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Psalms 81:8-16 "Listen
to Me, O My people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would
only listen to Me! You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down
before a false god. For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the
land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
"But no, My people wouldn't listen. Israel did not want Me around. So I
let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own
ideas. Oh, that My people would listen to Me! Oh, that Israel would follow Me,
walking in My paths! How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon My
hands would be upon their foes! Those who hate the LORD would cringe before
Him; they would be doomed forever. But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock." Father God, I ask that you bless all
that read you Holy Word and that you will fill their heart with your truth and
revelation your Sons resurrection. Reveal your Glory that hearts will be
softened at your Words and repentance takes place. We give you all the glory
and praise. Amen!
Romans
13:8-14 NKJV
Last
week Paul educated us on God’s view of government and paying taxes. This week
the lesson starts out with, “owe no one anything”. Is this a contradiction?
Hmmmm! We know God’s word does not contradict itself, so what would Paul be
referring to? Actually these verses this week reinforce the second greatest
commandment from Jesus of loving our neighbor as ourselves. It is about the
portion of the Ten Commandments that tell us how we are to treat fellow human
beings. It is about being ready when we pass from this earth whether by death
or rapture.
8 Owe no
one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled
the law.
Owe no one anything
except to love one another; Paul
is speaking to his brethren about day to day life when he says to owe no one
anything. In last week’s lesson Paul told us about owing the government and
that we are to pay the taxes that are due, but when it comes to daily living we
are to be industrious so as to not have any debt to anyone. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to
mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you,
we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. In present times is this possible to
owe nothing? Yes it is, but very difficult to attain and maintain. Some people
I know live this way but only a remnant. It takes sacrifice, the ability to
make decisions on whether they need a particular luxury, and most important of
all is faith in Jesus Christ that He will provide. A materialistic lifestyle is
considered idolatry in God’s eyes, because one is living for the luxuries of
this life and not for God. It is the
materialistic beast that rises up within us and tells us we need something that
we don’t need. I have fought this beast many times in my life and the decision
is a very difficult one to make. I feel the majority of the time I have made
the right decision.
This brings us to the
values and direction our present Democrats are taking us. Hmmm, is left
wing/right wing from the Bible? Ecclesiastes10:2-3 A wise man's heart is at his right hand, But a fool's heart at his left. 3 Even when a
fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, And he shows everyone that he is a fool.
The view is to keep taxing in a hidden format and take from the rich and
working and give to those who aren’t working, and those who won’t work. Now
don’t get me wrong if someone looses their job I feel it is right to help these
people until they get another job. What I don’t agree with is those that have
no desire to work and will not even go out and try to find a job to support
themselves. What is really bad is when you see these people purchasing liquor,
tobacco, drugs, etc. with tax payer’s money or them having a couple government
issued cell phones that are nicer than the ones working folks have. This is not
living according to God’s prescribed order.
The only thing we are to
owe anyone is love. This debt of, “love our neighbors as ourselves”, can never
be paid in full as long as we live. Only when we pass from this earth will this
debt be paid and then we will find out if we complied with this command from
Jesus when we stand before Him.
For
he who loves another has fulfilled the law; if we love one another then we fulfill what God prescribe
with the Ten Commandments. In fact the Ten Commandments actually structured
society, it provided in-depth laws that dealt with life situations like
servants Exodus 21:2–11,
personal injury cases Exodus 21:12–36, property rights Exodus
22:1–15, destructive
social relationships Exodus 22:16–31, conducting law suits Exodus
23:1–9, and religious
duties Exodus 23:10–19.
This is reiterated in the next verse by Paul. He states the laws of the Ten
Commandments in relation to our neighbor and shows that all those laws proceed
on the principle that we are to love one another, do no ill to another.
9 For the
commandments, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," "YOU SHALL NOT
MURDER," "YOU SHALL NOT STEAL," "YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE
WITNESS," "YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR
NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Here again Paul restates
that God’s commandments command us to, love our neighbor as our self. These
commands along with honoring our father and mother is the second greatest
command that Jesus talked about in Matthew
22:37-40 Jesus said
to him, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR
HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 This is the
first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets."
Do you see this in the
verses below? Verses 3-11 pertains to loving God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and verses 12-17
loving your neighbor as yourself.
