“The World Should Be Christian!”

Posted by David on October 25, 1998 under Bulletin Articles

“God is the living God! Jesus is Lord and Christ, the only Savior! Forgiveness is only produced by the blood of Christ! God wants people worldwide to be Christians!”

I accept those facts. I accept that conclusion. My entire life and collective efforts have been (are) devoted to encouraging people on this and other continents to consider Christianity.

Even so, I ask this question, “Why? Why should people worldwide be Christian?”

“Because Jehovah God is the true and living God!” He is indeed. Do we teach people God before teaching them Christ? Will knowing God persuade them?

“Because the living God declared that Jesus is Lord and Christ!” That certainly is true. Israelites (first century and before) knew the significance of the Messiah/Lordship concepts. That significance was rooted in Israel’s relationship with God. People of today’s world do not comprehend that significance. Many of us non-Jewish Christians have a poor-to-inadequate understanding of the significance. Will these strange concepts persuade people?

“Because only the blood of Christ provides forgiveness!” That is definitely correct. Do people worldwide correctly identify evil? correctly understand the concept of sin? understand atonement and redemption? or the bond between blood, atonement, and redemption?

“Because God’s grace, forgiveness, and new life in Christ progressively changes me. The change is obvious in the way I treat my family; the way I treat people; the way I accept responsibility; my different heart, attitudes and emotions; my real relationship with God and Jesus; and the way I deal with my flaws, faults, and failures. It is obvious that I am a different, better person because I am a Christian.” Everyone can relate to that! It moves people to ask, “What is this power that changes and sustains you?” Read 1 Peter 3:13-16 again.

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

People worldwide need to be Christians, not merely profess Christianity. God’s purpose is to transform people in Christ, not to control people. Perhaps one reason many people reject Christianity is that they see no transformation in people who are Christians.

Becoming the light of the world is not a process of professing. It is allowing the Light of the world to transform us into “the children of daylight” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

Spiritual Spin Doctors

Posted by David on October 18, 1998 under Sermons

Joyce says that it is more entertaining to watch me watch a tense television program than it is to watch the program. According to her, I “get into it.” With facial expression and body language, I react to everything that happens. For some reason, when I see her watching me, she is laughing.

I do my laughing when I listen to her watch a professional football game. Joyce loves to listen to sports commentators. She enjoys it so much she talks to them. She begins talking to the commentators before the first quarter is over. It terribly frustrates her to hear them discuss why the last play was an awful mistake and why they should run the play that they recommend. Invariably, as she talks to them, she asks, “Are you making as much money as the coach makes?”

We live in a society that has “spin doctors” to interpret everything that happens. We have professional “spin doctors” for politics, social problems, and crises.

