Are You Just Ignorant of Jesus

 The King Fulfilled Prophecy

Book of Matthew Chapter 12

We should understand that there will always be some who reject the message of Christ Jesus because they reject the person of Christ Jesus!

There will be opposition to Christianity because it does not fit into the themes of this world.

The religious world in the day of Jesus were in a position in which they might have known much about the Messiah.

It is Christ Jesus who made this world we live in!

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, "and for him":

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has preserved this world.

What is the greatest of all sin? The greatest of all sin is to be ignorant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a sin where there is no excuse.

We have our creation written down and described to us.

We have a God who continuously preserves our world up to this point.

We have a Savior who has revealed Himself according to His written Word.

As we begin this chapter in the Book of Matthew where we will witness the religious crowd of Israel begin to show their hatred for their own Scriptures and the truth of them.

Everything Jesus has done so far has proved that He was the promised Messiah, but hatred enters where belief should have been.

The blind saw.

Lepers were cleansed.

Demons were driven out.

People were raised from the dead.

There could be only one explanation for this, for only God could have done these things.

The Old Testament prophecies were being fulfilled before their eyes.

There could be only one explanation for this, the Messiah had come just as the Word of God had said.

These people just refused to believe what their eyes saw!

They remained cold and indifferent to the truth that was before them.

They had no heart for the truth of the Scriptures they so acknowledged came from Jehovah God.

We will witness as Jesus begins to break His relationship with these Jews and begin His turn to all the world which was also prophesied.

*****Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

Mat 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

The meaning of Sabbath is to rest from labor.

The Sabbath is the seventh day and is something essentially Jewish.

The keeping of it, is one of the laws given to the Jews by Jehovah.

Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exo 20:10 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:

Exo 20:11 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.

The Sabbath was not a day that was given to the Church, even though the Lord does still teach us we need to rest at least one day of the week.

The Church observes the Lord's Day. The Lord came out of that tomb on Sunday, known as the Lord's Day.

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

The Church was given no specific day to worship, because we are to worship the Lord every day!

There is no law written to the Church about when to worship the Lord!

It was not the 613 commandments given to the Jews that got the Lord in trouble with His opposition, especially the Pharisees.

It was the "oral laws", "man's laws" that had been added, claiming to be the Word of God!

As our Creator and the same One who gave us the Word of God, then we should accept that Jesus knew all the Word of God better than anyone.

To be clear then, if the Jesus is the Lord of my life, then He is Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of everyday that I exist!

We already know that in the lifetime of our Savior, He did not sin, so it is evident He obeyed all those 613 laws written in the Word of God.

Jesus was not obligated to keep any law that violated His own words, even though He also kept the laws of the government that was in place.

He certainly was not obligated to keep the legalistic oral law of the Pharisee! Or the Sadducee or the Scribes, or any other human being.

We must understand the Word of God in the "context" in which it was written!

These disciples had broken no law as they passed through this corn field and taken enough to satisfy their hunger.

Deu 23:25 When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn.

They were not harvesting they were only satisfying their hunger!

These Pharisee saw it as their job to enforce these "oral laws" which were no more than traditions that had become outrageous and considered to be of greater influence that the Word of God itself.

Exo 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

No one was expected to go without a meal on the Sabbath!

If you are following the Lord Jesus, you will move when He moved, whether you had eaten or not.

How did the Lord Jesus respond?

*****Mat 12:3 But he said unto them, "Have ye not read" what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

Mat 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

Do you know the biggest problem with all those who claim to be God's people? They refuse to read the Word of God themselves!

We need to read what God says!

We need to study what God says!

We need to understand what God says!

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Jesus asked these hypocrites, "have ye not read".

David was forced to go on the run by Saul, even though David was God's anointed King of Israel.

Be careful or you will miss the typology here.

David was hungry and those with him were hungry just as those who were with the Lord Jesus on that day.

If David, the King anointed by God had been rejected while he was a fugitive, the holy things connected with these ceremonial things given to Israel by Jehovah, would have ceased to be holy!

When King Jesus is rejected, then all the things of the Church are then common and no longer holy.

1Sa 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, "and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel".

There is nothing holy with a so-called Church where the Lord Jesus Christ is rejected!

There is no part of that so-called church that is holy.

They may say, "we do not reject Jesus", yet when they reject the teachings of the Word of God, they have rejected our Savior and everything He stands for and stands against!

These Pharisee had rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and what He stood for!

It is ridiculous to speak of Sabbath keeping, when the Lord of the Sabbath is rejected!

It is ridiculous to speak of a personal relationship with the Lord when you reject the truth of the Word of God or you try to twist the Word of God in an attempt to change its meaning!

How did Jesus feel about these super religious men?

