| 25 June, 2000 | Things To Remember | Deuteronomy 8:1 |
Deuteronomy 8. Moses is about to die, he knows it, and these are
his final words to Israel.
Deuteronomy 8:1; " All the commandments which I command thee
this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply,
and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your
fathers.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD
thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble
thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether
thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. Verse 5;
Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as
a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Verse 11;
Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in
not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day:
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it
is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish
his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD
thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship
them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish."
When a man knows that he is saying his last piece, we can safely
assume that he is going to say something he thinks is important.
Moses reminds the people of their need to be faithful to God,
and he hinges it all on their need to remember, to consider,
and not forget.
That's what we're going to do today. Shotgun sermon. We're going
to remember and consider several basic things of the faith.
Things that a lot of us probably know, or maybe not: anyway, we
need to make sure that we don't forget any of these things.
First, we need to remember something basic to understanding the
Bible, and that is; the Bible is not politically correct. Bet
you didn't know that did you?
The Bible addresses certain things to certain groups of people
that do not pertain to other groups of people.
In Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth, he is giving
them some ground rules for how to live without stumbling other
Christians up, and in chapter 10, he mentions in passing something
we all need to remember.
1 Corinthians 10:32 tells us; " Give none offence, neither
to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God."
Three different groups of people; the Jews, the Gentiles, and
the church of God.
This is important because it makes all the difference in how we
understand and interpret the Bible, what we think our churches
should be like, and what we think the church's role in the world
should be.
There are a lot of Christian churches, and some so-called Christian
churches, that believe that God used Israel during the Old Testament
time, worked through them until the Messiah was born,
and then when Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah and Lord, God rejected
Israel, and He has no further plans for them now or in the future.
Those churches feel that the Christian church has inherited all
the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and David.
In their doctrines they believe that the church has taken the
place of Israel, and consequently they apply God's future promises
for Israel to the church.
That's why you have churches that are rich and powerful, that
believe the church will rule the world for Christ, and their church
services are a Christianized form of Old Testament temple worship
This is a great mistake. Turn to Genesis 13:14;
"And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated
from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where
thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and
to thy seed for ever.
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if
a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also
be numbered.
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth
of it; for I will give it unto thee."
That word forever in verse 15? That is the word
that God uses to refer to Himself and how long He has been around,
and plans to be around.
Later on, God makes a similar promise to King David. Turn to 2
Samuel 7 and verse 12;
"And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed
out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom for ever."
That word forever in verse 14? You got it. Forever
means forever.
Where are we going with this? The whole point of these verses
is that although God has set aside Israel for a time, He has still
has promises to keep to them.
The Christian church is not Israel, and the ancient promises made
to Israel in terms of land, power, world rule, earthly wealth,
or other worldly things have no bearing on the Christian church.
God has made certain promises and provisions for the church, and
He has made other promises and provisions for a redeemed Israel.
Israel is not a redeemed nation at this time, nationally,
they are still out of the will of God, and as a nation, they are
still the enemies of Christ.
The day will come that Jesus Christ will come for His church,
and He will take us out of this world before he releases the Antichrist
to do his thing.
At that time God will begin once again to redeem for Himself a
faithful remnant out of Israel.
Until then, when we interpret the Bible, we need to remember not
to apply verses meant for Israel to the Christian church.
That would be a good study for a Wednesday night. Studying different
verses, and noting which apply to Israel, and which to the church.
Something else that we need to remember when we study and read
the Bible, is not to confuse the Second Coming of the Lord with
His coming to receive His church prior to the Tribulation period.
There are two comings of the Lord in the Bible. Christ came to
the earth as a man almost 2,000 years ago, suffered for our sins,
and died on a cross.
Jesus was raised from the dead showing that God the Father was
satisfied with His sacrifice for sin, and returned to heaven.
Jesus will come again prior to the start of the Great Tribulation,
and take away His Bride, the Church before that terrible time.
The Church, the Bride of Christ will not go through the tribulation.
Christ has already paid for all our sins, to imply that the church
should suffer along with the world when God judges the world for
sin would mean that God punishes Jesus for our sins, and then
punishes us for our sins again.
That cannot happen. The church is hid with God in Christ, and
that judgement is finished. Jesus removes the church from the
scene of judgement before the judgement begins.
However, He does not come all the way to the earth
at that time. Maybe it seems merely a technicality, but He comes
only to the clouds of heaven, and the believers go up to meet
Him. So we don't count the Rapture as a "coming".
