Oh What God Can Do!

1 Timothy 1:12-20, “Oh What God Can Do!”
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Introduction:
One of the (many) ironic things about so-called “reality” shows is that there is so little reality in them. This shows up especially in the casting. Generally there are stereotypes from every walk of life (the jock, the joker, the beauty queen, etc) – and every one of them “fits” in exactly how the producer of the show wants them to fit in. Imagine if the Apostle Paul showed up to audition for one of these things…the producer would have a meltdown! He simply doesn’t fit any stereotype.

By all reckonings, Paul (Saul) should have been a member of the Sanhedrin up until the day that the Temple was destroyed – enjoying the benefits of power and prestige among the Jewish community. And that seemed to be his career path in the early days of the church as he went around persecuting believers & increasing his own profile among the Jewish leadership. But when the Lord Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus, everything changed! Instead of a zealous Pharisee, he became a loving evangelist – boldly taking the gospel to the Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Talk about blowing stereotypes away!

As Paul finishes out Ch 1 to Timothy, he’s struck by the ‘incredibleness’ of it all & left in awe that God would even choose someone like himself to take part in the Great Commission. Beginning the chapter, he exhorted Timothy to stay true to the doctrine that Paul himself had taught, using the law to bring about knowledge of sin & then providing the glorious gospel to those who understand their need for a Savior. As he pondered the magnificence of the gospel, he can’t help reflecting back on his own calling into ministry – breaking out in praise – and exhorting Timothy to keep following Christ alone.

1 Timothy 1:12-20 (NKJV)
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
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A. Jesus “enabled” Paul for the ministry. Gk is actually a compound word combing “in” & “power/strength” (the root is the same word used of God’s miraculous equipping power). The thought here is not that Christ sent Paul off with a diploma & a “good luck!” – but that He strengthened, equipped, and empowered Paul for everything he needed to endure in the apostolic ministry.
__a. Goes back to a fundamental truth: it is impossible to do the work of God without the power of God. Too many times, we try to “walk the life” in our own strength & we end up like Peter trying to walk on water by himself: over our head & gasping for air. It’s not that God’s power is recommended; it’s that it’s utterly necessary! We CAN NOT do this on our own!
__b. The good news is that He never intended us to do so. Acts 1:8 (8) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” []
B. Jesus “counted” Paul “faithful”. Sounds fine & dandy until we remember the history. Previously, Paul had been completely faithless (see vs. 13). There was nothing good in the guy to count faithful at all – which just goes to underscore the incredible grace Jesus provided. Any faithfulness Jesus found in Paul was the work that Jesus was already doing in him.
__a. Some think that Jesus was looking into the future & saw that Paul would be faithful to the calling…but that introduces a huge problem: Jesus would be seeing some sort of righteousness that Paul had prior to calling him…and Paul (like all of us) have none outside of Christ!
C. Jesus put the 1st 2 into action by putting Paul into the ministry. Why was this so astounding? Because of Paul’s past! See vs. 13…
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13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
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A. We’ve all got our B.C. stories, and Paul was no different. In his B.C. days, Saul was anything but a nice guy. He was a:
__a. “Blasphemer”: Even though he thought he was protecting the name of God from being sullied by this new sect. …
__b. “Persecutor”: Even though he thought he was defending the true faith of God, he was actually persecuting it. He was actually surprised when Christ Jesus confronted him about it on the road (Acts 9:5). Note the escalation here from blaspheming…this goes beyond words to actions.
__c. “Insolent man”: Even though he thought he was operating within the confines of the law, he was a violent man. He consented to hold the coats of those who martyred Stephen (Acts 7:58), and got illegal extradition authority (from the Jews; not the Romans) to go drag Christians away from cities outside of Judea (Acts 9:2).
B. What changed? Paul received “mercy”. The common shorthand distinction between mercy & grace is that mercy = “not getting what we do deserve” & grace = “getting what we do not deserve.” For the Christian, both are absolutely necessary & exactly what we experience through Christ. We are given what we don’t deserve (new life, adoption by God, co-heir with Christ), but before we are given those things, we are shown mercy & not given eternal wrath & punishment.
C. Why? Because he did these things in “ignorance and unbelief”. As when Jesus prayed while hanging on the cross for the people who put them there (they know not what they do – Luke 23:34), Paul (Saul) didn’t know that he was actively working against God (he actually thought he was pleasing God!), and it was at this point that God showed him mercy.
__a. ‘But I thought we were without excuse?!’ Right. So was Paul…that’s why he needed mercy. You can’t deserve mercy – it’s not a “right” to be given us simply because we didn’t know better… It’s called “mercy” precisely because we don’t deserve it.
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14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
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A. Paul almost seems to fun out of words to describe the mercy and calling he’s received from God… God’s grace was “exceedingly abundant” – lit “superabounded” – he experienced an overflowing amount of the grace of God.
__a. Why does Paul write “grace” this time instead of “mercy”? Mercy kept Paul from being punished for his sin. Grace gave Paul a calling into the ministry of the One he persecuted (vs 12). Not unlike today when former Islamic terrorists become born again & start preaching the gospel of Christ [Walid Shoebat] – Jesus performs such an utter transformation in this person’s life that they’re virtually unrecognizable from whom they were before…a “superabounding” of His mercy.
__b. Spiritually, that’s exactly what Christ does with ALL of us! We simply don’t always walk in it…
B. What is grace coupled with? Faith & love…Paul was able to experience them for the 1st time once he was regenerated & refreshed by the grace of God. Once he had faith in God, he was no longer operating in unbelief – once he experienced the agape love of Christ, he no longer blasphemed, persecuted, or acted out violently.
__a. (Earle) “This is another of the apostle’s great trilogies. ‘Grace’ provided his salvation, ‘faith’ appropriated it, and ‘love’ applied it.”
C. Where do faith, love, and grace originate? Christ Jesus. People will try to fake these things all day long – but it’s impossible to truly love someone in agape love without being transformed by the Lord Jesus…He’s our very example! We can’t fake faith because the Lord knows our hearts & true faith is given to us apart from any works (Eph 2:8-9). And all of this is rooted in the grace of Christ, which He gives freely to call who turn to Him.
__a. Affirms once more the divinity of Christ. Jesus is not only the Son of God; He’s God the Son. How else can faith, love, and grace originate in Him? There is only one “originator” of anything – the Creator God!
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15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
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A. Why did Jesus come? To be a good moral teacher? To be a mystic philosopher? To be a prophet or miracle worker? No! He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He came to make dead people alive again… He came to “save sinners”. We dare not water down this truth! People are often offended to be called a sinner…and rightfully so! … To have sinned against the eternal God is a terrible offense, worthy of eternal punishment. But simply because it can be offensive doesn’t mean it’s not true. It IS true – we have all sinned & fall short of the glory of God – we ALL deserve death…but that’s exactly why Christ Jesus came into the world: to offer salvation to those who need a Savior!
B. This isn’t some sort of secondary truth or minor point of doctrine. This is “a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.” If we can’t agree on this point about Jesus, then we’re not talking about the same Jesus.
__i. There are many theological debates I’ll engage in with people, but who Christ Jesus is & the purpose of His death on the cross is not one of them. Those who don’t understand these basic fundamentals won’t understand the debate – it’s foolishness to them (1 Cor 1:18)…they can’t understand it if they tried because they’re not born again (1 Cor 2:14). At this point, they don’t need a debate; they need the gospel!
C. Who qualifies as a sinner? We all do! And if there’s one point on which I disagree with Paul, it’s that he was the chief sinner…because I know that I am. … But I suggest that this is his point. Once we come to grips with the sinfulness of sin (through the law) and the greatness of grace (through the cross), then we can’t help but see ourselves as the chief of sinners…because at that point we understand what Christ saved us from and what He’s saving us for…
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16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
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A. What reason? Paul’s salvation. If Saul the persecuting Pharisee can be saved, then anyone can be saved. In the middle of all his persecuting, blasphemy, and insolence, Christ Jesus patiently dealt with Saul, bringing him to the point where he was ready to receive the shock of his life on the road to Damascus…
__a. That’s the way God deals with all of us. In our sin, God has every right to wipe us out every day. But He doesn’t! He patiently gives us day after day to repent & respond to His offer of forgiveness and grace. As Peter writes, this isn’t laziness, this is a demonstration of God’s longsuffering & kindness with us. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. []
B. Paul’s salvation becomes a pattern to us. Ultimately the rest of us experience the same thing he experienced – even if we don’t all have a visual encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus…every Christian still has an encounter with the Lord Jesus & He does the same work in us… We went from death to life – from condemnation to exaltation – and we are called by God to serve Him in the gospel…using whatever means by which He has equipped us.
C. How is “everlasting life” given? By believing on Jesus Christ! When we place our trust in Jesus as the Son of God risen from the dead – when we have faith in His work on the cross for forgiveness of sin – He saves us! There is no other work that can be done: we can’t buy it (it’s already been purchased) – we can’t negotiate it (Jesus is the only Mediator) – we can’t earn it (our righteousness are filthy rags) – we can’t rely on religious piety (Jesus is the only way). We simply believe on / trust in Jesus as Lord! Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [] That’s a promise from the word of God!
__a. ‘Isn’t that kind of easy?’ It depends on how you define easy. Nothing about our salvation is easy or cheap – evidenced by what Jesus endured at the cross. But at the same time, it is a free gift. God knows our hearts – if we truly turn to Christ, trusting Him alone for salvation, He will save us & transform us from the inside out. But good works follow salvation; they don’t earn it. It begins with belief.
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17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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A. Coming to the end of this thought of how he was saved through the grace of God, Paul basically breaks into song… Doxology.
__a. God is King: He reigns! There is nothing in all of creation over which God does not have ultimate authority – He is the King. Even though there is a spiritual battle that wages on, Christ is already victorious. All authority in heaven & earth has been given to Him – and He has already been proclaimed King of Kings & Lord of Lord!
__b. God is eternal: In the Greek, “eternal” actually modifies “King” – God is the King of the Ages; the eternal everlasting King. Underscores the fact that God is beyond time. Genesis tells us “In the beginning God”…and provides no history beyond that because nothing else can be said. God has always been King; God will always be King – and in that we can rejoice & glorify Him!
__c. God is immortal: Just as there was no beginning to God, there will be no end. God never dies; He vanquishes death! Through the Resurrection, God has already taken away the sting of death – and in the future, Death itself will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14). We serve the immortal God!
__d. God is invisible: When speaking with the Samaritan woman, Jesus affirmed that God is a spirit & those who worship Him must do so in spirit & in truth (John 4:24). The reason that God commanded that we make no “graven images” is because no image we could create can possibly capture the invisible God…but God provided His own image in Christ Jesus! (Col 1:15)
__e. God is wise: This actually isn’t found in many Bible translations – the critical text does not include it; but the Majority Text (total # of manuscripts) does. To those who follow the critical text, Paul is interpreted as affirming monotheism (God is God alone – Deut 6:4). To those who follow the Majority Text, it’s both a testimony to His character, and a bridge to the context of what Paul’s been talking about…that although it would be foolish in the eyes of the world to take a persecutor of the church, save him, and call him to the ministry – to God, this is an act of supreme Divine wisdom! 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 (26) For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. (27) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; []
__f. God is worthy of honor: Anything of any value or any price pales in comparison with God. His gift of grace is inestimable in its worth because God Himself is beyond measure. Anything (and everything) is worth giving up for God, because He holds our souls in His hand – and what would it profit to gain the whole world & yet lose our souls? (Mark 8:36)
__g. God is worthy of glory: He is supremely worth of glory! If God had done nothing at all, He would be worthy simply because He is God. If God had only created the universe, He’d be worthy of glory. But He went far beyond that – He created the universe, provided for those who sinned against Him, showed mercy on a daily basis for thousands of years, provided the propitiation for sin at the cross of Jesus Christ, provided the victory over sin at His resurrection, saved all who call upon Him, gave us new life, gave us undeserved righteousness, empowered us through the Holy Spirit…and on & on. Glory be to God!
__h. Forever! And ever! For all eternity we will join with the angelic chorus in singing “Holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” It’ll never grow old – it’ll never become boring – there will never be a day when we say, “Can’t we stop praising the Lord now?” – because we will always be in awe of His goodness & love & mercy & grace…all for which He will forever be praised.
B. Glory be to God! What other response could we possibly have to the gospel?
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18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
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A. Because Paul had been called by God to the ministry (as had Timothy), he charges Timothy to stand firm and persevere in the ministry. Timothy’s calling had been verified by the church (through prophecy) – and Paul’s exhorting him to hold onto whatever those prophecies & promises were, in order to fulfill the ministry.
__a. Rely on the promises of God!
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19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, 20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
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A. How to wage the good warfare?
__a. Have “faith”: Like the exhortation in vs. 3, Timothy was to have faith in the good doctrine that Paul had been teaching. He was to hold fast to the truth of the Scriptures, and the promises of God. Christ Jesus had also enabled Timothy & placed him into the ministry – so he needed to keep the faith.
__b. Have a “good conscience”: Few things will deter someone faster from the calling Christ has for them than sin. Timothy (and all of us) needed to strive to keep his conscience clean before God. … That’s not to say Timothy wouldn’t mess up along the way & sin; but when he did, he needn’t live with the guilt – simply confess it to God & receive God’s cleansing & forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
B. Why this exhortation? Because some who were called do reject the faith…they shipwreck along the way and lose everything. Hymenaeus (also mentioned in 2 Tim 2:17) & Alexander (don’t know exactly who – it was a common name…could have been the coppersmith, but we don’t know) were two examples of this. Apparently these guys had been ministering in some fashion, but had fallen into false teaching & blasphemy.
__a. “shipwreck”: Is this a reference to a full apostasy & denial of the faith? Or someone who’s backslidden? Scholars are divided – Paul’s method of discipline is a method used for believers, but an apostate unbeliever would also be excommunicated from the church. Considering the definite article “the” (or “their”) – it seems to refer to their whole faith, rather than simple doctrinal error.
__b. If they were indeed apostates, were these guys saved to begin with? That’s also a matter of debate. Regardless of the theological reality concerning their salvation, these guys plainly thought they were ‘Christian’ at least at a surface level…and then later rejected it. [D.F.] It behooves us to examine ourselves & see if we’re in the faith (2 Cor 13:5).
C. What does Paul mean by having “delivered them over to Satan”? Simply part of church discipline… 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, (5) deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. [] The idea isn’t so much one of condemnation, but restoration. By being cast into the world, they leave the protection of the church in the hopes that they come to their senses.
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Conclusion:
Once Paul started thinking about the gospel, he couldn’t help reflecting back on what God had done in his own life – and it was amazing! God took a former persecutor & not only saved him, but turned him into a minister of the gospel. He who was once the “chief of sinners” was now born again & the apostle to the Gentiles…utterly amazing & God gets all the glory!

