light

And again in:

Revelation 1:4-6  John to the seven churches ….  5   from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,  6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

I could go on, but I don’t have the time. You as believers in Christ are priests unto God. You will never – as the sons of Levi did – offer an animal sacrifice to God. We are not cleansed from sin by the blood of an animal. It is the “the blood of Jesus Christ {God’s} Son {that} cleanseth us from all sin.” The Bible further tells us of the Old Testament Sacrifices that the Old Testament sacrifices were a SHADOW of things to come. Comparing the Old Testament Law to the New Testament Jesus, the Apostle said that the Levitical priests:

Hebrews 8:5 … serve{d} unto the example and shadow{σκιά skiá, [pronounced skee'-ah], something formed by interception of light}  of heavenly things …

Hebrews 10:1-4  For the law having a shadow {σκιά skiá, [pronounced skee'-ah], something formed by interception of light} of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.  2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.  3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.  4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 

When the Light of God shined in the Old Testament, Jesus stood in front of it and cast a shadow represented by the animal sacrifices. If animal sacrifices could make people right with God, then Jesus would never have had to go to the Cross. But animal sacrifices were done, repeatedly done, from when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden and until that Hill we call “Calvary”. 

      What Can Israel & The Church Learn From The Shadow Sacrifices?

1 First of all, we can learn of the holiness and majesty of God. When God made Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17  … Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

Though God put man and woman on the earth to “dress it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15), God is still very much King over His creation. As King, God established a standard as to what man should do and not do. God gave Adam free will, and Adam was free to obey or disobey God – but if he disobeyed there were consequences. What were they? God said, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”. God did not make death optional. He said “surely die”. God is holy, righteous, and just. There is no sin in God. God establishes the standards. Not us, but God.

When the Prophet Isaiah was allowed to look into Heaven, he saw the holiness of God revealed. We read:

Isaiah 6:1-3   … I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up… 2 Above {His Throne} stood the {angelic} seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

God is King, and God is Holy. The holiness of God speaks to the truth that He is ABSOLUTELY MORALLY PURE in all that He says and thinks. God gave Adam a very reasonable command. He has access to eating 99% of every fruiting plant in the Garden. Adam knew the consequence – and yet, he still ate of the forbidden. By rights, Adam should have died. But what happened?

Genesis 3:21  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
 
Adam led Eve into sin. He was now spiritually separate from God. Adam and Eve should have died. But they didn’t. Why? Because:

2 God loves His human creation. God would have been totally justified in destroying Adam and Eve. But God didn’t. The death that Adam and Eve deserved was put on an animal. This is the very first animal sacrifice in the Bible, and God is the One Who made the sacrifice. The animal that died covered Adam and Eve’s nakedness, their sinfulness. The Bible says:

Hebrews 9:22  … almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission {of sins}.

Fast forward through the Bible to the saving of Israel from Egypt. God’s Israel had been held in bondage by a Pharaoh who though he was a “god”. God sent word to Pharaoh through Moses:

Exodus 4:22-23 … Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:  23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

Just as it was in the Garden of Eden with Adam, God gave Pharaoh a choice. You can either “let Israel My son go”, or God said “I will slay thy son”. Because God is LOVE (1 John 4:7-21), He did not IMMEDIATELY bring death on the firstborn in Egypt. God brought 9 plagues to Egypt, each attacking a different aspect of Egyptian life. One source notes:

“Just as the "Ten Commandments" become symbolic of the fullness of the moral law of God, the ten ancient plagues of Egypt represent the fullness of God's expression of justice and judgments, upon those who refuse to repent. Ten times God, through Moses, allows Pharaoh to change his mind, repent, and turn to the one true God, each time increasing the severity of the consequence of the plagues suffered for disobedience to His request. Ten times Pharaoh, because of pride, refuses to be taught by the Lord, and receives "judgments" through the plagues, pronounced upon his head from Moses, the deliverer. ”

Pharaoh ignored the nine plagues, then God told His people to take a lamb without spot or blemish, sacrifice it, and put its blood on the entry of your homes. God said:

Exodus 12:13 ... when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy [you], when I smite the land of Egypt. 

If the lamb died, and its blood was placed on the home, then the death that was coming would “Pass Over” that home. Israel did as God said, and on that day the firstborn of every home in Egypt not under the blood of the lamb experienced sure physical death. Israel walked out of Egypt because of the blood of the lamb.

God led His Old Testament people to the base of Mount Sinai, and here God gave the five books of the Law to Moses on that mountain. It was through the Law that God established the animal sacrifice to temporarily cover the sins of His people. When Moses was on the mountain with God, the children of Israel made a golden calf to worship – a bloodless, man made thing. When Moses came down the mountain and entered the camp, he cried out:

Exodus 32:26  … Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

Because the “sons of Levi” or the “Levites” heard Moses and gathered together with Him, God set the Levites apart to be the Priests of Israel. 

The Book of “Leviticus” was given as a guidebook for the Levites, to tell them how sinful mankind can approach the Holy God of the universe. Animal sacrifices were temporary, shadows that would be fulfilled in Christ. What can we learn from these shadows?