Exodus
20:3-17 KJV:
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the LORD thy God am
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation of
them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that
love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy
God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in
vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy
work:
10 But the
seventh day is the sabbath of
the LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor
thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy
days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou
shalt not kill.
14 Thou
shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou
shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour.
17
Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any
thing that is thy neighbour's.
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law;
Simply means when one
truly loves their neighbor they do no harm to those around them in any way.
This is fulfilled with the help of the Holy Spirit living within a believer.
This is the only way one can fulfill this command due to the inherited sin
nature. We may think we can do this by human means, but as an unsaved
individual it is impossible. We sin when we don’t even know it, but as a Born
Again individual the Holy Spirit convicts one when this happens and the
believer goes to Jesus and asks forgiveness. It is only by the covering of the
shed blood of Jesus Christ that one can fulfill this command. If one is not
saved they are attempting to live a life of trying to obey the Ten
Commandments. This is impossible without the covering of Jesus blood, because
when one law is broken it is the same as breaking all of God’s laws. James 2:10-11 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
stumble in one point, he is
guilty of all. 11
For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT
MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have
become a transgressor of the law.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep; for now our salvation is
nearer than when we first
believed.
And
do this, knowing the time, that
now it is high time to awake
out of sleep; as an
unsaved person Paul is saying that they are asleep. It is time to wake up and
believe in what and who Jesus is. It is time to start living in His light by
accepting Him as the Messiah, the saviour of the world, and placing their faith
in Him and what He did not he Cross for them and all mankind. This also holds
true for today. It is time to awake and cast off the deeds of darkness, and
rise to life, and purity, and action. Acts 17:30-31 Truly,
these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to
repent, 31
because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in
righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this
to all by raising Him from the dead." 1
Thessalonians 5:5-8 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We
are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be
sober. 7
For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at
night. 8
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and
love, and as a helmet the hope
of salvation.
For
now our salvation is nearer
than when we first believed; Paul spoke this some 2,000 years ago
in reference to the coming back of Jesus meaning the Rapture of the Church
(Born Again Saints). The question being in current times, how close is the
Rapture with the things going on around the world today. It seems, or one can
interpret Bible prophecy, that it is close, definitely much closer than in
Paul’s time. Now is the time of Salvation, thus saith the Lord, don’t put off
till tomorrow what can be done today.
12 The night
is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
The
night is far spent; the
night is referring to the time of the fall of Adam to the coming resurrection.
A time when all evil will be removed from the world and believers will live in
light at all times. When Jesus defeated Satan and rose from the dead He enabled
light to shine in the world through Born Again Saints even though we still live
in a world filled with darkness. 1
Thessalonians 5:5 You are all
sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
The
day is at hand; Heaven
is often presented as a place of pure and splendid day. It isn’t possible for
the most devoted believer to properly comprehend what it will be like. Revelation 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon
to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. Revelation 21:25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there
shall be no night there). Revelation 22:5 There
shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord
God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Therefore
let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light; the rest of this verse Paul is
telling the believers to take off the garments of darkness and put on the
clothes of light. Live according to the likeness of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 6:7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by
the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 1 Thessalonians 5:5 You are all sons of light and
sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Ephesians
6:11-17
13 Let us
walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness
and lust, not in strife and envy.
This verse is telling us
how to live because we are children of God and belong to the light of day. We
must live decent lives for all to see. Don't participate in the darkness of
wild parties and drunkenness; or in sexual promiscuity, sexual immorality of
every nature, unbridled lust, licentiousness, shamelessness, insolence, etc.; or
in quarreling, constant manipulation, jealousy, and exploitation to promote
one’s self over others regarding business, place, or position.
14 But put
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
This verse is also telling
us how to live and that we are to clothe ourselves with the presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and don't think about ways to indulge our evil desires. We
need to open our hearts up to all that Christ accomplished at the Cross and put
our faith in Him to provide all that we need to sustain life. As a true believe
we need to give the Holy Spirit the latitude within our lives to give us
victory over the ways of the world and the lusts of our flesh.
Romans
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…...
Psalms
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit
within me.
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I
say to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who was Adalia?
Answer: Adalia was the fifth of ten sons of
the vicious Haman, the Persian official. Adalia was hung with his father and
brothers when Queen Esther saved the Jews. Esther 9:8
This week’s Trivia: Who was Adbeel?
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