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

That "shewbread" symbolized the presence of God who is the "Bread of Life". Twelve loaves of bread were brought to the House of God as a symbolized offering to God.

It was a thanksgiving offering!

Those loaves symbolized an everlasting covenant between God and His people: that God would see to it that His people had whatever food was necessary to sustain His people.

They were changed every week the old loaves given to the priests.

King David had a legitimate need.

The Lord Jesus Christ promises to meet our needs!

Hypocrites will always insist on their own observations without having understood the truth of the Bible!

Again Jesus asks "have ye not read".

*****Mat 12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

We should understand the Lord Jesus here.

We have the perfectly written Word of God, but we must accept these words in the context they were written!

According to their interpret ion of the Sabbath by these hypocritical Pharisees, even the priests at the Temple should be stoned to death for doing what the priests were given to do according to the same Word of God.

We must never go against the Word of God!

Doing good according to the Word of God, is never a sin under any circumstances!

The worship of the Lord is a necessary thing!

It does not matter what the government says!

It was necessary for the Jews to worship according to the laws given to them which included animal sacrifices.

Remember their sin was only forgiven for one year, if they did what God had said to do in those three feasts that were required by God.

Today we know the Lord Jesus Christ put an end to animal sacrifice by sacrificing Himself which upon your "faith" forgiveness is eternal.

Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us

Then Jesus told them it was not the Temple that was important, it is the One who paid our sin debt that is the most important!

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath because He is the Lord of life!

*****Mat 12:6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

Mat 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

Mat 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

As long as the Church exists there will be some who think their learning has surpassed the Word of God, and the things said by the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will become adversaries unto Christ Jesus and His disciples!

For the super religious in Jerusalem and all of Israel, the Temple was the most important place in all the world.

Many today feel like Rome is the most important place in all Christianity!

What did Jesus teach? Jesus said, "It is not in a building"!

The Lord Jesus Christ is what Christianity is all about!

You cannot remove the Lord Jesus and still have Christianity!

You cannot remove the importance of the disciples of Jesus Christ and still say you are a Church!

Buildings are just places for the people of God to gather to worship the One True God and fellowship with other disciples of Jesus Christ!

If the priests including the High priest, did not have to obey the laws of the Sabbath, then why would the Lord of the Sabbath have to observe some man-made law?

The Sabbath was set aside for the descendants of Israel, the ones to whom many promises were made to spend time with Jehovah.

Laws and ceremonies have no place in the House of God.

It is the Word of God that must reign supreme, and it is the Word of God that teaches us about the Messiah, who physically stood before those hypocrites that day we read about in chapter 12.

Jesus Christ, the Messiah is the true High Priest.

Jesus Christ, the Messiah is the true and only sacrifice that is acceptable to God the Father!

Jesus Christ, the Messiah is the Lord of everyday to the true believer.

There is no day greater than any other day to worship the Almighty Living God!

What we should notice is, the mercy of the Messiah to tolerate our foolishness!

Any place of worship only possesses the symbolic presence of God, now He may show up in power and strength, but only because He resides in the believer.

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

The Lord Jesus Christ possesses all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Col 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily".

Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

Col 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

If we cannot understand what these things mean, then how can we say we have come to worship.

They Lord Jesus Christ must be the Lord of our lives every day and every moment of every day!

*****Mat 12:9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

Mat 12:10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

This man with the withered hand was not allowed to go into the Temple to worship or even to visit.

Nor was any other person who had some infirmity.

The Temple was no more than a worldly showcase for the world to go to visit.

Jesus Himself said it had become no more than a den of thieves and He was not talking just about the moneychangers and those who bought and sold.

Jesus was talking about those ran the Temple.

It was the synagogue where these who had infirmities could worship and the super religious hypocrites did not like this either.

We should understand that no one would hire a man with a crippled hand and this man would end up being nothing but a beggar.

This man did not know Jesus would stop by on this day, he had simply come to worship Jehovah and to hear someone read the Word of God.

Copies of the Bible were too expensive for regular people to get one and those who could afford them did not ever read them.

Jesus loved to preach in the synagogues, because there would be other like this man with this withered hand and Jesus would show compassion to them.

What a question to ask, is it lawful according to the Word of God to heal on the Jewish Sabbath days?

Jesus was hated so much by this religious crowd they would use anything against Him!

The Lord Jesus never showed fear to these adversaries!

Yes, the religious crowd were the greatest adversaries of the Lord!

When we go to the house of the Lord, we are to go to worship!

Everyone went to worship except these who claimed to obey all the Word of God!

They went to find fault in the people of God!

We should clearly understand this evil, wicked, religious crowd knew that Jesus had the power to heal. They acknowledged that they knew it.

These same men would drop what they were doing and go home to save one of their animals, even on a Sabbath.

