Moraine Valley Church

God’s Faithful Love / People of Promise

 God’s Tenacious Faithful Radical Love
   November 6, 2022   

1. Introduction:
   1. We have completed going through each of the major covenants that we are going to cover in this series. so today and the next few weeks we just want to close up with a few details that help us better understand the context of these covenants.  
   2. This morning I want us to see it is God’s tenacious, faithful, radical love that is the ultimate driver of these covenants.
      1. We have placed this series in the context of the big story of the Bible with the covenant promises being the major structure, the backbone, the major thoroughfares to the story
      2. It is possible that so far in the series you’ve seen these covenants more as a story line or a legal contract of how God would relate to Israel and ultimately us, rather than a love relationship
      3. While at times covenants were used to legally define the relationship between nations or a superior over an inferior, the covenants we studied were based on a love relationship between God and the people he has chosen to love.
   3. We have said all along that there are two key words throughout the Scripture that go hand and hand with the covenants, faithfulness and loving-kindness.   They help us clearly see the motivation of God’s love behind these covenants.
      1. Loving-kindness – an intense deep desire and active pursuit to bless your covenant partner.  It is both an attitude and an action
      2. Faithfulness – speaks of the unending nature of a covenant as long as each member of the covenant is alive.  It gives confidence that one covenant partner will never leave or forsake the other covenant partner.   
      3. Some other words that reveal God’s heart in the covenants are kindness, mercy, peace, steadfastness, loyalty and friendship.
   4. What I have to say today I believe can be a major encouragement to those who feel unloved or unlovable because of the neglect they’ve received from key relationships.   And for those who have committed major grotesque sins against God and others resulting in feeling as if they’re not worthy of God or maybe even lost their salvation because of it. I think everyone in between those two should be encouraged as well!
   5. Today’s message gives us another window to see the truth in 2 Timothy 2:13 
      1. When I see the way God deals with Israel in the midst of their unfaithfulness and disobedience by not quitting on them it gives me greater understanding and personal encouragement regarding the way God deals with me when I am unfaithful and disobedient to the Lord and that he will not quit on me.
      2. We will see the truth of 1 Corinthians 13:7 regarding love in action.   

• So today I want to look at some things that helps us see …

1. God’s tenacious faithful radical love!
   1. Is first seen in the very nature of a blood covenant.
      1. We have said repeatedly in this series that God joyfully bound himself to do these promises:  
         1. If he just bound himself to do them, it can feel legal 
         2. But when you recognize that he joyfully bound himself to do these promises; the aspect of love is at the heart of it
      2. The fact that God used covenants showed them how serious he was to be tenaciously faithful to them at all cost since: 
         1. A covenant is kept until death and since God will never die, he will be faithful throughout eternity.  They are everlasting covenants
         2. God would be worthy of death if he breaks his covenant promises with Abraham, Israel and David.
      3. In the Mosaic covenant, God says he will discipline Israel for their rebellion but that he would not break his covenant with them!   
         1. Listen to what God says he will do if they repent!  Read Leviticus 26:42-45
         2. Yes, God is going to spank them with discipline but he is not going to break off the relationship with them just as our parents spanked us but did not end their relationship with us!
         3. Thus, he remains tenaciously faithful to these promises and his people in spite of their disobedience!
      4. Turn to Deuteronomy 7.  Read v 6-9
         1. V6 – becoming God’s chosen people was what the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants were all about.  
         2. Listen now to why God set his love on them and choose them.  
            1. Read 7-9
            2. God set his love upon them because he loved them period.   
         3. It was God’s unconditional, unprovoked, tenacious, faithful, radical love that moved God to make and keep his covenant promises.
      5. Turn to Micah 7 which talks about the return of the Lord and the time of new covenant goes into effect with the forgiveness of their sins!
         1. Read v18-20
         2. Unchanging love is the Hebrew word for loving-kindness so the translators are saying God’s loving-kindness equals his unchanging love.
         3. In verse 20 when he talks about God’s unchanging love/loving-kindness towards Abraham that he swore to him, they are basically equating or describing God’s covenants with his unchanging love/ loving-kindness  
      6. In Mary’s magnificat in Luke 1 listen to what she says
         1. Read Luke 1:54-55  
         2. She views the covenant promises and Jesus’ birth to fulfill them, as God’s mercy to his people.   
      7. Finally, the existence of Israel in the land after nearly 1900 year of being out of it is unheard of regarding any other nation. This helps us see God’s tenacious faithful radical love for his people

• As we prepare for
• Communion 
  1. Listen to this amazing account of Israel’s history with God and how he loved and responded to them and loves and responds to his children today even though we may be unlovely or unfaithful  
  2. Ezekiel 16 where God married (v8) the abandoned and unloved Judah and poured his amazing, tenacious, faithful, radical love upon them. Read 13-14
     1. But then they played the harlot on him in the boldest way! V15, 32-34, 46-47, 51 – 
        1. Samaria in was the northern kingdom, Israel’s capital
     2. God said he would give them into the hands of their lovers who will tear them apart; just as he told them in the Mosaic covenant. 
        1. Read v37-39.     
        2. Yes, he will discipline them for disobedience
     3. But we also learn in this passage that in spite of their disobedience and discipline God will not break his relationship with them but he will restore and bless both Israel and Judah in light of their repentance, which we learned in both the Deuteronic and new covenants that God brings about.  read v55, 61; 
        1. He establishes his covenant with them when they repent and God forgives them.      
        2. That is the new covenant in the future when Jesus returns to fulfill the covenant promises.
     4. Now I love this word at the start of v60, nevertheless.  
        1. Nevertheless means in spite of this 
        2. So even though their sins were much more and grosser than Israel and Sodom, both who were judged for their sins, and even though Judah was being disciplined for their sins.
        3. In spite of this listen to what God says he is going to do!   Read v60-63   
     5. My hope is that this sermon has become different windows for us to look in and see God’s amazing grace and mercy to Israel
        1. God’s amazing grace and mercy to you and me!
        2. God’s amazing, tenacious, faithful, radical love to all his children.
     6. As we take communion today let God’s love sink into your heart and respond as your heart moves you.
        1. Reflect
        2. Take communion

 

The New Covenant / People of Promise

The Davidic Covenant / People of Promise

Has God Abandoned Israel?/ People of Promise

Deuteronic – Land Covenant

Deuteronomy 28, 29:1; Deuteronomy 30

October 16, 2022

I. Introduction:

A. We are continuing our series “people of promise” where we are

looking at the covenant promises that God has joyfully bound

himself to do!

1. We have seen that God promised to Abraham –a seed – a family

line of people, descendants who come from him, to give them a

land forever, to bless them in that land and God would be their

God. Along with a descendant of Abraham who would bless all

the nations!

a. This drives the story line of the Old Testament and the entire

Bible.

