King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Monday, March 20, 2023
Chapters: DEUTERONOMY 27-28
Study: A Diligent Walk With Christ
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
I do apologize for getting this out a day late, I was not feeling well yesterday morning and by the time I got home it was so late that I feel asleep. However, I do believe that God’s timing is everything so someone needed this right now and not yesterday.
My beloved tells me that he feels inadequate because I know the Bible more than he does, but I told him that I have no more knowledge than he does, I am just good at communicating it. The devil is good at trying to convince God’s faithful that they are not good enough or do not know enough of the Bible to know that they are saved. Do we need to know the exact date right down to the very last second that we got saved in order to know that we are saved? Or is it enough to know that we remember a time when we did believe in the Gospel of Christ as asked Him to save us? I am not going to lie, I do not remember the exact date that I got saved, but I do remember what I was doing at the time and that I accepted Him as my Saviour. It was the day that I got baptized that I was reassured of my faith and dedicated my life to Him that I give as my Born Again Birthday.
[Romans 10:8-12 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.]
As we continue in the reading of Deuteronomy, the seventy elders, at the head of whom was Moses, which would became known as the Sanhedrim, or council of the nation. Moses having recited all the laws of God to the people, these joined with him in agreement to them to observe and obey them.
[Deuteronomy 27:1-3,5-6 And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. 2 And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: 3 And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. 5 And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. 6 Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:]
[And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law,] The Law was written clearly for all to see on the wall that included twelve stones, and not just for the Israelites. This was both, a reminder to the Jews that it was God who brought them there, and two, an invitation to any stranger to learn of God and worship Him the proper way. God, will never force Himself upon anyone, we must come to Him willingly, but when we do He expects us to learn and keep His Word if we want to live, [Proverbs 7:2-3 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.]
Why is this so important? First of all, it gets us all on the same level, second, His doctrine sets us apart from the world, and third, it shows the world that we truly are a peculiar people. In order to believe in the Gospel of Christ we need to know the truth about Him, and the only truth about Him comes from His Word.
[Deuteronomy 27:9-10,12-13 And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God. 10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day. 12 These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin: 13 And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.]
[this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God.] The second we learn of Christ and accept Him as our Saviour we become one of God’s people, but keep in mind that God takes this seriously, great blessings will come as we learn and grow from His Word, but so can curses if we ignore it. Moses, first touches on the curses that come by those who willing accept the LORD, but do not follow His commandments.
[Deuteronomy 27:15-19,26 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. 16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. 17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. 18 Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. 19 Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. 26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.]
[he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.] Let me tell you, if you think that the Old Testament does not apply to us today, think again, everything except for the animal sacrifices, eating only clean animals, and some of the commandments that were specifically for the Israelites, was carried over into the New. If we are going to choose to have God in our lives, then we must first come to Him through His Son as He became our sacrifice to save us once and for all. As we learn of His Word and apply it, we conform to the image of Christ, [Romans 8:29-30 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.]
Do you see that? Everything good, bad, and ugly thing that went through before we got saved was God preparing us for when we would believe in and accept His Son as our Saviour. Let me tell you, God, does not pick and choose who gets saved, He expects every soul that comes into this world to get saved, but that does not mean that all do. Only the ones who do find Christ are saved and justified, and that means every sin is not only pardoned, but forgotten, never to be remembered by God again. Praise God! Does God expect us to conform to everything written in His Word all at once? No, He does not. What He does expect is diligence. Moses, goes on to tell the Israelites of the blessings that will come by being diligent to the Law.
[Deuteronomy 28:1-6 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.]
[if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God,] [Diligent; Steady in application to business; constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduous; attentive; industrious; not idle or negligent;] If you want to know why God’s faithful are so blessed, this is why, we are diligent, not perfect, but diligent in our walk with Christ. We can mess up a thousand times a day, but as long as we are diligent in our walk God will forgive us a thousand times a day. What He does not like is arrogance and thinking that we are privileged because we accepted Christ as our Saviour. We are truly blessed beyond measure to be saved by grace, but we too will be cursed if we do not get in His Word, study it, and apply it to our lives, [James 1:21-24 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.]
Oh my goodness, do I remember the day when I looked in the mirror and did not know who I was. That is what the world does to you. Let me tell you, Christ, did for me what I could never have done for myself, and I am not just talking about saving my soul, He saved me from my life and that was only made possible by reading and applying His Word to my life. Our salvation is one thing as that is given to us by the grace of God through our faith in the Gospel of Christ alone. If we want to live a blessed life, even through the sorrow, then we need to become doers of His Word and not just hearers. Why is this important if we are saved by grace? We are a holy people, set apart for Christ. Moses confirms this.
[Deuteronomy 28:9-11,14-15 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:]
[shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD;] We are called by the name of the LORD solely through our faith in and acceptance of Christ, and because of that, we are different, and not of this world. There is no way around it, and if we have gotten saved are not different, then we seriously need to change our ways because the curses will come until we start applying His Word to our walk.
[Hebrews 6:4-6,9-11 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:]
There is that word diligence again, do you realize that God did not design His Word to be read once? We are to read it daily as there is always something new to learn. God, does not just want it one and done, He wants it keep on keeping on. He does it this was so that we do not become so overwhelmed that we walk away all together. We are to observe His Word and follow it as we do. Moses, goes on to literate why we are to be diligent in our reading and applying it to our lives.
[Deuteronomy 28:58-62 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.]
[that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;] Fearing God is more than just being afraid of Him, which we do need sometimes, it is honoring and respecting Him, it is being diligent in our walk with Him, it is also following His commandments, which are not grievous, [1 John 5:2-4 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.]
Does this mean that we can lose our salvation if we do not follow His commandments after we are saved? No. Salvation is the gift of God through our faith alone in Christ, not of our own works! Again, [we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation] which is why we maintain good works after we are saved. It does not matter if we were saved before Christ became the permanent sacrifice or today, the same rule applies, blessings for obeying His Word and curses for disobeying it. God, will work with us as long as we are diligent and applying what we learn from His Word. What He will not work with is halfhearted faith and an arrogant attitude that we can do whatever we want after we get saved. Moses, literates how God will reject those who have halfhearted faith.
[Deuteronomy 28:63,65-67 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. 65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.]
[And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee;] There is a difference between someone who needs some reassurance of their faith and someone who doubts their faith. Someone who doubts their faith really does have their lives hanging in a balance, they do not know which way to turn, they will hang on every religion that feeds their flesh for a moment until the next one comes alone that feeds their flesh. Let me tell you, even being saved, if we are not constantly reminding ourselves of what we believe and why we are saved, then we too will start to doubt our faith. This is why every saved, born again Christ needs to be diligent to observe the Lord’s Supper.
[1 Corinthians 11:24-29 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You, for being the sacrifice that I needed to not only be saved from my sins, but have them washed away completely forever. Now, I know that I am saved by grace, but I want more than what accompanies my salvation, I want all the blessings that come as I diligently walk with You, study Your Word, and apply it to my life. This is actually the only way that I am going to conform to You and become a reflection of You, and not to keep my salvation, but to bring others to You as people see You through me. Lord, Lead me and guide me, give me Your mercy and grace to see this though, keep me diligent in my walk, and if I start lagging behind give me the push I need to keep moving forward. I love You and need You and pray this is Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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