After the seven years of tribulation, then He comes
again to the earth in power and glory, casts the antichrist and
false prophet into the lake of fire, and binds Satan for a thousand
years.
He then rules and reigns upon the throne of David for a thousand
years; this is called the millennium.
At the end of the thousand years, comes the Last Judgement on
those that have died in their sins, without Christ.
Many people and churches seem to get mixed up about Jesus coming
for His church, and coming to the earth in power, and the Last
Judgement.
These are separate events, when you read the Bible, especially
Matthew 24, remember not to muddle them all together.
The Last Judgement is not the same as Jesus 2nd coming at Armageddon,
which is not the same as Jesus coming for His church.
Something else we need to remember, is that there are two resurrections
in the Bible, and two judgements.
Not all the dead are raised at the same time. Some are raised
first, and some are raised much later.
Over in Matthew 27 and verse 52; Jesus has risen from the grave,
and He causes many others to rise from the grave at the same time.
We read; "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of
the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into
the holy city, and appeared unto many."
The Bible does not say, but I assume that when Jesus went back
to heaven, He took these risen saints with Him.
Now turn with me to John 5 and verse 25;
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God:
and they that hear shall live.
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the
Son to have life in himself;
And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he is the Son of man.
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation."
We see from this that the Father has committed all judgement unto
the Lord Jesus, and that there are two resurrections,
a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto damnation.
How does this work? What is the time frame? Turn to 1 Thessalonians
4: 13; "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as
others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
-or go ahead of- them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord."
At the Rapture, at the time when Jesus comes for His church before
the tribulation, Jesus will take all believers to be with Himself,
and simultaneously resurrect from the dead all those that have
died in faith.
All believers, alive or dead, go immediately to be with Jesus.
What about those that are killed during the tribulation? What
about unbelievers?
Turn to Revelation 20 and verse 4:
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment
was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded
for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had
not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received
his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived
and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:
on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Verse 11:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no
place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book
of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged
every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire."
The first resurrection is a resurrection unto life, it is only
for believers, and the second resurrection is a resurrection
unto damnation, it is only for unbelievers.
It does not occur until after the thousand years of the millennium.
Something to also remember, when the Bible speaks of a resurrection,
it is referring to a resurrection of the body, not of the spirit.
When a person dies, their spirit remains conscious, either in
bliss or in woe, and then at the resurrection the spirit is reunited
with the body.
Those that have been raised to life have a body like the glorified
body
of Jesus Christ, those that are separate from God have a body
that persists even in the face of eternal punishment.
Something else that we need to remember when we read the Word
of God is never to confuse or mingle the two concepts of Law and
Grace.
The world has always had a certain amount of Law. From the first
day in the garden of Eden, when God told Adam His will concerning
the tree of good and evil, man has had a revelation of the will
of God.
If we know the will of God, then it should be like a law to us,
we should seek to do it.
If we know the will of God, and rebel against it, that is sin.
Sin is a rebellion against the will of God, rejecting His lawful
rule over us.
But when the Bible speaks of Law, it almost always refers to God's
particular revelation on Mount Sinai to Moses.
John 1: 17 tells us; "For the law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
Law as opposed to grace. G r a c e; God's Riches At Christ's Expense.
The unmerited favor of God toward rebellious, undeserving sinners.
We must always remember never to mingle these two principles.
Law always has a place and a work to do that is opposite from
grace.
Law is God prohibiting and requiring. Grace is God beseeching
and bestowing.
Law is a ministry of condemnation; grace is a ministry of forgiveness.
The law curses; grace redeems from that curse.
The law kills, grace makes alive. The law shuts every mouth before
God. Grace opens every mouth to praise Him.
The Law puts a great and guilty distance between sinner and God,
grace cleanses a guilty sinner , and puts him at the right hand
of God in Christ.
The law utterly condemns the best of us, grace freely justifies
the worst of us.
Law is a system of probation, grace is a system of favor.
Under law, the sheep dies at the hand of the shepherd. Under grace,
the Good Shepherd dies for the sheep.
The Bible always presents law and grace in total contrast. When
we mingle law and grace, we rob the law of it's terror to convict
of sin, and grace of it's freedom in Christ.
How about the Ten Commandments? Does a Christian please God by
keeping the Ten Commandments?
That is asking the wrong question. God has not given
Christians the Ten Commandments. He gave those to Israel.
Christians do not base their lives on the Ten Commandments.
However: all Christians should know what they are; a legal expression
of the holy character of God, and the will of God for His people;
correct?