Yet here stood a man who had damaged his hand in some fashion and was no longer able to provide for himself nor for his family in the House God to worship Jehovah showing his great faith.

This had gotten the attention of our Savior!

How could anyone believe that God had to keep Himself from doing good on any day, much less a day He had set aside for rest and worship.

Jesus showed no fear, and He answered this foolish question with action.

*****Mat 12:11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

Mat 12:12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

Mat 12:13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

Jesus spoke to this crowd and said, by your own actions, you prove that it is lawful to do good on a Sabbath!

It is "faith" that is the answer to the Word of God!

We must understand that so-called religion is nothing without believers.

Jesus explained to this religious crowd that they would break their own rules to save a sheep that had fallen into a pit, no matter what day it was.

Is not a man better than a sheep? If you have the love of God in you, that answer is simple.

We should listen as Jesus preaches to these men. He took one point, to build upon it.

Jesus then said, if you are so willing to help an animal in jeopardy of their life, then the answer to your question is "it is lawful to do well on a Sabbath"!

For which, the animal or is it mankind that God shows the greatest love?

How much do we oppose God by twisting and turning His Holy Word to say what it does not say?

This thing takes place in many a Church today!

It is irresponsible to treat the Word of God in this fashion!

There are animal owners today who put the life of humans at risk, just to keep their animals safe.

There are people all over the world starving to death, some because of religious beliefs about animals.

Rituals and rules that jeopardize the lives of people, have no place in the House of God!

Jesus knew what was in the hearts of these men, and they had no compassion on this man with the withered hand, but their goal all along was to destroy Jesus.

The world today would rather destroy the only means of salvation and keep the world lost in its foolishness!

It does not take good eyes to see that this world is dying!

There are no true atheists!

Even an atheist worships himself or herself and they will fight you over their belief!

An atheist says, “I am my own god above all others”!

They do not want to hear anything that goes against their beliefs.

These Pharisee had become blind to the truth by using man-made rules to push the truth of God away.

In fact, in typology it was Israel at this time that is represented by this withered hand.

Israel was withered spiritually in this day of Jesus and refused to change.

The Lord Jesus had come to restore Israel to Jehovah and because of religion, they chose to remain cripples and are crippled even today!

Here stood the Living God with the power to heal, the power to cast out devils, the power to feed great multitudes, the power to restore sight to the blind and the power to heal lepers and these puny human beings thought they could destroy this man named Jesus, which would be impossible!

*****Mat 12:14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

Mat 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

Mat 12:16 And charged them that they should not make him known:

Mat 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

The Lord Jesus Christ did not withdraw Himself because of fright!

The Lord Jesus the Messiah withdrew Himself to make sure everything happened just as written down in the Word of God and to fulfill all prophesies.

He did not come to "Judge" at this time, but He will return to Judge all those who reject Him.

We should never allow anger to rule our decisions at any time!

Jesus came to show His Mercy and His truth the first time He came!

Psa 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

He will "Judge" according to the same Word of God we have today when He returns!

He asked those who He had healed to not make Him known.

Jesus wished to avoid confrontation with this super religious crowd until it was time to do so!

Jesus did not want the public to push Him forward as their King at this time.

These things will come later.

Jesus had not fulfilled the ministry He came to teach.

The plan of salvation by the Gospel was much more important than these other things!

We must humble ourselves before the Lord, and Jesus is our example of a humble servant during this first time He came!

One lesson Jesus was teaching which is still in place today is, "when they persecute you in one place then move to another place".

Eventually enough believers will be gathered together to take a stand on the Word of God.

This is what frightens the world governments today.

Guess what, it is going to happen when King Jesus returns in "judgment"!

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus came to do the will of the Heavenly Father, and it included His physical death, but God is Spirit, and He cannot die!

Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

As Christians, we do not have to be concerned what God is going to do, He spells it out for us!

What we have to concern ourselves with is, are we going to be obedient Christians?

Both these things are explained precisely in the same Word of God!

Our Heavenly Father by the will of His Son, places the same Holy Spirit into everyone that He chooses, so we can have no fear of death!

It is the Holy Spirit who makes the changes necessary to become a Christian, being like Jesus Christ!

2Co 3:18 "But we all", with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, "are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord".

Amen

Being Stable in Our Beliefs

Stability in Our Faith

Book of Jude Verse 3-16

This man used by the Holy Spirit to write this book is Jude, the brother of James, and we can say the half-earthly brother of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mat 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Mat 13:56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

We should remember the earthly family members of Jesus had abandoned Him, until He resurrected from the dead, then they all became believers.

What is "stability"? Stability is the strength to stand without being moved or overthrown.

Stability is steadiness and firmness of character. In many ways it is the same as integrity!

This is a trait we need to adopt in our Christian life and in our Christian ministry!