What is a “spin doctor?”
1. A “spin doctor” interprets what has happened.
  1. He analyzes the matter for us.
  2. He tells us what we need to understand to be qualified to interpret what happened.
  3. He tells us what perspective we must have to examine what happened.
  4. Then he gives us the “proper” interpretation of what happened.
2. “Spin doctors” declare:
  1. It is never a matter of what happened; it is always a matter of how we look at what happened.
  2. It is never a matter of what actually occurred; it is always a matter of our perspective on what occurred.
  3. It is never a matter of the direct consequences produced; it is always a matter of understanding why it happened.
3. Why are these people called “spin doctors?”
  1. In our society, the majority of us interpret a happening by the manner the matter is presented to us.
  2. If we want to manipulate people’s interpretation of events, we alter their perspective by way we present the information to them.
  3. You must put the right “spin” on the facts to alter the public’s perception.
“Spin doctors” have played an important role in religions for millenniums.
1. Religions always have had their “spin doctors.”
  1. They influenced the interpretation of events by the way the events were presented to the people.
  2. They manipulated interpretations by altering perceptions.
  3. They put the right “spin” on matters to lead people to the interpretation and perception that they wanted.
2. It would be difficult to find a single world religion that did not use “spin doctors.”
  1. In every religion, there are people whose function is to tell us what to think.
  2. These people try to control our conclusions and form our convictions by manipulating our interpretation and perspective.
  3. In religion, the line that separates an educator and a “spin doctor” is a fine line.
    1. An educator informs you to teach you to think.
    2. A “spin doctor” informs you to control your thinking.
The Pharisees were one of the most successful, accomplished groups of “spin doctors” in the New Testament.
1. Though they were a relatively small group in Israel, they powerfully influenced the religious and political perspectives of Israel.
2. The Pharisees had a specific way in which they wanted everyone to interpret and obey the law.
  1. They had a specific perspective of God.
  2. They had a specific perspective of the law.
  3. They had a specific concept of obedience.
  4. They had a specific way to interpret and apply the law.
  5. Their way was the only way, the correct way, the way to be accepted.
3. To illustrate the role of the Pharisees as spiritual “spin doctors,” I call your attention to Matthew 23.
  1. Remember the events that happened before Jesus made the public statement in Matthew 23:
    1. Jesus and his disciples were in the wilderness across the Jordan River. The disciples did not want him to return to the Jerusalem area because they were afraid that the Jewish leaders would kill him (John 10:40; 11:8).
    2. But Jesus did return to the Jerusalem area and resurrected Lazarus from the dead (John 11:30-44), and his popularity exploded.
    3. His popularity was so great that the Jewish leaders, including influential Pharisees, decided that Jesus must die (John 11:47-50).
    4. A little later, the city of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus as a king (Matthew 21:1-11).
    5. This marked the beginning of Jesus’ last week of life.
  2. The public statement found in Matthew 23 was given that week.
4. Jesus’ denunciation of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 is unique.
  1. Most of the encounters Jesus had with the Pharisees prior to that week were initiated by the Pharisees, not by Jesus.
  2. In my study of those encounters, I conclude that the Pharisees either attacked or tried to discredit Jesus, and Jesus consistently tried to teach the Pharisees.
    1. He consistently used the source of authority they accepted.
    2. He consistently challenged them to evaluate their conclusions by scripture.
    3. He consistently tried to redirect their thinking and understanding.
  3. In Matthew 23 Jesus knew these were his last days.
    1. In his ministry, he had no success in teaching the Pharisees.
    2. Now, he publicly denounces them for their deeds and teachings.
All of Matthew 23 illustrates how the Pharisees functioned as “spiritual spin doctors.”
1. A “spin doctor” is concern about manipulating thinking, not about being an example.
  1. Jesus said that the Pharisees had an accurate knowledge of scripture, but (Matthew 23:10-11):
    1. They did not practice what they taught.
    2. They placed heavy spiritual responsibilities on others, but placed no responsibility on themselves.
    3. They performed religious acts to get personal attention.
    4. Their religious motivations were praise and honor.
  2. They saw themselves as the official interpreters of scripture.
2. Let’ consider three examples Jesus used in Matthew 23.
  1. First, consider verses 16-22: they sanctioned deliberate deceit.
    1. In a world without printing and copy machines, written contracts and guarantees were not the common way of doing business.
      1. Instead, the terms of the agreement were set, and you took an oath.
      2. You bound yourself to the agreement by swearing by something greater than yourself.
    2. The Pharisees said if the oath was not proper, you were not responsible to keep the agreement.
      1. If you made an agreement and swore by the temple, the agreement was not binding.
      2. If you made an agreement and swore by the gold of the temple, the agreement was binding.
    3. The Pharisees put their “spin” on the agreements and oaths that bind.
      1. According to their “spin,” you could deceive if you did it the right way.
      2. You could make an agreement that you had no intention of keeping if you swore the wrong oath.
  2. Second, consider verse 23: they made the least important the most important.
    1. They said honoring God by giving God ten per cent of everything you received was a priority spiritual responsibility.
    2. Since God was the source of every blessing, you acknowledge God is the source of all blessings and thank Him by giving ten per cent of everything.
    3. It even was important to tithe ten per cent of your garden herbs.
    4. Jesus said they stressed the importance of the minor while they ignored the importance of the major.
    5. It is good to do the minor, but it is failure to ignore the major.
    6. God’s spiritual priorities are justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
      1. Protect the widow, the orphan, and the poor from injustice.
      2. Extend the person who does evil mercy.
      3. In all relationships with God and people, honor your word and keep your promises.
    7. According to the “spin” of the Pharisees, spiritual priorities focused on things, not on people.
  3. Third, consider verses 27-33: they said outward appearance was more important than inward reality.
    1. According to their “spin,” what you do and how you behave was important; what you are inside was not important.
    2. They were like bowls that had been washed only on the outside, like tombs that had been painted on the outside.
    3. Outside they had the appearance of righteousness; inside they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
    4. But, according to their “spin,” having a righteous appearance is righteousness.
When we put a spiritual “spin” on some things, we commonly do not realize what we are doing.
1. A few years ago I developed a valuable friendship with a man who preached for a large Baptist church.
  1. Our friendship was so genuine that he felt he could ask me questions that he had never asked.
  2. He asked, “Why do people in the Church of Christ believe that they save themselves?”
2. I was shocked that he had that impression of us.
  1. I explained we did not believe that we saved ourselves and shared my understanding of the role of God and Christ in our salvation.
  2. Then I asked him what created that impression?
  3. He said that everything that he heard us say or write about baptism stressed the importance of the human act but said nothing about God’s actions.
    1. He concluded that we did not believe that God acted in our salvation.
    2. He concluded that we believed that salvation was the result of our actions, not God’s actions.
3. He heard us putting a “spin” on baptism; wonder if others hear the same thing?

No person saves himself or herself. God does not owe salvation to anyone. We are saved because the God of mercy and forgiveness destroys our sins in the atoning blood of Christ and gives us new life in Christ.

Without faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, there is no salvation. Without repentance of sins, there is no salvation. Faith in the resurrected Jesus, repentance of sin, and baptism into Christ provides us salvation for only one reason: the God of mercy keeps His promises.

Never put your faith and confidence in yourself. Trust in what God has done in Christ. It is the Cross, it is God’s grace, it is the forgiveness of God — it is not you. You will never do anything that will put God in debt to you.

Believe with all your being that Jesus is the Son of God. Understand the evil in your life. Turn yourself away from it. Be baptized that He may take your sins away in the blood of Christ.

Baptism must be a faith response to God’s promises, not an attempt to bargain with God.

The Bottom Line

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

“The bottom line” in accounting is “the” number that reveals if a business made a profit or suffered a loss. Before the “bottom line,” sales, contracts, mergers, and cash “inflow” optimistically declare, “The business is in great shape!” Before “the bottom line,” operating costs, overhead expenses, marketing costs, taxes, and cash “outflow” pessimistically declare, “The business is a disaster!” After factoring each plus and minus, “the bottom line” reveals the actual situation. “The bottom line” commonly is the critical, essential truth.

Because of the critical significance of “the bottom line,” that term is used to inquire into every life situation. “Give me the ‘bottom line,'” or, “What is ‘the bottom line’ in this situation (discussion, problem, need, relationship, decision, etc.)?”

To be victorious over temptation, what is “the bottom line?” To make godly decisions, what is the “bottom line”? To recognize evil, what is “the bottom line”? To escape Satan’s deceptive enticements, what is “the bottom line”?

When (not if) your child is offered an illegal substance; or is encouraged to shop lift; or is the object of sexual seduction, pressure, or enticement; or has the opportunity to cheat; or can steal “safely;” or faces powerful peer pressures to do evil, “bottom line,” what will determine his or her decision?

When a Christian adult is tempted to deceive; or to steal; or to be dishonest with spouse or significant friend; or to have an affair; or to be a sexually active unmarried; or to use recreational drugs; or to use evil for pleasure or escape; or to reject godly values; “bottom line,” what determines his or her decision?

The “bottom line” for surviving temptation, rejecting ungodly desires, and embracing godly values is the same for teens or adults. The “bottom line” is personal relationship with God. “Bottom line,” relationship with God is built. “Bottom line,” relationship with God is built on the foundation of godly knowledge and understanding.

