Do not play with God!
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 45 viewsNotes
Transcript
Everything that God commands is for our benefit! God is love and He will never command you to do something that will harm you. Do you believe it?
If you believe it, why do you dare to disobey His commandments? Do you believe that you’ll “get away with murder”?
After receiving the commandments from God, Moses went down the mountain, gathered the people and told them every single thing that God had ordered.
The first thing he told them right after was “Obey and you will be blessed!”
Obedience results in blessings from God.
Obedience results in blessings from God.
Read Lev 26:3-12
Abundant harvest.
Abundant harvest.
“then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit...” 4-5
For an agricultural society, rains in their season were one great blessing. It meant an abundance of fruit, grains, and vegetables.
It also meant abundance of oil and wine, two main components of their diet.
The promise given to Joshua if he was obedient to the Book of the Law was prosperity and success.
Peaceful life.
Peaceful life.
“I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble.” 6
Peace is one of the things people longs the most! Peace of mind, peace with your neighbor, but mainly peace with your God.
When we sin we are at war with God. Fear is the result of lack of faith in God.
Such peace only come when Jesus reigns in your heart and you obey what the king says:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Victory over enemies.
Victory over enemies.
“But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword: five of you will chase an hundred, and a hundred will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before the sword.” 7-8
They were to enter a land where they would face ferocious enemies: Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. God promised them that if they obey Him, they utterly destroy those enemies.
Continuous provision.
Continuous provision.
“You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new.” 10
The promise meant that if they obey Him, He would give them so much that even before they finish consuming one harvest, they would have the next one ready to be picked up.
God’s presence in your life.
God’s presence in your life.
“Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” 11-12
“Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” 11-12
“Moreover”, indicates that above of the blessings mentioned before, the greatest blessing of all was to know that God was with them.
He told them, not only that obedient are blessed, but the consequences of disobedience.
Persistent disobedience brings worse punishment.
Persistent disobedience brings worse punishment.
Which is the chid that receives more punishment? The one who obeys as soon as he is told to do something or the one that won’t do it no matter what?
God expects us to obey right away. If we do not do it, certainly we’ll face the consequences. If after the consequences, we insist on disobeying, the consequences will be worse.
Jesus, after healing the man who was paralyzed for 38 eight years at the Bethesda pool, told him:
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
John 5:14
Now pay attention to these verses in ,; -24; 27-28
Pay attention to these verses: 14,16; 18-21-24; 27-28
Pay attention to these verses: 14,16; 18-21-24; 27-28
Observe that every time they insist on disobeying, the punishment was worse. “Seven times!” That shows us the seriousness of rebellion.
Observe that every time they insist on disobeying, the punishment was worse. Why? Because God’s holiness requires it.
Why? Because God’s holiness requires it.
That shows us the seriousness of rebellion.
God’s holiness requires it.
God’s holiness requires it.
Holiness is synonym of obedience! Sin is synonym of disobedience!
Although these words applied to all Israel, we must remember that the Levites were the priests. They were expected to be holy and live as an example of it.
Although these words applied to all Israel, we must remember that the Levites were the priests. They were expected to be holy, to live obediently, and to be an example of it.
‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.
The Holy Father expects His children to be like Him!
Christians, as the new priesthood, are also expected to be holy:
26
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Peter gave us the same reason given to the Levites:
but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
15-16
God’s justice demands it.
God’s justice demands it.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
His justice demands a punishment for sin. states that God show His kindness for thousands, but He is still just:
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 34
who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,
What kind of judge is that who frees the guilty one?
God is the Righteous Judge; He applies His fair justice to all; He has no favorites: the guilty is guilty, the innocent is innocent.
Do not play with God’s patience! Do not play with God’s holiness and justice!
Repentance brings mercy.
Repentance brings mercy.
;
“If they confess their iniquity in their unfaithfulness which they committed against me… then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, and I will remember the land.” 40-42
God is willing to forgive, but man must confess his sin first.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
It is easy to judge others, but who are we to point fingers?
It is easy to judge others, but who are we to point fingers?
It is easy to judge others, but who are we to point fingers?
Who are we to point fingers?
Who are we to point fingers?
Religious and self-righteous people feel they have the right to do it. The Pharisees came to Jesus ready to stone a woman caught in sin. Let’s read the story...
Read
When Jesus confronted the accusers with their own sin, they realized they did not have the right to accuse her. One by one, they dropped their stone and left the place.
God expects true repentance.
God expects true repentance.
True repentance is a change of mind and carries the desire to stay away from sin, from anything that offends God.
The woman was caught in the very act of adultery. If she was guilty, why He did not condemn her?
I guess that Jesus, who can see man’s heart, saw the repent heart of the woman. Otherwise, He would have let them stone her.
His forgiveness was accompanied by the same warning He gave to the paralytic: “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
It sounds like “Do not play with God! or you will suffer the consequences!” Do not play with fire because you’ll get burned!”