Jude is writing to everyone who is sanctified by God the Father.

We know that to be sanctified is to be set apart and Jude is writing to all those who are set apart to be used by God the Father.

Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

In the same breath, Jude also says those who are preserved in Jesus Christ.

To be preserved, means to save from injury or destruction as every Christ has been saved from the wrath of God the Father, which we already know.

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, "we shall be saved from wrath through him".

We will never be an object of God's wrath though He will chastise us as His child.

We should also not miss that word "called".

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the "called" according to his purpose.

It should be obvious that Jude is writing to the Beloved of God, all the Church, all the Body of Christ, of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of and the Foundation of!

So many today have forgotten these things.

So many today want the salvation that comes with the Lord, but they do not want to obey His Word.

It seems to me that the Holy Spirit looked into the future to the day we live in, when He gave these words to Jude!

Now let us see this message of the earthly brother of our Lord and Savior.

*****Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Diligence is the constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken.

It is impossible to be too diligent for the things of Heaven!

The most important thing we will do in this life, is to choose the salvation provided by the "Grace" of God the Father through faith in the work of His Son, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is only one "faith" that can provide this salvation!

Our "faith" must be based on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the "Promises" that He makes to all those of this "ONE FAITH"!

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

How can so many say they love the Lord and yet think there is some other way to get Heaven?

Jesus says He is the only way so if you believe there is some other way, then you are calling Jesus the Messiah a liar!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

To contend is to use our best effort to obtain that salvation that comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is where we are to place all our faith.

1Ti 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;

1Ti 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

We are not only to contend for our true faith, but we are to "earnestly contend" for this one and only "faith" that can get you to Heaven!

We have no greater job in our ministry than to eagerly contend, to be zealous in our "faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ, the absolute truth of the Scriptures!

2Pe 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

We could not know the truth had the Holy Spirit not called on these men who used such diligence to bring us the truth of God the Father in written form, that cannot be denied except to say God has not done all these things which He has said that He did.

The salvation as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ, is sufficient for all!

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The truth is, that salvation can come only by and through the Lord Jesus Christ!

The truth is, that the "glory" of the Almighty God is peculiarly connected to His truth!

There cannot be many ways to the truth, because there is only one Savior!

It is our job as the Saints of God to be obedient to God's Word and God says we are to contend for our "faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We cannot do this if we are wishy-washy about our faith!

The prize of our salvation is just too wonderful for us not to take our stand on the truth of God!

How will we ever convince our children and grandchildren if we do not contend for our "faith" in the promises of God!

And why are we to take such a stance? Because there always those who work for the Devil who say there is more than one way to get to God's Heaven.

*****Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Over and over again, these men chosen and equipped by the Holy Spirit, have warned us that there are enemies inside the Church.

These are those who have not prepared themselves to preach the Gospel.

This does not mean those who have not attended seminaries or Bible College, because we know the greatest teacher of all is the Holy Spirit.

If these persons have not spent time with the Holy Spirit, then they can never teach us the things of God!

They cannot even have the Holy Spirit on their side, until they have accepted all the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as proclaimed in the true Scriptures!

They come speaking evil of the things of God.

They come ignoring the truth of the Gospel.

They come into cold churches claiming to have a new message of God.

They come into certain churches and teach a prosperity gospel which is not the true Gospel.

They come by mega churches refusing to take a stand on the truth of God and therefore allowing the world to dictate their message.

They come by deception twisting the Word of God into a lie.

They suddenly appear when the church has gotten weak and lost the power of the Holy Spirit!

They are wicked and ungodly people on their own agenda and on Satan's payroll!

It is these men and some women who the Church needs to take a stand against, and contend against them!

They reject the Lord Jesus Christ, even if they mention His name, therefore God has already judged them, and they are to have no part in the Church, and it is up to the Church to remove them or in the least to take a stand against them and cause them to leave!

They are already walking around in most every church waiting on their opportunity and many have reached the area of the pulpit or they have removed the pulpit!

Notice today there are not many pulpits because a pulpit is a reminder of the chosen man of God!

They are already in the classrooms of our children or the younger generation usually ignoring the older Church members.

Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

One man wrote, they have butter in their mouths, but they have swords in their heart!

One man wrote those who see the smoke, can put out the fire.

Those who hear the dog bark may not be bitten.

Those who hear the rattle of the snake may not be bitten.

Those who see their enemy can avoid him.

But those who are a secret enemy, are harder to stop before the damage has already been done!

They are without God.

They are without faith.

They are without Christianity.

They deny God.

They deny Jesus Christ, so when they open their mouths they can be seen and heard and make themselves known but they will do this in subtle ways that only those who study the Scriptures themselves will notice.

Php 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

Php 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

And in their teaching, they will turn the "Grace of God" into lasciviousness!