But that’s not the end of the story. If you believed on Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ saved you too! Amen! You once were _____, but now you’ve been called by Him to give God glory through the gospel. … Don’t give that up for anything! Stay true to the calling and promises of God through faith and a good conscience; trusting in Jesus’ finished work at the cross. The shipwreck isn’t worth it.

Worship God Alone – Deut 13-14

Deuteronomy 13-14, “Worship God Alone”
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Deuteronomy 13 (NKJV)
1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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A. How to test prophets (at least one test…). Deut 18 is going to deal with prophets who are presumptuous & wrong; here God deals with prophets who seem to be right, but are truly false. Note that this ‘prophet’ actually performs a sign or wonder…IOW, he does the miraculous. The miracle does NOT prove his authenticity. ‘But didn’t even Jesus appeal to His miracles in John 5:36 to the Pharisees & Matt 11:5 to John’s disciples?’ Sure – but the Lord Jesus’ miracles went hand-in-hand with what Scripture taught – and He always sought to give glory to God. Miracles that deny God or contradict the Scriptures may be visually amazing, but spiritually crippling and false.
__a. There are still whole movements in Christianity that try to do this same thing. The focus is solely on miracles & what WE can do, rather than proclaiming the gospel of what Christ Jesus has already done. We need to keep the priority straight! (Guzik) “This is why Jesus said and these signs will follow those who believe (Mark 16:17). Signs are to follow believers, instead of believers following signs.”
B. Is this prophet from the Lord? Yes & no. The prophet certainly doesn’t represent the Lord, but God uses him to test the people’s love & loyalty. This is not a godly prophet, but our omnipotent God can use anyone in His creation for His purposes and glory. Thus though God doesn’t tempt us (James 1:13), He does use the situation these false prophets set up to test His people’s love for Him. And that’s what He desires: for us to love Him!
__a. Remember the Great Commandment! Above everything else, God desires for His people to love Him (also plays into the 1st Commandment where we are to have no other gods beside Him). This is important to God! Praise God that He desires more than our fear (though this is necessary), but that He also desires our love!
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4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
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A. Ultimately, this is what God wants…walk in His ways, fearing & serving Him alone. He wants His people to worship Him (go figure!). Is it possible? Not in our own strength. Jesus summed up the demands of the law in Matt 5:48 saying that we shall be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. But what is impossible with man is possible with God! Because of Christ Jesus, we are given HIS righteousness – thus when God sees us in Christ, He sees us as His perfect children who walk after Him & fear Him, who keep His commandments, and obey Him, etc.
__a. Every day we should wake up praising God for Christ Jesus & the new relationship with have with God because of Him!
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5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
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A. How to deal with the false prophet? Execute him.
B. God takes enticement to sin very seriously…and that doesn’t change in the NT. Matthew 18:6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. [] Why is it so serious? Because sin itself is that serious! There is but one killer disease in all of history: sin…passed down to us from Adam. Thus when someone attempts to cause someone to turn away from the Living God, it is a most egregious offense against Him – because He desires to protect & provide for His people.
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6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.
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A. Even if family members caused a Hebrew to worship other gods, they were supposed to be killed…and their offended family member was supposed to throw the 1st stone as a testimony against them. (Would have been a pretty good deterrent & motivation for family members to help one another in their walk with God…)
B. We love our families – we try to provide for our families – but at the end of the day, we’re supposed to love God more than family. Matthew 10:37 (37) He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. [] Our mothers & fathers bring us into the world & are fully deserving of the honor God commands us to give them – but they are not our Creator who saves us…God is.
__a. Sometimes we have to turn away from family to walk after God…
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10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.
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A. Why such a harsh punishment? In order to deter the rest of the nation from falling into the same sin.
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12 “If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13 ‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” ’—which you have not known— 14 then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword.
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A. Dealing with whole cities that have fallen away from God… Keep in mind that Israel was originally supposed to be an ideal divine theocracy (a nation ruled by a benevolent & just God) – cities that fell into idolatry were engaging in treason. Not only would they be breaking the love relationship they were to have with God (committing spiritual adultery), but they were rebelling against their Sovereign & King. Thus God commanded the rest of the nation to come against them in war.
B. Note this wasn’t supposed to be a mob mentality. God required that they “inquire, search out, and ask diligently.” God’s judgments are based on His just righteousness; not emotional instability…
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16 And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18 because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
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A. Everything was to be destroyed – even the plunder! This was a worse judgment than what the Canaanite cities received – the Hebrews were allowed to keep the plunder in most of the cities of the conquest. But in this case, the sin was worse – adultery & treason against the God who had saved & redeemed them & called them to His own.
__a. Sin ALWAYS has consequences…none which we want to endure.
B. The destruction was to be so complete, that the city was completely ruined & never rebuilt…would have served as a testimony to any traveler passing by…
a. We’re not supposed to have any bridge back to our old sins & temptations. Cut off the hand; pluck out the eye; reckon ourselves dead to it…whatever it takes to not go back, that’s what we ought to do. Does it mean we won’t ever fall again? No – but when we do, we confess, repent & reckon ourselves dead all over again to it.
C. If they did, the wrath of God would be satisfied…because that’s part of the result of sin. God is fully & truly righteous & He MUST pour out His wrath upon sin if He is to remain righteous.
__a. This is why the Lord Jesus had to bear the wrath of God upon Himself! Only His sacrifice was sufficient to be able to cover every sin in all mankind. 1 John 2:1-2 (1) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (2) And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. [] Christ Jesus is the mercy-seat…He is the method by which God passes over our sins – and the only way that could take place is through the satisfaction of His wrath & righteousness.
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Deuteronomy 14 (NKJV)
1 “You are the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead. 2 For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
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A. What was the purpose behind cutting or shaving? Pagan worship in funeral rites. They would express their mourning in such a way that they would disfigure & mutilate their own body. God calls His people to behave differently – because we have a different & glorious hope. We still mourn & grieve, but we don’t do so as those who have no hope – we grieve while still rejoicing in Christ Jesus – the hope of glory!
B. Note the reason why: They had been chosen & set apart for God! They were His special treasure. Out of all the people on the face of the planet – out of all the cultures in history, God reached down and chose the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…and showed Himself wonderfully strong on their behalf through mighty miracles & daily provision. Thus the Hebrews had no reason to act like the heathen around them! GOD was their God.
__a. Today, WE as the church are a special treasure to God… 1 Peter 2:9-10 (9) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (10) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. [] (parable of the treasure in the field – Matt 13:44, Jesus = the man) He gave everything for you in order that God might be glorified!
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– Since they are set apart for God, they have special dietary laws to demonstrate the fact they are set apart. Although there are some microbacterial issues dealt with (trichinosis & yellow fever), there doesn’t seem to be an overarching reason why God chose some animals & not others…but that in itself is a testimony to the grace of God in our own lives. We’ve done nothing to merit His favor; it’s actually the opposite! … But God in His unfathomable grace loved us when we were unlovable and offered His salvation to us. Just like the goat did nothing to be clean; neither did we. God simply set them apart as He does His own people… –
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3 “You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals.
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A. Before God reminds them of what they can’t eat, He reminds them of what they can eat…which is a lot! God wasn’t looking to throw down restrictions on their freedom – He wanted to protect & provide for them in His love for them as His people. (He does the same with us.)
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7 Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. 8 Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.
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A. No cloven hooves; no cud chewers of a specific kind. Obviously some animals that chewed the cud were considered clean (like the ox/cow).
B. Pork is known to have an obvious danger of disease if cooked unproperly – it was also widely used in pagan cultures for sacrifice. Whatever the reason, God considered it to be unclean.
__a. How does this affect NT believers? Do we need to give up bacon & spareribs? Not unless you want to. (Acts 15 council) Romans 14:2-4 (2) For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. (3) Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. (4) Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. []
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9 “These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales. 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
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A. Seafood – later became a major portion of their diet (how many disciples were fishermen? A bunch. ). Fins & scales ok.
B. No fins, no scales, not ok. Eels, etc…
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11 “All clean birds you may eat. 12 But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, 13 the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds; 14 every raven after its kind; 15 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds; 16 the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl, 17 the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, 18 the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 “Also every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20 “You may eat all clean birds.
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A. Birds don’t have any obvious pattern assigned to them. Overall, the rule seems to be that carnivorous birds are considered unclean…
__a. ‘Why does the Bible classify bats as birds? Is the Bible scientifically wrong?’ Keep in mind that modern taxonomy wasn’t developed until 1700’s…even Aristotle considered bats and birds to be the same general type of creature (walking, flying, swimming animals)
B. Again, although we tend to focus on what God restricted them from eating, there’s as much here that details what the Hebrews CAN eat. Out of all the winged creatures on the earth, the only ones that are restricted are the ones listed.
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21 “You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
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A. Restriction on eating animals dead of natural causes… Not for the foreigners; only for the Hebrews. Would have been a violation against eating blood, since the animal would not have been properly drained.
B. Boiling goat in mother’s milk…interesting interpretations today to the point that an orthodox Jewish person won’t eat meat & drink milk in the same meal – afraid it would “boil” together as it churned in his stomach…
__a. Don’t miss the heart of God in His commands…be careful not to strain a gnat and swallow a camel.
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22 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 23 And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
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A. Tithe… Cause of a lot of heartache & debate among Christians today. It’s worth remembering that the tithe is not specifically commanded of NT believers – yet at the same time, it predates the law of Moses because Abraham gave a tithe. Bottom line: the tithe is a great model for giving in the NT – but we’re definitely not limited to only giving 10%…we’re to purposefully & consistently give as the Lord leads us.
B. Notice the purpose of the tithe: “that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.” By giving God the 1st 10%, they were trusting Him to provide the other 90%. It was both an act of worship AND a declaration of trust to the God they feared, loved, and reverenced.
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24 But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
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A. What to do if they couldn’t take the tithe to the tabernacle? Sell it, and buy what they want to eat with God when they DO get to the tabernacle…and God didn’t put any restrictions on it. Whatever they could use to worship the Lord – they were free to worship Him with whatever food and drink they desired.
__a. God wants us to be free to worship Him! He does provide guidelines in order that we might be decent & in order – but our worship isn’t to be only in truth…it’s also to be in the spirit! We’re free to worship Him as He enables us to do so!
B. This was supposed to be a joyful celebration! Too many times, the “giving” part of a church service is turned into a solemn funeral dirge. Perish the thought! The very act of giving (OT & NT) is an act of worship! Thus we come before the Lord rejoicing – and anything we give (whatever the amount) should be done cheerfully. 2 Corinthians 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. []
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27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. 28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
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A. Most of the tithes were used in personal worship; every third year the tithe was used to support the Levite & the poor.
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Conclusion:
The bottom line to all this? God’s people were chosen & set apart to worship Him. Because they were chosen by God, they weren’t to go chasing after every other false god out there. No matter how convincing the talk or how flashy the works, only the Almighty Creator God had shown Himself strong on behalf of His people by purchasing their freedom from Egypt. Never again were they to follow after the gods of the pagans.

Likewise, they were set apart by God to worship Him. Because God showed a peculiar interest in them (solely because of His grace), they were to be a peculiar people in their actions and lives. They weren’t to live like the rest of the world did, simply because God had called them to be different.

We may be under a different (and far better!) covenant, but the principles still ring true for us. We have been chosen by the Lord Jesus to worship Him, purchased by His blood on the cross. We don’t belong to ourselves; we belong to Him…thus we are to follow after ONLY Him. Neither do we walk like the world…we ought to walk after our Master & King. WE are now a peculiar people (1 Pet 2:9, KJV), set apart to worship Him for His glory.

May we reckon ourselves dead to sin, alive in Christ, empowered by the Spirit every day!

Burger King Outreach

Check out the video from our evangelistic outreach at Burger King this past Saturday. We gave out 200+ coupons for a free burger/fry, and used it as a jumping off point to share the gospel one-on-one with people. We gave out tracts, gospel bracelets, CD’s, Bibles, and more. It was awesome to see people stepping out in faith to share the gospel of Christ! Pray that God would continue to bring people to Himself through what was shared.

Teach the Good Stuff

1 Timothy 1:1-11, “Teach the Good Stuff”
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Introduction/Background:
Put yourself in Paul’s shoes. You’re the pre-eminent missionary and evangelist of the day, but with all the churches that have been planted, there’s no possible way you could look after them all. So you entrust the ministry to ministers called by God to do the work. Do you just throw them into the churches to see if they sink or swim? Of course not – you’d try to guide them & instruct them for what they’re sure to encounter. And that’s exactly what Paul does with his pastoral letters to Timothy & Titus.

Probably written after the Book of Acts had ended…some scholars think Paul had been released from Roman prison once (probably on lack of evidence) & was later imprisoned again & killed under Nero. During his free time, he might have written this letter to Timothy as he saw his own ministry starting to come to a close. 62AD(?)

Authorship questions… Under attack by modern liberal scholars, but for the 1st 1800 years of the church, no one had any problems with Paul being the author. The primary objections of terminology & events not lining up with Acts are easily answered by the idea that Paul wrote this after Acts had ended. Luke makes it perfectly clear that Paul had just gotten to Rome by the time Acts ended – and he lived quite a while afterwards. Considering he would have written this later in his ministry, it makes sense that times have changed a bit & different issues would have been addressed to Timothy than to the Thessalonians.

Who was Timothy? We know he has a terrific name, but what else? We 1st read of Timothy in Acts 16 on Paul’s 2nd trip to Derbe & Lystra. At that time, Timothy was already a young disciple (possibly saved by Paul’s evangelism towards Timothy’s mother & grandmother…he seems to have grown up in the gospel) & he started traveling with Paul & Silas. Throughout the rest of the NT, we see Timothy either traveling with Paul or going wherever Paul sent him…it’s no wonder Paul calls him a “son in the faith.”