Your education about God, Christ, and the Bible is critical to your spiritual “bottom line.” A primary factor in your spiritual education should be our education program. Members, get involved in a class. Teachers, remember the teachers’ meeting this Sunday afternoon. Improve the “bottom line” in your life, your spouse’s life, and your children’s lives.

Saving Children Before They Are Lost

Posted by David on October 11, 1998 under Sermons

This evening I want to consider something difficult to think about or to discuss. These things are difficult to think about for two reasons. First, thinking about them asks us to examine ourselves to see if we are being true in our basic concepts and understandings. Second, thinking about them focuses us on some of the most important people in our lives, our children.

It is difficult to discuss these things because they touch our deepest emotions. In powerful emotions, the heart overrules the mind.

As parents and grandparents, one of our fears is our fear for our children. We fear everything that threatens our children. To Christian parents and grandparents, our greatest fear for our children is the fear that they will reject God.

This fear combined with a fuzzy focus has produced an explosion in the church in the last decade. More and more children seek to be saved before they are lost.

This is a complicated, complex matter to discuss. I am not asking you to agree with me. I do not ask you to accept my conclusions. I ask you to think. I ask you to become aware of a serious spiritual problem developing in the church.

First, I want to focus you.
1. There are concepts that I personally reject because I do not conclude that these concepts represent the total teachings of the Bible.
  1. I do not accept the concept that children need forgiveness at birth.
  2. I do not accept the concept that we are evil from birth.
2. There are also concepts that I accept for biblical reasons.
  1. I accept the concept that a child is born in a guilt free state of innocence.
  2. I accept the concept that a childlike attitude and heart should be the goal of every person in God’s kingdom.
3. But those concepts are not our focus tonight.
Let’s try to think from a common perspective.
1. If a child has no guilt, if a child lives in a state of innocence and condition of safety, if a child does not need to repent, does that child need to be baptized?
  1. If I asked you as Christians if a person who genuinely had no sin needed to be baptized, your answer would be quick and automatic.
    1. You would say, “No,” without hesitation.
    2. Why? Because the combination of faith, repentance, and baptism results in God forgiving us of sin.
    3. If there is no sin, the person does not need repentance or forgiveness.
    4. You say, “But, that is a hypothetical situation–there is no such person.”
  2. In the past, we affirmed that there are such people.
    1. In the past we declared the person whose mental or emotional capacity prevented him or her from distinguishing between good and evil did not need forgiveness.
    2. Because that condition produced childlike innocence, the person did not need baptism.
      1. This person was not accountable.
      2. This person had no guilt.
      3. This person had no reason to repent and was incapable of repenting.
      4. This person was without sin.
      5. Therefore this person did not need baptism.
    3. For that reason we used this phrase: the age of accountability.
      1. What was “the age of accountability?”
      2. It was the age when a person acquired and felt guilt because:
        
        This person by conscious choice rebelled against God.
        This person felt guilt for his or her specific evil decisions and actions.
        This person knew that he or she needed to redirect life.
        Because the person consciously made evil decisions, he or she needed to repent and be baptized.
      3. Therefore, the age of accountability occurs when a person understands what evil is, chooses to do evil, chooses to rebel against God, and acquires the knowledge and feeling of guilt as a result.
        
        Before that point, the person was not accountable and did not need repentance and baptism.
        At and after that point, the person was accountable and needed repentance and baptism.
    4. In what year of life does the age of accountability occur? 15? 12? 8? 6?
      1. Spiritual accountability is not produced by chronological age.
      2. Spiritual accountability is produced by the combination of awareness, decision, and actions that create guilt.
      3. Accountability is not a matter of chronological age; it is a matter guilt.
2. We need to add to an understanding of accountability an understanding of some specific biblical information.
  1. The gospels and the book of Acts contain no record of a child being baptized.
    1. All specific accounts of baptism are adult baptisms; adults who believed or repented and choose to be baptized.
    2. Some baptism accounts mention the response of the “household,” but inferring “household” includes young children is a debatable assumption and certainly not clearly established.
    3. The lessons were given to adults, the situations were adult situations, the teachings were on an adult level, and the responses were adult responses.
      1. The responses came from men and women who understood the significance of Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection from an adult perspectives.
      2. They consciously turned from ungodly lives or actions to accept the Christ and his forgiveness.
  2. An understanding of baptism was commonly preceded by a call to repentance; baptism was to begin a changed life.
    1. Both John and the disciples of Jesus baptized people who responded to the message of repentance.
      1. Matthew 3:1,2,5,6 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      2. Immediately following the wilderness temptations, Matthew 4:17 states, From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      3. John 3:22,23 states of Jesus’ early ministry, After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized– (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      4. John 4:1-3 further states, Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), he left Judea and departed again into Galilee. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
    2. This seems evident to me:
      1. Repentance was fundamental to John and Jesus’ message.
      2. People responded to their message by confessing their sins.
      3. In response to the call to repent, they were baptized.
    3. Mark 1:4 clearly states, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
  3. Consider the context and the specific message of the verse that we commonly use regarding baptism: Acts 2:38.
    1. Acts 2 is the first time people were baptized to respond to Jesus as the God declared Lord and Christ.
    2. To this Jewish audience, Peter proved that Jesus’ death and resurrection were promised in Jewish scripture.
    3. Those who understood Peter immediately realized their situation and their guilt for Jesus’ death.
    4. Their fear of God’s wrath motivated them to ask, “What are we going to do?” By the Mosaic law, they would have been killed.
    5. Peter’s instructions (verse 38): “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
    6. These Jews who understood that Jesus was Lord and Christ, and not a criminal pretender, must repent.
      1. Baptism should occur only if they repented.
      2. Believing Jesus’ identity and position was not enough.
      3. Baptism would result in the forgiveness of sins only if baptism was based on belief in Jesus and the repentance of sin.
      4. They would receive the Holy Spirit only if they repented and were baptized.
  4. In only one situation do we set aside those conclusions without question: in the baptism of children.
    1. We reject the baptism of infants because they cannot choose, or have faith, or need to repent.
    2. If a child can make a simple choice, has a simple faith, but has nothing for which to repent, does he or she need baptism?
In the church, why are the number of children requesting baptism rising?
1. There certainly are readily identified, old reasons.
  1. They are afraid.
  2. They have seen other children baptized.
  3. Friends in other religious groups have been baptized.
  4. They come from a family where everyone has been baptized for generations.
  5. They have heard that God wants us to be baptized, and they want obey God.
2. I call your attention to some additional reasons that, in my judgment, are significant factors.
  1. Many Christian homes are either deeply troubled, very unstable, or broken.
    1. Many of our children are in insecure environments.
    2. Between troubled homes, separated homes, broken homes, one parent homes, homes in which there is abuse, and homes that are too busy to nurture and care, many of our children crave adult attention.
    3. One of the few things a child can do to secure immediate, positive adult attention is be baptized.
    4. One of the things that a child can do to seek security is to be baptized in insecure circumstances.
  2. Children are responding to an oversimplified concept of obedience.
    1. Our fear that someone might not understand the importance of obedience often makes our teaching on obedience biblically unbalanced.
    2. So children learn that if you love God, if you believe that Jesus died for you, you need to obey God.
    3. A five year old can understand that, and a five year old do that.
    4. “I love God. I believe that Jesus died for me. I understand a person must obey God. God wants people to be baptized, so I want to be baptized.”
    5. Someone says, “That sounds fine to me.”
      1. Does it?
      2. It has nothing to do with conversion; it has nothing to do with repentance; there is no concept of redirecting life; it reflects no understanding of evil; there is no mature concept of guilt.
      3. How can a person be saved if he or she is not lost?
  3. Parents are scared for their children.
    1. These are wicked times, and our children face wicked environments.
    2. In fear, we never want them to experience the sense of being lost.
    3. We do not want their conversion; we don’t want them to go from sinner to Christian; we want them to go from innocent to saved.