We see this in a certain presidential candidate today, who boldly claims he was created in God's image and there are many others, and no one stands up to them for fear of being called a bigot, or a racist or some other ugly name that is a lie itself!

We have been warned of these things throughout the Scriptures and guess what, false teachers are here and in full view!

They have crept into the Church, many of them even being ordained by other Pastors and Preachers they are so deceiving.

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

If we are good stewards of the "Grace of God" and the "truth of God", we will be able to stop these deceivers and save some of those who fall into their traps!

We must understand the truth of God!

*****Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

We must clearly understand that God has made every attempt to save every soul that has been alive since Jesus went back to Heaven, but we know that they must accept all the things of Christ!

We must also understand God loves everyone! God does many things in people’s lives that goes unnoticed every day!

There was no doubt that it was Jehovah God that intervened on behalf of the Hebrew children, that allowed them to escape from slavery in Egypt.

Every family had to kill a lamb and paint the entrances to their homes so their firstborn child would not be taken, and the death angel would pass over and they would remain safe.

They believed enough to do this thing, yet they refused to believe that God would keep them safe on their journey to the promise land.

God will judge unbelief!

God caused these children of Israel to wander in the desert for 40 years, until all unbelievers died off and were replaced by their children.

As Christians, we must not only receive the truth of God, we must retain the truth of God! In most cases it is called "repent" of our old life.

To repent is not only a complete change in our mind, but also a complete change in our actions and a complete change our lives!

In reality we must be "Born Again".

We must quit walking in the lies of this world, and walk in the truth of God!

We must retain the truths of God, until the day He takes us home!

Psa 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

What happened to Israel, will also happen to false teachers and those they deceive. They will never enter into the promise land though they may get close enough to see it!

God gives us another example. This time a Heavenly example.

*****Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Angels were created in spotless purity and they had only one commandment. Obedience.

Sounds familiar.

They were exalted to be able to spend all their time in Heaven. They had two jobs.

They had to praise the Lord.

They had to watch over the humans of this earth.

We know that because of Lucifer, who rebelled against Jehovah, one third of these mighty creatures followed him and are today reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto judgment day.

If God is willing to destroy these Heavenly creatures for the sin of disobedience, what makes us believe He will not do the same to us.

In fact more so, for God had greater plans for all of us who live upon this earth, but we to must first obey Him.

What happens when we reject the truth of God?

The Holy Spirit gives us one more example that should hit closer to home, because we see it play out before our eyes every day!

*****Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah should prove to us, that all such peoples and those that condone them are disobedient to the Word of God.

God destroys all disobedience and God expects His children to learn from these things and realize that those who preach a false gospel, will be treated exactly the same!

Jer 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

To walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, is to be blessed with a Heavenly home. To walk in disobedience is to be destroyed and spend eternity in a Burning Lake of Fire.

Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities that surrounded them, are a vivid example of how God will destroy this earth one day in the future because of disobedience and unbelief!

*****Jud 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Even when these evil men are asleep, they can think of nothing else but more wickedness.

They sleep in sin!

1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

1Th 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

They are deluded in their thought process and this is the way of the world we live in today!

Our own young people are deluded in their thought process, because the world has intended to influence the way they think.

Our grandchildren are deluded in their thought process and we may not have much time left to reach them with the truth!

They see their actions as good or at least ok compared to this world, but we are not to compare ourselves to this world we are to compare ourselves to Heavenly things!

Our young people do not sense the danger in the things they do, because the world says these things are ok.

They despise authority!

These false teachers are no different. They despise the authority of a Holy God to dictate their life and their demise, and they choose to teach their own thoughts jeopardizing all the children of God!

They speak evil of those who try to worship the way God has approved which is in Spirit and in Truth!

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

How often should the Lord remind us of these things?

*****Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

What do we know? We know that since Lucifer rebelled and was kicked out of Heaven, he and one third of the angels are the enemies of God, and since they are the enemies of God, they are then the enemies of Michael and Gabriel and all the remaining angels.

The one thing God's angels will never do, they will never bring accusations against anybody because it is God who brings "Judgment"!

We do know that Lucifer is just the opposite. In fact one of his names is "the accuser"!

Rev_12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for "the accuser" of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Michael would never have even blinked had Lucifer been standing in front of him and said this.

It is a fact that the body of Moses was buried where no one but God knew the location, and again Michael would never have even blinked had Lucifer made an attempt to find the place where he was buried.

Deu 34:6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

Lucifer would have had great fun trying to get the tribes of Israel to worship the dead body of Moses and not Jehovah, but in the end, this is only a Jewish tradition and not facts of this Scripture.

We should understand this Scripture just as it is written!

