King James Bible Study – “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.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Friday, February 05, 2021
Chapters: Exodus 19-21
Message: To Them Who Love God
Hello My Friend,
God has pointed out so many things to me in the chapters for today. A lot of people, and by people I mean, preachers, teachers, evangelists, and other ministers, are crying out to the world, begging for them to repent and turn away from sin, and God will remove the judgment that He has placed on the world. You know, I am all for Jesus returning because when He does I know I will not have to be in the midst of the evil, but as much as it appears that He is returning, I cannot forget what Jesus said, [Matthew 24:6-8,13-14 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.]
There are still many people yet to be saved, while that number does decrease by the second, God is not going to give the okay for Jesus to return until the very last soul to receive Him willingly gets saved. Nevertheless, there is a great need for repentance, but I am going to tell you, it is not the world that needs to repent. They are who they are, God has already given them up to a reprobate mind. [Romans 1:28-32 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.]
There is a reason why God has chosen one small group of people to be free from the judgment, and that is because sadly, that small group are the only ones who truly believe in Him. And believe it or not, God does care what we think about Him, and naturally if we reject Him, He is going reject us. This is not something new, it always has been. And His Word, He did not give it to the fools who reject Him, He gave it to His people. Now, last we read, God had sent the Israelites to Mt. Horeb, now, they are on the other side of the mountain, which is called Mt, Sinai. [Exodus 19:3-6 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.]
[And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests,] While God started with Aaron and his lineage, He would eventually make all believers a kingdom of priests. Every soul who receives Christ as their Saviour is a priest, and we are not what the world’s church priests are, we truly are a peculiar people. [Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.]
Now, if we have accepted Christ as our Saviour, then know we are all sinners saved by the grace of God. And let me tell you God’s people do not blend in with the world, they literally stick out like sore thumbs. My job, all I do is talk to people over the phone, and know just by the way that I speak to them if I am a Christian. And that is how it should be, we are not of the world! If we have accepted Christ as our Saviour with all our heart, then we follow His commands, they are not grievous, and we do not follow them to keep our salvation, we follow them because we love Him and want Him in our lives, and quite frankly, obeying Him keeps us from a lot of needless suffering. We do have a choice, and if we choose God, then He expects us to follow some rules.
[Exodus 19:9-12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. 10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. 12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:]
[that the people may hear when I speak with thee,] God was literally going to speak to them from the mountain. In order for the people to stand before God they had to first clean themselves. Since we are covered in the filth of sin we cannot stand before God face to face, let alone touch Him, otherwise, it is an instant death sentence. Only when we are clean, and ready for Him can we avoid death when He calls for us. And that us where Jesus comes in, He is the one who cleansed us, removes all the filth, He makes us brand new, [Mark 2:21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.]
God’s purpose for giving commands was never designed for the purpose of saving a soul, we are all sinners no matter what generation we come from, they were used to set us apart, to show the world that we are, in fact, different. Just as God said, three days later He came down from the mountain top and as a flame of fire, there was smoke, thundering, and lightening, and when He spoke it sounded like trumpets blaring out. He reminded them that they were not to touch the mountain or even gaze at it.
[Exodus 19:18-22 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. 22 And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.]
[lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze,] Do you understand what this means? People say they believe in God, but refuse to believe that Christ is the only way to Him. They are gazing, looking at the glory of God from afar, not really trusting Christ, and they will die and end up in hell because of it, [Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.]
Up until now, God did not have a law for them, they just let their faith and conscience guide them, that was all about the change, God was giving them the Law, He speaks the first ten commandments himself. [Exodus 20:1-6 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing 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.]
[And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,] Do you see what God is saying here, His has no mercy on the reprobates, only those who love Him. If they are not saved, but still believe in Him, He will make several attempts to reach them. You see, save or not, no one wants to see God when they realize just how much of a sinner they are, but until we are brave enough to do that, He will not save us. As the people saw the thunder, lightening, and voice of God after each command, they got further and further away from the mountain. In fact, they did not even want God to speak to them directly.
[Exodus 20:19-20,22-24 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.]
[An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me,] This is when God institutes the laws concerning the sacrifices that would redeem and atone for them when they sin. We are not perfect, we never will be until we get to heaven, and God knows this, which is why He sent His perfect Son. Following God’s commands has never been for keeping our salvation, it has always been about fearing God so that we do not live in so much pain from the consequences of sin. When we first get saved most of us are not aware of God’s Word in detail, so we tend to find out that many of the things we thought were okay to do, are in fact, sin, but this is how we He proves us and we become more like Christ through the obedience of His Word. By the way, to fear God means to honor, respect, and worship only Him. Now, as I said before, God’s commands are not grievous, and they are given for a very good reason. Since Israel just came out of slavery, God thought it necessary to address the issue.
[Exodus 21:1-6 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. 2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.]
[and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul;] An awl is an iron instrument used for piercing small holes in leather. This tool was used to brand a person who loved their master and family, and wanted to spend the rest of their lifetime in service to them. We too get branded when we believe in and trust Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we are branded by His blood and will spend eternity serving Him. There has been such an uproar these days about slavery, yes, some slaves were treated badly, but the majority of them were treated just as the Bible says, these people were a part of the family, just like we are all a part of the family of God. [I Peter 1:17-19 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Exodus 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You call on us to be separate, to be different from the world, and to them we are very peculiar, but You are okay with that because that is how You prefer us to be. In order for us to be Your peculiar people we need to obey Your commands, and if we love You we will obey them, and they will not be grievous to us. Jesus, You have cleansed me through Your death, burial, and resurrection, and I thank You and praise You for that. Lord, Lead me and guide me, ingrain Your commands in my heart, teach me, and give me the strength, power, and wisdom to follow them, not to keep my salvation, but to show everyone watching that I belong to You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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