I talked with a young person who wanted to be baptized. We talked one on one maybe 20 minutes. His attention span was 5 minutes. He had no concept of evil. He had no sense of guilt. His most urgent question was, “Can I go play now?”

Communion was being served. I was visiting. A small girl was coloring in a color book. After the prayer, Mom told her to put her coloring book down. She took the bread, then picked up the coloring book, and resumed coloring.

When you read the book of Acts, would you call that conversion?

God and I Have an Agreement

Posted by David on under Sermons

Our lives are structured by and based on agreements. Agreements are basic to virtually everything that happens in our lives every day. Marriage begins with an agreement. Our jobs are based on an agreement. If we own property, we made an agreement. Utility services, driver’s licenses, credit cards, bank loans, social security, even the rights of citizenship are based on an agreement.

When we intentionally or neglectfully reject the commitment of our agreements, marriages divorce, jobs are lost, utility services are cut off, driver’s licenses are revoked, bank loans are recalled, social security benefits are canceled, and we can lose the rights of citizenship.

When honorable people make honorable agreements, life and relationships are blessed. When agreements are ignored, violated, or abused, life and relationships become increasingly miserable.

Few if any of us would make a serious commitment without an agreement.
1. Why?
  1. Commitment without agreement leads to pain and suffering.
  2. Commitment without agreement requires no mutual investment of self.
  3. In a commitment without an agreement, a person can walk out, walk away, and disappear without conscience.
  4. In a commitment without an agreement, a person has nothing to lose if he or she just walks off.
2. For an honest person of integrity, the act of making an agreement is the act of taking ownership of responsibility in commitment.
  1. It is the declaration, “I depend on you, and you can depend on me.”
  2. It is the declaration, “I trust you, and you can trust me.”
  3. In any successful relationship, that declaration has to be mutual.
God always commits to people who agree to commit to Him.
1. The basic nature of God’s agreement with us is distinctly different from an agreement that one human establishes with another human.
  1. In a human-human agreement, each human can provide benefits to the other human in the commitment. If I make an agreement with you:
    1. I can contribute to your personal well being.
    2. I can reward you.
    3. I can increase your comfort.
    4. I can increase your personal security.
    5. I can meet some of your needs.
    6. I can provide you blessings.
    7. I can do something that specifically makes your life or your existence better because we mutually enter an agreement.
  2. But when I enter an agreement with God, it is impossible for me to create a benefit for God.
    1. In no way does God need me or depend on me.
    2. I cannot improve God’s well being–if I never existed, it would not affect God’s well being.
    3. I cannot reward God; everything I am or have, even my life, is God’s gift.
    4. I cannot increase God’s comfort–God’s comfort does not depend on me.
    5. I cannot increase God’s security–I have no effect on God’s security.
    6. I cannot meet God’s needs–God has no needs for me to address.
    7. I cannot provide God a blessing–I am dependent on God for blessings.
    8. There is absolutely nothing that I can do to benefit God’s existence.
  3. Therefore, any agreement that a human makes with God is unique; it is distinctly different to any agreement a human makes with another human.
2. The agreement that God makes with a human is called a covenant.
  1. Covenant was the common form of agreement in the ages of the Old Testament and in the New Testament world.
  2. Everett Ferguson, in his book, The Church of Christ (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1996, pp. 2-18) provides some basic insights into covenant agreements.
  3. One proper definition of covenant is a relationship based on promises or a sworn oath.
    1. A covenant between two persons is known as a parity covenant.
      1. Since the relationship is established between two humans, it is established between equals–both are equally human.
      2. A covenant between a person or a people and God is never a parity relationship; it is not a relationship that exists between equals.
        