There is a spirit world around us at all times and the angels of God are protecting God's people, and they will never allow Satan to get the upper hand to cause God's children to lose their salvation, but we should know that Satan would love to ruin our reputation and out testimony for the Lord.

Heb 1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Heb 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

We do not have to worry about what Michael will do, because he will do exactly what Jehovah tells him to do and Lucifer is already doomed to the Burning Lake of Fire and he knows it!

We should understand evil speaking is also sin and the angels of the Lord will never speak evil of anyone, even other angels, even though they may quote Scripture to anyone.

Railing against anyone is a sin!

Satan and his followers, his demons, will rail against any and every believer but God angels will never do this!

In the end what do false teachers do? They speak evil of things they know nothing about! They cannot know the truth of Scripture without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

*****Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

They go the way of all unbelievers! The sad part of this is, that having been in a Bible believing church, where they will have heard the truth and simply rejected the truth.

All throughout our education we see that we have 7 senses and these senses can only learn from this natural world we live in.

The Bible is a Spiritual Book, that can only be understood with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit(Ghost)!

Forget evolution! The animal world which includes these "brute beast" have these same senses, they just do not have the brain power and the understanding God gave to His greatest creation, the humans.

None of these can understand Spiritual things, except those humans who by Jesus Christ, and only by Jesus Christ, have the Holy Spirit living within them, in fact the entire Holy Trinity living within us!

All those who depend upon the things of the world, will only see corruption because they will corrupt themselves!

Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

What does the Holy Spirit say about them? Woe unto them! A woe from God is a curse from God!

*****Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

In reality, a false teacher is a "murderer" for they will try their best to deny as many as they can of the truth of Heaven.

Licentiousness is a word not seen very much today, but it is the excessive indulgence of human liberty, liberty God has not given to us.

God never intended for us to live as we please and do whatever comes into our minds!

Licentiousness is the god of fools!

They live in a world where there is no answer to their sin and they do not care, because they aren't seeking an answer!

They reject that there is a Hell so there can be no Heaven either!

False teachers do not believe God so, they teach that there is no need to worship Him!

False teachers do not have the knowledge of God's love, so they cannot know love!

False teachers will be destroyed because they are doomed to an eternity of grief and judgment, (woe)!

Cain did not have a real sense of God's care, so he envied his brother enough to kill him, simply because God rejected his offering and offered him a chance to repent which he refused.

Balaam was the example of true false teacher. He wanted God's blessing, but he wanted to be paid before he would attempt tell the truth of God. We know Balaam died by the sword of the people he had refused to bless.

Core knew where Moses had gotten his authority. Core knew God's ordinances and God's sanctions and knew he need only obey, yet he became a gainsayer. A gainsayer is someone who contradicts or denies and opposes someone of authority.

Num 16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

Num 16:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

False teachers are just those who decide to rebel against the authority of God!

Those who listen to false teaching. Listen to the Apostle Paul.

Act 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

Act 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

Act 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

Act 28:29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.

Act 28:30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,

Act 28:31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

False teachers are spots and blemishes in the cause of Christ Jesus!

*****Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

These preachers and teachers have crept into the Church not having the "Spiritual" qualifications to be in these positions.

They will pervert the Gospel to evil ends.

They turn the "Grace" of God into lasciviousness(liberal wantonness, shameful conduct) the proof being, that we can see it happening in all mainline denominations!

They deny the simplest of things of essential doctrine! Denying our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ!

Spots can be seen as an interpretation of submerged rocks, which are the sea going vessels worst fear and usually prove to be fatal.

Those “feast of charity” were the gatherings of the early church, where the rich who would bring much and the poor would bring little, but they could all fellowship in one place and in one accord, but a false teacher would take advantage of the situation to cause division.

These false teachers will take part in the meal and feed themselves with no fear of God, because they do not know Him!

In reality the fellowship of believers is always to be "Spiritual" with godly love, joy and peace being at the forefront, all centered around Jesus Christ.

We simply cannot all anyone to interfere with the fellowship of God's people, because they are causing harm to God's children!

These people must be rejected!

They are like that cloud that the farmer has been praying for, but just passes on over without one drop of lifegiving rain.

They are like fruit trees that blossom so beautifully, but do not provide any fruit.

A false teacher may offer hope, security, and fulness of life, but his message will always be unstable and empty of the truth and leave those that hear him or her, hopeless!

False teachers are like the raging waves of the Seas that only stir up mire and dirt!

Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

Isa 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

Isa 57:21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

All false teachers are doomed to the Burning Lake of Fire!

They will be judged by the One they hate the most who is the Lord Jesus Christ!

They will wander in the blackness of darkness throughout eternity!

We need to be sure, that those who teach and preach in the Church are first saved and that their message follows the complete Word of God!

It is Jude who tells us somethings about Enoch.