Now; if we or another Christian is living their life contrary
to the will or character of God, as expressed in the Ten Commandments,
then maybe we ought to stop and ask "what's wrong with this
picture?"
Christians do not live their lives based on the
Ten Commandments, but our lives should never be a violation of
them.
Just because Christians are under grace, that never
removes us from living under the rule of God over our lives.
There are three errors that Christians have fallen into over the
years.
One is to say that because we are not under law, then there are
no rules. Therefore we can do what ever we want, holiness in our
personal lives is optional.
We read in Jude 4; " For there are certain men crept in unawares,
who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly
men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
-gross sexual indecency- and denying the only Lord God, and our
Lord Jesus Christ."
People using the grace of God as an excuse to live indecent lives.
Another error that some make concerning the law is to require
that Christians should keep the Levitical ordinances. We read
in Acts 15: 1;
"And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren,
and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses,
ye cannot be saved."
The modern version of this error is teaching that unless you get
Baptized or take communion, or something else, then you cannot
be saved, teaching that Christian ordinances are essential to
salvation.
The third error is Galatianism, the mingling of law and grace.
Teaching that justification before God is partly by grace and
partly by law, or that grace is given to Christians to enable
us to keep the law.
The whole book of Galatians was written to deal with that problem,
and every Christian should consider it carefully, for right now
turn to Galatians chapter 3, and verse 2;
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should
not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth, crucified among you?
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made
perfect by the flesh?"
If the law and the flesh were not sufficient to get us saved,
then they are not good enough to improve us in our salvation.
The last thing we need to remember this morning is that there
is a difference between a believers standing before God, and his
spiritual state.
Perhaps you get up tomorrow and you don't feel very spiritual.
I woke up this morning after having this really awful dream.
In my dream, I had been rude and grumpy to my wife, and then I
was at the airport trying to call her on the phone and apologize,
and the phone was messed up.
Alex was there, and every time I would finally get the stupid
phone to work, Alex would run up and hit the receiver and disconnect
me.
I got so mad. In my dream I called him a rude name, -I didn't
cuss him, I was just rude- and then I woke up. Talk about feeling
un-spiritual!
Now if that won't get you repentant and ready to preach, I don't
know what will!
But even if I did actually behave myself in such an un-Christlike
fashion, would that change my standing before God?
Turn to Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3, and as we read it, notice
how certain important verbs are not in future tense, they are
present tense:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the beloved."
God calls things that are not as though they are, because He knows
how things are going to turn out. He will accomplish His will.
But in this case, for us, it is so much better than that. It has
already happened. He has already placed us in His Son, and He
sees us now in all the perfections of Jesus.
Our spiritual state at any given moment might be pretty good,
or it might not be so good.
On any given day we might be just like the Corinthians; carnal,
puffed up, envying someone else, having strife, whatever.
Our spiritual state might not be what it should be, but that never
affects our standing before God.
Some churches teach that your spiritual state at any given time
determines your standing with God.
If you live an otherwise excellent Christian life but then you
have a crummy backslidden day and die on that day, you have lost
your salvation.
That's not salvation, that's probation. That makes your eternal
security something you are responsible for, and
that's not the case at all.
The verse that we used last week, that shows us how to walk as
Christians also shows us how our security in Christ is absolute.
Colossians 3:3 reads; "For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God."
Dead people cannot sin. If you are dead, then you are powerless
to sin your way out of the hand of God.
If you are dead, and the spiritual life that God gives you is
hid in Christ, then your spiritual standing cannot be
changed until Christ is changed.
End of problem. Your spiritual state on any given day might get
better or worse, but your standing before God is as constant as
Jesus is.
All these things which we have gone over today are basic things
of the faith.
I expect that somebody here today needed to be reminded of something
in one of these areas, or maybe several people needed to be reminded
of several things, that's why I needed to do a shotgun sermon
like this one.
The words of Moses are still very true and pertinent. Remember
these things. Consider these things. Do not forget these things.
Is there something that you have been confused about? Something
that you have been troubled about?
Has Satan been telling you lies to make you try and work for a
salvation that you already possess?
Or try to convince you that your daily walk is insufficient to
keep you saved? Let me close today's sermon with a benediction
from 1 Peter 1:3;
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto
a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time."
God has our inheritance reserved for us in a place where we can't
mess it up, and at the right time, He will give it to us.
Remember that. Consider it in your heart. Don't forget it. Let
God bless you with it.