Posts Tagged ‘immorality’
Scripture reading for January 31: Exodus 32-34
The nation of Israel quickly turned away from their commitment to obey God. Moses was on the mountain in the cloud and fire for 40 days. He was receiving the tablets with the 10 Words from the Lord. The people came to Aaron and asked for gods who would lead them. Aaron gave in and asked for gold earrings and ornaments. The people gave and soon Aaron had fashioned an idol of a golden calf. They bowed down to the calf-god made by Aaron and had a lewd party around the idol. God’s jealousy was aroused!
God spoke to Moses about the idolatry and told him to leave Him alone so He could destroy them. (Exodus 32:8-10) God’s verdict–“They are a stiff-necked people.” God is jealous! (Exodus 34:14) God had just written two commands that demanded that His people have no gods and make no idols. (Exodus 20:3-6)
Moses smashed the tablets in holy anger indicating the breaking of God’s Word by the very people who had sworn to obey! (Exodus 32:19; Exodus 24:3) Moses, however, did pray and intercede, asking God to spare the people. God listened but judgment still fell on those who sinned.
Moses called for those on the Lord’s side and the Levites stepped up. They had to strap on swords and execute those who participated in the idolatry, even if it was their brother, friend or neighbor! (Exodus 33:27-2) Three thousand were executed that day.
The lessons for us today are plain. This loving and compassionate God (Exodus 34:6-7) will not tolerate idolatry or sexual immorality. Lying goes with them, too. Note Aaron’s response about just throwing the gold into the fire and an idol coming out! We are all born into idolatry and it is a work of the flesh. (Galatians 6:19-20) The sword of the Spirit brings conviction which can lead us to repent and forsake idolatry! We must walk by the Spirit and allow His fruit to grow in our lives.
Let’s not be ’stiff-necked!’ Bow your neck today in reverence and prayer to the merciful and compassionate Lord who paid to free us from the sin of idolatry. Jesus is interceding for us like Moses of old. Instead of smashing the tablets, He kept them fully for us! Through faith in His life and death, we have hope!
Scripture reading for December 11th: Revelation 2:18-3:6
Have you ever been convinced that something was true, only to find out later that it was a lie? The church at Sardis was given a timely word by Jesus through John that should have alerted them to truth. The opinion of others and our past reputation are not the best indicators of our true spiritual condition!
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: “These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of My God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.” (Revelation 3:1-3a)
The church at Sardis had a great reputation and had been a strong church. They were known for their life in Christ! But as Jesus evaluated this church’s current deeds, He found them non-existent–dead! From this we can see that our past accomplishments, although good, cannot keep us alive in Christ’s kingdom. We must continue walking in the good works that He has prepared for us! (Ephesians 2:10) As long as we live here on earth, Christ has work for His church to be doing!
The call of Christ was to ‘wake up!’ The enemy of our souls lulls us to sleep and rest on our past laurels. Repentance requires a change of mind and then of attitudes and actions. This church needed to seriously and quickly change its course. Christ warned them that He would come like a ‘thief’ and that they would be caught unprepared for His appearance! This is an echo of Jesus’ teaching and Paul’s teaching as well! (Matthew 24:42-44; 1st Thessalonians 5:1-6)
The Bride of Christ must be prepared for Christ’s return. “I know your deeds,” was the evaluation of Jesus. As we look at Scripture later in Revelation, we find the Bride of Christ adorned with fine linen. (Revelation 19:7-8) We are told that this ‘fine linen’ is the righteous acts of the saints. Our deeds and faithful obedience result in our clothing at the wedding supper. Without the proper clothing, we are in danger of being thrown out! (Matthew 22:11-12) How important it is to listen with hearing ears to the living Word!
“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” Judges 21:25
As we have read through this book of Judges, I am impressed with how much this book describes our contemporary culture and the world view of secular humanism that is so prevalent. When people have no king or supreme authority in their life, they end up being the authority themselves. The result is catastrophic! Society becomes full of sin, immorality, and rebellion. That’s all that is in the human heart apart from God’s grace! Let’s think about these records from history we have just read.
First, without strong leadership to keep the people focused on the Lord and His Word, people always drift into evil and rebellion. Our land has lacked leadership morally. Men have forsaken their job of training children and mentoring younger men. Women have had to take leadership and responsibility for providing for families because men are not stepping up and the children have suffered from lack of parenting. The home is broken down and idolatry has replaced the family altar and accountable relationships in the family. Each person is seeking self-fulfillment in ways that are harmful to godly relationships. Our land has drifted into sexual immorality and personal spirituality that more often than not does not have a biblical base. In Scripture, idolatry and immorality always go together! The parents end up letting the children choose what they want, thinking that this is best. How can a sinner choose what is best when they have no “king” but self?
In the time of Judges, the ministry of the priesthood was also corrupt. Ministers were often hirelings. It is often true today that the same thing is true of ministry people. (John 10:11-13) Many are in ministry just as a job. They have positions and go through the motions, but are not really caring for the people. They tickle ears and tell their people what they know that they want to hear. (2nd Timothy 4:3-4) There is also a group that have a love for money and use God’s people to line their own pockets. We must be discerning of the same idolatry and religious scams in our world today!
God’s remedy for these conditions in religion has always been the same. He listens for His people to cry out to Him in prayer! When they do, He begins to act. (Psalm 50:14-15) He raises up a person who will walk with Him by faith and live and preach the Word of God. When these people preach the uncompromising Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, then healing, restoration, and deliverance takes place. (see Judges 4:1-11 for an example) How God longs to be our King and lead us into doing what is right and a blessing for us and those we love! Allow Him to touch your heart today! God bless you and your family! Pastor John