*****Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

Jud 1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

This is that same Enoch who walk with God right on up into Heaven.

Gen 5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

Gen 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

Gen 5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

Gen 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

How did Enoch get to walk on up into Heaven? By faith in the truth of God!

Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Now some would say where did Jude get His information?

Some would say well there is an old Book of Enoch that is not included in our Bible.

The truth is, we have the complete and perfect Word of God! If there is an old Book of Enoch it was written much later than the Book of Jude!

We already have the truth all we need do is just accept it.

It was the Holy Spirit who decided what Scriptures would be placed in the Bible we have today, at least in the KJV Bible which is one of the very few Bibles that were written according to the Received Text, the Textus Receptus.

There are no lost books of the Bible. The Books of the Apocrypha may be of use for some history, but they are not any part of the Holy Ghost Inspired Word of God!

Enoch prophesied of the Lord returning to execute judgment upon all false teachers, all those who followed them, and all those who reject our Savior.

What is the truth of those who reject the truth of God?

*****Jud 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

They are people planted by Satan to cause confusion in the Church!

They are people planted by Satan to cause disturbance in the Church!

They are people planted to cause division in the Church and all we need do is look at most all the mainline denominations and we can see these things happening right now in our lifetime!

They are faultfinders!

They are insinuators!

They are liberal minded!

They are pretenders!

They are dissemblers!

These are all Luciferians!

Amen

Let's Pray!

Sin Enslaves Us Then Destroys Us

The Sin That Brought Destruction

Jeremiah 13: 1-15

What is pride? Pride is said to be inordinate and unreasonable self-esteem, attended with insolence and rude treatment of others.

Pride then is sin because we are to love others as we love ourselves and pride is looking down on others making yourself to be better and greater than them.

Pride is the first sin that occurred because it was Lucifer who committed the first sin and not Adam! Adam committed the second recorded sin

Eze 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Another thing we should consider in this lesson is , what is the Jewish girdle in the day of Jeremiah?

In the days of Jeremiah, the people of Judah wore loose fitting robes and much like we use a belt, the girdle would keep the robe close to the body.

It is our own "faith" that serves as our girdle to keep us close to God!

Verse 1

*****Jer 13:1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.

Jer 13:2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.

The linen girdle would be those that were appointed for the priests to wear.

Most others would wear a girdle of wool with the military wearing a girdle of leather.

We know that John the Baptist wore a girdle of leather because he symbolized a soldier in God's Army!

Jeremiah was first instructed to get a new linen girdle and wear it for some time without washing it. In fact, Jeremiah was to wear this linen girdle long enough for the people to notice that he had not washed it and it became filthy.

God used all His prophets to teach His people in many ways.

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

It will be obvious before we finish this passage that this girdle will symbolize the character of the people of Judah during this age of Jeremiah.

We must know by now that God offers us the "free will" to choose based on the information that we have. By choosing idols instead of the truth of God they had buried themselves in the ways of a foreign land, so the Lord would soon place them under the control an evil nation.

They had become so corrupted that they were good for nothing!

It is these lessons that we must understand, these are great examples of the way God deals with the sin of a nation that claims to obey the Lord, such as we say we do here in America.

*****Jer 13:3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,

Jer 13:4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

First, God has made all those who call upon His name to be very near to Him.

Many debate the mention of the River Euphrates here but we know that it was Babylon who captured Judah, so we have no need to question the Word of God, even though this river was at least 2500 miles from Judah!

Jeremiah was used of God and Nebuchadnezzar was used of God and this King of Babylon understood these things.

Jer 39:11 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

Jer 39:12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

The Euphrates River represented the power of the nations North of the land God gave to Israel, just as the River Nile represented the power of Egypt.

We could say that the Prophet Isaiah also prophesied of this time of Judah.

Isa 8:7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

Isa 8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

The one thing we should understand is, it did not matter what Judah was doing, Jeremiah was to trust and obey the Lord!

We must understand, no matter what is happening in our world, we are to obey the Word of God at all times. Jehovah was not suggesting for Jeremiah to do these things. Jeremiah understood these words to be the commands of God!

The Word of God is not a book of suggestions as many believe. It is a Book of the Commands of God!

*****Jer 13:5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

Jer 13:6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.

We should understand that the Jews took great pride in their religious heritage but at this point in history, they had become useless to Jehovah!

The downfall of Judah had not happened over night because this is not the way Satan works. Satan will draw you away from the Lord one little step at a time until he has you within his grasp.

Even today we know that Satan cannot take us out of the hands of the Lord, but he can sure ruin a good testimony!

The nation of Judah had become worthless to the Lord. The Lord expects us all to be witnesses of the Gospel and Judah was also to be a witness for the truth of God, but they had rejected that truth again at this time.