Timothy has been dispatched to Ephesus – and because Paul spent a lot of time there (3 years), there had been much growth in the church. There were many elders & likely many different fellowships (it’s doubtful that the church continued to meet in the School of Tyrannus after Paul left). Because there was also a strong pagan influence in the city (Diana of the Ephesians), there was a high likelihood of error being brought into the church through false teachers…Paul even warned about this before he left for Jerusalem (Acts 20:29). Whatever had happened in the time since that last meeting, he now needed to leave the proven & trusted (though still young) Timothy with the church to lead it & bring it back on-track to the gospel.

Paul doesn’t waste too much time getting into the meat of the matter. With his commissioning of Timothy to Ephesus, he wants to ensure that Timothy (as much as he is trusted by Paul) is teaching nothing but the pure gospel of Christ. Nothing for the young pastor could be more important! In laying this out to Timothy, Paul shows both what Timothy should stay away from & what he should stick to.
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1 Timothy 1:1-11 (NKJV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
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A. What was Paul? An apostle… Why was he an apostle? “By the commandment of God.” We’ll see the grace of God behind this next week, but suffice to say for now that Paul didn’t choose this for himself…God chose this for him.
__a. Seems to be an indication that although this was a personal letter to Timothy, the ultimate intent was for Timothy to read it to the church. Paul is establishing his apostolic authority for the practices that he’ll be writing about.
B. “God our Savior”: Interesting that this description is referring to God the Father instead of Jesus Christ (whom we’d normally expect). It’s actually a very common description of God in the OT – graphically demonstrated through the Exodus out of Egypt. Underscores the fact the interworking of the Godhead within the Trinity. Jesus Christ isn’t our Savior to the exclusion of God the Father; neither is God our Savior in place of Jesus. The whole Trinity is involved in our salvation…from His eternal plan from the beginning of time – to Jesus’ incarnation & work on the Cross – to the Holy Spirit bringing conviction of sin, judgment, and righteousness – to God drawing men & women through the gospel. Truly GOD (all 3 Persons in 1 Godhead) is our Savior!
C. “Jesus Christ our hope”: Not our wishful, maybe, “hope” (in the way we think of “hope” today) – He’s our confident hope! He’s the very basis on which we can have a confident expectation and assurance of forgiveness and eternal life (because it’s not based on US; it’s based on HIM)! He’s the hope of glory (Col 1:27)…
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2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
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A. Usually Paul introduces the letter with grace & peace…but in the 3 pastoral epistles (Timothys & Titus), he changes it a bit: “grace, mercy, and peace.” Why mercy? Because pastors & leaders within the church not only need mercy, but they need to be in the habit of extending mercy.
B. Note the equal platform of God the Father & the Lord Jesus – both of them are the source of grace, mercy, and peace. Simply another of many examples that the Lord Jesus Christ is fully and completely God.
__a. Most cults start erring here…and it’s an ancient error of demoting Christ and promoting the works of man. After all, the less Jesus can do for us, the more we have to earn our own salvation. True Christianity hangs on the fact that Jesus Christ IS God in the flesh risen from the dead. The resurrection itself declares Him to be the Son of God (being fully God) – and none less than God could purchase our salvation.
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3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
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A. Where exactly is Paul at this point? Impossible to say – the Acts narrative had long ended by this writing. Some think that Paul would have been with Timothy in Ephesus & then left Timothy there while he went on to Macedonia. But vs. 3 could also mean that Paul had been in a completely other city & had sent Timothy into Ephesus by himself & that now he was giving him instructions to stay. All minor speculation – what’s important is not where Paul was, but what he wrote.
B. “teach no other doctrine” – In his 2nd letter to Timothy, Paul will say it more directly – “Preach the word!” (2 Tim 4:2). There’s only one thing that Timothy is supposed to teach & preach to the church & that’s the truth about Jesus Christ revealed through the Scriptures. “Doctrine” isn’t a reference to a single tenet of the faith (the doctrine of the resurrection, the doctrine of holiness, etc) – it’s the overall doctrine of the gospel. Whatever it was that Paul taught in his ministry, Timothy was to teach the same thing. …
C. What’s the result of other doctrine? Distractions & disputes. When people get caught up in “fables & endless genealogies,” all that ends up happening is that people fight & argue & neither proclaim nor demonstrate the love of Christ. In Paul’s day, the “fables & endless genealogies” seem to have been Jewish practices, where a minor tradition not found in Scripture was picked up & scholars would argue back & forth about it. Genealogies were very important to the Jews – but the only genealogy that really matters (and the only one the Bible traces all the way through) is Christ’s.
__a. If these were Jewish practices, can 21st Century Christians get caught up in this today? Yes – it’s very common. For example: How many books & websites are dedicated to the identification of the “Nephilim” found in Genesis 6? Or how many hours are spent trying to locate and identify the Bible codes? With all due respect, these things cause disputes among believers & really have very little to do with the gospel of Christ Jesus.
D. What’s one evidence of good, sound doctrine? “godly edification…in faith” When the church receives the word of God in truth on a regular basis, we are going to be nourished & built up in the faith. And this is necessary for us – we need to grow in the Lord…and the way God chooses to do that is through His word. It’s no accident that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness to eat bread, He responded quoting Deuteronomy – Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” [Deut 8:3] It’s as necessary for sustaining life as food is – that’s how we grow.
__a. Don’t buy into the lie that ‘doctrine doesn’t matter’ – it does!
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5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
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A. The purpose of the commandment? Love…not fables, not distracting teachings – the proper declaration of the doctrine found in the law of God is agape love. That is its ultimate aim/goal.
B. Where does love originate in the life of a born-again Christian? “from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith” – IOW, from our new life in Christ Jesus. It’s simply not possible to love someone as Christ loves us before we’re born again…our hearts are too selfish & our consciences are too afflicted. But in Christ our hearts have been purified – our consciences have been cleansed – and our faith is in Him alone.
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6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
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A. Why is it so important that we understand the underlying purpose of the commandment is love? Because some don’t get it & teach otherwise. They want to be seen as learned, but don’t really have a clue of what they’re talking about. How can we say that so certainly? Because over & over again, the NT affirms that the summary of the OT law is love.
__i. Mark 12:30-31: the Great Commandment is to love the Lord our God & the 2nd is to love our neighbor as ourselves
__ii. John 13:34: Jesus gave us a new commandment to love one another
__iii. John 15:12: Jesus commands us to love one another as He loves us
__iv. Rom 13:9-10: love is the summary of all the law & it’s fulfillment
__v. 1 John 4:21: He who loves God loves his brother
__vi. And that’s not even a complete list! It could hardly be clearer what the ultimate end of the law is…no wonder Paul proclaims that legalistic teachers just don’t get it.
B. When the law doesn’t lead to the loving gospel of Christ, what is it? A waste of time. Idle talk (KJV, “vain jangling”)…Gk refers to babbling. We can have the most intelligent lecture, the most fiery sermon, the most passionate discussion of the law, but if it only ends in legalistic practices that we are doomed to fail, it’s a waste of words.
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8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
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A. The law is what?! Good! Ever get the idea from some Christians that the law is a bad thing? … Perish the thought! The law is a wonderful gift from God!
__a. The law shows us what sin is, bringing conviction. Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” [] …
__b. The law takes us from conviction & condemnation to Christ. Galatians 3:23-24 (23) But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. (24) Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [] …
B. But don’t miss the condition! The law is indeed good, IF. If what? “If one uses it lawfully.” This is the whole reason Paul’s writing on this subject to Timothy, because some within Ephesus were not using the law lawfully. They were using the law in vain speculation leaving people both confused & condemned. Like the Pharisees, they would strain out a gnat & swallow a camel, having no understanding of the purpose of the law.
__a. So how was the law supposed to be used? See vs 9…
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9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
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A. Before we look at who the law WAS made for, Paul shows us who the law was NOT made for: the righteous. ‘But I thought there was none righteous, no not one…?’ Absolutely – the Bible is absolutely true that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But this is no contradiction. We WERE lawless; but because of Christ we’ve been made righteous! (2 Cor 5:21) We’ve been fully justified in Him & God put His righteousness to our account (Rom 4:5).
__a. The law was not made for you who are in Christ! Too often, people look at the law as a 10-step program for Christians in ‘getting right with God.’ It’s completely impossible (and illogical) – as a Christian, you’ve ALREADY been made right with God! …
B. Who was the law made for? The lawless…and that’s a broad category. Starts with groupings loosely corresponding to the 10 Commandments:
__a. “lawless” thru “sinners”: Seem to correspond to the 1st 3 (possibly 4) Commandments regarding man’s relationship to God.
____i. 1st Commandment = no other gods… Those who are lawless disregard the holy & righteous God who gave us the law.
____ii. 2nd Commandment = no graven images… Those who are ungodly are really turning to other gods of their own making – even if only in their mind.
____iii. 3rd Commandment = do not take God’s name in vain. Why? Because God is supremely holy – thus those who act unholy and profane defile the very character of God.
____iv. Even without a direct correlation, the lawless insubordinate ungodly unholy profane sinner is in grave danger of judgment when they come in contact with the Holy Righteous Creator God. The law makes this perfectly clear!
__b. Murderers of fathers & mothers: 5th Commandment = honor your father and mother…those that murder them commit the ultimate example of dishonoring them.
__c. Manslayers: 6th Commandment = don’t murder
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10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
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A. Continues the list:
__a. Fornicators & sodomites: 7th Commandment = don’t commit adultery. Any sexual act outside of God’s plan of husband and wife would be considered “fornication”…and homosexuality falls directly into this category. Obviously homosexuality is a “hot button” issue today – one camp tries to claim that the New Testament is ambiguous on the matter (it’s not – the NT clearly & universally condemns the practice). The other camp makes it into some kind of “special sin” deserving of extra condemnation. Let’s be clear – if there is a special sin, it’s not merely homosexuality…it’s ALL sexual sin. 1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. [] The adulterer is just as guilty as the homosexual…and ALL of us are in desperate need of the grace and mercy and forgiveness found in Christ.
__b. Kidnappers: 8th Commandment = don’t steal… Some translations refer to “slave trader” – the emphasis isn’t so much on slavery as it is stealing someone away. There’s no more valuable thing that can be stolen than a person.
__c. Liars & perjurers: 9th Commandment = don’t bear false witness…which “perjury” is directly linked to. The heart of it is lying. Question: is lying really all that bad of a sin? Does it need to be in the same list as those who murder their parents? Absolutely. Ask Adam & Eve about the effects of someone lying to them. If it wasn’t for the lie of Satan, other sins like murder would never have existed.
B. Wraps it up with the all-inclusive “if there’s any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” We can’t say, “I’m not a kidnapper or a manslayer, so I must be good to go!” Paul used the extreme cases that violate the Law of God, but ANY sin that is contrary to what God teaches us is a violation of the Law. And when we’ve broken even one of the commandments, we’re guilty of the whole thing…thus he who lies is just as guilty before God as he who murdered someone. God is THAT holy & righteous – ALL sin will one day be punished: either at the cross of Christ, or in eternity in hell.
__a. Note the qualification here: “sound doctrine.” We don’t need to be convicted according to someone else’s preferences. If something is contrary to the truths and principles found in the Scripture – that’s supposed to be our plumbline.
__b. Gk “sound” literally refers to one’s health… Good doctrine is healthy for the Body of Christ; whereas bad doctrine is like a cancer…
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11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
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A. What’s according to the gospel? Take in the last few verses for context: the law wasn’t made for the righteous, but for the lawless…but the law is what brings us to Christ, who makes us righteous. Which is why it’s glorious!
B. Praise God for the gospel! No wonder Paul calls Him the “Blessed God” – what could be more glorious news than the message of forgiveness through Christ Jesus? All of those things Paul just got done writing about is what we USED to be (past tense). We may not have thought we were a fornicator, but if we’ve looked at another person with lust, Jesus said we committed adultery in our heart (). We may not have killed a man in anger, but the Bible tells us if we hate someone without cause, we’re guilty of murder (). The truth is, we HAVE done all those things – we’ve broken God’s law (numerously, flagrantly, and willfully) & we are fully deserving of all the wrath He can possibly pour out on us. But because of Christ Jesus – because He went to the cross, died for our sins, and was resurrected on the 3rd day – because of this glorious gospel message, we have been forgiven, we have been saved! …
C. This is what we’ve been entrusted with through the Great Commission…this is what we have the privilege of sharing with every man, woman, and child that we meet. It was committed to Paul’s trust when he least deserved it (as we’ll see next week) – as it was also committed to us. When we were least worthy to be saved & most worthy of condemnation – that’s when Christ saved us & gave us the mission of sharing the gospel message around the world.
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Conclusion:
Bottom line from Paul to Timothy: “Teach the good stuff!” Don’t get caught up in distracting teachings – don’t get mired down in legalistic nonsense – just keep teaching the pure gospel of Jesus Christ so that people might be saved to the glory of God. Bottom line to us: the same. Most of the church may not be in vocational ministry, but we all have a ministry in our vocation. Wherever God has placed you, that’s the mission field that He’s given to you…and that’s where we can simply proclaim and demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But when we proclaim the gospel – be careful not to get caught up in vain speculation, or fables, or rumors, or legalism…these things are distractions from the Lord Jesus. And know this: the enemy WANTS us to get distracted from the gospel. Instead, we keep lifting up and exalting Christ – using the law lawfully to bring someone to the feet of Jesus & then proclaiming the love He offers to each one.

Maybe you’re here today & the law has brought conviction to your conscience – that’s not the preacher making you feel guilty; that’s the Holy Spirit getting your attention. The fact of the matter is we HAVE broken His law & we deserve everlasting punishment. So what’s your response to that? When we come to the realization that one day we will stand before the Holy Righteous God & give an account for every sinful word, deed, and thought that ever crossed our mind, it should be pretty sobering. What are you going to do in that day? The answer is that you can’t do anything – but God can. God sent Jesus Christ to the cross to take the punishment that you & I deserved – and because Jesus rose again, He offers forgiveness & eternal life to all who call upon Him…but you must respond.

