Abundant Counselors Part Three

Sermon January 30

Abundant Counselors 3

Fixating on Jesus

 

Today we continue our series regarding the ongoing, deadly spiritual war raging around us. Scripture warns us so often about that supernatural battle, that for us to close our eyes to it is to do nothing less than INVITE disaster into our lives and our homes.

 

Proverbs 24:6 continues as our foundational verse for this series of God’s Counselors: “For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.” (Proverbs 24:6)

 

So, in this series of messages we will be acknowledging the irreplaceable value of the Biblical counselors to guide us through the maze of minefields planted by the enemy of our souls to destroy us.

 

We looked earlier at what counselor Moses can teach us about God’s sovereignty over all created things – including governments and nations and individuals. That also means God is sovereign over Satan and his followers – both spiritual and human. We spent time last week focusing on the lie Satan has deftly perpetrated through his witting and unwitting tools who stand behind pulpits seducing God’s children to question the inerrancy and the usefulness of ALL the Scriptures – Old Testament and New.

 

Today we go back to counselor Moses, but we will not stay with Moses because it is in the ABUNDANCE of counselors that there is victory. We must not, therefore, take the counsel of Moses in isolation from that of, for example, Paul, or Ezekiel, or Amos, or David, or Peter – and so on. To take any of the Biblical counselors in isolation from each other is to take them out of context with the rest of God’s inspired word. That is why we look at the WHOLE of scripture in context because a text out of context is a pretext for error.

Our primary text for today is the counsel of Moses from Deuteronomy 6, just before they were to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land:

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4ff)

 

This is very important counsel which the Holy Spirit gives Israel through Moses – and, because God’s word is eternal, it’s important counsel for us as well.

 

So, let’s look again at verses 4 and 5: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

 

A reasonable question for Moses at this point might be, “Why state what would seem the obvious to God’s chosen people?”  Of course, they believed in the God of the universe who created all that is seen and unseen.

 

Or – did they?

 

Well, no, they all did not. And therein lies the direct application to you and me today.

 

If all Israel HAD believed in the One God, then the Holy Spirit would not have had to instruct them to this truth as they left Egypt. Remember, by this point Israel had lived and worked and interacted with – probably also intermarried with – their pagan neighbors for multiple generations – just as many today – even in the Church – have lived and worked and interacted with and intermarried with our pagan neighbors for generations.

 

And – and this is important – as ALWAYS happens, when we live and work and interact with people who have little or no interest in the one true God, bad company always corrupts good morals. That principle is not my idea. It comes straight from scripture. Many of you can recite chapters and verses that command us to steer clear of involvements with the godless cultures around us.

 

So, that is why Moses counseled Israel just before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land: “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from you, and destroy all their idolatrous sculptures, destroy all their cast metal images, and eliminate all their high places . . . But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from you, then it will come about that those whom you let remain of them will be like thorns in your eyes and like pricks in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.’” (Numbers 33:51-52, 55).

 

Even after the nation crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, Joshua had to warn them with this counsel: “Now then, do away with the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” (Joshua 24:23)

 

Did you catch that? During their 40-year trek through the wilderness, Israel STILL carried with them their Egyptian idols. And so, at the outset of their exodus from slavery, the God of the universe had to tell them – Hear, O Israel! The Lord your God is One!”

 

What is the application for us? I am sure you can extrapolate to the 21^st century the counsels of Moses and Joshua, as well as the rest of the Old and New Testament writers: We must be ever vigilant – vigilant because we are so easily self-deceived – we must be ever vigilant to not make for ourselves gods to replace the true God of heaven and earth and who is our creator. Not family, not friends, not wealth, not health, not anything above our God.

 

Now let’s look at the rest of today’s text: “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

 

Do you want to be victorious in the battle? Do you want your children and grandchildren to be victorious in the battle? Christians know the Bible’s teaching of faith and morals transcends time and nationality and culture. Therefore, Moses not only infallibly counseled Israel about living for God, but he also infallibly counsels the Church today how to live for God.

 

Why does God direct us through Moses to keep our love for Him in our hearts? Why must we teach God’s laws ‘diligently’ to our children? Why bind them on our hand and forehead and place them on our doorposts?

 

We only need to open our eyes and ears to what’s happening every DAY to our children and grandchildren for that answer. If WE don’t teach them about God, then the culture will. And we all know what happens to children when the culture teaches them about godly faith and morals.