2. Last week we learned that God set up a covenant with Israel

through Moses, called the Mosaic covenant or the Law, where

he laid out the principle by which he was going to deal with

Israel, the descendants of Abraham.

a. Simply if you obey me, then I will bless you; if you disobey

me, then I will curse/disciple you and if you repent then I

will restore you to blessing.

b. We also learned that the ultimate discipline for their

disobedience and refusal to repent would be to be expelled

from the land and scattered among the nations

3. When we weave these two covenants together, it helps us make

sense of the twists and turns in the Old Testament story.

B. But here is the dilemma

1. As a nation, Israel not only disobeyed God they even rejected

the Messiah himself resulting in 70 AD when they were

expelled from the land again and scattered throughout all the

nations of the world.

2. While some Jews have returned to the land, and some Jews have

even come to Christ as their messiah and savior - as a nation

they still are in disobedience to God and rejecting Jesus as the

Messiah.

3. Is God done with Israel as a nation? Has the church replaced

Israel in God’s program?

C. To answer that we must look at the most overlooked verse in the

entire covenant program of God and the most overlooked covenant

itself.

1. Because people miss this verse they do not even know that this

covenant in Deuteronomy even exists!

D. So we will see here in Deuteronomy that God proactively makes

another covenant with Israel – the Deuteronic covenant, to

guarantee that he will bring about their repentance, regenerate

them, give them a heart to obey him thus restore/regather Israel to

the promised land and bless them there!

• Let’s take a look at this in

II. The Scripture

A. Many people say that the book of Deuteronomy is a restating of the

Mosaic covenant. I am going to tell you today that is not the case

and there is a completely different covenant in this book.

1. It is true that the standards (civil, moral and ceremonial laws)

and the principle of the Mosaic covenant (if you obey me, then I

will bless you and if you disobey me, then I will discipline you

and if you repent then I will restore you to blessing) are restated

in Deuteronomy.

2. But while all of that is restated, he attached another covenant to

it near the end of the book.

B. Turn to Deuteronomy 5

1. The context is that Israel is standing right across the Jordan in

the wilderness of Moab ready to enter into the promise land for

the first time. This is 40 years after the covenant God made

with Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai. Moses is reviewing

their history and the Mosaic law

2. In chapter 5, Moses is reviewing for them how they responded

to the Mosaic covenant when God first gave it to them on Sinai,

which is also called Horeb!

a. Read 5:27-28 – God commends them for affirming that they

will do what God asks them to do.

b. But in v29, he states their core problem with obeying what

God says so they can be blessed. Read

3. It is a heart problem – they do not have the kind of heart that

would fear and obey God!

C. So in chapters

1. 6-26 he reviews the laws from the Mosaic covenant

2. Chapter 27 he charges them to obey these laws and reminds

them cursed is the one who does not.

3. Chapter 28 he reviews with them the basic principle of dealing

with them that God set up through Moses, which we learned

about last week in Leviticus 26.

a. If you obey me, then I will bless you; if you disobey me,

then I will curse/disciple you. If you repent then I will

restore you to blessing

D. Now in chapter 29 we see the verse that is so often overlooked thus

overlooking this very important and foundational covenant.

1. Read v1 – did you catch it? This is another covenant God is

making with them in Moab besides the one he already made

with them at Horeb/ Mount Sinai 40 years earlier.

2. Again, while the standards and principle of the Mosaic covenant

are the same; now another covenant is being made with them.

3. Now look down at verse 10 where he is speaking to the people

who are there on that day. Read v10-13.

a. Note in verse 12 that the Lord is making this covenant with a

new generation of Israel!

4. V 13 so that he may establish with them the covenant promises

he swore to Abraham. Read

a. Note a key distinction here – he made the covenant with

Abraham in the past and he wants to establish it with them.

b. Establish means to confirm, to bring it about, put it into

effect the promises God made with Abraham with his

descendants.

E. So the tension exists – yes God has established obedience as the

principle by which he would bring about these promises to

Israel. But we also saw that Israel does not have the heart to do

them.

F. But just as God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham

where he bound himself to bring about those covenant promises;

now he is going to make an unconditional covenant with Israel!

1. In spite of their disobedience that was so severe that they were

scattered among the nations;

a. He will bring them back to the very land that their fathers –

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived on.

b. He will give them a heart that obeys him.

c. He will abundantly bless them in the land.

2. Thus, he will bring about the covenant promises he made with

Abraham regarding his descendants Israel!

G. This is absolutely crucial because God is making this covenant with

Israel.

1. So God does not disqualify or replace Israel from receiving the

promises made with Abraham because of their disobedience or

rejection of the Messiah

2. But rather God is guaranteeing to them that he is going to fulfill

his covenant promises in spite of their persistent and severe

disobedience!

a. Read Ezekiel 36:20-24

• Now we are ready to see the promises God made with Israel in the

III. Deuteronic covenant

A. Turn now to chapter 30

1. As we look at this today, we will see the Promised Land

mentioned numerous times. Just remember this covenant has to

do with the regathering to the land, not the rights to the land,

which was made with Abraham.

2. Also, note that the only condition in this whole section is a time

condition – not if but when – so it is tied to a time element.

3. Finally, we will see that this covenant is going to take place at a

time when the nation of Israel is plucked off the land for

disobedience and scattered among the nations.

B. Detail out the promises:

1. Future repentance of Israel. Deuteronomy 30:1-2 not if but

when!

a. Repentance = recall, return, restore

2. Regathered from captivity and from all over the world

Deuteronomy 30:3-4. Not Assyria nor Babylon but all the

nations of the world.

3. Restoration to the land given to their fathers. Deuteronomy

30:5

4. Israel regenerated by a work of God to get a new heart that will

love and obey the Lord... Deuteronomy 30:6, 8

5. Israel’s enemies will be judged. Deuteronomy. 30:7

6. Israel will prosper abundantly. Deuteronomy 30:5, 9

C. So the big question now is when will the covenanted promises

made to Abraham which will be established with his descendants,

his seed be carried out. Remember not if but when.

1. Chart

2. Turn to Zechariah 12:9

a. Context – he is talking about the time when the entire world

will come against Israel and Jerusalem. We also read about

this in Revelation 16-19.

b. Read v9-14 - note two things:

1. God pouring out his grace precedes and is the cause of

their repentance

2. We see a national repentance here and not just an

individual. At the return of Jesus Israel will repent.

D. So God brings about the necessary repentance in Israel thus then

God will pour out all his covenant promises/blessing upon them at

that time.

E. Romans 11 tells us why this has not happened yet.

1. It is so the fullness of the Gentiles can come into the experience

of his promised blessings then all Israel will be saved.

2. Read Romans 11;25-27

3. Turn and read 2 Peter 3:9

III. Application

F. If you are here today and you do not know Jesus Christ repent

1. Recall what Jesus says about you and about himself

a. That our sin separates us from God and that Jesus’ death and

resurrection deals with our sin problem and gives us life!