        No One Approaches God Without The Blood Of The UNBLEMISHED

Leviticus 1:1-4  And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,  2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord…

The first thing we need to notice is the little word “If”. No one was made to come to God. This was a free choice that each person made. This is true under the Old Covenant or the New. No one was ever forced to worship God. God calls “whosoever will” to come to Him. Salvation has always been a choice to you must enter into willingly. Jesus said:

Matthew 16:25  WHOSOEVER will save his life shall lose it: and WHOSOEVER will lose his life for MY SAKE shall find it.

Romans 10:13  For WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (also Acts 2:21). 

Sin is so terrible in God's sight that it can only be covered with the shedding of Blood. In the Old Testament the animal had no free will to choose, but the person wanting an audience with God chose. Under the Old Covenant:

Leviticus 1:2-3   … ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.  3 IF his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish

The Israelite had a choice as to the type of animal that they brought before God. If “of the cattle”, then the creature chosen was YOUR BEST animal. It was a “male without blemish”. Why a male, and not a female? The Bible tells us that:

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

Sin came into the world “by one man”, by Adam. So when an animal sacrifice was to be made, the animal chosen had to be a “male without blemish”. It had to be a perfect specimen of the herd. This is a shadow that looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Bible says:

Romans 5:17-19  … if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 

The creature was “WITHOUT BLEMISH” because the One Who would pay for our sins, the Christ, would be “WITHOUT BLEMISH” of sin. Though the creature sacrificed under the Law was the owner’s creature, when Jesus came, sinless Jesus came of His own free will. Our Lord taught His disciples "how He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day" (Matthew 16:21). The Lamb of God must die in our place. Jesus was without blemish. The Scripture says:

1 Peter 1:18-19  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;  19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 

God told His Old Covenant people:

Leviticus 22:20  You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

If the creature had a blemish, it could not be accepted as a covering for sin. A sinner cannot pay the penalty for another sinner. The Christ would be completely without sin. Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). 

When Jesus died, it was the Blood of God’s Son (Acts 20:28) that paid for our sins. 

The blood of the unblemished male bullock temporarily covered the Israelis sin. But the Blood of Jesus Christ covers our sin once and for all (1 John 1:7).  The Scripture says:

Hebrews 10:4, 9-10, 12  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. … 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.  10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 12  … this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 

    There Is No Atonement If You Do Not Put Your Hand On The Head

Leviticus 1:4  And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

The Blood of the perfect bullock, lamb, or bird could not make a permanent atonement for our sins because the bullock, lamb, or bird did not cause the sin that brought mankind into its fallen state. Man did this. We have seen before that “By ONE MAN sin entered the world”. But here’s something we can see from the shadow. The sinner must:

          PUT HIS HAND UPON THE HEAD OF THE BURNT OFFERING

The person for whom the Atonement would be made would personally touch the creature that was to be sacrificed. If you did not “put your hand upon the head”, there was no Atonement. By putting your hand on the head of the Atonement, you recognized that you are a sinner, and the penalty of your sins are being transferred to the creature for judgment.

This is what happened with Jesus. When Adam sinned, his action not only plunged the world under the fountain of sin's corruption, but his foolishness also cut off any hope of rescue. Because of Adam we are ALL fallen away from God’s holiness. But God rescued us. God must rescue us – if we will be rescued! We know that Jesus came forth from God. We know that in Christ:

1 Timothy 3:16 … God was MANIFEST in the flesh

Jesus Christ – God the Father’s Eternal Son – lowered Himself for us. The Father said of Jesus:

Hebrews 1:8  … Thy Throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of RIGHTEOUSNESS is the scepter of Thy Kingdom …

Jesus is pure. He is holy, He is God. And yet, 

Philippians 2:6-8 … being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  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 became our “BURNT OFFERING”. He died for our sins. Jesus, Who entered this world through a virgin, Who remained untainted by sin, died to redeem us from sin. The Bible says:

Revelation 5:9  … {Jesus was} . slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 

Hebrews 9:12-14 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. {13} For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: {14} How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

The Old Testament Saint followed God through a temporary atonement. But Jesus brought a once and for all atonement. Jesus Christ paid for our sins so we can have access to God. Our works cannot save us. The animal sacrifices proved this over and over again. It is the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus that saves us. 

However, once saved, we are saved “to serve the living God”. We are told:

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 

The Christian has been “BROUGHT TO GOD”. We no longer chase after the false gods of this world, but we serve a Risen Savior.

         Jesus Gave Himself So That ANYONE Could Come To God

Leviticus 1:3If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish...

Leviticus 1:10  And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

Leviticus 1:14  And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

Under the Old Covenant, a person could come to God with a creature “without blemish” that was a “male”. But you could bring a bullock, a sheep, a goat, or a bird. What does this speak to? Jesus Christ came to make payment for every person. He is not out of reach of anyone. Do you know the Lord Jesus? If not, today would be a great day to run to His arms. The great Pastor C.H. Spurgeon said:

“An awakened conscience will never be quieted with anything less than the blood of the Lamb: it rests at the sight of the great Sacrifice, but nowhere else.”