 

Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.” And that spiritual principle was not lost on the satanic inspired Vladimir Lenin. It was he who said, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”

 

Now, I realize it is no longer plausible – if not impossible – for most of us to teach our children any longer. They’ve already grown up and left home. Many have married and have children of their own. And to the sorrow of many of you, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren live too far away to have any consistent involvement in their lives. And worse still, some of you have children who do not want you to tell your grandchildren anything about Jesus.

 

But – and this is an important point – and I say it now to be an encouragement to you – no one can keep you from praying for your grandchildren and for your children. Remember, our battle is NOT with flesh and blood. It is with evil, malevolent, and malignant supernatural forces. If it has been a while since you have read that sixth chapter in Ephesians where Paul speaks of our spiritual armor, I hope you will do so again, and soon. The culture may be influencing your grandchildren at this moment, and it may have influenced your children when they lived at home – but God is still very able to prove Aristotle and Vladimir Lenin both wrong.

 

So, Pray.

 

Moses continued: You shall bind them [God’s words] as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

 

In other words, Moses counseled Israel and he counsels us to keep our heart fixed on Jesus. Keep our heart focused on Jesus. We will NEVER be victorious in this battle if we focus on the darkness around us – and there is plenty of that. We will NOT be victorious if we focus on the unanswered prayers in our lives; If we focus on the storms in our lives; If we focus on the challenges and the disappointments and the problems of our lives. We can only be victorious if we focus on the One who alone deserves our undivided focus.

 

Many of you are familiar with the song, ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus’: O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free!  Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. . .”

In his letter to the Christians at Colossae, St Paul counseled them – and EVERY Christian today: Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

That’s God’s promise: If we have died with Christ and our life is hidden with Christ then when He is revealed at that later time, WE ALSO will be revealed with Him in glory.

That is why Paul continues his counsel to those Christians what it means to focus on Christ, to fixate on the Savior: “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry . . . But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices . . .

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you . . . .” (Colossians 3:5-16)

Paul speaks here with laser-like precision to the reason Moses counseled Israel to wear God’s words on their hand and on their foreheads: That is, focus attention during the day on Christ.

 

Do you and I want to be victorious? Fixate on Jesus. One of the ways I try to do that is by setting my phone alarm to remind me through the day to stop what I am doing for a moment or two and, for example, pray for someone on my heart, or to recite back to God a scripture verse – like a portion from Psalm 23 – and ask Him to make that verse true in my life. Those are only two examples. There is no end to the things we can do to help us focus – however briefly – on God throughout the day.

 

Do you and I want to be victorious? Stay fixed on God’s word. We simply cannot be victorious without the nurture of God’s word in our souls. For those able to read the Bible, and those who can listen to Biblically accurate teaching and preaching on radio, television, or on your phone app – I beg you to excel still more. THAT’S how we fixate on Jesus.

 

I know I circle back again and again to this point, but as your pastor and teacher the Holy Spirit impels me to do so. There is no other way to be successful in this raging battle, and Satan knows it. That is why he tries to dilute our sense of urgency to read it and study it, for he knows that if he can seduce us into minimizing the importance of God’s word in our life, then we enter the daily battles with dulled and blunted swords.

 

Oh, Holy Spirit! Impassion us to listen to the biblical counselors you have given us. And please, impassion us to fall in love with your Word.

 

What About the Next Time?

 

Our Bichon pup is nearly eight months old. Frenchie has many cute traits, but separation anxiety is not one of them. Nancy and I can’t leave the house for more than a few moments before he begins barking and shrieking at the top of his lungs.

Among the several things we are doing to help him overcome his anxiety, I often take him on local shopping trips and leave him locked safely in the car while I run into the store for the few items I need. Each time I close the door behind me I tell him, “It’s okay, Frenchie. I’ll be right back.”

That doesn’t help.

When I return with my bags a few minutes later, Frenchie is still barking and shrieking in the car.

Last week I needed to make three stops. And each time I closed the door I told him the same thing: “It’s okay, Frenchie. I’ll be back soon.” And each time I returned to the car, there he was, was barking and screeching.

As I slipped the seat belt around my shoulder after the last trip, I said to Frenchie: “See? Didn’t I tell you I’d be back?” He looked up at me and I could almost hear him respond, “Yeah, but what about the next time?”

And immediately, the Holy Spirit connected the dots.

Has not Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”? Has He not promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you”?

It would take much longer than you’d want to read about how often the Lord has calmed the winds and the waves as they swept over my life. And oh! Some of them were howling gales.

How often did He calm them? Every time.

So then why is it that when I face new winds and waves that I so often forget how often the Lord was there for me in the past? Why is it that I so often think to myself: “Yeah, but what about next time”?