        In every consideration, God is the superior.
        As the inferior, a human never initiates a relationship with God.
        A human can accept relationship with God only because God extends the opportunity for relationship.
    2. In relationship with God, people never propose or impose the conditions of the relationship.
      1. Humans never tell God, “You can have a relationship with us if You agree to these conditions.”
      2. Humans accept or reject God’s offer of relationship, but God determines the conditions of relationship.
3. In the Old Testament, there were occasions when God made charter covenants with individuals.
  1. In a charter covenant, God binds Himself to an unconditional promise in a relationship with humans.
    1. When God promised Noah that He would never again destroy the world with a flood, that was a charter covenant (Genesis 9:8-17).
    2. When God promised Abraham that a blessing that would benefit all mankind would come through his descendants, that was a charter covenant (Genesis 12:1-3).
    3. When God promised David that one of his descendants would always sit on Israel’s throne, that was a charter covenant (2 Samuel 11:10-17).
  2. But God’s covenant with the nation of Israel was a conditional covenant.
    1. God stated plainly that Israel’s relationship with Him was conditional before He gave them the ten commandments (Exodus 19:3-6).
    2. God would enter a relationship with the nation of Israel that accepted them as:
      1. A people who belonged exclusively to Him.
      2. A kingdom of priests.
      3. A holy nation.
    3. If:
      1. They obeyed His voice.
      2. They kept His covenant, and maintained relationship with Him.
Essential question: how did Israel say yes to God? How did they accept the offer of relationship? How did they commit to a relationship with God?
1. God offered relationship; Israel had to accept relationship; it had to have a point of beginning.
  1. What did they do to accept God’s offer of relationship?
  2. How did Israelites, the direct descendants of Abraham, say to God, “Yes; we accept your offer of relationship; we enter and honor relationship with you on your terms and conditions?
  3. They said yes by circumcising every male child born into the family.
2. God Himself established this condition of relationship with Abraham in Genesis 17:9-14.
  1. God said to Abraham, “You and all your descendants in every generation shall keep my covenant.”
  2. “This is my covenant: every male will be circumcised.”
  3. “Eight days after birth, every male of every Israelite family and every male of your servants will be circumcised.”
  4. “This is my everlasting covenant with Israel.”
  5. “Any Israelite who is not circumcised will an outcast to the Israelite people because he has rejected the basic condition of relationship with God.”
3. Was circumcising every male in every Israelite family that important? Yes.
  1. Over five hundred years later, as God delivered hundreds of thousands of Israelites from Egyptian slavery, God told them that they were to observe the Passover every year as a perpetual memorial to God’s deliverance (Exodus 12).
    1. If a non-Israelite ate the Passover memorial, before he ate, every male in his household had to be circumcised (Exodus 12:48).
    2. If the an Israelite male had not been circumcised, he could not eat the Passover memorial (Exodus 12:48).
  2. Forty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, the children who left Egypt and the children who were born in the wilderness crossed the Jordan River into Canaan (Joshua 5:2-9).
    1. All but two of the adults who left Egypt died in the wilderness.
    2. In that forty years, no one was circumcised.
    3. The first thing that was done was the circumcision of every Israelite male on a single day.
    4. Immediately after that, God declared, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you” (Joshua 5:9).
4. Israelite circumcision was not a mindless religious ritual; circumcision said, “Yes,” to God in agreeing to accept the responsibilities of relationship with God.
  1. Circumcision did not just involve the body as an Israelite yielded to a mysterious requirement of God.
  2. Listen to these instructions to Israel in Deuteronomy 10:12-16:
    Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
  3. What does God require of you?
    1. To reverence Jehovah as your God.
    2. To walk in His ways.
    3. To love Him.
    4. To serve Him with all your being.
    5. To keep His commandments.
    6. To circumcise your heart and refuse to be a stubborn, rebellious, arrogant people.
“David, that is mildly interesting, but why should that interest me?”
1. Listen to Colossians 2:9-12, written by Paul to the Christians at Colossae.
  For in Him [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)

In specific ways, your baptism was a circumcision. Baptism is a spiritual, unisex form of circumcision.

Is it possible, that with all that we taught and emphasized about baptism, that we missed the basic point of baptism? Is it possible that we missed the point that no knowledgeable Israelite would have missed? Is it possible that we missed the point that was emphasized to non-Jewish converts?

What point? Your baptism said, “Yes,” to a relationship with God. In baptism, you accepted relationship to God and you made an agreement with God. Baptism was not just something your body did. It is also something your heart did.

Do you understand that you made an agreement with God when you were baptized? Do you know at baptism that you made an agreement to maintain relationship with God for the rest of your life?

[Song of reflection.]

We have a serious problem. We are a people who break agreements and throw away commitments. We abuse our marriages. We abuse our jobs. We abuse our credit. We abuse our driver’s license. We abuse our government. We abuse our rights.

And we don’t understand that we agreed to maintain relationship with God when we were baptized into Christ. Can a people who abuse human relationships learn how to maintain their relationship with God?

Know who Jesus is. Believe that God was working in Him. Accept the blood of Christ. Say “yes” to God. Be baptized into the One who died for you. Be willing to commit to an agreement with God.

Kicking Dirt Or Shouting Encouragement?

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

A person hiking in a wilderness area fell into a deep hole. The fall was his fault– a combination of carelessness, poor judgment, and foolish behavior. Though the hole was twelve feet deep, the fall produced no serious injuries.

After his head cleared from the daze of the fall, he was determined to climb out. He used every climbing technique. Yet, his best effort lifted him only eight feet.

His struggle produced thirst, then weariness, then exhaustion. Physically spent and canteen empty, he stopped trying to climb. In panic, he shouted until he lost his voice. Convinced that he would never be found, he lost all hope.

The next day a hiker found him. “How” he fell was obvious. “How” he fell revealed “why” he fell. “How” and “why” made evident his carelessness.

The man was much too weak to help himself. Going for help was out of the question. Left alone, the man would soon die. Really, the choice was simple. Should the hiker kick enough dirt in the hole to bury the man? Or, should he shout encouragement until he prepared for a risky, strenuous rescue effort?

From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was (is) the hiker who discovered us in our pitiful condition. Humanity is “the man in the hole.” Our condition, individually and collectively, is pathetic.