Without this nation repenting of their wrong, they had bound the hands of God to come to their defense because the Lord cannot defend evil nor cause a blemish to His Sinless Name!

We cannot live in any manner we want to and expect the Lord to come to our defense, it simply will not happen!

When we bind the hands of God to do good, then we must realize that God must chastise us to get us back on track!

We must never stray from the truth of God, to become of no more use than a rotten belt which can no longer do what it was intended to do!

What lesson did Jeremiah learn, and Judah would soon learn?

*****Jer 13:7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.

We must understand that when we invite the Lord Jesus Christ into our heart and He then fills us with His Holy Spirit, so we can worship Him in Spirit and in truth but then He gives us all a job to do.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When we can no longer do that job because of our sin, we have become marred and useless in this work God has given us to do!

It had to be humiliating to Judah when Jeremiah preached this lesson comparing Judah to a rotten girdle!

*****Jer 13:8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Jer 13:9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

1) When we accept the Lord Jesus into our heart then we have mended that broken relationship caused by the sin of Adam.

We must realize that the sin of Eve came from a lack of knowledge, but Adam's sin was intentional, and he had broken his relationship with the Lord God Jehovah. God will wear His children as a girdle but also as a badge to show the world how proud He is of His children.

2) Jeremiah wore a linen girdle which meant that he was a priest who was bound to God. As Christians we are also to be priests.

1Pe_2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

3) Just as those in the day of Jeremiah would gird up their loins so they could work, then we are to gird up the loins of our mind to be of use to our Master.

1Pe_1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

4) Again, the girdle of a priest was worn as an ornament or a badge and we are to wear the badge of Christ, unashamedly!

Rom_13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Gal_3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

We must never be ashamed of the Lord and we must never claim the Lord and then intentionally sin!

*****Jer 13:10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.

These Jews of Judah had now become firmly attached to man-made idols and they stubbornly refused to admit that they were wrong.

To the Lord they had become worthless in the work of the Lord and the Lord said that they were an evil people.

The Scriptures teach us that there is a sin unto death and I believe that this sin can become real when we destroy our fellowship with the Living God, Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

When we have refused to have fellowship with the True God of all Creation, we have placed ourselves on treacherous ground from which we will never recover!

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;

Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

These Jews had begun to walk as the Gentiles walked, in the vanity of their mind.

The Lord explains these things very well in verse 11.

*****Jer 13:11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

When we reject the Lord Jesus Christ, as these Jews have rejected Jehovah(both are one and the same) they had destroyed their only reason for living.

God had preserved this nation of Israel to preserve and bring the Word of God into the future and this would certainly happen, but these people were not a part of this very important job!

Nothing we do can hinder the work of God! When we reject Him we either lose rewards that we could have had, or we will spend eternity in a Burning Hell. Yes, Hell does exist!

Only a righteous life can bring triumph over the trials and temptations of this world! Just so we know the truth, we have no righteousness ourselves we live or die by having the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Isa 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Isa 11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Next, we see that word therefore.

*****Jer 13:12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?

Jer 13:13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

To understand this passage, we must understand from verses 1-11 that the people of Judah had become worthless to the Lord.

Now a wineskin has only one purpose and can be used only one time. Their purpose was to be filled with wine (or grape juice)!

God had forbidden drunkenness for the children of Israel and they knew this thing.

Isa 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

Isa 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

Isa 5:13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

Isa 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

These children of Judah were not only represented by that worthless linen girdle, but they were also represented by these wineskins which were to be filled with the abominations of this world that were forbidden for the Jews and for the Christians.

We are to be filled with the righteousness of the Lord and nothing from this world!

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

These are the things that had filled the children of Judah. These are the things that fill every sinner!

Jas_1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

This is the formula for becoming worthless in the army of God, in fact, a traitor and deserter!

How did Christ Jesus put it?

Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

These things will always be true in this world!

What is the truth of what the Lord is saying?

*****Jer 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

Jer 13:15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

The most important thing we can do as Christians is to pay attention to what the Lord is saying and then obey Him!

We already understand that the Lord does not ever change. The Lord will be just as true in His wrath as He is in His Mercy!

It is the will of God that everyone be saved but He promises His wrath to those who reject His love!

We live in a world where it seems that love and natural affection have disappeared, but the Lord has and endless supply of Love, mercy, and Grace and these are the things that we better hear.

The Word of God is very clear, we are to be filled with the God the Holy Spirit who will lead us to God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Sin enslaves the flesh just as all alcoholic beverages do, along with all drugs. Those who are slaves to these abominations of this world, will never know just how wonderful it is to be in the family of God!

1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Come to Jesus Christ who has paid the price of our freedom!

Without Jesus Christ we are just stumbling around in this dark world!

Amen

Let’s Pray!