Laziness is not a Virtue

2 Thessalonians 3:1-18, “Laziness is not a Virtue”
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Introduction:
So everyone knows that 1&2 Thessalonians are books that deal with the subject of the endtimes. Whole prophecy conferences have been dedicated to the things Paul wrote about concerning the resurrection, rapture, imminency, God’s judgment, the great apostasy, the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist, etc. But with all the focus we put on those sections of Scripture, was that all Paul needed to write to the Thessalonians? Of course not. Paul did teach them a great deal about future events, but he was also greatly concerned about their present-day walk with Christ.

So what’s included with that walk? Surely Paul is going to write on some really spiritual things like fasting and prayer, or spiritual warfare right? Wrong. He writes about our jobs – our industry – what we do to make a living & put bread on the table. “That doesn’t sound very spiritual…I didn’t think we were supposed to talk about normal stuff in church.” (1) It IS spiritual – God is the One who equips and gifts you for the work we do & whatever occupation we might have, it’s the closest mission field you’ll ever see. (2) Our work is very much a part of our walk with Christ…because our whole lives belong to Him! If you trusted & received Jesus as your Lord, you turned ALL your life over to Him. So how we go about providing for our families is very important to Him.

Before Paul gets there, he starts with both a prayer and a prayer request…

2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 (NKJV)
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you,
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A. Paul doesn’t only offer prayer for the church; he doesn’t hesitate to ask for it…and that’s a good thing! We are utterly dependent on the Lord, so we shouldn’t hesitate to pray for God’s will to be done in every area of our life.
B. Request #1 – that the gospel would go forth… Both in magnitude (“run swiftly”) and effectiveness (“be glorified” – be honored). Amen! Pray that gospel would go to many people around the world & that once they hear it they’d be saved. (We should be praying the same for our outreach.)
__a. Why do we pray for the gospel? Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16)! When people hear the word of God, it convicts them & cuts them to the heart (just as it should do). And we can have confidence that God’s word will have the effect that God intends: it doesn’t return void (Isa 55:11).
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2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.
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A. Request #2 – that the gospel would be unhindered by the actions of others. For some, they hear the good news that their sins can be forgiven through Jesus Christ & they rejoice & repent to receive Christ as Lord. For others, they hear the word of God and continue in their rebellion – actively seeking to oppose the truth.
B. The fact is, “not all have faith” – we shouldn’t be surprised when that act that way. Sinful people sin…it’s what we do. And sinful people without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can (and do) sin in dreadful ways. We shouldn’t be surprised; but we should be watchful & prayerful.
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3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
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A. Whatever happens, God is faithful! Despite the persecution that has taken place in Thessalonica – despite the wicked men working against the gospel of Christ – despite any attack of the enemy in whatever form it may take – God is faithful! Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; [] It is part of His very character & name…
__a. Attacks & trials WILL come… But our faith is in God! We trust in Him to empower us to endure every situation. He is the one who establishes us & gives us strength – He’s the one who sets us on His firm foundation to guard us from every wave of attack from the enemy.
B. If persecution & tribulation are facts of life for Christians, what does it mean that God is faithful to guard us from the evil one? Is God incompetent or weak? Perish the thought! We need to change our understanding of what it means to be protected from the attacks of the devil. … We often think that if God was guarding us from the enemy, that we would never experience attacks at all. But we can also be protected while we’re enduring the attack from the evil one! Hence our instructions in Ephesians to take up the armor & stand. (Eph 6:13)…
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4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
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A. Need we be worried about the attacks of the enemy & wicked men? No. They sometimes tend to consume our prayer life, but we need to trust God is faithful. Instead, we turn our attention God & His work in us as we follow Christ.
B. Into what will God direct us?
__1. The love of God: That should be enough to occupy our attention for eternity. Whatever attacks are thrown at us by the enemy, we can rest easy in the truth that we are loved by God! …
__2. The patience of Christ: We normally say we need the “patience of Job” – but what we really need is the patience of Christ. Christ Jesus not only endured His trials, but He endured them with confidence and faith knowing that God was 100% in control & that God would be glorified as a result.
____i. That in itself is pretty amazing. The events surrounding the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion seem to be anything but controlled at 1st glance. Mock trials – mob rule – puppet government – physical torture… Yet what was Jesus’ response to Pilate in the midst of it? John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” [] As awful as a time it was, God had a planned purpose for how He would use the pain.
____ii. Whatever it is we’re going through – whether it’s caused by a fallen creation in natural disasters or whether it’s caused by someone’s blatant sin against us – if we are in Christ, we can have a confident faith that God is in control & WILL use the situation for His glory. (Rom 8:28)
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6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.
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A. Even the disorderly had originally received the tradition from Paul. Note “brother” – this was a Christian to whom Paul was referring.
B. “disorderly” vs. “idleness”: Greek word (???????) was often used outside the Scriptures as a military term to describe soldiers marching out of order, or not submitting to their rank. IOW, it describes an ‘active’ (not passive) action. When used to refer to work, it describes an irresponsible attitude about working – that someone is actively rebelling against their obligation to work…something that would be outside the order of not only Christian communities, but outside the order of secular communities as well.
__a. If disorderly, rebellious idleness is something that is outside the norm of the secular world, how much more should it be outside the norm of those who follow Christ? These may be the endtimes, but it’s not a time to be lazy! We’re about to meet our Lord & King – we don’t want to be found in disorderly idleness by Him… (Matt 25:26)
C. What does it mean to “withdraw” from these people? Simply to not fellowship as the church with them. Perhaps this involved communion, perhaps something else. Paul does NOT give the impression that this person should be “shunned” to the point of complete ex-communication… Simply that they would experience the consequence of not being received into full fellowship…which would also exclude them from receiving financial benevolence.
__a. Keep in mind this wasn’t Paul’s 1st step. In 1 Thess 5:14, he warned against unruly living…only when they didn’t follow through does he go to the next level of withdrawing fellowship. (We tend to go out of order…)
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7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you,
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A. They don’t need to be taught this (or retaught by a false teacher) because they had already seen Paul’s example with their own eyes. And they knew Paul never got something for nothing.
B. Work. HARD work. Tentmaking was tough manual labor & Paul continued practicing it wherever he went in the Roman empire as a missionary. (Every rabbi learned a trade.)
__a. Interesting that hard work/practical labor is part of the “tradition” passed on by the disciples. We might normally assume “tradition” only to refer to so-called “spiritual disciplines”…and sure that does include some of that (communion, baptism, how to study the Scripture, etc). But Christianity was never supposed to be a “Sunday morning” religion… Christianity is an ongoing daily eternal relationship between the Savior and those He’s saved. If our Christianity never leaves Sunday morning, it’s worth examining if it’s true Christianity at all!
__b. Why should work be important to the Christian? Because that’s what our Lord & Master does…beyond His finished work at the cross, He is our mediator with the Father – He’s preparing a place for us & more. Our Father works every day drawing people to Christ (among running all Creation). The Holy Spirit works in convicting people of sin, righteousness and judgment – He sanctifies us… A servant is not greater than his master; if our God works, so must we.
____i. Note what we DON’T work for: grace. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
C. Paul never wanted to be a burden. He was called by God to go plant churches; not to be enriched by them. Not that he didn’t receive support from them – he did…even from the Thessalonians while at Corinth (2 Cor 8:1). But while the church fellowships were being established, he supported them; not the other way around (2 Cor 12:14).
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9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
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A. Paul had the right…: Any time Paul writes about on the subject, he’s always sensitive to the idea that Christian workers have a right to be supported by the church. Like any apostle, he had the right to a wife & family (1 Cor 9:5); he simply didn’t exercise that right.
B. …He just had a different priority. Wanted to teach them the importance of working. Imagine the example being set: Most ‘spiritual’ people aren’t known for doing work… They’re ‘gurus.’ They sit on a mountaintop while other people work for & serve them. They ride in the best cars b/c they’ve been ‘blessed’ with a special ‘anointing.’ But Paul comes along & says “Baloney!” Here’s a guy that’s so anointed that he’s had several personal visions of the Lord (including a visit to heaven) – he’s participated in countless healings…even with people using his sweatrags to heal the sick – he’s been known to raise the dead – he’s even been the mouthpiece of God Himself for the writing of much of the New Testament… But Paul is not some high & mighty guru… He’s a regular joe who works night & day like anyone else to make a living.
__a. And there’s the example. The more the church grows in the Lord, the more they’re going to be set apart by Him (made holy). BUT that doesn’t give them license to be spiritual snobs among their neighbors. They’re not to act ‘holier-than-thou’… They’re simply supposed to be holy, but still be among the world as witnesses (salt & light…).
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10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
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A. There’s nothing inherently wrong with someone if they’re poor. Paul makes no such inference or indictment against poor people (as opposed to the teaching of some). If someone can’t work for whatever reason even though they are willing to, Scripture overwhelmingly exhorts us to come alongside one another and help each other in times of need… But something IS wrong if they’re willingly lazy & expect others to support them simply because they’re ‘Christian.’ Better for that person to go hungry so they learn the value of work. Proverbs 19:15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger. []
__a. Note that Paul keeps the idea of “work” broad here. Some folks get the idea that, “Unless I can find a job doing ____, then I can’t work.” That’s not a cause for ongoing support from the church…according to the Scripture, someone has to at least be willing to work.
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11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.
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A. Apparently, some had fallen into this trap. Started poking their nose into everyone else’s business instead of taking care of their own.
__a. Be careful of the tendency to be busybodies! Christians are especially susceptible to it…only we call them “prayer requests.” …
__b. Those of us in the premill/pretrib camp also have a susceptibility to this. Because we know that the Lord really could come back at any time for His church, there’s a tendency that we might not do any preparation for the future. (Job, kids’ college, etc) We need to live like Christ will call us home today, but prepare like He might not do it for years to come.
B. The Greek actually uses a bit of word-play here. Literally “doing nothing but doing around”. Busy-ness in business keeps us from being busy-bodies. There’s enough going on in our own walk with Christ to keep us plenty occupied – which is basically what Jesus told Peter… John 21:21-22 (21) Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” (22) Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” []
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12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
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A. Here’s the solution to the dilemma: everyone work quietly! Eat your own bread; not someone else’s because you didn’t bother to bake it…i.e., buy your own food.
B. How important is this? Enough to be commanded AND exhorted on Jesus’ authority.
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13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
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A. Contextually, Paul’s addressing those who may have been taken advantage of by idle brethren. Even though there may be those who ‘abuse the system’, the rest of the church wasn’t to get discouraged from helping people in need.
__a. It can be tiring to keep helping people in need, because there will always be people in need! (Hurricane season is a perfect example! Just as Gustav ended, Hanna hit the east coast & Ike came up through us…all have vital areas that need to be addressed.) But helping those in need is a good thing!
B. Broader than the immediate context… Don’t grow weary in doing good in ALL things. Whatever we do for the Lord (which should be everything), keep it up…
__a. (Guzik) “The older King James Version has this, be not weary in well doing. There is plenty of well-wishing in the world, well-resolving, well-suggesting, and well-criticizing are also found in plenty. Many people are good at well-talking, but there is not enough of simple well doing.”
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14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
How to deal with a Christian who’s fallen into laziness:
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A. Note him: Recognize the sin for what it is & address it appropriately. It’s easy (and tempting) to ignore sin – but it’s like leaven/yeast…it’ll always grow.
B. Don’t fellowship with him: Inviting a person over to dinner who’s deliberately trying to mooch off the church isn’t helping anyone. This was especially appropriate advice for the early churches that regularly had ‘agape feasts.’
C. Help him understand the sin: Shame isn’t always a bad thing. When someone’s conscience convicts them of sin – that’s good! But with that in mind, we need to be careful that the church isn’t the one shaming him. Paul specifically warns the church not to treat the person as an enemy – because they’re not! They simply need loving correction.
D. DO pray for & work towards restoration. The church may be admonishing him, but it’s done in brotherly love. Galatians 6:1-2 (1) Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (2) Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. []
__a. Whatever New Testament discipline we’re dealing with, the goal is always the same: repentance & restoration.
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- Benediction
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
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A. “Lord of peace”: There’s a reason why we can experience the peace that passes understanding in Christ…because He’s the Lord of peace who gives peace. He IS our peace (Eph 2:14) – the only way we can have peace with God through forgiveness of sin!
B. No limit to the peace He offers. He is Lord over all, so He can give you peace in every situation…which is everything!
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17 The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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A. Did Paul always close with a personal signature? Not every epistle indicates it; this may have been done with every correspondence to Thessalonica due to potential forgeries.
B. Grace. Extremely common for Paul to end his epistles in this way, but very appropriate! He always began with grace & peace, and it only makes sense to end with grace. Why? Everything in between is due to grace!
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Conclusion:
I don’t agree with Martin Luther’s view of the end-times, but he did have a proper attitude concerning it. He supposedly said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree today.” That’s not to say he would ignore the situation – but simply that he would live life every day as God had called him to live. We have a glorious promise from Christ Jesus that He will be returning for His church! We will see all Christians throughout history raised from the dead or participate in the Rapture – we will be ushered into heaven with Christ in worship & praise – and we will return with Him when He comes back to defeat the Devil, Antichrist, and judge the world. All of this could be begun at any given moment – what a glorious promise to expect!

But until that takes place, there’s a harvest we’ve been called to participate in & our families to provide for. So plant your apple tree – do your work diligently – be about doing what is right & good – all for the glory of Christ Jesus. Take the opportunity every day provides to glorify God in ordinary ways through His extraordinary grace.

If you’re not a Christian, you’ve also been given an extraordinary opportunity today: you can be saved! The Bible declares that now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2)…don’t waste the opportunity God is giving you; grab hold of it!