It is only by the Blood of the unblemished Lamb, Jesus Christ, that we have peace with God. Once we enter into His Kingdom, we work for Him, for His glory. May God touch your hearts with his Word. Amen and Amen.
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His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Posted on January 22, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-and-white-fur-bird-at-brown-tree-branch-87451/

Acts 9:36-42 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. 37 And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. 38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. 39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all forth, and knelt down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. 42 And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.

How Much Is A Life Worth?

As this is Sanctity of Life Sunday the question I want to address today is, How Much Is A Life Worth? The the wake of the overturning of Roe vs Wade – and the devil screamed about that – the question of abortion went back to the states. Many were FURIOUS over the Supreme Court decision, and many states are now passing laws that even allow for partial birth abortion. What is a life worth? When our Lord Jesus was ministering on this earth, He said every life is valuable.

Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Word Study on Sparrows: When Jesus wanted to show the value of a human life, He turned to the sparrow (Greek στρουθίον strouthíon, [pronounced stroo-thee’-on]. The word “sparrow” is only found six times in the King James text. Jesus said in Matthew that “two sparrows {were} sold for a farthing”, and in Luke “five sparrows {were} sold for two farthings”. So if you bought 4, you got the fifth one free. Sparrows were very cheap. The word “farthing” is the Greek {ἀσσάριον assárion, [pronounced as-sar’-ee-on]}, which Dr Thomas Constable notes is 1/16th of a laborer’s daily wage. That would be about $3.63 in America for a minimum wage worker ($7.25 per hour) – very little.

Sparrows have little value to the world – but our Father
cares for even the sparrow.

King David said in Psalm 84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.

Every life is valuable to God. Whether in the womb, or a senior citizen – or anyone in between, God wants us to cherish life. Let’s look at a sparrow named Tabitha.

Tabitha’s Life, Like The Sparrow, Was Important To God

Acts 9:36-37 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. 37 And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died …

The Scripture declares that the saved by faith in Christ are predestined to be …

Romans 8:29 … CONFORMED to the image of {God’s} Son …

Word Study: Every Christian is a “disciple” (Luke 14:26-33), the Greek μαθητής mathētḗs, [pronounced math-ay-tes’] which means “a student, a learner, a pupil”.

The idea that a person can be saved by Grace through faith in Christ, and then can walk away from any relationship with God, and still be saved is foreign to the Scripture.

Saved people are “born again” (John 3:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:23). Born again people work to glorify Jesus. They are changed from lost to found, from darkness to light, from spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Tabitha is a saved believer. She is called a μαθήτρια mathḗtria, [pronounced math-ay’-tree-ah], which is the word used for a FEMALE Disciple. This is the only place in The Greek New Testament where mathḗtria is used. Jesus lowered Himself to die for Tabitha. Now Tabitha is a child of God by faith in Christ (Galatians 3:26), and Tabitha is living for her Lord. We are told that Tabitha’s name:

vs 36 which by interpretation is called Dorcas

Word Study: Tabitha has so lived for the Lord that we are given two names for her. Tabitha (Ταβιθά) itself is her Aramaic or Jewish Name, but Dorcas (Δορκάς) is her Greek or common name.

Though the Apostles themselves were majorly focused on winning Jews to Christ at this point (Paul will visit Cornelius, a Gentile soldier in Acts 10), Tabitha was shining for Christ to both Jews and Gentiles. This is why she is given two names!

There was the tinge of racism among the early Apostles, which is why God raised up Paul the Apostleto carry the Gospel to the Gentiles (see above, Acts 9:15). Yet Tabitha does not need to be told to share the love of Christ with all. Insignificant to the world, she did what she could for Jesus. Tabitha was:

vs 36 … full of good works and almsdeeds which she did

Tabitha did good to those around her. She also did “almsdeeds” {eleēmosynē}, which means she was charitable and merciful toward the poor. The Pharisees did good toward the poor, but they did it to “be seen of men” (Matthew 6:1-4). Not so Tabitha. She did good toward those in need because it is the right thing to do. God says in His Word:

Proverbs 19:17 (ESV) Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and {the Lord} will repay him for his deed.

We are warned as Christians in …

Hebrews 13:16 (ESV) Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

God the Son gave us righteousness when we were bankrupt of Heaven’s good. He gives us life so that we can share our lives with others, with our Church, with our community. While we have life, let us live for the Lord Who saved us. Let us give to Him Who gave for us all. Let us let God work in us, making us like Jesus to a lost and dying world. We are not saved BY our good works, but once saved we are to live FOR good works. One of my favorite passages of Scripture describes this very clearly:

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

If you read Ephesians 2:8-9 you would think salvation is no more than a ticket to Heaven. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear you are NOT saved by your works, but by faith in the Grace of God by Christ Jesus. HOWEVER once you are saved, you are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works”. You ask, “What is a ‘good work’”? A good work is that which Jesus would do. God has left you on this earth, dear Christian to do “good works and almsdeeds”. Tabitha understood this. And then we read:

Acts 9:37 And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

Tabitha is, like all of us, mortal. She died in the flesh. Her body went to sleep. As the Jews did, they washed Tabitha’s body. But then they did something strange. You see, when Jesus died they washed His body, then put 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe, along with linen clothes (John 19:39-40) on His body. Jesus was then put in an new tomb that was donated by Joseph of Arimathaea, and the tomb was sealed. When Tabitha died they “laid her in an upper chamber” of a home. The Bible tells us that when we are:

2 Corinthians 5:8 absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Other translations say “we are out of the body, and at home with the Lord”. Tabitha is no longer in her body. And yet, rather than put her in a tomb, they lay her in a upper chamber of the home. We read:

Acts 9:38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that {Peter} would not delay to come to them.

The “disciples”, Christians, heard that Peter was at Lydda, about ten miles south of Joppa. Two men went to get Peter with haste, because dead bodies decompose quite quickly. But what can Peter do? Peter can’t do anything! Peter can’t raise the dead.

But God can (Romans 8:11).

What Will They Say About You In Your Obituary?

Illustrate: How will you be remembered? I was serving at Riverside School this past week, talking with one of the teachers about examples we had growing up. She remembered her mamma – and I my grandmother – who were examples of Christ.

How will YOU be remembered? Will it be a tombstone that people RARELY VISIT – or will you leave a testimony of Christ behind?

Acts 9:39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.

Peter had been in Lydda, working for the Lord. God had been working in a mighty way in Peter’s life. He found a man named:

Acts 9:33 … Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.

“Aeneas” was in paralytic shock. “palsy” is a word still recognized in the medical community. For instance, Bell’s Palsy is a disorder of the nerve that controls facial muscles, which causes the features to droop. We are all acquainted with Cerebral Palsy, which causes paralysis, problems with coordination, involuntary movements, and so on. Peter couldn’t do anything for “Aeneas”, but Jesus could. Peter had seen Jesus raise the paralyzed. Peter said:

Acts 9:34 … Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed.

Jesus did the exact same thing with a paralyzed man in Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:9-11; and Luke 5:24. Peter has no power, but Jesus does! There is nothing Jesus cannot do.

As Jesus comes into the home – perhaps Tabitha’s home (we do not know), “all the widows stood by Peter weeping”. These widows – people who have lost their husbands, and who were in economic poverty – began to show Peter “the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them”. Tabitha had lived her life well for the Lord. God had given her a talent for sewing. Once she was saved, she took that talent and used it for the poor. The Bible calls her “Dorcas” now and not “TABITHA” for a reason. As I said before, “TABITHA” is her Jewish name, but “Dorcas” is her more common name by which the general populace – including the Gentiles – knew her. The community was mourning, and were clinging to Peter. What will Peter do?

Acts 9:40 But Peter put them all forth, and knelt down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

Peter first of all got rid of all distractions. He can’t do anything for Tabitha – but Jesus can. So Peter:

put them all forth

What is Peter doing? He is imitating the Lord Jesus. In Mark chapter 5 a ruler of the Synagogue at Galilee called Jairus came to Jesus and, falling at His feet (Mark 5:22) begged the Lord to heal his daughter. “Jesus went with him, and many followed” (Mark 5:24). When Jesus got to Jairus’ home, He found a crowd of people all weeping. Jesus told them:

Mark 5:39 (ESV) … “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”

They all laughed at Jesus. What did Jesus do? Jesus …

Mark 5:40 … put them all out

In her life Tabitha imitated Jesus. Now Peter, confronted with an impossible situation, is imitating Jesus.
You never go wrong imitating Jesus!

Jesus spoke to the young girl,

Mark 5:41 … Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.

That young girl got up. Peter, James and John, along with the parents of the child, were in the room when Jesus did what He did. Now Peter imitates the Lord. He puts the distractions out, kneels, and prays. We don’t know what prayer Peter made, but we know what happened next.

Acts 9:40-41 … turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.

Jesus said two words to the young girl, “Talitha cumi”, which means “Young girl, arise!”. Peter says two words “Tabitha, arise”! Tabitha stands up, her soul is returned to her body! Peter then calls “the saints and widows”, the Church of God in Joppa, and shows the Church what Jesus can do.

Why Did Jesus Raise Up Tabitha? To Show Us Life Matters.

Tabitha glorified God in her life. She was loved of Christ, and saved so that she might reflect the love of God in a lost and darkened world. Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13 when the Pharisees and Scribes chastised Him for allowing His followers to eat without washing their hands. Jesus said:

Matthew 15:7-9 (ESV) You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

The Pharisees and Scribes knew what God said, but never DID what God said. God is glorified when we do what He says. We are to be followers of Christ.

John 21:19 {Jesus said} Follow me

Matthew 16:24-27 …. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

God saved us and left us on this earth to glorify Him. We glorify Him not just by paying lip service, but by actually doing that which He has told us to do. Listen Beloved:

You are not saved by good works, but by knowing Jesus. But once you know Jesus He calls you to work for Him.

