THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
NOT THE TEN SUGGESTIONS:
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:1-21
Thus saith the LORD!
Jesus tells us in the book of Matthew, chapter twenty-four, these things: many will come in His name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. There will be wars and rumors of wars, but the disciples then and we now are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nations are rising up nations, and kingdom against kingdom. There are famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pangs.
In this day in age all these things are happening at once and this is one way we know we are in birth pangs…
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21:36
Escape all these things…
How?!
Watch!
Pray! – to be counted worthy!
There ARE signs in the sun, moon and stars! Many people ARE in anguish and perplexity! Each time I see my American flag flying I pause and think of how many times (in these end times) it is flying at Half-Staff to honor honorable men and women who wrongly have been murdered: not a rarity anymore, rather a regular occurrence. People are mass murdering like never before (and then they murder themselves, allowing for no human punishment! BUT GOD is the ultimate judge anyway!) Some people die from terrors going on around their environment and in the world or just happening in their own life situations, dropping dead of heart attacks brought on by anxiety – also known as – not trusting God…
Selah.
This is the point of my “JOY STORY” tonight… The Ten Commandments were given to Moses from God; and with these very protective oracles, Moses comforted his people, telling them not to be afraid for God has come to test them so they would have a reverential fear of Him, a fear very necessary in order to help keep them from sinning.
All God does is holy, holy, holy.
And yet to this day, even with all the ways and means to learn about true love, the vast majority of people not only keep sinning – but they test God, they tolerate His enemies and their false gods (trying to get along with the evil empire.) They compromise. Thou shall not!
Selah.
What part of “You shall not…” is open for debate or compromise? The obvious, true answer is: “None!”
My next coming book: DONATING PLASMA… A DEMANDING CHALLENGE IN HONESTY deals with Adam and Eve very well.
As I speak of thou shall not compromise, I now present you with encounters with four different American men.
Recently, my first example is of a very nice, older man discussing the forbidden fruit with me. This very pleasant and kind man speaking on the subject of Adam’s rebellion said something to the effect: “It had to be more than that, eating the fruit.” It had to be… No, it didn’t! For God said:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:15-17
God said: you must not; for when you do… you will certainly die. There is nothing more to it. God commanded. God warned. God acted. He kept His word: He always does! Alleluia! How foolish this older man was for believing God did not say enough.
Again, recently another conversation with a different man – but the same kind of man – kind, pleasant, caring. He was telling me about a book he was reading, not knowing anything about the author (beware) — and the crux of this analysis might be the primary conclusion is: “We can just step back, think and agree to disagree.”
WRONG. WRONG! WRONG!!
Why?
To the Christian the answer is obvious: Jesus Christ is the only way, no one comes to the Father except through Him! Beloved, the Creator of all things has warned those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth to live at peace as far as it is possible with all people. To live at peace, as far as it is possible. He knows it is not possible, that is, totally possible. Thus, this is why He warns us again:
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
How many times have I warned you in my writings to believe God, to put Him first as your first love? Paul tells us: … have nothing to do with such people. Why? You cannot live at peace with everyone. Christians are blessed to be a blessing – but – Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man, coming King, great
I AM, tells us to have nothing to do with a wicked lifestyle, to warn a person and then have nothing to do with them. This is Christ-like.
Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
Titus 3:10-11
Obviously, this kind man was reading a book that taught ‘sweet’ lies: something that seems pleasant and good, but it is like the deception satan contrived and baited Eve with. All beliefs which are true must be founded on the Bible:
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:14-17
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
1 Thessalonians 2:13
Jesus warns us about false preachers, teacher and… false disciples.
Wheat and tare grow together… (To those unaware, this speaks of believers – wheat – are mixed together with unbelievers – tare.) That is why you WILL find ugly acting people in churches, they are tare…
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
Matthew 13:24-30
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
John 15:18-25
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 7:21-23
Now I speak of a third nice man who claims Christianity. Friends: we must not just claim Christianity – we must be it! What was this young man’s horrendous theology? I am telling you I was shocked, and thankfully so! Now, I want to tell you he has always been kind to me, pleasant, has talked about his love for God and man: and yet… Apparently, he was having a struggle in life. (Big deal! Don’t we all! Didn’t Paul, Mary, John and every sold-out saint have challenges to the extreme?! Yes, of course!) God has the answers and all this young man had to do was search, find and believe!
Selah!
Again, I am truly thankfully blessed that his theology shocked me! He said sometimes (and believe me, once is enough!) he had a hard time trusting God! Imagine: a man who claims Christ, who knows the blood of Jesus took away his sin, healed him, made him a new creation – the old man died, the new came into being… A man claiming Christ as his Savior and Lord… How can he make such a statement? “I have a hard time trusting God.” Ridiculous!
He and I are speaking about the same God: the only True and Living God.
THE:
- Creator
- Ancient of Days
- Alpha and Omega
- Father
- Son
- Holy Spirit
- I AM
- Author of Life
- Prince of Peace
- Redeemer
- Lamb of God
- Good Shepherd
- Lion of the tribe of Judah
- Trinity
And the list goes one. How could one ask such a question? Compromise! Compromise with the world, the flesh and the devil. Compromise. This precious young man, on this certain day, was not meditating on I AM nor on His promises! Our flesh must be crucified, our spirits, souls and bodies must be fed with the Bread of Heaven and we must continually feast on the goodness of God and His Word…
My last man in point: this man is one I’ve personally ministered to intensely. This one was arguing the Scriptures with me and did not want to accept God’s decision:
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Hebrews 6:4-6
Apostasy: it is real. It is unforgivable. It is here…
Apostasy is the purposeful act of Christians (yes, Christians) who choose to reject revealed truth as to the Deity of Jesus Christ and redemption through His atoning and redeeming sacrifice. I, for one, will not compromise my love of God. I, for one, will not allow anyone to get me to debate Scriptures. Apostasy is a done deal! It is real and it is a real danger to those who are willing to get along with man, rather than being a friend of God!
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
2 Peter 2:1-19
See here people: we share in Christ’s salvation only as long as we choose to stay in Christ!
We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly til the end the confidence we had at first.
Hebrews 3:14
Our great God and Savior has warned us all about the pitfalls of satan! That enemy of our souls will be consigned to the lake of fire, wanting all of us to join him there! Not going to happen IF:
THOU SHALL NOT… COMPROMISE!
SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS FROM THIS “JOY STORY”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.
John 14:5-7
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
Colossians 2:9-10
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:17-18
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24
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