2. Turn to him by calling upon him in faith to save you!

G. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ

1. And you have walked away from Jesus and living just like the

rest of the world I would encourage you today to repent as well.

a. Recall what God says in his Word about who you are and

how to live as a child of God

b. Return to him by admitting/confessing you are not living as

you ought

c. Call upon him to give you the grace to live like a believer in

Jesus

2. Maybe today you need God to bring about in your heart the

willingness and ability to give up some area of your life that is

not pleasing to him or even an area that has taken control of you

and you could not give it up with all the trying, programing and

steps in the world.

a. Read Philippians 2:12-13

3. Open your heart to Jesus this morning and invite him to work

into you both the willingness and the ability to live fully for him

The Power of Promise / People of Promise

Mosaic Covenant – The Way God Dealt with Israel

Leviticus 26

October 9, 2022

 

I. Introduction:

A. Today’s message along with last week’s on the Abrahamic

covenant is enough to give you the core knowledge you need to

understand the basic skeleton of the Old Testament.

1. The four main promises of the covenant God made with

Abraham give shape to the story/stories of the historical section

of the Old Testament and become the foundation for the New

Testament!

a. Review - Four promises are. Land, seed, blessing, and God

would be their God.

2. Today we are going to talk about the Mosaic covenant that God

made with Israel. This covenant establishes the principle upon

which God dealt with Israel, his chosen people, Abraham’s

seed.

a. The Mosaic covenant not only helps us further understand

the history of the Old Testament and why things happened

the way they did, but it also is the foundational structure and

driving message of the prophetic section of the Old

Testament!

B. One more important distinction between these two covenants turn

in your Bibles to Galatians 3:15

1. Read Galatians 3:15-19

2. Simply stated, the law was temporary until Jesus came while the

Abrahamic covenant was an everlasting covenant and nothing

about the law changes or supersedes the Abrahamic covenant.

3. It was put in place alongside the Abrahamic covenant only until

Jesus came!

• Let me give you a couple of …

II. Introductory thoughts on the Mosaic law/ covenant

A. The law is found primarily from Exodus 19 through the end of

Leviticus, and is reviewed in the book of Deuteronomy.

B. These laws covered three primary areas:

1. Civil laws – how to live with one another

2. Moral laws – how to walk with a holy God

3. Ceremonial laws – how to worship a holy God

C. We need to understand right up front that the Mosaic covenant was

not like the Abrahamic covenant where God made unconditional

promises that he would keep independent of Abraham’s

behavior. In the Mosaic covenant God imposed obligations upon

Israel and made conditions that were dependent upon their

behavior.

1. The heart of the principle

a. If you obey me then I will bless you

b. If you disobey me then I will curse you

c. If you repent then I will return you to blessing.

2. Repeat that with me.

• Let’s look closer at this foundational principle! Turn to

III. Leviticus 26.

A. After detailing these civil, moral and ceremonial laws from Exodus

19 to Leviticus 26:2 we come to a great summary that is so key to

understanding the Old Testament.

1. If you obey me, then I will bless you. Read Leviticus 26:3-4.

a. Then he details some of those blessings: land will be fruitful,

peace in the land, eliminate harmful beasts, no war, you will

defeat your enemies, God will dwell among them and he will

be their God.

b. Read v9

2. But if you disobey me, then I will curse you. Read v14-17.

a. Now we need to note God’s grace even in his discipline of

Israel for their disobedience as he starts with lesser

disciplines then increases them as their refusal to repent

continues – good parenting principle. Read v18, 21, 23-24,

27-28.

b. This continues until we get to the ultimate and most harsh

discipline, the expelling of Israel out of their own land,

which God promised to them and scattering them among the

nations. Read 32-33.

c. Now we understand why Israel and Judah were both

deported out of their land and went into captivity in Assyria

and Babylon. A big part of the Old Testament story!

1. God had to be faithful to the covenant that he made with

his people when they disobeyed.

2. This does not make me think of a God as angry and mean

but rather a God that is faithful to “all” of his word, a

God who can be trusted that when he says something he

will do it, whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.

3. Now the third part of this principle shows up in verse 40. If you

repent, then I will return you to blessing.

a. Read v40-46

b. Simply, this principle says when Israel is obeying God then

they will experience the land, the blessing, and God being

their God as promised in the Abrahamic covenant

• So now we understand a lot more of twists involved in the story of

God carrying out his promises with Abraham in the historical books

of the Old Testament. But what about

IV. The prophets

A. Listen to the ministry of the prophets Read 2 Kings 17:13-15, 23

B. The basic structure of all the prophets, both their ministry and their

books in the Old Testament was to

1. Point out their sin of how they were breaking the Mosaic

covenant

2. Call them to repentance

3. Remind them of the promised blessings they would experience

if they repented!

4. If you read the prophets with that in mind, they will be much

easier to understand!

C. The book of Isaiah is a perfect example of this

1. The first 40 chapters Isaiah are pointing out how they have

broken the Mosaic covenant and calling them to repent

2. The last 26 chapters reminds them of the promised blessing they

will receive when they do repent!

D. We see these basic principles worked out in the history of Israel.

1. Cycle in judges (disobeyed - discipline - repentance -

deliverance)

2. Solomon broke the covenant, which resulted in the divided

kingdom. Northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom

(Judah) 1Kings 11:1-13

3. The northern kingdom (Israel) broke the covenant by setting up

idol worship. 1 Kings 12:25-33

4. The northern kingdom (Israel) falls and is taken into captivity

just as the covenant says. 2 Kings 17, 18:11-12

5. Jeremiah warns Judah of judgement for breaking the covenant

and calls for repentance. Jeremiah 25:3-11

6. The southern kingdom (Judah) falls and is taken into captivity

just as the covenant says. 2 Kings 24:17-25, 12

7. After recognizing God’s timetable, Daniel turns to God in

repentance based on the covenant.

8. Ezra 1 and the return to their land out of captivity is the direct

result of Daniel 9 and the repentance he did in behalf of the

nation.

9. Rebuilding of the walls was based on the repentance and

blessing of the covenant. As acknowledged by Nehemiah in his

prayer. Nehemiah 1:4-11

• As you saw today, the story of God fulfilling his covenant promises

to Abraham is interwoven with the principle by which God

covenanted with Israel in the Mosaic covenant. what I want to close

with are …

V. Applications for us today

A. There are two important truths we must keep in mind today.

1. As we learned in Galatians 3, earlier the Mosaic covenant was

only on the table for Israel until the seed, the Christ, the

Messiah, Jesus came!

2. We also learn in 1Timothy 1:8-9 that the law is still useful today

if we use it lawfully.

a. Read 1 Timothy 1:8-9

b. Paul also said in Romans 3:20 that through the law comes

the knowledge of sin something he reaffirms in detail in

Romans 7.

c. So the good and lawful use of the law is to point out sin to

the unbeliever so they will turn to Jesus to be delivered from

the penalty and power of sin!

B. But my bigger concern today is that many Christians still live as if

we are under the principle of the law – if you obey then God will

bless you and if you disobey then God will curse you.