From the first, he shouted encouragement. He could have “kicked dirt” on the pathetic lepers, the ungodly prostitutes, the dishonest tax gathers. and the self-centered multitudes that craved miracles and food. Instead, he shouted the encouragement called hope.

He did not even “kick dirt” on the Pharisees. If you carefully study his exchanges with them, you will see that they attacked and he taught. Only late in his ministry, after many attempts to teach them, did he expose them in accountability’s harsh light.

When Jesus finds you in your “hole,” what do you want? A kick of dirt, or, a shout of encouragement? When you discover someone in his or her “hole,” what do you give them? A kick of dirt or a shout of encouragement?

“God, Get Me Out of This Mess!”

Posted by David on October 4, 1998 under Sermons

“Listen! Did you hear that? What was that?” Have you ever said those words at night when you heard a strange sound that you could not identify? Isn’t it amazing how sensitive our ears are to strange and unfamiliar sounds?

When our family lived in West Africa we had a night watchman whose name was Maurice. Maurice sat on our large, concrete front porch almost every night with his tiny kerosene lantern burning. Maurice was almost bind. He saw poorly in daylight, and almost nothing at night.

At times I would bedevil Maurice at night. We would drive up after dark. Maurice would be sitting on the porch in the dark. I would open the car door and say in a high, falsetto voice, “Good evening, Maurice.” With genuine seriousness he would always respond, “Good evening, madam.”

When we moved to West Africa, our daughter, Anita, was two years old. She had to make a lot of adjustments to the house and the environment. The first several months we were there, it was not unusual for her to cry out at night. Joyce was quick to hear her and quick to respond.

I don’t hear well. (I know, American men generally don’t hear well after they go to sleep.) Life on the mission field was a physically demanding life. That combination of those two factors meant I slept soundly. In their society, the men were light sleepers and the women slept soundly. The mornings after Anita cried out at night, Maurice would say to Joyce with just a touch of disgust, “Madam sleeps like a man. Master sleeps like a woman.”

God has sensitive ears. His ears are tuned to our plights and our cries.

Life was tough!
1. They had been invited to move into the country, to come as privileged guests who could settle in the choice land.
  1. For at least a generation, if not much longer, they had status and privileges.
  2. Then, suddenly, their whole world changed.
2. A new ruler came into power, and the new ruler distrusted them.
  1. Overnight, by decree, the privileged guests became slaves (Exodus 1:11).
    1. They had been shepherds and herdsmen.
    2. Now they were forced to provide the brute strength for major building projects (Exodus 1:14).
  2. But the ruler still feared them.
    1. Even as slaves, their population was growing much too fast.
    2. So the ruler issued an edict to the midwives: “Kill every male child the moment he is born” (Exodus 1:15-19).
    3. But the midwives reverenced God and refused to kill the children.
    4. So the ruler issued another decree: “Parents, throw every newborn male into the Nile River” (Exodus 1:22).
  3. Can you imagine the suffering, the agony, and the fear of these people?
3. God saw and heard what was happening.
  Exodus 3:7-9
  The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
  1. I have seen their affliction.
  2. I am aware of their sufferings.
  3. I have come to deliver them.
  4. Their cries are before me.
I want to ask you a question: did the fact that God saw their affliction, knew their sufferings, heard their cries, and came to deliver them mean that all they needed to do was sit back, relax, enjoy life, and let God solve their problems?
1. Moses came to enslaved Israel with a message from God: God will end your slavery, take you out of Egypt, and give you your own country.
  1. Israel’s first reaction: “Thank you, God! Do it!”
  2. Moses presented this request to the king, and conditions got much worse, much more miserable.
  3. Israel’s second reaction: “Moses, I hope that you can live with yourself after what you have done to us!”
  4. Then came the ten disasters that God brought on Egypt, and the last disaster secured Israel’s release from slavery.
  5. Israel left at night with Egypt’s encouragement and blessing.
  6. Then Israel was trapped between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, and they declared that Moses brought them out there to die.
  7. God created a way to escape across the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian army when it tried to follow.
  8. And Israel rejoiced in their freedom and praised God.
  9. Then Israel began crossing the dessert wilderness.
  10. And they complained about water and about food over and over.
2. My questions are these:
  1. Would God, who destroyed their slavery, let them die in the wilderness? No.
  2. Would God, who delivered them from Egypt, deliver them from all their enemies? Yes.
  3. Would God actually lead them to the country He promised them? Yes.
  4. Would God actually allow them to possess that country? Yes.
  5. If they placed their confidence in God, would all that happen? Yes.
3. My important question: Did that mean that all they needed to do was relax, enjoy life, and let God take care of the situation?
  1. Absolutely not!
  2. They had to leave Egypt at night–on foot! Would we try that?
  3. They had to walk across the river bed of the Red Sea in a wind blowing so hard that it backed the water up and dried the river bed. Would we do that?
  4. They had to walk across the low humidity, dry desert wilderness. Would we do that–and do it without complaining?
  5. They had to fight for the land–under God’s specific direction and guidance. Would we regard that as God taking care of it?
  6. God did not do these things for them; but God made it possible; and God made the outcome certain; in fact, without God it would not and could not happen.
“Those Israelites in Egypt and the wilderness were ridiculous beyond belief!”
1. “They saw the plagues, they crossed the Red Sea, God gave them food and water in the dessert, and they still doubted, still had no faith–unbelievable!”
  1. “Over and over God provided their needs when they could not.”
  2. “No matter what the situation was, God was always greater than the need or the problem.”
  3. “Yet, every time things were tough, they stopped trusting God. Incredible!”
2. We are just like them.
  1. “David, we are not! We have never been just like them!”
    1. “God never did the things for us He did for them.”
    2. “The ten disasters in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the water and food in the wilderness–we haven’t had those experiences.”
  2. God did something greater for us than He ever did for them.
    1. He gave us Jesus.
    2. He gave us the cross.
    3. He gave us the resurrection.
    4. He gave us a level of mercy, grace, and forgiveness that they never had.
  3. When things go just the way we plan, just the way we expect, just the way we want, just the way that makes sense to us, just the way that fits our outlook and our perspective and our understanding, we declare, “God is at work! God is powerful! God can make it happen! It will happen because of God! Thank you, God! We trust You!”
  4. But when things do not work out the way we plan; or expect; or want; or that makes sense to us; or that fits our outlook, or our perspective, or our understanding; we quickly ask, “Where is God?”
    1. And we declare, “It is not going to happen! God can’t do anything about this. This situation, this problem, this trouble is bigger than God.”
    2. And we say, “If God is powerful as He says He is, this never would have happened in the first place.”
    3. And we doubt, and we even want the worst to happen, and we ridicule those who dare trust God.
3. Let’s think about Israel for a second.
  1. Was God at work when the Egyptian king said, “No,” to Moses? Certainly.
  2. Was God at work when the Egyptian army pursued the Israelites? Certainly.
  3. Was God at work when the dessert was hot, and dry, and there was little food or water? Certainly.
  4. Did God have lessons to teach:
    1. The king? He said He did.
    2. The Egyptians? Absolutely.
    3. The Israelites? Oh, yes.
  5. Isn’t it easy to see that looking back? Do you think it was so easy to see if the Egyptian army was chasing you or you were walking in the hot wilderness?
4. “Yes, but they saw the things God did!” Do you keep a list of your prayers that God has answered?
We have transformed Christianity into a spiritual insurance policy with options.
1. The options are almost endless.
  1. The basic policy is hell insurance, and you need to be baptized and occasionally attend a worship assembly just to have basic coverage.
  2. But to add the option of tragedy insurance, the cost increases–that takes more worship attendance and getting involved.
  3. The crisis insurance option cost still more: you have to add prayer and study.
  4. And the “protection for life” option is the most expensive.
    1. This is a family policy that covers husband, wife, and the kids.
    2. The cost for that coverage is serious godliness.
2. But it is just religion, just a spiritual insurance policy.
  1. You just have to decide how much religion you want.
  2. Determine the cost, and buy for what you think that you can afford.
  3. If you cannot afford more than the basic policy, then you take your chances.
Christianity is not an insurance policy! Christianity is an existence that uses this life as opportunity to prepare for life with God.
1. That is why repentance is a crucial part of becoming and being a Christian.
2. In becoming a Christian, repentance is the conscious choice to redirect life away from sin and toward God.
3. In being a Christian, repentance is the unending process of making mid-course corrections as we learn more and more about being God’s people.

