As we will read in a day or two in Luke 21:33 Jesus teaches us that, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away." HIS Word will continue on into eternity, it is the Word of the living God. We know from Heb 4:12 that, "the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart. Paul teaches us in 2 Tim 3:16 that, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness." It is amazing to me that we KNOW this and so much more about God's Word, we have God's repeated warnings throughout scripture to obey and then repeatedly we see the consequences of those who do not obey and then I struggle with the same sin over and over. Those prideful thoughts just slip in unnoticed, I entertain them for a few moments, minutes and then it hits me and I am wondering where did that come from...I know were it came from...my own heart!
Joshua 23:6-8 “Be very strong, and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left 7 and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not worship them or bow down to them. 8 Instead, remain faithful to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.
I believe that 1 John 2:16 gives us three categories that ALL idolatry falls into...I could be wrong on that but I believe that will stand up to scrutiny. John teaches us that, "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. How did Satan deceive Eve? It is a little ironic, he actually told her the truth! Have you ever noticed? The temptation was to DISOBEY GOD.
Mark, what do you mean that he told the truth? Check it out...the first words out of his mouth are, "Did God really say." He is trying to get Eve to question what God really said. Eve responds, "But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die. ’ ” 4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan is telling Eve the truth, you will not die physically, at least immediately, and God knows when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like HIM, knowing good and evil. That is the truth...the problem is Satan deceived them into disobeying God. SATAN IS NOT SO CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT YOU BELIEVE, ONCE YOU BELIEVE AS LONG AS he CAN GET YOU TO WALK IN DISOBEDIENCE TO YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER. HEARE THIS YOU AND I WERE NOT CREATED TO KNOW EVIL, WE WERE CREATED TO KNOW GOD!
ALL RIGHT CHECK THIS OUT --Then the woman [THE LUST OF THE FLESH] saw that the tree was good for food and [THE LUST OF THE EYES] delightful to look at, and that it was [PRIDE OF LIFE] desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate ⌊it⌋; she also gave ⌊some⌋ to her husband, ⌊who was⌋ with her, and he ate ⌊it⌋. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
ALL OF THAT TO SAY THAT I BELIEVE OUR ENEMY USES THE SAME THREE STRATEGIES TO GET US TO DISOBEY OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
Joshua 23:10 One of you routed a thousand, because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as He promised.
Joshua 23:13-16 know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you. They will become a snare and a trap for you, a scourge for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God has given you.
14 “I am now going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and all your soul that none of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed. 15 Since every good thing the Lord your God promised you has come about, so He will bring on you every bad thing until He has annihilated you from this good land the Lord your God has given you. 16 If you break the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and worship other gods, and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land He has given you.”
You really don't have to wonder what God thinks about an issue...if we will receive it HIS Word covers every area of life...God's Word is relevant to any and every situation, person, culture...on and on and on...HIS Word is sufficient and it is relevant to our lives.
In 1 Corinthians 9:27 Paul shares some amazing and stunning words...He tells us that "I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." I wonder how many preachers have woken up in hell? We saw in Luke 16 that the rich man died and was in torment in hell. In Matt 7:21 and following we learn that "not everyone that says unto me Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven." Who is the one who enters? It is the one who does the Fathers will! What does that mean? IT IS THE ONE WHO OBEYS THE WORD OF GOD.
What does Doctor Luke (20:34-39) have to say to us today? Jesus told them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to take part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection. 37 Moses even indicated ⌊in the passage⌋ about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to Him.” 39 Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well.”
I am deeply concerned that millions are horribly deceived and like the rich man will wake up in hell in torment. They walked the isle and they were baptized as a child, they may attend church and they may bring their children to church, but they have no heart and passion for the things of God or for God. Remember if you are lukewarm you are like vomit in HIS mouth...yuck!
Some will go to hell being legalist, having kept all the rules, but they have no heart and love for God...they are Pharisees! Some will go to hell from licentiousness...being deceived that God's grace allows them the freedom to sin that grace may abound.
If the Apostle Paul had to discipline his body so that he would not be disqualified after preaching the gospel what should you and I do? Should we take our salvation for granted? I don't think so! Paul commands the Corinthians to test themselves in 2 Cor 13:5, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?"
Don't be deceived...God will not be mocked...you will reap what you sow! BUT UNLESS YOU REPENT YOU WILL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH!
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith
Father in heaven,
Grant us according to YOUR Holy Spirit eyes to see and ears to hear...enable us to turn to the Lord Jesus and have our sight restored to see YOU. Fill us Father with YOUR Holy Spirit, enable us to walk in a manner that is pleasing to YOU, enable us by YOUR Spirit to walk in joy filled obedience to YOUR precious Word.
love,
m