There are so many who do not KNOW the Lord Jesus by faith, but think their innate goodness will save them.

Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Billy Graham said it this way:

God is clear that our righteousness is like a filthy rag. There is nothing we can do to measure up to God’s standard. … Once we are saved, however, God expects us—in fact, He commands us—to not be hearers of the Word only, but doers as well. Works, when we are in Christ, are an extension of Christ’s ministry. In fact, works are not ends in themselves, but they demonstrate God’s love toward others so that they will know God loves them, and so that they will desire to learn about God’s provision for every need. … The Bible says a man in a ditch is not helped if we pass by him, wish him well, and tell him of God’s love. No, God’s love is demonstrated by attending to the man’s physical needs and helping him out of the ditch. This is how people learn that the Father has sent the Son. “Fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). … Works must never replace faith and the sharing of the Gospel, but they are a natural extension of faith.

Tabitha is a wonderful example of the Christian way of life. Being saved by faith, Tabitha turned her God given talents and gifts to bringing glory to the Lord Who saved her. Oh, that more in the Church today understood this great truth. If you are saved, you are part of the …

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

To those who have never met Jesus, I beg you, give your lives to Him today. Lay your life down at the foot of the Cross, believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins. And for those who have given their life to Jesus, I challenge you. Are you living your life LOUDLY and BRIGHT for Jesus? Jesus expects you to work for Him, to the glory of God, while you are on this earth. I’ll end with this quote from the Book of Revelation:

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, AND the faith of Jesus.

The proof of your salvation is only found in your works for Christ. You are not saved by works – but if you will not work for Him Who saved you, you are probably not saved! Think on this, and repewnt if you are not where you need to be in Christ. For His sake I pray. Amen and Amen!

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The Danger of Prayerlessness

Posted on January 20, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Davis Arenas: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-sitting-on-rock-on-top-of-mountain-11520508/

Judges 15:18 And {Samson} was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

Judges 16:28-30 And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

These are the only two recorded prayers that Samson prayed.

Several years ago I heard Pastor Adrian Rogers say:

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

That is so very true! The Bible warns us that …

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God gives us life as a gift from Him. Physical life is a precious gift, and spiritual life is a wondrous, miraculous gift. Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins. The Bible says:

2 Corinthians 5:21 {God the Father} made {Jesus Christ} to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus Christ was and will always be within Himself SINLESS. Yet God made Him to be SIN, that we might be made RIGHTEOUS. Sin will kill you! When Jesus taught us to pray, part of that “Lord’s Prayer” says:

Matthew 6:12-13 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Saved by Grace, the Christian is supposed to daily call out to God for “our daily bread”. We are sustained not by the POWER of our hand, but by the PROVISION of our Heavenly Father. We pray for our bread. But we also pray “forgive us our debts”. We daily look at the garden of our lives, and pull out any weeds of sin by prayer. We CONFESS our sins to God. The Apostle John said:

1 John 1:6-10 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

God’s People Are To PRAY And OBEY

Those who fail to PRAY, usually fail to OBEY. When we sin against God we do not hurt God. When we sin against God we hurt OURSELVES. Read with me:

Judges 13:1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

The “wages of sin is death”. Israel is God’s people. God saved Israel. God established Israel in the nation of Canaan. And God told them to follow Him if they wished to be blessed. But Israel decided they wanted to follow the path of sin. So God raised punished Israel by allowing the Philistines to conquer them for 40 years. If you do not do what God tells you to do dear Christian, you will find yourself conquered by the Philistines!

But God is grace filled and merciful. With the punishment God also brings a solution. God raised up a Judge from a woman who was barren. God loves to bring blessing out of brokenness. God sent an angel to this woman who said:

Judges 13:3-5 Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. 4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: 5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

God often brought blessings where there was barrenness. Abraham’s wife Sarah (Genesis 16:1) was barren, the Prophet Samuel’s mother Hannah (1 Samuel 1:2) was barren. John the Baptist’s mother Elizabeth (Luke 1:7) was barren. God can bless those who rely on Him. We do not know the name of Sampson’s mother, but we know she was barren. But God was going to bless her. The Angel told her:

vs 4 drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not
any unclean thing

This woman was going to bear a child that would be special. The Angel said:

vs 5 the child shall be a Nazarite unto God
from the womb

Word Study: The “Nazarites” (which means “consecrated ones”) were men or women who were set apart as special workers for God. The “Law of the Nazarite” is found in Numbers 6:1-21.

Samson along with the Prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15) were Nazarites for life. The Apostle Paul took the Nazarite vow for a short time (Acts 18:18).

One of the key provisions of the Nazarite – whether man or woman – was that their hair not be cut. We are told:

vs 5 no razor shall come on his head

God kept His Word to Samson’s mother. We read in:

Judges 13:24-25 … the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him

God was going to use Samson (his name means “Strength Of The Sun”) to “begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines”. Ellicott’s Commentary notes that:

“The Rabbis say that he was “named after the name of God, who is called Sun and Shield of Israel” (Psalm 84:12).”