Yeah. But what about next time?

Lord, I really am sorry.

Abundant Counselors - part two

 

Today we continue our series regarding the ongoing, deadly spiritual war raging around us. Scripture warns us so often about that supernatural battle, that for us to close our eyes to it is to do nothing less than INVITE disaster into our lives and our homes.

 

Last week I introduced us to the series with a text from the book of Proverbs. That text forms the foundation for these messages: “For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.” (Proverbs 24:6)

 

And so, I asked the rhetorical question last week, “Where then can we find this wise guidance with which to wage war? And where can we find counselors to advise us in those battles?”  The answer, of course, is in God’s word and only in God’s word.

 

I also said last week that Satan didn’t tempt Adam and Eve to murder, steal, or cheat. He tempted them to question the word of God. His tactics haven’t changed. God’s word, and God’s word alone, provides us the SUPERNATURAL ammunition and the supernatural guidance and the supernatural counsel utterly necessary to successfully engage in this supernatural battle against the supernatural enemy.

 

I hope you noticed how often I repeated the word, ‘supernatural.” I did so because we cannot battle with our natural flesh and abilities the supernatural enemy.

 

That’s why the psalmist counseled us toward God’s supernatural counselors: “Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors. (Psalm 119:23b-24) That’s why the Lord tells us again and again, His word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (see Psalm 119:105); And we must ever keep before us the words of Jesus who said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12).

God has given us multiple infallible counselors to offer us guidance through the battles we face. We can find those counselors living between the covers of the Bible. Last week we looked at what counselor Moses has to say to us in that first chapter of Genesis to help us in our supernatural battle. What he said about God’s sovereignty is a critical part of the Christian’s supernatural armor and weaponry.

Today I want to look again at counselor Moses and the warfare strategy he gives us. This time we move to the book of Exodus. Many of you will recognize this text from chapter 20 of that book:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

 

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

 

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:2-17)

 

Since the psalmist counsels that God’s word is a light to our path (Psalm 119:105), and the apostle Paul counseled that the sword of the spirit is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17), then we should pay attention to what God’s counselors tell us and ignore what false teachers tell us, especially when they try to persuade us with their demonic theology such as how we must unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament. They tell us to do that because (they say) the law of the Old Testament has been superseded by the New.

 

For example, a megachurch pastor in Georgia said of the Old Testament, specifically about the Ten Commandments:

 

“The old covenant law of Moses was not the go-to source regarding sexual behavior for the church. More importantly . . . the Law and the Prophets as they called it — was not gonna [sic] be the go-to source regarding any behavior for the church . . . “In other words  . . . You are not accountable to the Ten Commandments.” https://thingsabove.us/andy-stanley-unhitch-old-testament/

 

He added: Jesus’ new covenant . . . does not need propping up by the Jewish scriptures. https://answersingenesis.org/christianity/andy-stanley-says-we-need-to-unhitch-the-old-testament-from-our-faith/

 

Now my point is not to discuss what sounds like this pastor’s resurrecting the ancient heresies of Marcionism – which negated the Old Testament and the Old Testament God – and Antinomianism – which takes the principle of salvation by grace through faith to the extreme point of proclaiming that Christians are not bound to follow the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments.

 

Listen, please. THAT is absolutely false teaching. And do not doubt for a moment that Satan uses that lie to weaken Christians for the battles we face. After all, if we unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament scriptures, we also unhitch ourselves from the multiple INFALLIBLE counselors God gave us in those Old Testament scriptures.

 

Remember, Satan did not tempt Adam and Eve to murder or steal or cheat. He tempted them to doubt God’s word.

 

The New Testament did not abrogate or do away with the Ten Commandments. When Jesus said all the law and the prophets rest on the two commandments of ‘love God’ and ‘love your neighbor,’ in Matthew 22:36-40, His listeners could not understand what that means if they tossed aside the Ten Commandments. And neither can we understand Jesus’ remarks if we get rid of the Ten Commandments.

 

The first four commandments of the Decalogue deal with our relationship with God – how to demonstrate our love for Him. The last six commandments define how to demonstrate our love for our neighbor.