Love, Honor, Obey – Deut 11-12

Deuteronomy 11-12, “Love, Honor, and Obey”
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Deuteronomy 11 (NKJV)
1 “Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.
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A. What’s the “therefore” there for? In light of all the great things God has done – because God Himself is their praise (10:21), the only proper, logical response is to truly love God.
B. Again the reiteration to “love the LORD your God”. At 1st glance, the Book of Deuteronomy might be filled with all sort of sundry laws that we might have a tough time relating to…not so! One of the overwhelming themes in Deut is the call to love God (repeated 10 times!). No wonder Jesus called it the Great Commandment! One of God’s desires is that we would love Him! What a wonderful commandment…think about it: the Creator God of all the universe – the One to Whom ALL praise is due – the One to whom every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will one day worship – this ALMIGHTY GOD wants YOU to love Him with all your heart, soul, and strength!
__a. Over & over we see that God desires a relationship with mankind. We are made in the very image of God, and He even took on human flesh in order that we might be able to personally relate to Him. Some make Christianity out to be some kind of esoteric ideal or philosophical pursuit…but it’s not! It’s all about God in the flesh taking on the sins of mankind upon Himself in order that this same mankind would be able to give Him praise, glory, and love!
C. Note that loving God is accompanied by obeying God. As Abraham believed God in his heart & demonstrated it through his hands, so ought we all. Jesus affirmed the same principle. John 14:21 (21) He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” [] Our faith ought to be more than lip-service to the Lord our King; we ought to seek to keep His commandments…and thank God for His forgiveness when we fail. But if our lives aren’t continually conformed to His holiness (however gradually over time), there’s something wrong – when there is a love of Christ, there’s a desire to please Him.
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2 Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm—3 His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; 4 what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots: how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day; 5 what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel— 7 but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did.
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A. These very people were personal witnesses…they had seen with their own eyes the rebellion of their fathers & personally lived out the consequences of their judgment when wandering in the wilderness for a generation. If anyone knew the sheer power of God, these Hebrews did.
B. Cites 2 instances of judgment: Pharaoh & the Sons of Korah…and even in judgment, His acts are “great”!
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8 “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, 9 and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
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A. Commandments served several purposes – 3 reasons given here: That they may be strong — That they would go in to possess the land — That they would prolong their days in the land. Moses is going to expand upon each of these throughout…
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10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot [method of irrigation – foot driven pumps], as a vegetable garden; 11 but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.
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A. The idea is that whereas in Egypt, the people had to work to keep the land watered & fresh, in Israel God would do the work for them.
B. God’s eyes are always on Israel…whereas I believe this is still true (which provides a pretty powerful warning for politicians who try to carve up the land) – when we look at this through NT eyes, it’s a glorious promise! The basic idea is that God takes care of His people; He never sleeps & never slumbers…we can cast our cares upon Him because God cares for us (1 Pet 5:7).
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13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’
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A. Obedience brings blessing. This is a conditional covenant… Blessing #1: If they obeyed, they’d experience a well-watered land which would provide for the nation’s food, livestock, and economy (oil). The land of Israel is known to have spring (early) & fall (latter) rainy seasons which make it ideal for agriculture (which happens to be one of Israel’s chief exports).
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16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.
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A. The result of disobedience? All the blessing the Lord has just gotten done promising will be removed. There would be drought, famine, and death…truly awful catastrophic results for the entire nation. All as a result of idolatry! (Walvoord & Zuck) “This was ironic, for Israel’s attempt to guarantee rain by worshiping Canaanite gods would result in God’s withholding rain!” (Came true in the reign of King Ahab with Elijah’s proclamation of a 3½ year drought.)
B. Those are pretty severe consequences! You’d think they (and us today) would look at what the Lord says to do versus what the Lord says not to do, compare the consequences, and make an intelligent decision on how to act. But it doesn’t work that way, does it? We KNOW the consequences of our actions, and yet we still proceed in sin…
__a. Oh wretched man that I am – who shall save me from this body of death? Thank God for Jesus Christ! … Praise God for forgiveness – praise God for the Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification & intercession – praise God for Jesus’ mediation on our behalf…
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18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
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A. Virtual repetition from Ch 6:6-9… The idea is that the Law would always be on the mind of the people – to the point that they couldn’t avoid it if they tried. They would so meditate on it that they’d always know what the will of God is in any given situation.
B. Still good advice for us today! Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. [] (Col 3:16 – let the word of Christ dwell in you) When we take in the word of God by hearing it, reading it, or memorizing it, we’re allowing our minds to be transformed & shaped by the scalpel of God (Heb 4:12). It reveals our very heart & motives, which allows us to be shaped by our Creator and Father and Lord…and then He equips us to walk with Him.
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22 “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him— 23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. 25 No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.
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A. Again, obedience brings blessing. Blessing #2: the Hebrews would experience military victory. Not just minor skirmishes; the Hebrews would experience complete victory over nations greater & mightier than themselves… Nothing would stand in their way of possessing ALL the land God wanted to give them… They would be SO victorious that the other nations left in their wake would be trembling in their booties!
B. When God gives victory, He doesn’t go half-way! There’s a reason that Paul can taunt Death & Hades (1 Cor 15:55) – for the believer, it truly has been vanquished! Death to the believer is a toothless lion who has a big roar but no true power. Jesus completely and totally gives life to every believer, so that our bodies may perish temporarily, but our life goes on forever…and then even our dead bodies are raised again in life with Him! … And death is only one of many victories for the Lord Jesus – He is completely victorious over sin – He is completely victorious over the Devil. There is no battle in which Jesus isn’t the Victor!
__a. And guess what? HE is our Lord! He’s the One we serve! That’s a reason to rejoice!
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26 “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 29 Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? 31 For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. 32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.
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A. Setting up the scene for what will take place in Deut 27-28…God gave both a blessing and a curse. Appropriate, because this is a conditional covenant. Praise the Lord that today, we are under a NEW covenant – which is what we celebrate in Communion.
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Deuteronomy 12 (NKJV)
1 “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
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A. Beginning of the section on civic & ceremonial laws…takes up the bulk of the book & lasts through Ch 26. Keep in mind that Deuteronomy follows the basic form of an ancient covenantal treaty between a king & people. They’ve already covered the prologue, history, & call to allegiance portions, now they are starting the section dealing with specific laws (will move on from here to witnesses & blessings/curses).
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2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.
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A. What’s the very 1st thing the Israelites are to do after they finish fighting & move in? Build houses & plant vineyards? No (that’s already been provided for them). The very 1st thing: Get rid of all the pagan influences! Tear down the altars – burn the idols – even scratch out their names. Anything that would bring to mind the false gods of the past were to be absolutely destroyed.
__a. Is God being a little extreme here? Absolutely not! How much cyanide is needed in our brownies before we refuse to eat them? There’s no difference in God’s eyes. Anything that was left from the pagan days was spiritually cancerous & would eventually tempt Israel away from the One True God.
__b. When it comes to sin, we need to be willing to ‘burn our bridges’ & do what it takes not to go back to the old way of doing things. When we leave up the old “altars,” they WILL take us down…it’s just a matter of time. Per Jesus, we should symbolically pluck out the eye, or cut of the hand – do what it takes NOT to habitually sin. Romans 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. []
B. In addition to tearing them down, they weren’t to ‘adapt’ them. They weren’t to even consider worshiping God in those ways. Why? We worship God on HIS terms; not ours. There are a lot of ways the world offers to try to ‘worship’ God without going through Jesus Christ…to them, it’s just being ‘spiritual’; to God, it’s idolatry. The ONLY way to worship God is by going through the only way, the only truth, and the only life of Jesus Christ!
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5 “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6 There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
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A. Practically speaking, they were to go to the place God chose for them to worship… This had a lot of benefits for the nation – not the least providing a method of unity for the people now scattered throughout the Promised Land. They were to come to the one place wherever the Tabernacle was located to offer their sacrifices there.
__a. How does God choose for us to worship Him today? Jesus was asked the same question… (John 4:21-24 – Not on a mountain; in spirit & truth!)
B. Worship should be a time of rejoicing…this was a central characteristic of Hebrew worship! Emphasized 3 times in Ch 12. It should also be a central characteristic of our own worship. If anyone has reason to rejoice, Christians do! Even on our worst days when we’re pouring out our heartache & grief to the Lord in prayer, we can still rejoice…simply for the fact that we CAN come boldly before the throne of grace in our time of need! Thus like Paul, we can rejoice in the Lord always (Phil 4:4).
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8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today— every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes—
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A. Interesting that Moses calls out their present day as a time of great disobedience… Contextually, it seems that the Hebrews were already being lax in bringing their commanded sacrifices & how to perform them…
__a. How sad! They had the very presence of God before them every day, and they still didn’t bring the sacrifice. Yet the same could be said of us. We have the very presence of the Holy Spirit indwelling us 24/7 & we still only rarely bring the sacrifice of praise…or spend so little time in His presence through prayer….
B. These are the exact words used to describe the time of the Judges (Judg 21:25)… Israel definitely sank into this condition.
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9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. 12 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
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A. Question: if the Hebrews were supposed to experience rest once they conquered the land, why is it they never truly experienced that rest? … Because they didn’t find it in Christ! (Heb 4)
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13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. 15 “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water.
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A. The law to eat meat before the Lord only applied to meat that was sacrificed (it was a shared meal). For regular meals, the Lord gave them freedom to eat as much as they wanted that was clean… … Clean/unclean referred to the fact that someone had the freedom to eat even if they weren’t able yet to get to the Tabernacle for cleansing…
B. There’s two ways that people tend to look at the commands of the Lord: “I can’t believe that God won’t let me drink the blood! What about all the other wild animals besides deer and gazelles?” OR “God, thank you for the gift of freedom to eat as much Deer BBQ I want!” The commandments of God are gifts from Him to His people – they’re meant as loving boundaries to protect & provide for us. God will let us charge off the cliff of sin if we really want to…but He doesn’t want us to. He’d rather keep us from experiencing the consequences that would come from it. For the Hebrews (and us), that meant guarding them from the pagan practices that were associated with drinking blood.
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17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. 18 But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands. 19 Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.
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A. Note they WERE to eat it; only they were supposed to do it as the Lord prescribed – in a manner of worship WITH Him…
B. Also supposed to remember the Levite… The tithe was one way of providing for them as they didn’t have an inheritance in the land (the Lord was their inheritance).
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20 “When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. 21 If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. 22 Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. 23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 25 You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
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A. Expands the thought from vs. 13-15. It behooves Moses to repeat this a bit because it’s a bit of a change from what God had told them before in Lev 17:1-4. While the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they were to only kill ANY animal in the presence of the Lord… Now they were given the freedom to slaughter regular meat for consumption at their homes, due to the distance most would now be from the Tabernacle.
__a. ‘But I thought God never changed!? Is He changing His mind?’ No – God is simply providing for His people in the best method available at the time. Remember, God’s commandments are a gift – for Him to command the Hebrew nation in the wilderness to bring any slaughter to one place, it a wonderful method of providing national unity in worship. However, in the land, it would have been a burden…so God released them from it.
B. Why not eat the blood? It was pagan worship! Plus, the blood represented the life of the creature in the ancient world – and the life is something that belongs only to God.
__a. This is an ongoing command for the church today (Acts 15)…
__b. Not a reference to rare meat or blood transfusions…this is a prohibition against taking actual blood & consuming it.
__c. BTW – note there WAS action that was supposed to take place with the blood: pouring it out on the ground. In ancient days, it was common to leave the blood of the kill exposed & pooled as an offering to the ‘god of the chase.’ Instead the Israelites were to pour it out as being worthless if not offered to the One True God.
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26 Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. 27 And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat.
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A. What should be done with the blood? For non-sacrifices, it’s poured out on the ground; for sacrifices, it’s poured out on the altar…
B. Just like Christ Jesus! His blood was poured out for you & me – we find life in the blood He alone shed…
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28 Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.
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A. Same idea is repeated at least 20 times in Deuteronomy! Keep in mind when this was originally given to the Israelites, Moses was giving a series of sermons – they didn’t have miniature Torah scrolls to carry around in their pockets to follow along. Repetition in speaking can be a great way to help someone remember what’s being said. Moses is trying to drive home the point of obedience & blessing!
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29 “When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ 31 You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
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A. Takes us back to the beginning of the chapter…don’t worship like the heathen did.
B. Sadly, history shows that the Israelites DID do this…even burning “their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” (King Manasseh – 2 Kings 21:6) Reference to the pagan god of Molech, where iron idols would be heated to the point of being red-hot & infant children placed in its arms…
__a. God repeatedly warns Israel away from this kind of abomination, and yet they still fall into it. No doubt abortion falls into much the same category today…
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32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
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A. Key point to close on…don’t want to gloss over it!
B. Observe the commandment – already hit on this point…
C. Don’t add to the commandment – We don’t want to add to the Word of God! What He has written, He has written…it’s His word, and we dare not add to it, diluting it.
D. Don’t take away from the commandment – Neither do we take away from it! All of it is inspired & meant for our equipping. We can’t pick & choose the parts we want to follow.
E. If we don’t take away from it, nor add to it, but instead observe it – what are ultimately doing? Honoring it! Which honors the One who gave it.
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Conclusion:
When we think of the terms “love, honor, and obey” we typically think of weddings – but in a very real way, that’s what the Lord was asking of the Israelites as they entered into a covenant relationship with Him. Today, we are the Bride of Christ – and we ought to do no less. As we grow in our love for our Lord & Savior, it should inspire us to live for Him as He would have us live!

Chosen, Called, Comforted

After the fireworks of the apostasy, antichrist, and endtimes, it’d be easy to gloss over the remaining few verses at the end of Ch 2…but in doing so, we’d miss a seminary’s worth of theology. As exciting as it can be to talk about the endtimes, we need to be careful not to miss the most important aspect about any of it: the grace and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Keep in mind that it is by His grace that we are saved – it’s by His grace we will be raptured or resurrected – it’s by His grace that we will spend eternity with Him – and by His grace that we’ll return with Him when He comes back in glory. When we get the focus off of the work of the Lord Jesus in endtimes, we’ve made a grave mistake – and that’s exactly what Paul avoids doing.

After writing of the revealing of Antichrist among the world during the Tribulation time, Paul turns his attention to the work of Jesus Christ in the church – from eternity past to the present day. Lest we get the idea that God has been taken by surprise by sin & evil – the Scripture shows us that it’s quite the opposite. God has always had a plan for dealing with it, and He’s successfully carrying it out right now.