1. Maybe it is not the Mosaic Law, but they turn the New

Testament commands into laws and apply the principle of

obedience resulting in blessing and disobedience resulting in a

curse.

2. Here is the difference between the two:

a. In the Old Testament God supernaturally intervened with

blessings /good things when they obeyed and supernaturally

intervened with curses/trouble when they disobeyed.

b. In New Testament times obedience brings its own blessings

because you are living in conformity with God‘s wisdom

how to live and disobedience brings its own trouble because

sin has personal and relational poison in its DNA.

1. It’s not a matter of God doing it to you but a matter of

you doing it to yourself by ignoring what is best for you!

3. When it comes to blessings

a. In the Old Testament blessings were conditional upon their

obedience

b. In the New Testament, we have already been blessed with

every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

c. So today we obey for two reasons:

1. Not in order to get blessed but out of love because we are

already blessed

2. We also obey because God’s way is the wisest and best

way to live.

4. When it comes to difficulties or trouble in our lives in the New

Testament there are two reasons for it.

a. To ignore God’s wisdom is to do it to your own hurt! We

drink the poison laced Kool-Aid called sin

b. But sometimes even our trouble and difficulties are designed

by God to bring us ultimately to the place of blessing and

good in our life.

1. Often the blessing has to do with God working in us a

greater and deeper Christ like character or to restrain us

from going a direction we should not go.

c. So when it comes to trouble in our lives we need to discern if

it is sin, thus trouble of our own making or God giving us a

gift of blessing dressed in wrapping paper of trouble!

5. So this is how most of us stumble in this area – we look at our

outward circumstances or even the inward disposition of our

hearts and if they are good, we say it is because God is blessing

us and if they are bad, we say it is because God is not blessing

us.

a. They have more money, nicer and more things, better

circumstances, better health, better looks, better results,

bigger ministry, more opportunities etc., so we interpret that

as God is blessing them more than he is blessing me.

b. As a matter of fact, we wonder if God is blessing us at all –

maybe he is not pleased with me, maybe I am doing

something wrong!

C. We cannot measure God’s goodness and blessing to us by our

circumstances or feeling but by the cross of Christ, all the spiritual

blessings we already have in Christ Jesus, and God’s call and

purposes for my life as different from someone else’s!

1. We need to measure our lives by our gratitude to God for Jesus

and the blessings that come with him and our faith in his good

purposes he is working in our lives!

God Will Come Through / People of Promise

 Abrahamic – Foundational Promises
Genesis 12,15,17 & Hebrews 6  October 2, 2022 - Communion    

1. Introduction:
   1. The foundation of a building not only supports the weight of the structure but also determines the shape of it!
      1. The Abrahamic covenant is the foundation that not only supports the entire covenant program of God but also is the foundation that gives shape to the story of the Bible, what God is doing in this world – past present and future and ultimately in our own lives.  
      2. The better you understand covenants, the better you understand the Bible!  A synonymous word to covenant is testament.  New and Old Testament = new and old covenant!
   2. A covenant is the strongest word in any language to express and define relationships. 
      1. It is a solemn binding agreement between two parties, which provides a clear statement of how they will relate to one another with promises being made, and conditions agreed upon!
      2. The blood sacrifice required in a covenant indicates that they are permanent until one of the parties dies and is broken only under the penalty of death! 
   3. We are doing a series we are calling people of promise as we look at the promises that God has bound himself to by means of the solemn and serious means of covenants.  Promises that drive the story of God, the Bible and our lives!
2. The promises in the Abrahamic covenant
   1. There are five main promises that God made in the covenant with Abraham.   
      1. Land – actual dirt, ground, soil that would become their property. 
      2. Seed – a people, a nation, a lineage, descendants, children, offspring 
      3. Blessing – benefits God would bestow upon them
      4. In your seed all the nations will be blessed.
      5. God will be their God 
   2. Let’s start by reading where God first makes promises in Genesis 12:1-3 and then we see them progressively developed in chapters to come!   Read.
   3. I want to show you each of these promises one at a time.
      1. Land – an actual geographical piece of earth.
         1. Genesis 12:5-7 – fact
         2. Genesis 13:14-15 – forever
      2. Seed – descendant, offspring, children, the nation of people! 
         1. Fact - Genesis 12:2,7
         2. Numerous – Genesis 13:16, 15:5
      3. Blessing 
         1. Fact – Genesis 12:2-3
         2. Clarification – we see here and as the Scripture continues to unfold that God’s plan right from the beginning was to bless Abraham, the nation of Israel and the entire world!   
      4. In your seed all the nations will be blessed.  
         1. Read Genesis 12:3c: Genesis 22:18
         2. As we learn in Galatians 3, a few weeks ago, in Jesus, the ultimate seed of Abraham all the nations will be blessed and we get in on these promises because we belong to him.
      5. God will be their God -   
         1. Before God set up the covenant of circumcision, he reviewed with Abraham the promises he had already made by means of covenant to him and adds a few extra here.  
            1. Read Genesis 17:2-8  
            2. Not only a seed and land but he adds three more things here
               1. Father of a multitude of nations
               2. Kings will come forth from him
               3. God will be their God – both to Abraham and his descendants/seed 
         2. This is a key promise of this covenant and the whole covenant program!
            1. Note in Exodus 6:5-8 what God tells Moses when he reassures him regarding what he had promised in his covenant with Abraham.  Read
            2. This phrase is used ten times referring to the new covenant and is used to summarize the heart of the new covenant in the New Testament.  Hebrews 8:10 
   4. We see many of these put together when God confirmed the covenant with Jacob.   Read Genesis 28:13-15
   5. The heart of the Abrahamic covenant promises:  a land, seed, blessing and God being their God drives the stories behind the formation of the nation and the entrance into the Promised Land as seen from Genesis all the way to Joshua! 
      1. It is the why behind all these stories and the thread that ties them together.
      2. By the way, “promised land” is a term we have heard for years and even is in songs we sing–– it was the land promised to Abraham as an inheritance for his descendants in the Abrahamic covenant.  