At no time in history has God solved problems without effort from the people involved. Life is a mess.
Faith is built by our choosing to allow God to guide us through the messy problems of life. God has the map. Jesus Christ is the way. Let Him teach you how to live and how to be His person.
How much do you trust God? Do you trust He has the answers when the mess won’t go away? Let God clean you up and show you the path to follow. Trust, repentance, and baptism will clean you up.

A Higher Priority

Posted by Earl on October 1, 1998 under Articles

If asked what our national priorities should be, many answers would come forth even from Christians. Some would say the top priority is to impeach the President for his misconduct and alleged lying before the Grand Jury. Others might say that we should give full attention and priority to correcting the economic crisis that is spreading throughout the world.

On a congregational level, we might say our priority should be to get the Family Life Center completed as soon as possible. Others might say we need to get more people involved in ministry. Others might see a priority for doing more mission work, expanding our benevolent programs, etc. All of these things are needed and good within themselves. However, there are higher priorities than any of the above, whether they involve national morality or local congregational needs and issues.

In Colossians 3, Paul sets forth priorities for the Christian that will not only enhance the quality of life on earth, but, above all, will give us a proper perspective for eternity with God. May we all be encouraged to make these our highest priorities: (1) set your heart and mind on things above and not on earthly things; (2) put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed; (3) get rid of any anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language that might still be a part of you; (4) make sure you do not lie to each other.

Once we have set our heart and mind on things above and have put off those things which belonged to our earthly nature, then we can make it our priority to: (1) clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; (2) bear with and forgive each other whatever grievances we may have against one another; Forgive as the Lord forgave us! (3) finally, we can put on the greatest of all these virtues — LOVE — which will bind them all together in perfect unity.

As a Christian, I should be concerned with the problems and ills of society. I should be concerned with the growth and work of the local congregation. But my top priority is to clothe myself with Christ, to put on the new man, and then I can be salt and light to a lost world as Jesus commanded. May God help us all to have our priorities in the right place!

The Disappointment of Failed Expectations

Posted by David on September 27, 1998 under Bulletin Articles

As a society, we are a people of exaggerated expectations. We frequently expect the unlikely from our nation, community, marriages, families, careers, and life situations. In all spheres of existence, our expectations prime us for disappointment.

Interactive factors generate high expectations. One example: advertisements and promotions entice us to anticipate the unrealistic. “Buy this car! It will grant you status…alter your relationships… change your image…give you access to a desirable peer group…change your lifestyle…and boost your career.” A car? Really?

And how does a person feel when basically that car gets him or her from point A to point B at so many miles per gallon like any other car? Talk about failed expectations! When our car is a primary measurement of our life, what commentary does that make on the basic nature of our expectations?

Often failed expectations disillusion Christians. Our most common reason for being disappointed with God is failed expectations. We assume that if God does not produce the results we expect through the plans that we make, that God has failed us. God has not “been at work” as “He assured us that He would.”

God never stops working. Never is there a moment when God is not at work. Never do we humans create conditions that make it impossible for God to work. Christian disappointment never measures God’s productivity or success.

Never is there one way to accomplish God’s objectives, or one avenue to pursue God’s purposes, or one means to fulfill God’s will. God worked in Egyptian slavery, the Sinai wilderness, the idolatry of Israel, the legalism of the Pharisees, the denials of Peter, the persecutions of Saul, and the cross of Jesus.

Regardless of how evil the world becomes, God works. In spite of our misguided goals, God works. Through the worst and best intentions of weak humans, God works.