Samson would start Israel down the path of freedom from the Philistines, but he would not complete the work. Why? There were two reasons:

It Is Dangerous To Fail To OBEY, And Foolish To Not PRAY

Samson’s HAIR marked him as a Nazarite, set apart to serve God. God wants more than the appearance of righteousness. As God’s people we are to share the Gospel with the lost – but are NEVER to intimately bind together with the lost. The Scripture says:

2 Corinthians 5:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

And again,

1 Corinthians 6:14-18 … Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

Sexual sin – like all other sins – can destroy you. Though Samson kept the Law of the Nazarite (he did not cut his hair, nor did he drink wine or strong drink), he compromised himself sexually. Though Samson was called of God to overthrow the Philistines:

Judges 14:2 … {Samson} came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

In the ancient world marriages were arranged by the parents. When Samson demanded this, his parents tried to talk him out of it. But Samson wouldn’t listen. The Bible says:

Judges 14:7-8 … {Samson} went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8 And after a time he returned to take her …

The Jewish betrothal could last up to a year. After the betrothal period Samson “returned to take her” back to his home as his wife. Samson didn’t pray about it. He just did it. Samson married the enemy.

After marrying the Philistine woman, Samson posed a riddle to the Philistines. Samson had killed a lion, and later saw that “there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion” (Judges 14:8). Samson told the Philistines a riddle, and gave them seven days to solve it. His riddle was:

Judges 14:14 … Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

When they could not figure out the riddle (the lion killed was meat, and the honey in the lion was the sweet), the Philistines went to Samson’s wife. The Bible says:

Judges 14:15 … it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire …

Samson’s wife begged him to tell her the meaning of the riddle – and he did. Of course, she told the Philistines. Not only did this cause the end of the marriage, but caused the death of many. The Bible tells us:

Judges 15:14-17 … And when {Samson} came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

Samson named the place where he killed so many Philistines “Ramathlehi”, which means “the casting away of the jaw bone”. His Philistine wife betrayed him with her mouth (jawbone), so he used the “jawbone of an ass” to destroy the enemy. Did Samson learn anything from this? No. In his first recorded prayer he said:

Judges 15:18 And {Samson} was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

Samson is almost arrogant in what he prays. He does not confess his sin of intermarrying with a Philistine woman, nor does Samson glorify God for his victory. Thirsty from killing 1000 men with the “jawbone of an ass” he cries out to God. God in Grace blesses Samson. Matthew Henry’s Commentary notes:

“Samson prayed to God in this distress. Those that forget to attend God their praises, may be compelled to attend him with their prayers. Past experiences of God’s power and goodness, are excellent pleas in prayer for further mercy. He pleads his being exposed to God’s enemies; our best pleas are taken from God’s glory. The Lord sent him seasonable relief. The place of this action was, from the jaw-bone, called Lehi. And in the place thus called, God caused a fountain suddenly and seasonably to open, close by Samson.”

Samson Kept Playing With Sin – And It Caught Up With Him

Samson didn’t learn from his past mistakes. We read:

Judges 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

“Gaza” is a stronghold of the Philistines. Samson has played with sin, so getting away with it decides to play again. He goes into a well known bawdy house and spends the night. When he does, his enemies the Philistines plot to kill him in the morning. We read:

Judges 16:3 … Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron …

Gaza was a gated city with walls about it. Samson got up at midnight, and went to the barred gates and tore them down with his bare hands. As sentries were normally placed on the gates, he probably killed these sentries. The Philistines couldn’t do anything to stop Samson. But SIN can.

Judges 16:4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

Samson did not marry Delilah, but visited her in sexual sin. The Benson Commentary notes:

“Here Samson met with Delilah, who, whether she was a Jewess or a Philistine, was probably a harlot …”

This is the THIRD TIME Samson has fallen into sexual sin. We do not know whether Delilah is a Philistine, or if she is just a harlot who worked amongst the Philistines, but she was open to their advances. The Philistines asked Delilah:

Judges 16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was sold to the Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). There were five lords of the Philistines, and each promised 1100 pieces of silver or two talents – about 150 pounds of silver. A single talent was equivalent to 20 years of wages, so two talents would be enough wages to give Delilah a comfortable life for at least 40 years.

Delilah agreed to the deal!

She began to ask Samson the secret of his strength. We read:

Judges 16:7 Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

The “seven green withs” literally means seven bow strings worth of fresh cat gut or animal sinew. The 5 lords of the Philistines brought her the fresh sinew, and she bound him – probably when he was asleep. The Philistines attacked, and he broke the sinew. Delilah asked Samson again to tell her the secret of his strength. He said:

Judges 16:11 … If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

Again, she bound Samson. The Philistines attacked, and “he broke them off his arms like thread” (vs 12). Once more Delilah asked him the secret of his strength. Now Samson says:

Judges 16:13 … If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

The Benson Commentary interprets this as:

“If my hair, which is all divided into seven locks, be fastened about a weaver’s beam, or interwoven with weavers’ threads, then I shall be weak as another man. It is probable there was some loom or instrument of weaving in the room where Samson now was”

Of course, this does nothing to Samson. When the enemy attack, he ignores the “web” in his hair. But then Samson tells her the truth. If his hair is cut, he will lose his strength. The Philistines take Samson, and gouge out his eyes. Sin has conquered the Nazarite Judge.