In transition, Paul had just gotten done writing of the just condemnation of unbelievers who did not respond to the word of truth – who willfully rejected the grace of Jesus Christ through the gospel. But he doesn’t leave it there…he contrasts it with the marvelous things God has done for the church of Jesus Christ because of His incredible grace.
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2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 (NKJV)
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
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A. Thanking God always: Paul’s been doing that a lot with the Thessalonians (3 times in 1 Thess; 3 times in 2 Thess). Obviously not referring to legalistic prayer, but simply saying the church has been on his mind a lot & every time he thinks about them, he prays for them. (Great model for us! When you think about someone, pray for them…I know they’d appreciate it!)
¬¬__a. What is the basis for which Paul is praying for them? That’s the bulk of vs 13-14…and there’s a lot there!
B. Beloved by God! Over & over again we’re reminded that God loves the church & our salvation is utterly dependent on the love demonstrated through the grace of Jesus Christ. And for what the apostle teaches about the election of God, the context of the love of God is absolutely crucial. Often when the debate of predestination/free-will pops up, proponents of either side go into extreme camps misrepresenting the other. The extreme predestination side claims that free-will folks believe that they’re saved by something other than grace because Man’s will has to “help” God out. The extreme free-will side claims that predestination turns God into an uncaring despot looking to forcibly take over the minds of His people. Both extremes (and the arguments they present) are absolutely unbiblical!
¬¬__a. We are saved by grace alone (Eph 2:8-9), because we put our believing faith alone (Rom 10:9) in the Son of God alone (John 14:6) – and this is all grounded in the love of God! (John 3:16). [] The debate between free-will & predestination has been engaged for at least 500 years…the minimum we could do for either side is to keep it grounded in the love of God!
C. God chose you for salvation: You don’t have to be a Calvinist to be thankful that God chose you in His love for salvation – Paul did it & he lived 1500 years before Calvin was born! Scripture repeatedly talks about what’s referred to as “election” – that there are people throughout the history of the world that God has personally chosen to save for eternal life in order that He might be glorified. Scripture also repeatedly talks about the need for mankind to respond to that offer of salvation by consciously turning away from sin & trusting Christ alone as Savior & Lord. Is the Bible contradictory? No – our finite minds can only comprehend a small portion of our infinite God. I’ve no doubt that we’ll understand when we see Him face-to-face (though I don’t know if we’ll care so much about it then ).
__a. Don’t let the debate distract you from the depth here. God chose you. Not because you were worthy (you weren’t) – not because you could give Him something He didn’t have (you didn’t) – He chose you when you were your most ‘unchoosable’ in your sin. (Ever not chosen for a team?) Despite everything & all the arguments against you, God looked at you and loved you so much that He chose you for His own…
D. When? “From the beginning…” With this short statement, we really begin to see the breadth of God’s love for us & get a glimpse of His eternal mind & will. How far back is “the beginning”? Some would place it at the Garden of Eden, but that would make the promise of the gospel an unplanned response to the sin of Adam & Eve – and God was absolutely ready with a response & a prophecy in Gen 3:15. Instead, we have to go back even farther – Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [] And lest we get confused that God chose us at the moment of Creation – Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, [] IOW, there is no record of the time that God chose you for salvation, because time hadn’t existed yet. BEFORE the world was even founded, from time immemorial when only God & God alone existed, THAT’s when God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit picked you out of a line-up of coming humanity to shower His love upon you in salvation.
E. How? “Through sanctification…” Scripture uses the word “sanctification” to refer to two different processes. (1) To be physically, spiritually, and eternally set apart by God as holy. (2) To be progressively changed by the Holy Spirit, conformed to the image of Christ in our day-to-day actions. (One naturally leads into the other…) Contextually, the 1st definition seems to be what Paul’s referring to here. God loved you, and God decided to choose you – how did He go about choosing you? By setting you apart for Himself and His glory.
F. By what means? 2 things…
__a. “The Spirit”: Sometimes we can get the impression that the Holy Spirit has a lot to do with empowering our daily walk with Christ, but little to do with our initial salvation. Not true! The Holy Spirit convicts us in our unregenerate state of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), it is by the Holy Spirit that we are born again (John 3:5), and by the Holy Spirit we’re set apart for God. It’s impossible to separate out the Holy Spirit from salvation at all! His work is crucial!
__b. “Belief in the truth”: Faith comes by hearing & hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17) – in order to respond to the offer of salvation, we must believe the truth of God’s word. We are set apart for God and His glory through the continual work of the Scripture in our lives (John 17:17).
____i. Note that Paul doesn’t write that we must comprehend the facts of the truth; we must believe the truth. Many people can recite the gospel story & the facts regarding Jesus life, crucifixion, and resurrection…they can even tell you that Jesus died for the sins of the world. But without faith – without the belief that it is absolutely 100% true, it’s meaningless. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. [] Do you believe?
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14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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A. What’s the method God uses to call us? The gospel! The good news of God concerning Jesus Christ. That God became a man in Jesus of Nazareth, lived a perfect life fulfilling the law, died the death WE deserved, and rose to life on the 3rd day offering forgiveness & eternal life to all who call upon Him. (That’s not so difficult to share, is it? ) It’s good news – it’s great news! And because you heard someone proclaiming that news – or because you read that news proclaimed in a gospel tract or New Testament, you were saved. How does God choose to call those He’s chosen? Through the simple proclamation of the gospel.
__a. We get the false idea sometimes that “success” in evangelism is gauged in conversion numbers. And because most of us aren’t gifted to perform mass evangelistic crusade meetings, we’re get intimidated thinking we’re not equipped. Or because we’ve only rarely seen someone (if ever) come to Christ when we shared our faith, that we must not be gifted. Not true! The Lord Jesus commissioned the entire church to the task of sharing the gospel (Matt 28:19); it’s HIS job to call those who are lost! God the Father is the one who draws people to Jesus (John 6:44). OUR job is simply to be a witness (Acts 1:8). We share the gospel; God calls people through it.
B. What is a result of being called? Sharing in the glory of Christ Jesus! Not that we take glory that rightfully belongs to Him, but that we take part in His glory simply by being in His presence for all eternity. We are co-heirs with Christ, and thus we share in the riches of the glory of His inheritance (Eph 1:18). (Wiersbe) “What began in eternity past reaches its climax in eternity future: we share in the glory of God. What begins with grace always leads to glory.”
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15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
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A. Because God saved you through Christ Jesus – because He chose you by name – because He loves you – because He’s sanctifying you – because of all these things… Stand fast! There is an eternity future we are looking forward to & there is much tribulation until we get there. Let us be firmly grounded in Christ in the meantime.
B. “Hold the tradition”: Some would take this to mean that the church should value tradition on the same level of Scripture…the Eastern Orthodox & Roman Catholics do exactly that. Thus tradition adds onto tradition, and Scripture becomes interpreted in light of the tradition. That’s the opposite of what Paul’s saying here. Tradition should be evaluated in the light of Scripture; not the other way around. The Scripture is our final rule of doctrine & practice…and we place ourselves on shaky ground when it isn’t.
__a. “How can you say that with such certainty?” Simple. Was the church to hold to ANY tradition they decided to set up? No – they were to hold to certain traditions…only those given to them by the apostles through their spoken or written word. Keep in mind that the New Testament was still being written at the time, so their spoken words were crucial to the foundation of these new church bodies. Peter, Paul, and John may not be here to personally address us any longer, but their written words are! What God has chosen to preserve for us through the centuries is sufficient – it makes us complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:17).
__b. It’s hard to underscore the importance of this! There are those who would try to add on to Scripture…even in Protestant circles. Some want to mix in ancient mystic traditions; others believe that prophetic uttering is more valuable than the written word; others try to blend in new-age or pagan religions. How do we know what’s right & wrong? The ONLY objective way (and God-given way) of judging these things is by holding it up next to the Bible. It behooves us to be Bereans!
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16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
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A. Verse 17 actually gives us Paul’s prayer request & benediction…but there’s too much theology in verse 16 to pass up.
B. He is the “Lord Jesus Christ”: Too often we pass by His name without considering His title & position. He has authority & He has anointing. He is both Sovereign and Savior. He is at the same time King of Kings and the Suffering Servant. He is the LORD & He is the Messiah whose very name means “Yahweh saves.”
__a. He is not just THE Lord, Jesus is OUR Lord. We don’t worship and serve an idea – we worship and serve the Person of Jesus. If you’ve trusted in Him for salvation, you have turned over your life to Him as Master. He is your Lord & King…too often we forget…
C. He personally ministers to His church: The Lord Jesus doesn’t dispatch an angel to love and console the church for Him. He doesn’t delegate it to one of the cherubim. The Almighty Everlasting Alpha and Omega personally takes part in your life & my life as He prays for us, loves us, gives us hope, and much more.
__a. What is man that You are mindful of him? (Ps 8:4) And yet He is!
D. He is equal with God the Father: No matter how many skeptics and cults want to claim that the Bible doesn’t proclaim Jesus AS God, there’s absolutely no way of escaping it. The Greek grammar is clear that Jesus is placed on the same level as God, and thus is God. Even the Jews at the time recognized that this was Jesus’ claim. John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. []
__a. Because Jesus expressly makes the claim, that leaves us only 3 options. (CS Lewis) “He would either be a lunatic – on the level of the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” He is a liar, or a lunatic, or Lord. The historical fact of the resurrection makes it evident that He is Lord! He is God Almighty – and He is the one who saves us & whom we worship!
E. He has loved us: I love the fact that Paul ‘bookends’ this section of Scripture with the declaration that we are beloved of God! Understand these are mere words with God. He doesn’t lavish us with empty “sweet nothings” when it comes to love – He demonstrated it in drastic action! Romans 5:7-8 (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. (8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [] How do you know Jesus loves you? Because when you hated Him, He died for you. How GREAT is His love for us!
F. He has already given us everlasting consolation: Note the past tense in vs. 16. We obviously pray for comfort & consolation (nothing wrong with that), but on top of what we pray for, the Lord Jesus has already given us much. “consolation” = “paraclesis” (root lit “call near” “come alongside”). In our salvation, Jesus has already come alongside us & consoled us from the results of sin – we’ve been reconciled to God through Christ, and He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us…thus His consolation is everlasting.
G. He has already given us hope: And it’s a good hope! We look forward to a glorious future with Jesus. Contrast this with the 1st part of Ch 2 – it’d be easy for the church to be frightened about the coming Antichrist or present trials, but there’s no reason to. We’ve been given the good hope of the resurrection & rapture. Jesus will call us to Himself to spend eternity with Him.
H. It is all by His grace! It’s no wonder when Paul suffered his thorn in the flesh that God responded “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Cor 12:9). With this demonstration of grace that we’ve already received from the Lord, what are the trials in this present world? It’s a blip compared to eternity! The grace we’ve already seen poured out on us through Christ is absolutely beyond comprehension…but understand – it’s NOTHING compared to the amount of grace we’ll experience for all of eternity! We’ve only seen a glimpse of it!
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- What does Paul actually pray that Christ Jesus would do?
17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
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A. “comfort your hearts”: The Lord Jesus has already provided everlasting consolation through the gift of eternal life – but that can sometimes be hard to grab hold of during temporary crisis. Whatever it is that the church was going through, Paul prays that they would experience the comfort of Christ right now.
__a. Whatever trials you’re walking through, as a Christian be assured that Christ Jesus is walking right alongside you! May your heart be assured of His comfort & sustained by His presence.
B. Establish your word & work: In whatever we do or say, Paul prayed that the church would be strengthened by the Lord Jesus. Until that Day when Christ takes us home, there is much to do (as we’ll see in Ch 3) – so whether we’re proclaiming the gospel, edifying one another, or demonstrating the love of Christ, may it be established by Jesus Himself. (Which is the only way it’s going to last anyhow!)
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Conclusion:
So how do we respond to these truths? There seems to be a ton of doctrine, but is there any application? Is there any way to put this into practice? YES! Break it down:

A. Because Jesus loves you, Jesus chose you. … So worship Him in glorious adoration!
B. Because Jesus chose you, Jesus called you. … So stand fast in the gospel with which you were called & hold to the truth revealed in the Scripture!
C. Because Jesus loves you and called you, Jesus comforts you. … Whether you’re enduring spiritual attacks, or you’re in the middle of good works, know & understand Jesus is the One coming alongside you & establishing you.

How do you know if you’ve been called & chosen? If you respond to His offer of salvation. He’s already demonstrated His love through the cross. He’s already demonstrated His truth through the resurrection. Every single one of us is in need of a Savior – we’ve all sinned & fall short of the glory of God (no doubt!)… Left in our sin, we are condemned & must face justice for all eternity. But in Christ, everything changes. In Christ we are forgiven. In Christ, we experience grace rather than justice. But you MUST respond. God is calling through His gospel; will you respond by believing the truth?