His work produces its best results when fellowship is genuine; love is unpretended; commitment is whole-hearted; and our faith is 100% in Christ and 0% in us.

Moses Has Something To Say To Us

Posted by David on September 20, 1998 under Sermons

Generally, most Christians give little or no thought to Moses. Who Moses was or what Moses said has no significant place in our thinking. If Christians want to consider “important spiritual matters,” rarely will those matters include Moses. We identify Moses as “the voice of the old covenant.” We are very quick to inform people that we are under the new covenant. We shift the spotlight dramatically and exclusively to Jesus Christ as we focus their attention on the new covenant.

Moses was not the Son of God. Moses did not reveal eternal atonement for the sins of all people. Moses did not inform Israel or anyone else about God’s eternal redemption.

Because that is true does not mean that Moses is insignificant to Christians or unimportant to Christianity. It certainly does not mean that Christians should pay no attention to the man and the message that God gave him.

Moses can teach us invaluable lessons about loving God and being devoted to the will of God. Moses will teach us these lessons if we will only listen. Just as Moses taught Israel essential lessons about being the people of God, Moses has essential lessons to teach us about being the people of God.

Our impressions of Moses are heavily influenced by the negative occasions that occurred in his life.
1. We are likely to be familiar with these facts.
  1. Moses fled into the wilderness to run away from life and hide when he was forty years old (Exodus 2:11-25).
  2. Moses did every thing possible to say, “No,” to God when God instructed him to return to Egypt (Exodus 3, 4).
  3. Moses struck a rock to provide water for Israel while in the wilderness, and God had instructed him to speak to the rock (Numbers 20).
2. The last forty years of Moses’ life were devoted exclusively and entirely to leading Israel out of the slavery of Egypt to the promised land of Canaan.
  1. These were by far the most difficult, demanding, frustrating, exhausting years of Moses’ life.
    1. His first forty years were lived as a part of the royal family–a time of privilege and easy living.
    2. His second forty years were lived as a shepherd who tended a flock in the isolation of the wilderness–a very simple, uncomplicated existence.
    3. His last forty years were an adventure in frustration and exasperation.
  2. Few of us have ever considered the depth of Moses’ frustrations as he led Israel.
3. I want you to consider how exasperating being Israel’s leader was from beginning to end.
  1. Moses returned to Egypt convinced that God had given him a simple task.
    1. God had given him the power to perform some miracles to impress and convince both Israel and the king (Exodus 4:1-9).
    2. He would get an audience with the king.
    3. He would make his request and perform his miracles if necessary.
    4. The king would release Israel.
    5. They would leave.
  2. He successfully convinced the people of Israel that was what would happen (Exodus 4:31).
  3. That was Moses’ expectation, but that is not what happened (Exodus 5).
    1. The king rejected his request.
    2. The king immediately made the Israelite slaves’ work next to impossible.
    3. When their work became an impossible burden, the leaders said to Moses, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 5:21).
    4. And Moses said to God, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 5:22,23).
    5. And God said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 6:1).
4. That was just the beginning of forty, long, frustrating years.
  1. When Israel was trapped between the King’s army and the Red Sea, Israel said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 14:11,12).
  2. As Israel began their journey in the wilderness, they grumbled at Moses saying, “What shall we drink?” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 15:24).
  3. When Israel was hungry, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying, “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 16:3).
  4. While Moses is up on Mount Sinai receiving instructions from God, Israel convinced Aaron to build a golden idol, and they said of the idol, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 32:8).
  5. Moses’ own brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, challenged his leadership saying, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Numbers 12:2).
  6. Moses led this people to Canaan, sent out spies to prepare for an invasion, but when the spies returned, ten of them said, “The people of the land are too powerful for us to conquer.”
    1. Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Numbers 14:2-4).
  7. Korah led a rebellion again Moses and Aaron saying, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Numbers 16:3).
  8. Dathan and Abiram joined the rebellion and said to Moses, “Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Numbers 16:13,14).
5. Nothing more clearly reveals the depth of Moses’ frustration as does Numbers 11:10-15.
  1. People began to ask, “Who is going to give us some meat to eat?”
  2. They began thinking about the vegetables and fish they ate in Egypt.
  3. They were sick of eating manna day after day after day.
  4. So everybody began crying in their tents–a whole nation of depressed people crying!
  5. And Moses reached “the end of his rope.”
  6. Listen to Moses’ frustration as he talks to God: “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Numbers 11:11-15).
    1. Note that he did not ask for God to kill Israel; he asked God to kill him.
    2. God did not rebuke him or get angry with him, but provided him some help.
Let me give you some insight into the spiritual measure of this man.
1. When his own brother and sister challenged his leadership, they angered God.
  1. It states of Moses that no man on earth was as humble as he was.
  2. When God punished Miriam with leprosy, Moses prayed that she be healed.
2. That is characteristic of Moses.
  1. When Israel built the golden calf as an idol, God wanted to destroy the people and begin again with Moses.
  2. It did not happen; it did not happen because Moses interceded for the people.
  3. When the people refused to trust God enough to enter the land of Canaan, God wanted to destroy the people and begin again with Moses.
  4. It did not happen; it did not happen because Moses interceded for the people.
3. I want you to note a powerful, marvelous evidence of the depth of Moses’ personal devotion to God.
  1. When God wanted to destroy faithless Israel, God did not care what unbelieving, wicked people thought or said about Him, but Moses cared what unbelieving, wicked people said about God.
  2. Listen to Moses reason for interceding for Israel and note that it had nothing to do with Israel or Moses; it had everything to do with God.
    1. At the incident of the golden calf: “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ “ (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Exodus 32:12,13).
    2. At the incident when Israel refused to enter Canaan: “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people, for You, O Lord, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ‘because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.‘ Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.) (Numbers 14:13-19).

If we had the devotion, the commitment, and the concern for God that Moses had, what God could do with us and through us! And we have something Moses never had. We have Jesus Christ.

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