As time passes, Samson’s hair grows. He is in captivity, a play thing of the Philistines. One day the Philistines decide to make sport of Samson again, so they bring him into one of their massive Coliseums. Tied between the pillars of his enemy, Samson prays. This is the SECOND and only prayer you see recorded in Samson’s life.

Judges 16:28-30 And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

What a sad end to what could have been a stellar life for God. Beloved, let us pray. Let us not rely on our strength, but on the strength of God. If you belong to Christ, prayer is so very important to you. Every day while you live on this earth, live for Jesus. Obey the Lord your God. Pray, and confess sin. Keep your eyes on the Lord, and your heart focused on glorifying God your Savior.

May God the Holy Spirit take this and use it for the glory of God and the furtherance of Christ’s Kingdom. Amen and amen.

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O Lord, O Lord, Help Us!

Posted on January 17, 2023 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Lukas: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-hand-reaching-body-of-water-296282/
Turn with me in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 10. 

Jeremiah 10:23-24  O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.  24 O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

        When We Reject God And His Glory There Are Consequences

What is the background to Jeremiah 10? God’s Judah had rejected the God Who saved them. In fact, Israel began to walk away from God during the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. After the 41 year old Rehoboam took the throne, the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel asked him to lower their tax burden. 

Rehoboam glorified himself, not God. 
His pride caused civil war in Israel.

The Ten Northern Tribes (also called Ephraim) established their own capital city (Samaria) and their own King (Jeroboam). 

Why did this happen? To understand it, you need to go back to Solomon’s reign. Solomon started out as a good King, but in 1 Kings 11:1-13 Solomon disobeyed God by intermarrying with women that did not know God. After Solomon married these women he began to build shrines to the Moabite and Ammonite gods. Solomon robbed God of His glory, and the Lord told him:

1 Kings 11:11-13  (NKJV) Because you have done this, {marrying many wives and worshiping false gods to please these wives} and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.

Because His people would not glorify God (see 1 Kings 12:16), God was the One Who ultimately tore the kingdom in two. This is the mystery of free will and the Sovereign will of God. Man PROPOSES, but God DISPOSES. God foretold Rehoboam’s failure, but Rehoboam is still responsible for what he did.

When we sin, and make ourselves god rather than God be God, we hurt not just ourselves, but others.

The Ten Tribes under King Jeroboam were led to worship golden calves (1 Kings 12:2-33). This is not a new sin within Israel. When Moses went up Sinai to receive the Law from God, Aaron built a golden calf (Exodus 32:5) for the people to worship. Israel learned golden calf worship from Egypt. The Northern Kingdom will begin to fall under an Assyrian attack beginning in 740 BC (see 1 Chronicles 5:26), and would be utterly exiled by 722 BC (see 2 Kings 17:5-6). 

Judah and Benjamin have not yet fallen to Babylon & King Nebuchadnezzar (586 BC, 2 Kings 25:9-12). God wants S Israel (Judah) to know that ...

        The WAY OF MAN Is Not In Himself

Jeremiah 10:23  O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself:

As God reveals the destruction of Judah to Jeremiah, the Prophet is comforted in knowing that God is always in control. You may not believe this. There are many who profess to be Christian who think that God is so small that man controls His ways. Several years ago J.B. Phillips wrote a book called “Your God is Too Small”. In that book, Phillips stated:

“Many men and women today are living, often with inner DISsatisfaction, without any faith in God at all. This is because they have not found with their adult minds a God Who is BIG ENOUGH …”

Some have traded God from the “Golden Calf” called “Evolution”. My Bible says that God created the world, and our entire universe, in six 24 hour days. The “Golden Calf” of Evolution Evolution was first developed and presented to the world through a failed Anglican Minister Charles Darwin. Darwin wrote:

“In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an atheist … (but) an agnostic”

The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth …” (Genesis 1:1). God created a MATURE universe. Adam and Eve were created as mature, sexually reproductive creatures. “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” is easily answered in the Book of Genesis. The CHICKEN came first, for 

Genesis 2:19 … out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

God made a MATURE creation that had the ability to reproduce. The Golden Calf of Evolution says all things are a happy accident.

God asks the skeptic and the scientist:

Job 38:4-5  (ESV) Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

There is no Gospel if there is no Genesis. 
If there is no Genesis 1, there is no John 1.
No Genesis 3, there is no Romans 3 thru 5.
If Adam and Eve are myths, so is Jesus!

The heart of the Gospel is:

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

This is what Jeremiah is saying:

Jeremiah 10:23 … O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself

We are hopelessly and helplessly lost. We are broken, and cannot fix what ails us. We need Jesus!