• Note 

1.   The weight of the Abrahamic covenant
   1. Turn to Genesis 15 where we see these promises being made into a covenant.  
   2. The reason for the covenant was to give assurance to Abraham that God was going to fulfill his promises to him.     Listen to Genesis 15:7-8 – How may I know?
   3. Now we see God responding by making his promises into a covenant.  
      1. Read v9-10
      2. We learned last week that this is the procedure of a covenant
      3. Note that it only takes one animal to sacrifice to make it legitimate but this covenant is so big that God has three animals sacrificed
   4. Now as I read the details of this covenant I want you to notice who goes through the middle of the sacrificial animals and who does not.   
      1. Read 12-18 – know for certain.
      2. God alone went through the pieces of the sacrifice in the form of a smoking oven and smoking torch while Abraham was asleep
      3. The covenant was made with Abraham, not Israel.  The existence of Israel  the seed, descendants, the family line from Abraham, was one of the promises, provisions of the covenant
   5. That made this covenant an unconditional covenant where God bound himself under the curses of a covenant, the death penalty for breaking them, regarding the promises he was going to do for Abraham.
      1. This covenant places no conditions upon Abraham but only upon God himself!
2. Communion
   1. Turn to Hebrews 6 where he picks up on the theme of Genesis 15 and shows us that God made these promises into a covenant not only to assure Abraham that he would do what he promised.  Also, to assure the Jews living at that time and you and me as believers who are also in on these promises through Jesus!   
      1. Now before we look at this passage remember it was written about 35 years after Jesus ascended back into heaven as the writer was assuring these Jewish readers that the Abrahamic promises/covenant were still a sure future hope they could build their lives upon like an anchor for their souls.
         1. They were not something that have been spiritually fulfilled with the church now because of Israel’s disobedience or rejection of the Messiah. Rather it was a hope they could look forward to!  
      2. Read v13-20 - v18 – two unchangeable things, promise and covenant
      3. The reason for the covenant is three fold
         1. To show the recipients of the promise unchangeableness of his purpose. 
            1.  God is going to raise up a people for himself! He is going to be their God! He is going to give them the land! He is going to bless them!
         2. We might have strong encouragement
         3. Gives us a hope that is sure enough to be an anchor for our soul.
   2. We, the church, along with Israel have the hope and look forward to all these covenant promises going into effect when God fulfills them with Israel and us in the future when Jesus returns.  
3. Communion 
   1. I want to speak for just a moment regarding the promise of blessing.
      1. While the Mosaic, Deuteronic and the new covenants detail out more of what that blessing will look like.
   2. I want to close with how the New Testament helps us further understand that blessing.
      1. Turn to Acts 3 and read v25-26   
         1. What we see here that ultimately the promise of Abraham’s seed blessing of all the families of the earth is the blessing of salvation and the deliverance from the power of sin in their lives.
      2. We see this again in Galatians 3:8-9 – turn and read 
         1. We see here that God actually preached the gospel to Abraham in this promise
      3. Read Galatians 3:13-14 – the blessing of Abraham was so the Gentiles might also receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.
         1. Interesting to note that the promise of receiving the Holy Spirit was not given until the new covenant, which further explains the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant.
   3. So every person in this room who knows Jesus personally on the basis of faith has experienced the covenant promise of Genesis 22:18.  Both the blessing of salvation and the blessing of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
   4. As you go to communion would you thank God for including us and thank Jesus for dying for us so we can experience the promised blessings to Abraham and for the hope of what we still have to look forward to!

 

The Impact of Covenant / People of Promise

The Seed / People of Promise

 The Seed
Genesis 3:15 September 18, 2022   

1. Introduction:
   1. We just started a series last week called People of Promise; where we are seeking to answer the question “What in the world is God doing?”  by understanding the big story of the Bible! 
      1. We learned that the story is driven by three key words – seed, covenant, Jesus.  
      2. This week we will deal with the seed and how appropriate because it is the very first promise in the Bible! This promise gives shape to the heart of what is going on in our world today and what God is doing all the way from Genesis 3 through Revelation 20!
   2. We learned last week that the story of what God is doing in this world is simply stated “God’s redemption of man through Jesus Christ!” or we could call it paradise restored!
      1. We saw that the story starts (Genesis 1-2) and ends (Revelation 21-22) the same way with God dwelling in harmony with man in his creation and there was no sin, death curse or Satan. 
      2. Genesis 3 is the setting for and explanation for everything in between from Genesis 3-Revelation 20.
         1. We call this chapter the fall of man, the place where sin entered this world as Satan deceived man into sin.
   3. Our focus this morning is on the curse God placed on Satan but within that curse God also made a promise about a seed, this promise drives the story regarding what God is doing in this world and introduces to us in seed form Jesus Christ.  
   4. Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 3 - read  
      1. In verse 14 -since Satan used a snake as the instrument, he worked through to deceive Eve, God puts a curse on the snake to crawl on his belly and eat dust!  
      2. Now read v15 - enmity simply means open hostility between two different people or groups of people
      3. The first would be between Satan and Eve – the way he ruined her life I think we can understand.
      4. Secondly, between your seed (Satan) and her seed (Eve only “her” in existence at that time) 
   5. Before I finish this verse let me take a side bar to explain what the word seed means.
      1. When you trace this Hebrew word through the Bible listen to what words are used to describe it. Offspring, descendant, origin, family, child, children, son, line, race, nation, posterity, people, seminal, intercourse, sow, grain.  
         1. The Greek word for seed is the word sperma where we get the English word sperm.
         2. So bottom line it is talking about a lineage of people from a particular family.
      2. But the word seed is always singular. But it can either refer to one person or a group of people – which is known as a collective noun – 
         1. We use these all the time when we speak of a group as a single entity. – a team, a band, board of elders or deacons.  How about the body of Christ – body is singular but used for every believer in Christ.
         2. The only way to know which is used is by the context it is found in.
      3. Here is a third thing about this word seed – it is used both physically and spiritually.    Again, only context can tell! 
         1. Listen to Isaiah 53:10 – did Jesus have literal physical offspring?  No
            1. But we learned in John 1 that all who believed in him became children of God.    
            2. This is a spiritual seed, descendants’ offspring
   6. Look back at Genesis 3:15 now
      1. Reread 15c – let me ask you who would be Satan’s literal physical offspring? He has none. but he does have spiritual ones who are of him.
      2. Passages:
         1. 1 John 3:12 where it says Cain was of the evil one!
         2. John 8:41,44 - Jesus tells the Jewish leaders they are of their father – Satan.
         3. Matthew 13:37-38 – parable of the tares shows that the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil one are in the world together
      3. So, I believe Genesis 3:15 talks about the open hostility that will be between the godly seed and ungodly seed.  
   7. The final open hostility revealed in this verse is the open hostility between Jesus and Satan read Genesis 3:15d-e 
      1. Satan will bruise Jesus which ultimately points to the cross, and Jesus will ultimately crush Satan by throwing him in the lake of fire to be tormented forever and ever day and night!   
      2. As we read between Genesis 3 to Revelation 20, we see these hostilities going on between the godly and ungodly and God/Jesus and Satan.
      3. We can even see it going on in our world today as we live in the time between Genesis 3 to Revelation 20
   8. Here is a chart I created to try to picture these lines throughout the Bible.  Thanks to Joel for simplifying it
      1. As we trace ‘seed throughout Scripture, we see the enmity develop that God described in Genesis 3:15, and we see it played out in history all the way until today (Galatians 4:29 - read), and it will continue until Jesus crushes Satan’s head in Revelation 20:10. 
      2. Chart 