When anyone tells us we do not need to follow the Old Testament teaching about faith and morals, they are spewing a lie straight from hell. When St Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16, said “all Scripture is inspired by God,” he was speaking specifically of the Old Testament. Without the moral teaching embedded throughout the Old Testament scriptures, warnings such as this next text by Paul to the Christians in Ephesus would give the Christians there no reference point to determine moral lifestyles:

 

“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints . . . For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (Ephesians 5:3-5)

 

That is why the apostle added in the next verse this warning – not only to the Christians in Ephesus, but also to Christians in Georgia and every-where else in our world: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 5:6)

 

In this spiritual battle against a supernatural enemy, we strip ourselves of our defensive and offensive weapons when we dismiss the Old Testament counselors from informing our lifestyle in the Church age. That’s why Satan raises up teachers who teach that kind of hellish theology – so as to weaken our defenses.

 

No one – including that megachurch pastor – no one can fully understand the theology of the New Testament without first understanding the theology of the Old. It was St Augustine of Hippo – certainly one of the more brilliant theologians in the entire history of the Church – who said the Old Testament is revealed in the New, and the New Testament is concealed in the Old.

 

Even a cursory study of the Bible demonstrates that truth again and again. For example, how can we know what it means that Jesus is a ‘propitiation for our sins’ in places such as Romans 3 and Hebrews 2 if we did not know about the propitiatory sacrifices of the Old Testament?

If we unhitched ourselves from the Old Testament, we could not know what the writer of the book of Hebrews meant when he calls Jesus our high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Without counselors such as Moses and King David, we would not know the role of the Levitical priests, and the reference to Melchizedek. In fact, if we knew nothing of Melchizedek from the Old Testament, then the entire 7^th chapter of Hebrews would be unintelligible.

Speaking of the Old Testament moral laws, listen to the counsel from the psalmist in psalm 119: “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies . . . How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; Teach me Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:1-12)

 

Here also is Jesus in Matthew’s gospel: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)

 

When Jesus met His two disciples along the road to Emmaus, counselor Luke tells us Jesus said to them: “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:25-27)

 

I hope you can see how critical to our defense in the supernatural battle is our knowledge of the Old Testament – and not just our knowledge of it, but also our obedience to its teachings of morals and faith

 

One reason, I am sure, Satan wants Christians to disregard the Ten Commandments under the pretext that it no longer applies to us in the Church era – one reason is that in those Commandments, Moses gives us important guidance in this battle for our souls. I hope you will take the time to reread the Ten Commandments later today and spend time thinking about how those timeless truths apply to you in the 21^st century.

 

So, for the remainder of today’s message, let’s look today only at a couple of those commandments. First, Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”

 

Jesus repeats this commandment about idolatry in different words to His disciples: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37-38)

 

St James defines idolatry as giving homage to anything or anyone above the homage due only to God: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? (James 4:4-5)

 

And in his letter to the Christians at Colossae, St. Paul counsels us about covetousness, which is a form of idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Jesus said essentially the same thing in Matthew chapter 6, “You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).

 

So, let’s stop a moment and make some application of the Ten Commandments to ourselves in the 21^st century. As for the first commandment, do I really love God above all things, or have I put other things like family, money, friends, and entertainment ahead of Him?

 

Do I make time for God each day in prayer? Have I endangered my faith by reading horoscopes or watching movies and television programs that are opposed to godly faith and morals? Am I whole-hearted in following God’s teaching or do I pick and choose the convenient parts of His message? Have I tried to learn and understand my faith better? Have I been willing to defend and practice my faith in public and not just in private?

 

These are serious questions and our answers help reveal to us our love for God above all else. We can expect to be unsuccessful in this supernatural warfare if God is not the primary love of our life.

 

And then what about the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”? (The Hebrew is better translated, “Thou shalt not murder”). Do I harbor an unforgiving spirit toward someone? Do I support so-called ‘mercy killing’ and abortion or infanticide by voting and supporting politicians and organizations which promote those evils?

 

And what about the commandment about bearing false witness?  Do I make a practice of lying? Do I participate in uncharitable talk or gossip? Do I faithfully keep secrets, or what others tell me in confidence?

 

God has given us counselors – INFALLIBLE counselors to guide us through the minefields planted by the enemy of our souls. From Moses to John the apostle, and the dozens and dozens of counselors in between the pages of Scripture, if we throw out Moses and the prophets, we doom ourselves to disaster in this supernatural battle.

 

Do not listen to false teachers – regardless of their popularity, their title, or their academic degrees. The Pharisees and Sadducees of the first century were well-educated in their seminaries. And what did Jesus say of them? He told His disciples to ‘beware’ of their teaching (Matthew 16:12).

 

God has given us infallible counselors in both Testaments, counselors who have very much to teach us regarding faith and morals – instructions that transcend time and culture. Do not dismiss any teachers and guides whom God has given us for the battle.

 

We will continue our series about our counselors next time.