Romans 5:6 … when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 5:8-15  God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners {because of AdaM’S SIN}, Christ died for us.  9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.  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:  … 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

You cannot cherry pick which parts of the Scripture you believe in.  The Apostle Paul  preached the Gospel to those who worshiped many gods at Mars Hill:

Acts 17:24, 26  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;  … 26 And hath made of one blood {has from one person, Adam} all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth 27  That they should seek the Lord…

        Jeremiah serve a BIG GOD Who made ALL THINGS.

Jeremiah 10:23  O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 

Word Study: Jeremiah says “I know”, the Qal Perfect of the Hebrew yāḏaʿ means “I rest in this knowledge”. What is Jeremiah resting in? That “the way of man is not in himself”. Our God is an awesome God. He is no figment of the imagination. Man created Evolution out of a failed faith in God. This is where all idols come from. 

        The Golden Calves Of The Lost Cannot Save Us

Jeremiah 10:2-5  Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.  3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.  4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.  5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

Word Study: “The way of the heathen” is the Hebrew dereḵ gôy which means “the path of the unbeliever”. 

The unbeliever DESIGNS a god that has no power. The Christian follows the God Who DESIGNED all things.

Word Study: they go out of their way to create false gods. The Lord says, “the customs of the people are VAIN”. The word “VAIN” is the Hebrew heḇel, which means “like a vapour, a fog, or a breath, a thing that has no substance, that is empty and transitory but without power”. The gods of the lost are manufactured by humans. God says,

one cutteth a tree out of the forest

The unbeliever KILLS A TREE to make a fake god. The Christian follows the God Who designed the trees, and Who died on a tree for us. 

deck it with silver and with gold

The unbeliever rips rocks from the ground to make a god. The Christian follows the God Who is THE ROCK (Deuteronomy 32:4, 15). 

they fasten it with nails and with hammers, 
that it move not

The false gods of the unbeliever will tip over if not nailed to the floor. But we who believe in Jesus say, “There is none HOLY AS THE LORD: for there is none beside Thee: neither is there any Rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). You can stand on Jesus! False gods are dead gods. They ...

cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good

The false gods of this world may look beautiful, but they are just made up. Different workmen and merchants work together to create these figments of imagination. 

Jeremiah 10:9-12   Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.  10 But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.  12 He hath made) the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

The God of the Scripture is “the TRUE God” as opposed to the false gods of the world. 

The True God is revealed through the witness of nature
& the Holy Bible!

John 17:14-17   {O Father} I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 

The Word of God, the Holy Bible, is true in all it affirms. The idols of this world are false, but God’s Word is true. The God of Scripture is also “The LIVING God”. He is the Source of all life. Jesus said:

Mark 12:26-27  … as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  27  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living ...

God is the Source of all life. He is the “God of the living”. But notice that God is also “an EVERLASTING King”. God is in control of all things. God made the earth:

Jeremiah 10:12  He hath made (ʿāśâ, to make something out of nothing )
the earth by his power

Our God is not a manufactured God, but the God Who made all things from nothing. Our God ...

Jeremiah 10:12  established (Hiphil Participle kûn, has firmly fixed) the world by his wisdom

and “stretched out the heavens at His discretion”. The Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Maker of mankind through Adam, is the One Who promises life to those who come to Him. 

        I Can’t Even Walk Without Him Holding My Hand

If your god is a little “g” god, then the slightest of terrors can easily overthrow you. But if your God is the Big “G” God of Scripture, you need not fear what tomorrow might hold. As Jeremiah was told by God of the impending destruction to come by Nebuchadnezzar, he said:

Jeremiah 10:23   O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

When you give yourselves over to the God of the Scripture, knowing that you have no power in and of yourself, then you can walk without fear. It is HIS promise:

Isaiah 54:17   No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

Those who “serve the LORD” know that God will protect us and oversee any trial that comes our way. God gives us righteousness through His precious Son Jesus Christ. We are His Children:

Galatians 3:26  … ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
We do not walk in the WAY OF MAN, 

but as Christians we walk in the WAY of CHRIST. 

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

We who …

Galatians 5:24-25  they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We do not walk after the ways of this world. We walk with our Savior, our God. We have His promise:

1 Peter 3:13-15 … And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?  14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;  15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:

As judgment came to Judah, Jeremiah “sanctified the Lord God in his heart”. He focused upon the God of Scripture, and believed that God is greater than anything in His creation. If you have a little “g” god then you have much to fear. But if your God is the Creator of all things, and the everlasting King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then you have His promise:

Romans 8:28-39  … we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.  31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?  32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?  33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.  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. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

We cannot control our circumstances. We cannot control the people around us. We cannot control our own health. We cannot control whether we live or die. Sometimes we make bad decisions. But above all things if you have given yourself to God through His Son Jesus, then the God Who is and Who cannot cease to be, this God, Jesus’ God, is OUR Father. Hear the Lord’s Word:

Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. 

Psalm 112:6-7  …  the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.  7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

If you are following the golden calves of this world, I beg you – turn to Jesus this day. Your hope and your strength is in Him. Do not delay – today is the day of salvation. May God the Holy Spirit draw you to His side while there is time. Amen and amen!
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