Un-godly line (“your seed” - Satan)	Godly line (“her seed” - Eve)	Supporting Scriptures
Cain	Abel	Genesis 4:4
	Seth	Genesis 4:25-26
	Noah	Genesis 6:5-18, 7:1
Ham & Japheth	sham	Genesis 11:10, 27
Culture & lands of the world	Abraham	Genesis 12:3, 7; 13:15-16; 15:18; 17:1-8; 22:17-18; Romans 4:11-13, 16-17; Galatians 3:16
Ishmael - nation	Isaac	Genesis 17:19, 26:3-5
Esau - Edom	Jacob	Genesis 28:3-4, 13-14
Gentiles	Twelve tribes (nation of Israel)
	Judah	Genesis 49:8-10
	David	2 Samuel 7:12-16, Psalm 89:3-4, 33-37
	Jesus	Matthew 1:1, Acts 3:25-26
Non-believers	believers in Jesus	Romans 4:11-17, Galatians 3:29, Galatians 4:29

 

1. In weeks to come we will see this idea of the seed further clarified in the covenants and ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.  
   1. We need to perk up and listen closely in this series because these covenant promises are not just a story about Israel, but we also get in on these covenant promises as well, 
   2. Not because we are some kind of spiritual Israel that has now replaced Israel because of their disobedience 

• But by two different means

1.  Christians are also the seed of Abraham.
   1. First, turn to Romans 4:10 where we will see that we are descendants/seed of Abraham because we have a faith like his.
      1. In verses 10-17 he is showing us that both believing Jews and believing Gentiles are considered the seed of Abraham thus he became the father of many nations fulfilling the promise to Abraham in Genesis 17.   
         1. Thus, he is the father of all who believe - Jew and Gentile.
      2. In Romans 4:10-12
         1. Those without circumcision in this passage are the Gentiles
         2. Those who are circumcised are the Jews
         3. Read 
      3. Now in verses 13-17 he is guaranteeing to all the descendants, both believing Jews and Gentiles, that they would be heirs, recipients, possessors of those promises made in the Abrahamic covenant!
         1. Those who are of the law are Jews
         2. Read v13-17
      4. So according to Romans here the church does not replace Israel when it comes to the covenant promises but instead, they come in right alongside of Israel in experiencing the covenant promises!
   2. 2ndly turn to gal 3:16 where we will see that we are heirs, recipients, possessors of these promises, Abraham’s seed because we belong to Christ.
      1. Galatians 3:14 – we see that in Jesus the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles
      2. Galatians 3:16 – the promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed, he does not say seeds as referring to many but seed, who is Jesus Christ.  
         1. So, the promises were made to both Abraham and Jesus 
         2. Galatians3:19 also confirms that the promises were made to Jesus
      3. Galatians 3:29 states that we are Abraham’s seed, heirs’ recipients, possessors of the promises made to Abraham because we belong to Jesus Christ!
         
         
         
         
   3. Just a side note, not all the physical descendants of Abraham, Jewish people, are or will be saved and experience the covenant promises, only those who believe. So, all believing Jews and Gentiles form Abraham’s seed – the heirs, recipients, possessors of the promises
      1. 2 Corinthians 11:22 (Corinthians v13-15) – speaking of Jewish false teachers as descendants/seed of Abraham he makes it clear that they are false teachers, agents of Satan, unsaved!
      2. Read v22 then 13-15 
      3. You can read further about this in Romans 9-11 where we learn that only a remnant of Israel will be saved!
2.  Conclusion
   1. Now this should put this series on a new level of interest for us because we are heirs, recipients, possessors of the covenant promises we will learn.  
      1. Yes, we are people of promise!
   2. The story of the Bible and the covenant promises we now see are really our story that shapes our world, which shapes the Bible and shapes our present spiritual reality and shapes the foundation of our future hope that we can build our life off like they are an anchor for our soul!  

 

People of Promise / Week 1

Introduction What in the World is God Doing?

Genesis 1-3, Revelation 19-22 September 11, 2022

I.Introduction:

A. This morning starts our fall series we are calling people of

promise! It will answer the question What in the word is God

doing?

1. We will answer that question not out of the context of

frustration because we cannot understand it,

2. But out of the context of a sure hope that we can have as

an anchor for our souls during the most difficult times of

our lives and world!

B. I can honestly say that this series was born in my heart back

in the spring of 1985, my last semester of seminary, when I was

taking a class from Doctor Dwight Pentecost called the biblical

covenants.

1. I went into that class having no idea what a covenant was

and also after three years of bible college and four and one

half years of seminary I had learned literally hundreds

upon hundreds of verses and truths but had no idea of how

they fit together or even more so flow together into a unit

forming the big story of what God is doing in this world.

2. I left that class looking at God and the Bible totally

differently

C. We are calling it people of promise because

1. A covenant is the means by which God has bound himself

to do the things he has promised!

2. In the covenants God’s big overarching plan by means of

promises are revealed

3. The better we understand the ultimate story of what God is

doing, then the better we understand our own lives and

times we live in!

D. Many people shy away from the Old Testament because they

either feel it does not apply to us today or they are so lost in it they

cannot figure out what is going on.

1. By the end of this series, you will be equipped with the

knowledge to go into the Old Testament with confidence

regarding what is going on there and recognizing it really

is the foundation to the New Testament. Thus, you will

not only better understand the Old Testament but the New

Testament as well.

2. Prophecy is simply what God has told us he will do in the

future! When it comes to the end times people try to piece

together hundreds of verses in the Old and New Testament

so it can make sense to them.

a. We will learn in this series that the hundreds of

verses on prophecy are simply the ways God is going

to fulfill his covenant promises that he made to Israel

which we join into through Jesus!

b. We will see that the prophecies have their roots in

the covenants so when the covenants make sense to us

then the prophecies will make sense to us!

c. Hopefully it will be like taking a 1,000-piece

puzzle and turning into about a 20-piece puzzle

E. So why a series on the covenants? - listen to these men

who recently went through this material as a test drive for this

series tell us how it impacted them:

• Let’s jump right in

II. The nature of a story

A. Structure of a story-

1. Put up image

a. Setting– introduction to the scene and characters –

e.g., “once upon a time…”

b. Incident – something happens that needs to be

resolved

c. Plot – a series of events that unfold as they try to

resolve the incident

d. Climax – the key event that resolves the incident

e. Outcome – tension decreases, and the incident is

resolved or explained

f. Resolution – learn something new or a new

way of carrying on from here. “And they lived happily

ever after…”

B. Are you following me now? Well, God’s story as

revealed in the Bible story works the same way

1. Structure of the Bible story image

2. Explain image

• Let me try to

III. Spaceship view of the story

A. I believe the story is driven by three key words – seed,

covenant, Jesus.

1. Next week we will learn more about the seed which

speaks either of a family line of people or a certain person

from that line

2. The following week and weeks to come we will learn

more about the covenants – a covenant is the means by

which God binds himself to do the promises he makes!