Deut 9-10: Greatness Demonstrated Through Failure

On the cusp of the Promised Land, Moses has given a series of discourses to the Israelites. So far, they’ve reviewed their journeys – they’ve reviewed the 10 Commandments – they’ve reviewed God’s faithfulness – and now, they’re going to review their failures. Is this just a bunch of pessimism? Is Moses browbeating the nation? No. Instead, he’s pleading with them not to make the same mistakes as their fathers. Oft-quoted philosopher George Santayana wrote “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” That may not be Scripture, but it’s absolutely true! The more we remember where we came from, the greater we appreciate where God is taking us…and that’s the lesson Moses is trying to teach the Israelites.
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Deuteronomy 9 (NKJV)
1 “Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’ 3 Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.
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A. They heard it said because it was their fathers who had said it! 40 years earlier, their forefathers sat on the edge of the Promised Land & stared at giant people rather than God’s giant provision. The people who are in the army at this time were there when it happened (under 18yrs old) – they’ve seen the result of disobedience. Moses has GOT to remind them of this so that they don’t make the same mistake!
B. Fundamental understanding that God is the one fighting their battle. No one is mightier than God! He’s an all-consuming fire – He’s all-powerful – He’s all-knowing. There would be no chance of success if the Hebrews were to go into Canaan in their own power; but as long as they follow the Lord, there’ no chance of failure! If God is for us, who can be against us?
__a. Helps them be strong. There’s no reason to fear when God is fighting the battle. The ruddy young shepherd boy David could walk up to 9-ft tall Goliath & cut off his head ONLY because God was fighting the battle for him. But because God did fight for him, David could stroll up to the battle with confidence.
__b. Helps them be humble…because it’s not due to either their strength or their worth. See vs. 4…
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4 “Do not think in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
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A. They’re not getting the land because they deserve it. They absolutely DON’T deserve it! If they were getting justice, God could have left them in the land of Egypt in perpetual slavery – or simply wipe them off the face of the planet. Keep in mind that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) & ONE sin is all it takes. If we break the law in one place, we’re guilty of the whole thing (James 2:10). Yet the nation of Israel reviled the initial work of Moses when he confronted Pharaoh – they accused God of trying to kill them at the Red Sea – they rebelled against God regarding food & water. Every turn they took in the wilderness was a turn of rebellion (as Moses will remind them) – they are absolutely NOT worthy.
__a. Neither are we! Not a one among us deserves our salvation – we all deserved death multiple times over every day all our lives. BUT. God HAS saved us – He’s shown us His mercy & grace through Jesus Christ! PTL!!
B. So why ARE they getting the land? Because the previous nations were wicked. We’ve gone over the extent of their wickedness before…suffice to say they were an abomination who filled up on the measure of God’s wrath for over 400 years in which they could have repented. The point? Neither the Canaanites NOR the Israelites deserved the land. The only difference is the grace of God. Because God is faithful to His word & promise, God would deliver…that’s it.
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- Going to contrast God’s faithfulness with the Hebrews faithlessness. All part of keeping them humble before God & reliant on Him during the conquest.
7 “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
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A. From Day 1 until now. They’ve ALWAYS been rebellious…
B. They’ve got a bad track record. So do we. BUT (and that’s a glorious word) we’ve been clothed with the righteousness of Christ! God doesn’t see us in our failure; He sees us in Jesus’ victory! Positionally speaking, we stand before God in holiness & without blame (Eph 1:4) – we’ve been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor 6:11) – we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21) – God sees us IN CHRIST…and we praise the Lord for it!
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8 Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with you to have destroyed you. 9 When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
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A. Receiving of the Law at Mt. Sinai (Horeb)…
B. 10 Commandments written with the finger of God…awesome!
C. This should have been a time of celebration & worship. It was, but to the wrong god. Instead, it became a time of idolatry & rebellion.
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12 “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’ 13 “Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
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A. Original recounting in Exodus 32…goes into a bit more detail. Exodus 32:10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.” [] God wasn’t just kind of ‘ticked’ – He was furious! He was completely ready for His wrath to burn hot against His people in destructive judgment.
B. It’s not that God is hot-tempered; it’s that sin is THAT bad. The Israelites had just been blessed with a personal covenant with our Creator God. Instead of worshiping in gratefulness & praising His name, they turn almost immediately around and commit adultery with other gods.
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15 “So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you. 17 Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
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A. How bad was their sin? Bad enough to take what would have been the most valuable item on the face of the whole planet (the Law of God physically written with the finger of God) and smash them to pieces. … Why not? That was what the Israelites had done in their hearts already.
B. Moses’ response? Mourning over sin & repentance. As Courson notes, the 1st time Moses fasted for 40 days it was in spiritual worship; the 2nd time it was in spiritual warfare as he interceded for his people. As the representative of his people to God, he mourned & fasted on their behalf – wishing himself accursed if it would save his people (Ex 32:32).
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19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with you, to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also. 20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.
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A. Aaron was more than complicit; he enabled the sin to take place… And gave the worst excuse in history to cover it up (I threw the gold into the fire & whaddya know? Out pops this golden calf! Who’da thunk it? – Ex 32:24).
__a. Yet how is Aaron remembered? As a saint (Ps 106:16) – THAT’s the forgiveness & mercy of the Lord!
B. Praise God for our Intercessor who is greater-than-Moses…who prays for us at our worst times & lowest points! Every single one of us struggles with sin (not just some of the time…every day!) – this is no surprise to God (I’m not sure why we think it is). In Christ, He has made provision for us – God may convict our conscience to repentance, but He does not accuse us; He intercedes for us. Romans 8:33-34 (33) Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (34) Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. []
__a. Jesus is praying for you!!
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21 Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.
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A. Doesn’t recount it here, but he also made them drink it (Ex 32:20).
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22 “Also at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. [water & provision] 23 Likewise, when the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you did not believe Him nor obey His voice.
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A. Rebelling at the edge of the promised land.
B. A lack of obedience fundamentally reveals a lack of faith. If we truly believed God, we would trust Him enough to do what He says. By not walking into the Promised Land, the Israelites were saying to God: “We don’t trust that You can or that You will actually do this. You may have fed us daily manna & delivered us from Egypt, but you can’t do this.”
__a. A lot of Christians get stuck in this spot. They know what they ought to do – but they consistently choose to do things the way of the world, while still trying to ride the fence in worship. “I believe you God – I know what Your word says; I just can’t trust You with this part.” Yet God proclaims that to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22) – take a step of faith & believe that God can & will do what He says!
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24 You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.
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A. Reiterates vs. 7…but takes it further. Since even BEFORE they departed Egypt, they were rebellious against the Lord. I.e., even in the time when they were crying out for the Lord to deliver them, they were sinning against God at the same time.
B. Humans are a depraved people! If it were not for the righteousness of Christ Jesus, we would have none at all.
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25 “Thus I prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you. 26 Therefore I prayed to the LORD, and said: ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
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A. Moses appealed to God’s Fatherhood. They were HIS people…God had redeemed them and personally bought them through Passover. He specifically made this point in Ex 32:7 when God told Moses the Hebrews were “your people” – Moses immediately turned around & affirmed they were God’s people that God had brought out of Egypt (Ex 32:11).
__a. WE are God’s people…born-again into His family & given the spirit of adoption…
B. Moses appealed to God’s glory. Because God is great & powerful & merciful, we can appeal to Him on that basis as He glorifies Himself through the grace He showers down upon His people.
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27 Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which You brought us should say, “Because the LORD was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” 29 Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’
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A. Moses appealed to God’s covenant (His word). God is the faithful God (Deut 7:9) and He will ALWAYS keep His word. By looking back to the covenant to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, Moses was saying, “You promised to multiply the nation; not destroy them.” [] Likewise, we can stand firm on the promises of God knowing that the Judge of all the earth will do right (Gen 18:25).
B. Moses appealed to God’s testimony. God intended far more things than to merely have this one people glorify Him. God intended to use the Hebrews to help the whole world glorify Him through Christ Jesus. Again, God was going to be faithful to His word & promise…and His testimony was a vital part of that. [] We can intercede based on how God will spread the gospel through His action.
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Deuteronomy 10 (NKJV)
1 “At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. 2 And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3 “So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. 4 And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me.”
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A. How merciful is our God? Not only did He NOT destroy Israel. Not only did He give them a 2nd chance (even in discipline). Not only did He renew the covenant. He actually gave them another physical copy of the 10 commandments by His hand!
B. Technically, did Moses make the ark? No – but he commanded that it be made according to the Lord’s instructions…
C. Note the typology here. The Law couldn’t even make it down the mountain in the hands of Moses. However, when placed within the ark (typifying Jesus Christ), the perfect Law of God could dwell among His imperfect people. Likewise, until the perfect God became man in the flesh, all the law could do is drive us to our knees in desperation. Now, we can turn to the Savior! (John 1:17)
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6 (Now the children of Israel journeyed from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died, and where he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his stead. 7 From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water. 8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. 9 Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him.)
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A. Parenthetical insert – possibly by Moses; possibly later on (inspired either way). Jumps ahead to the death of Aaron, which sets up Eleazar as high priest.
B. Also discusses Levi…which is the reason why this parenthesis makes sense in relation to the golden calf incident. It was at that time that Moses asked ‘who was on the Lord’s side’ & Levi rose to the occasion to administer the stark justice that was needed. After that point, God took Levi to Himself to minister to God as priests, with the ministry being their inheritance.
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10 “As at the first time, I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights; the LORD also heard me at that time, and the LORD chose not to destroy you.
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A. Note that. God CHOSE not to destroy them. It’s not that He lacked the power or that He lacked the justification. But in His mercy & grace, God chose not to exercise His right to pour out His wrath upon them.
B. God does not HAVE to save anyone. Our culture has developed such a low view of God that people think they can manipulate God into eternal life because they were such ‘good’ people. That’s not the case! None is good but God alone – all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God. As with Israel in Ch 9, there is nothing worthy about us; we deserve death…that would be justice. But God CHOOSES to save us!
__a. For all the debate about free-will/predestination we sometimes forget that God has a free will too. And His will is that people would respond to the gospel & be saved!
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11 Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, begin your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’
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A. Again – the inheritance is based upon God’s covenant; nothing else.
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12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
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A. Fear the Lord: Churches don’t often talk about “fearing” God any more… Simply means to reverence Him, see Him as He is, give Him the glory & awe & worship He deserves. It’s a good thing to fear the Lord! It’s the beginning of knowledge (Pro 1:7)
B. Obey the Lord (walk): We are by no means under the law, but we dare not downplay the importance of walking in the ways of the Lord. We use similar terminology with Christ – we walk with Him. The distinguishing mark of a disciple is that we would pick up our cross & follow Him (Matt 16:24).
C. Love the Lord: Isn’t it amazing that God desires for His people to love Him? God is no Divine Despot or Dictator…to every Christian, He is our Abba Father! And thus we love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength (Deut 6:5).
D. Serve the Lord: As the bondservant who willingly loves his master & desires to stay in his house all his life, so are we to willingly serve our Lord & King. Paul repeatedly calls himself the bondservant of Christ – and it is a joyful description!
E. ‘But this is impossible!!’ Absolutely. That’s exactly the conclusion we’re supposed to come to. It’s supposed to drive us to our knees at the feet of Christ.
__a. BTW, He does ALL of this. He perfectly fulfills it! And as a Christian, you are in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit as a new creation. What was flagrantly impossible before is now entirely possible in Him. …
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14 Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. 15 The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
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A. All creation belongs to God… There are a ton of ramifications from this we don’t have time to look at tonight. Suffice to say that all things are in His hands – He is our provider, and we are also stewards of what He provides for us.
B. And since it does, it makes it all the more special that God chose THIS people out of all the people of the earth, in order to show His favor.
__a. Likewise, of all the people in all creation – of all the people who could have been chosen by God for salvation – God chose you. For no other reason than to show His glory & how good of a God He is!
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16 Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.
A. That’s what God desires – the covenant of circumcision wasn’t supposed to be a cultural ritual. It was supposed be symbolic of something greater: a people set apart to serve the Lord God.
__a. Paul says the same thing in Romans. Romans 2:28-29 (28) For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; (29) but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. []
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17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.
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A. The LORD is their God: He was the one they served! The pagan cultures they would be conquering worshiped all sorts of false ideas about demons and imaginary gods; but the Israelites worshiped GOD!
B. The LORD is God of gods & Lord of lords: Even over the various principalities and powers that do exist, the Lord is lord over them. There is none that even compare to Him b/c He is the Creator & they are all created. They owe their existence to Him, and one day they will owe their eternal destruction to them as well.
C. The LORD is the great God: He is the only true God. He is exceedingly more noble, powerful, honorable, and glorious than anything in existence b/c God precedes existence.
D. The LORD is mighty: He is omnipotent; there is nothing outside His power – nothing beyond His reach. (Not even you or me…or even the hardest family member you have to share the gospel with.)
E. The LORD is just/fair: God shows partiality with no one. We are all equal in our infinite sin towards an infinite God & all equally in need of an infinite Savior. It doesn’t matter how much we think we might be able to offer God; the best we can offer outside of Christ is filthy & defiled…and thus God cannot be bribed by anyone.
F. The LORD is compassionate: Throughout the Scripture, God proclaims His heart for the widow & fatherless. He fights on behalf of those who cannot fight for themselves…and logically, that includes all of us! He fought for our salvation & won it at Calvary!
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19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
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A. Because our God is compassionate, we should be compassionate. Specifically because our God was compassionate on us! When we see people in need, we’re seeing people for whom Christ died. Thus however we can help them, we do so – ultimately sharing the gospel at the same time, having our words backed up by our deeds.
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20 You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.
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A. What should be our response to all His greatness & compassion? The same things we saw in vs. 12. The only logical response is fearing & worshiping God!
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21 He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.
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A. Why? Because God is our praise! He’s not only worthy of praise; He is the reason we CAN praise in the 1st place. Worshipping God is impossible in our sin…
B. Why else? Because God has proven Himself worthy through our salvation & deliverance. Just as God was faithful to His promise to Abraham in multiplying a ragtag family of 70+ people to a nation of millions, so is God faithful to bring those in Christ into a new family & kingdom. He is worthy of praise!
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Conclusion:
The God Who continually reached out to Israel in mercy and grace time & time again – failure after failure – this is the same God who saved us! This is the same God Who cleanses us & continually invites to love, fear, worship, and serve Him through Christ Jesus.

Have you been holding back because of your perceived failures? If you’re in Christ, THAT’s who God sees! Don’t hold back any longer – He IS your praise & is worthy of it all!

Apostasy & Antichrist

As sociologists look at our current time period, they often label it the “Information Age.” People have a greater access to information & news than ever before at any period of history – and communication is included in this too. We can literally talk to someone on the other side of the globe in a matter of seconds – which was unthinkable 100 years ago. Can you imagine what Paul would have been able to accomplish today? Obviously he didn’t have this same luxury & it would take weeks for letters to travel from city to city – making it difficult to answer questions & allowing a lot of time to go by for further confusion to set in.

This seems to have been the problem at Thessalonica. In his 1st epistle, Paul attempted to comfort the church by assuring them that their friends and family who had died weren’t going to miss anything regarding Jesus. There was still a resurrection and rapture that everyone in Christ was going to take part in & it was going to be glorious! Yet because there was much persecution in the area, the Thessalonians had started to look ahead & get confused thinking that they had missed it & that they were now in the middle of the Great Tribulation. In Ch 1, Paul addressed the fact that Tribulation and Judgment IS indeed coming, and God is righteous to do it. In Ch 2, he assures them that it hasn’t come yet & gives them some very specific proofs showing why.

This little section of Scripture is the cause of MUCH debate within the church & as we’ve noted before, many God-fearing Christians hold very different viewpoints on the timing & theology outlined here. Personally, I think this section of Scripture presents some of the strongest arguments for the pre-trib/pre-mill camp & that’s the viewpoint I’m going to take on it.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (NKJV)
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

A. Obviously questions had arisen in Thessalonica from Paul’s 1st letter & apparently false teachers had pounced on this & caused a lot of confusion to develop. In writing here, Paul’s attempting to solve the matter once & for all.
B. Jesus IS coming! All true Christians of every stripe agree on this – where we disagree on is the actual event Paul’s referring to here. Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus is coming FOR His church, and it also makes clear that the Lord Jesus will be coming back to judge WITH His church. With the understanding that these are two distinct events (see 1 Thess 5), which one is it? Gk parousia = “a being near/advent”…often refers to Jesus 2nd coming, but not exlusively – the NT has a much broader use of the word. A hint is found in the grammar of the sentence. Note there’s only one “the” in vs. 1 – Paul links Jesus’ “coming” and our “gathering” as being one event.
__a. We WILL be gathered together with Him. Amen! This is a direct reference to the rapture & a glorious thought! One day we’re going to be snatched up in a moment & gathered together with our Lord & King. Could be today…
C. Why is this important? The theology behind the rapture, 2nd coming, etc., should bring us comfort (1 Thess 4); not stress! The Thessalonians had been shaken up…they thought they had missed out on everything Paul had taught them & they were now set to endure the Great Tribulation (which no one is going to want to go through!).
__a. Even today with all the debate, it’s common for Christians to get stressed out about end-time issues. Many people look at the world headlines, see things lining up with prophecy & get scared at the things to come. Others just get wound up trying to win a debate & they forget how they’re supposed to conduct themselves as disciples of Christ Jesus.
__b. How NOT to be stressed about the end-times: look for the Lord Jesus. That’s it. Keep it simple. There’s no reason for the church to be worried about Antichrist & start naming names – we won’t be around when he’s revealed anyway. As we saw in 1 Thess, the ONE prophetic event Christians are looking for on the calendar is the res/rapture. Until that day, just be who Christ Jesus has called you to be & do what He’s called you to do & leave the rest to Him.
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3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

A. Let no one tell you that eschatology is all guesswork – there is some VERY specific information here! We can be assured that “the Day” won’t come until some very specific things happen…which Paul outlines here.
B. Which “Day” – the rapture/resurrection or 2nd coming? This is one of the reasons Scripture seems to make such a strong argument that the 2 events are very distinct from each other. 1 Thess made it very clear that the res/rapture could happen at any moment…(as a thief in the night – 1 Th 5:2) However, with this Day, we have to wait for some specific timing…thus Paul CANNOT be referring to the same event! Instead of the res/rapture, Paul seems to be referring to the 2nd Coming of Christ…and that won’t happen until people see the “man of sin.”
C. Who is the “man of sin…the son of perdition”? Though in the NT, he’s only called “Antichrist” by John, that’s exactly who Paul is referring to. He is everything Christ Jesus is not. God is Yahweh (Jehovah) Tsidkenu = “The Lord our Righteousness” (Jer 23:6). But Antichrist is the “man of sin/lawlessness.” Referred to as the “beast” in Revelation. Historically, many Christians have seen Antichrist as a movement, or many people & Scripture does speak of many antichrists (1 John 2:18) – but it also speaks of a specific individual…and plainly that’s what Paul is referring to here.
__a. Do we need to be afraid of Antichrist? Not if you’re born again…you won’t be here. But even that aside, his end is already determined. He’s the “son of perdition” – his destiny is one of destruction & eternal damnation in the lake of fire.
D. What else has to happen first? The great apostasy. “falling away” = apostasia (apostasy). NT repeatedly refers to a time in the end days (specifically revealed to Paul by the Holy Spirit – 1 Tim 4:1) where those who claim to be Christian will fall into deception and fall away from the core truths of the Bible and end up in sheer rebellion against God. It’s not hard to look around & get the idea that we’re in the beginning throws of this! (Pew Survey 2007 – 57% of Evangelical Protestants & 83% of Mainline denominations believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” JOHN 14:6!)
__a. Some theologians note that “apostasia” could also be translated “abandonment or departure” & believe this is a reference to the rapture. The problem is that the word is almost universally used to refer to “departure” as a bad thing (military rebellion)…it’s a stretch to make it apply to something magnificent like the Rapture. It’s a weak argument at best – and there are many more specific passages that teach the pre-trib rapture without trying to ‘make’ this one apply.
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4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

A. We learn some very important aspects about Antichrist’s character:
__a. Antichrist opposes God: Scripture indicates that he’s going to come in subtly and offer peace (some think he’ll negotiate peace between Israel & the Muslims in Jerusalem by re-building the temple on the mount across from the Dome of the Rock). However he comes in, he’ll be well received by the world…but 1st impressions can be misleading. He is adamantly opposed to God because Antichrist is of the devil, the adversary.
__b. Antichrist exalts himself above God: As with the proclamation against the King of Babylon in Isa 14 (whom many think refer to Satan), Antichrist will exalt himself above God in order to receive the worship God alone deserves.
____i. It can sound rather ridiculous to our ears that people would actually worship a world leader – but it’s not all that far-fetched. People have done it throughout history & continue to do so today. Our culture isn’t as “advanced” as we like to think sometimes.
__c. Antichrist exalts himself above anything that is worshiped: Beyond exalting himself above the True God, Antichrist will set himself up as the only thing that can be worshiped – Rev 13:8 proclaims that anyone who’s name is not written in the Book of Life WILL worship him.
B. We also learn something very important about what Antichrist will do. Going to sit AS God in the temple OF God in an attempt to show Himself to BE God… IOW, however he comes upon the world scene, there will be a point in time that he physically walks into the newly rebuilt Jewish Temple & proclaims to the entire world point-blank that he is God. This will be the final straw before the wrath of God is poured out on the earth. Prophesied by Jesus…Matthew 24:15-16 (15) “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), (16) “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. [] … Since Jesus referred to Daniel, what does Daniel have to say about it? A lot, actually. References in Dan 8:11, 9:27, 12:11 – also in Ch 11. Daniel 11:31, 36 (31) And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. … (36) “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. [] Sound familiar? …
__a. Has this ever come true? No doubt, there HAVE been desecrations of the temple. Antiochus Epiphanes (167BC)…tried to force the Jews to worship Zeus & sacrificed a pig on the temple altar. To faithful Jews, this was the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy & the Book of Maccabees explicitly calls it the “abomination of desolation”. BUT – this was close to 200 years prior to Jesus’ prophecy…and He was referring to a yet future event.
____i. Next possibility would be Caligula’s order to build a statue of himself in the Jewish Temple in 40AD. Never completed…thus the prophecy remains unfulfilled.
__b. ‘What about the preterist viewpoint of the post-Christian Jews performing the abomination of desolation through sacrifices after Jesus’ resurrection?’ Claiming that unnecessary Jewish sacrifices taking place in the temple is an abomination makes good symbolism, but it simply doesn’t match the description given by Daniel. Where is the individual claiming to be God? Why would he refer to daily sacrifices being taken away if those sacrifices were the one that were abominations? Obviously, the destruction of Jerusalem & the temple in 70AD (as horrific as it was) is NOT the event Jesus, Daniel, and Paul are referring to. It is thus still yet to come.
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5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?

A. Simply astounding that in only a few weeks time, Paul thought this was so important that he taught it to the fledgling church at Thessalonica! Some churches never touch eschatology at all & yet he’s teaching it to folks who should still be in a “new believers” class! Tells us a few things:
__a. Paul thought it was imminent. Not quite in the same sense as the rapture was (considering there were prophetic events scheduled to take place) – but close enough in the future that people needed to be educated on what was going on.
__b. Paul thought it was important. Eschatology is (no doubt) filled with secondary doctrines. A person’s salvation does not hang on whether or not someone is pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, or Amill (or whatever label you find best). As long as someone has turned to Jesus Christ as the Risen Son of God for salvation, that’s the essence of essential doctrine. HOWEVER – simply because it’s not essential doesn’t mean it’s not important. What we believe about the end days have a dramatic effect on how we live in the current days…
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6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

A. Apparently it was obvious to the Thessalonians due to Paul’s teachings – but not necessarily to us. Who is this “restrainer”? Like nearly everything else in this chapter, there’s a lot of debate about it. Some think it’s a reference to a specific unnamed person, others think it’s the general legal system. Note the “He” in vs. 7 – Paul does have a personality in mind, but he also uses an impersonal “what” in vs. 6. Seems likely Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit (He) in the life of the church (what). As long as the church is in the world, the mystery of lawlessness is restrained. But when “He is taken out of the way” i.e., the church as the temple of the Holy Spirit is gathered together with the Lord Jesus Christ, the dam will be removed & the flood of sin unleashed.
B. Note the “mystery of lawlessness” is already active. There will be a time during the Great Tribulation when it has virtually free reign, but it’s present even today. (Nelson’s) “Anyone who opposes Christ and His church and seeks to deceive others into worshipping false gods is against Christ, and in that case is an antichrist.” 1 John 2:22-23 (22) Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. (23) Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. []
__a. Imagine what would be taking place if sin wasn’t restrained! We think it’s bad now…
__b. All this underscores the fact that Christians are salt & light in the world! The church isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination – but we have been entrusted with the life-saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ! During this time while sin is restrained, we are to go into the world & proclaim this gospel through word and through deed – it’s part of our ministry of reconciliation!
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8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

A. There’s the key bit of timing. Once the Restrainer is removed, then Antichrist will be revealed. Again – this cannot be talking about the res/rapture because that event is repeatedly referred to as imminent. This has a very specific schedule to follow…
B. As bad as Antichrist is going to be, the end of the book is already written. We know his outcome. The Lord Jesus will consume & destroy him. What will it look like? Hollywood might be disappointed. There will be a grand battle ground set up with massive armies, but there won’t be any long drawn-out sword fight between the Lord & the beast – no nail-biting struggle between good & evil. The Lord Jesus Christ simply shows up…and that’s enough! Understand there’s absolutely no contest between Christ and Antichrist. God is infinitely more powerful than anything else! Revelation describes Christ as having a sword come out of His mouth (Rev 19:15) & along with Paul’s description of His breath, it implies that He simply speaks a word. [Swindoll, “Enough!”]
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9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

A. Will Antichrist be obvious? Perhaps…perhaps not. Many will truly be deceived, for what will seem to be good reasons: miracles! The wonders will be “lying wonders” to be sure, but it certainly seems that there will be supernatural signs accompanying Him. Not unknown in history…Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same thing (Ex 7).
__a. This is yet another reason to be wary of movements that are completely focused on sign & wonders. Praise God for healings & miracles – God is just as powerful today as He was at Creation & He can heal anyone at anytime if He so chooses. But movements that look for the miracles & not the Master invariably get themselves into trouble. Keep in mind that even supernatural miracles are not a sign that someone is born-again. Matthew 7:22-23 (22) Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ []
____i. Also gives us a good reason to examine ourselves! Our salvation is not dependent upon our experiences; it’s dependent upon our relationship with Christ Jesus…
B. During this time, why will people perish? The same reason they’ve always perished, “because they did not receive the love of the truth”… IOW, they rejected the gospel. God offers salvation to the whole world! He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ez 33:11) & sent His Son into the world not to condemn it, but to save it through Him (John 3:17). But by not receiving His love and grace, they reject His love and grace.
__a. “What if you just have a hard time believing? Is that really rejection?” Yes…without a doubt. God made the resurrection of Jesus so obvious, that one has to be willfully blind to the evidence to ignore the historical fact. He’s placed His law upon our hearts to help us understand that we’ve sinned & need a Savior. He’s given us Creation to show that there is a Creator & Judge we will one day face. What MORE can we ask God to do?! To not believe the gospel is to reject the gospel.
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11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

A. ‘Wait a minute! GOD sends the delusion?!’ Yes. Antichrist may usher in a time of lawlessness on the earth, but God is the one Who allows Antichrist to exist at all. Just like Satan was limited by God in his attacks on Job, so is Antichrist limited by the will of God.
B. Keep in mind God desires everyone to come to repentance; but obviously not all do. To those who refuse to repent, God will allow their heart to be hardened (like Pharaoh) & they will continue to believe the lie that they are already inclined to.
__a. ‘So does anyone get saved after the Rapture?’ Probably – Scripture seems to indicate that they do…at the very least there seems to be a Jewish remnant that gets saved because they finally recognize Jesus as the Messiah. But there will be far more that reject Christ not only before the Rapture, but continue that rejection afterward due to their hardness of heart.
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12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

A. There’s the crux of it…people who perish don’t receive the love of the truth, but it’s more than that. Not only do they not believe, but they have “pleasure in unrighteousness.” Not a single human on the planet could honestly claim that they are victims of God’s judgment due to passive sins that they had little control over. Our sin is ACTIVE! Outside of Christ, we take pleasure in sin & unrighteousness…we do wrong things, we know it’s wrong, and we enjoy it! … And ultimately, that leaves us condemned before God Almighty.
__a. BUT. Not if you’re in Christ. Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. [] In Christ, we are cleansed from all unrighteousness, we are forgiven, we are new creations, and we have eternal life with Him.

Conclusion:
So some very specific information about the endtimes. Someone could make a lot of money writing a novel about this (oh yeah, they did). But here’s the kicker…THIS book isn’t fiction. This is fact that has been predetermined by God Almighty to take place. There really will be an Antichrist – there really will be an end-time deception – and there really will be judgment. That is an unavoidable truth no matter how badly people want to debate it or deny it.

Since it’s true, what do we do about it?
1. As Christian, be comforted. Don’t be shaken – there’s no reason to be. These things WILL take place, but we won’t be here when they do. We will be gathered together with our Lord & King worshiping Him in glory.
2. But at the same time, don’t be complacent. Because these things are true and will take place after the Spirit-born church is removed, it behooves us to be on our knees for the lost to be saved, and to put our faith into action. And because we don’t know when we will be removed, it underscores the importance of taking advantage of every day to share the gospel!
3. For non-Christians, don’t be blind. As sure as the sun rises every day, you can be assured that what the Bible says about this is true. But God doesn’t want you to endure that time. God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die in your place for His own glory. He wants you to be saved. But you must respond to Him & receive the love of the truth.