B. We learn a lot about a story by looking at the start of the

story and the end of a story. In the Bible

1. Start - setting – God creates a perfect heaven and earth,

and mankind (male and female) where he dwells with

them in paradise, and they are to reign over all his

creation. There is peace/shalom between God and man,

peace within man himself, peace between man and

woman, and peace with mankind and the earth. Paradise

has no: sin, Satan, curse or death Genesis 1-2

2. End - resolution – God creates a perfect new heaven and

earth where he dwells with man who reigns forever and

ever over all his new creation. There will be peace/shalom

between God and man, peace within man himself, peace

between man and woman, and peace with mankind and the

new earth. Paradise has no: sin, Satan, curse or

death Revelation 21-22

C. My statement, the PBP statement of what God is doing in this

world is a story of redemption: God glorifying himself through

Jesus, the seed, by restoring his original plan for mankind and the

earth where God himself reigns forever as king over a people who

love him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

1. Or simply “God’s redemption of man through Jesus

Christ!”

2. Or as one brother (Mike) said just a few weeks to me

“paradise restored!”

• Let’s get a little closer in an airplane view 30,000 ft above.

IV. Airplane view of the story –

A. Just listen and I would encourage you to download the

notes as this is literally decades of study squeezed into just a

few paragraphs with many bible references to support

it. (thank - Joel Brassfield for his contributions to this)

B. The setting (paradise) – God dwelling with man as man

reigns over his creation and there is perfect shalom/peace and

no sin sin, Satan, curse or death. Genesis 1-2

C. Incident or conflict (the fall & the seed promise) –

Satan deceived the woman and they fell into sin (fall), as a

result sin entered into the world (Romans 5:12). Man became

separated from God as he died spiritually and God put a curse

upon Satan, woman, man and the world. Satan became the

god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). There would be

hostility between “thy seed,” ungodly line and “her seed,” the

godly line. There would also be hostility between Jesus, the

seed, and Satan until the seed/Messiah/Jesus Christ comes and

crushes Satan. (Genesis 3:15)

D. Plot (the whole “I will…” section with covenants) - man

struggles with sin, Satan and the curse on every page of the

Bible from Genesis 3 until Revelation 21

1. God develops the godly line/seed of the woman through

Able, Seth, Noah and Shem to Abraham and the ungodly

line through Cain, Ham & Japheth from whom come the

nations that were in conflict/hostility with Israel

throughout the Old Testament.

2. God made a covenant with Abraham where he promised

Abraham - a land, seed (i.e., a nation), blessing and that

God would be their god. The seed is now further defined.

It first broadly applied to Eve’s godly offspring, but now it

is narrowed down to being from the line of Abraham, and

that it would be both a collective people (Israel –

Genesis12:2, 22:17) and a specific person (Jesus – Genesis

22:18, Galatians 3:16) through whom all the nations of the

world would be blessed (Romans 4:11-17, Galatians 3:8-

9,14).

3. God gave Israel the Mosaic Covenant to regulate Israel’s

relationship with God until the seed comes (Galatians

3:19). Obey God and you will be blessed (lev 26:3-13),

disobey him and you will be disciplined/cursed (Leviticus

26:14-33). Because of Israel’s continued disobedience to

the Mosaic Law the Old Testament is a story of Israel’s

repeatedly being disciplined and repenting and ultimately

being deported from their own land (Leviticus 26:27-39,

Deuteronomy 28:64-68; 29:24-28). The prophets

repeatedly use the Mosaic Covenant to point out their sin

and call them to repentance so they can be restored to

God’s promised blessings (2 Kings 17:13-15, 23)!

4. Deuteronomy/land covenant – guarantees that Israel

eventually will repent, be regenerated and restored to the

land in blessing.

5. God makes a covenant with David where he–promises that

the seed will come from his line and will be a forever king

who will rule forever over a forever kingdom. We then see

a line of mostly failed kingships from David’s line as the

nation waits for the promised king who would be the seed

of David.

6. In the Old Testament, God foretold of a new covenant

with Israel – where he promises to forgive Israel, give

them a new heart, place his Spirit in them to cause them to

walk in obedience (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:24-27)

and bless them in the land (Ezekiel 36:28-38,

Deuteronomy 30:1-10) as the Davidic seed rules over

them (Luke 1:33) and all the world (Zechariah 9:9-10,

14:9, Ephesians 1:20-21).

E. Climax (Jesus the seed)– in Matthew 1:1, the New Testament

starts by telling us that Jesus was the seed, the Christ, the

Messiah, the seed who came from the line of David and

Abraham and gives a genealogy to prove it. Jesus proclaims

he is the seed of David, the King, the Messiah/Christ and he

proves it by performing the kind of miracles that the Christ

will perform in his kingdom. He lives a perfect sinless life,

and dies (in our place) to pay for our sins, he is raised from

the dead to give us a brand new eternal righteous life, then

ascends to heaven to sit at the right hand of God until he

comes back to fulfill all the promises the Old Testament

prophets made about the period of restoration. (Acts 3:19-

21)

F. Outcome (church through millennium) – sin, Satan, the curse

and death are still present, but the back of their power is broken.

1. The church is born made up of all nations, both Jew and

Gentiles who believe in Jesus (Ephesians 2:11-22). Their

sins are forgiven, they receive a new heart and the Holy

Spirit dwells inside of every believer. They are now God’s

people through whom he works his purposes out on earth

(Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, 2nd Corinthians 5:18-20).

2. Believers are in Christ (1st Corinthians 1:30), the seed, and

now are Abraham’s seed who partake in the covenants of

promise made to Israel (Ephesians 2:12-19 - spiritual

blessings now and material blessings later when Jesus

returns) based upon a faith like Abraham’s (Romans 4:11-

17) and their relationship with Jesus, the seed, to whom

the promises were also spoken. (Galatians 3:16, 29)

3. Believers will be raptured out of this world as God

disciplines unbelieving Israel and judges the nations for a

seven-year period. (Jacob’s trouble, tribulation)

4. Satan makes war with the Lamb and his saints at the end

of this time as all the world is gathered together against

Israel (Zechariah 14:2, 12:3-9, Revelation16:13-16; 17:12-

14)

5. Jesus returns and defeats Satan and binds him for 1,000

years (Revelation 19:19-21, 20:2-3) while he sets up a

kingdom here on earth (Revelation 20:4-5) to fulfill his

covenant promises with Israel and all the Old Testament

prophecies about the period of restoration. (Acts 3:19-21)

6. At the end of that kingdom Satan will be loosed

(Revelation 20:7) one more time to spear head one final

war where he will be defeated and thrown into the lake of

fire (Revelation 20:10). Thus, the seed of woman crushed

the head of Satan!

7. The present heaven and earth are destroyed by fire at the

presence of the great white throne (Revelation 20:11, 2

Peter 3:7-10)

8. Great white throne judgment – anyone’s name not written

in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

(Revelation 20:15).

G. Resolution (paradise restored) - then we are back to the new

normal, where God creates a new heaven and earth! “Paradise

restored!” God dwelling with man as man reigns over his new

creation and there is perfect shalom/peace and no sin, Satan, curse

or death. Revelation 21-22

V. Closing

A. Josh and Joel will close us up by letting us know of some of

the opportunities that we have to make this series even more

beneficial for us!

Under the Sun / Week 10

Am I Wise or a Fool?

September 4, 2022

Introduction:

A. We are completing our series on Ecclesiastes today as we

have been looking at broad themes throughout this book. Two

themes run side by side throughout the book as well as in Psalms

and Proverbs!

1. That is wisdom and foolishness.

B. As great, beneficial and powerful as wisdom is it only takes a

little foolishness in our lives to stink it up!

1. Read 10:1 – perfume gives off a sweet smell but flies that end

up caught in it and dying cause the sweet smell to stink. In the

same way it only takes a little bit of foolishness to stink up the

sweet aroma of our lives and the beautiful gifts that God gives

us

2. All it takes is one reckless word, one offensive remark, one

hasty decision, one foolish pleasure, one angry outburst, just a

little bit of sinning, just a little bit of foolishness to spoil the

freshness and beauty of a life well lived.

C. And wisdom and foolishness present to us two very different

paths for us to live.

1. Read 10:2.

2. They are opposites - wisdom is the anti-foolishness and

foolishness is the anti-wisdom.

• So first let’s take a look at what

I. Wisdom and foolishness are

A. Wisdom - I want to share two very unusual verses that use the

Hebrew word for wisdom “hokmah” that gives us some insight just into

what wisdom is:

1. Passages:

a. Exodus 28:3

1. Both highlighted words come from the same Hebrew root

word which means “skill” the exact same word you find

in Proverbs when he speaks of wisdom

2. They were very skilled at sewing the garments needed for

the priest and God is the one who put that skill within

them.

b. Exodus 31:6

1. Both highlighted words come from the same Hebrew root

you find in Proverbs when he speaks of wisdom.

2. These were tradesmen or craftsmen and their ability or

skill came from God.

2. A skill simply is a “developed ability to do something very

well.”

. Wisdom simply means this “the skill of living life well!” If there

is only one skill I can have that is the one I want! I want God to fill me

with the skill to live my life well as he filled those to sew the garments

and the craftsmen make all the equipment for the tabernacle.

a. I want to live my life well as a husband, father, pastor, man, friend,

neighbor, as an ambassador for Jesus, etc.

3. The core of wisdom is found in Proverbs 9:10

a. This is synonymous parallelism - using different words

in the second line to say the same thing in different words.

Gives us another window or angle by which we can

understand “the fear of the Lord.”

b. It shows us here that in some way the fear of the Lord is

a personal relationship, a personal knowing of the Holy

One!

B. Foolishness on the other hand at its core is defined for us in

1. Passages: Psalm 14:1and Proverbs 1:7

a. While the wise man has a deep respect for God and

what he says in his word; the fool has no regard for or

thought of God or his word

2. There are four major categories that define a fool

. Relationship with God Psalm 14:1

a. His attitude towards learning Ecclesiastes 4:13; Proverbs 8:2

b. His talk Proverbs 18:6-7; Proverbs 15:2

c. His walk Proverbs 10:23; Proverbs 26:11

3. When I looked up numerous passages on wisdom this is how I

tried to summarize the heart of it.

A fool trusts is in himself rather than the Lord because he believes in his

heart that there is no God. A fool no longer knows how to receive

instruction; rather he hates knowledge, despises wisdom and instruction

and does not delight in understanding. Rather than listening and

learning, he is constantly talking, as he loves revealing his own

mind. What his mouth spouts out is folly bringing about his own ruin

and is a snare to his soul. His words bring about strife in relationships

and call for a punch in the mouth.

A fool’s ways are always right in his own eyes and his ways are full of

rebellion and sin against God displaying just how foolish he is. Doing

wickedness is like a sport to him; he is constantly losing his temper and

either raging or laughing at the wise. He repeats this same old stinky

stuff repeatedly.

When you are around a fool, you can find no peace for your soul and the

annoyance that comes from the fool is heavy upon your soul.

• so …

II. Am I a fool or a wise person?

A. Before we go on I want let me tell you that it is possible to

1. Be a true believer in Jesus Christ and have a life that has the

sweet aroma of Christ but has some areas of your life that are

stunk up by foolishness.

2. And it is possible to be a believer in Jesus Christ and believe in

God but to have your whole life characterized as foolish.

B. Let’s start with a pop quiz - Two questions that I want to score

yourself on a 1 to 10 level:

1. How wise do you think you are? 1 = dummy 10= I am like

Solomon!

2. How well do you take criticism and correction from others? 1=

I hate it 10 = bring it on because I love it!

3. How many of you gave yourself the exact same number for

both?

a. You are the ones who passed the quiz because the reality is that

you are only as wise as your ability to take criticism and

correction. The number you gave yourself for criticism is true

indication of how wise you are.

4. Listen to these 3 verses: read Proverbs 12:1, 13:1, 15:31

C. We love to talk about how foolish our culture is – a culture that has

removed God and his book from the schools, the political world, from

the courthouses, from our marriages and parenting, our values and

morals and even many churches. Instead, we have people who have very

very very very little knowledge compared to God who are claiming to be

experts, who are making decisions about right and wrong and what is

wise and foolish in our culture!

1. But let’s not talk about the culture but about us today!

2. More importantly have you removed God and his book from

your decisions making, your finances, your relationships, your

marriage, your parenting, your speaking, your education, your

work, etc.

3. Is your source for wisdom on living coming from the experts of

the world and aligned with the world’s thinking rather than

God’s and his book?

4. If no one knew, you were a Christian and all they had was your

walk, your talk and heart to know if you were a Christian would

they think you are of Jesus or the world?

D. Now before I ask this next question remember that the fool says,

“There is no God.”

1. “Do you live your life day in and day out as if there is no

God?”

2. Are you the boss of your own life? Are you calling all your

own shots? Are you trusting in your own wisdom and

resources? Alternatively, are you submitting your life and will

to him? Are you asking him what he wants you to do, say,

think, and respond? Are you trusting him for his strength and

wisdom

3. While you may say in your head and with your mouth that there

is a God, like the fool you may be living your life as if there is

no God!

E. Are you applying what you are learning from God’s word?

1. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that the difference between a fool and a

wise man is not that they do not know God’s word but rather the

wise man applies God’s word while the fool does not.

2. The end result is the fool’s life collapses when life’s major

storms come, while the wise man building his life off the

application of God’s word is able to stand strong when the

storms of life come!

III. Communion

. So which are you? –the fear of the Lord is not only the beginning

place of wisdom it is the very heart of wisdom. Listen to Job 28:28.

A. We have seen this before but it is worth repeating as you consider

just how wise you are. The fear of the Lord is:

1. Such a deep respect and awe for Jesus that I trust him, obey him

and avoid evil.

2. It is a high view and value of Jesus that so impacts me that I

walk in his ways

3. It is such a high regard and wonder for Jesus’ holiness, power,

wisdom, majesty and judgment that it cause me to trust and

obey him and live a holy life.