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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 13
24 August 2008
Keeping God’s Word
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the Sunday
Worship, at 2 pm, Aug 24, 08)
Text: John 14:21-24
It is easier to say than to
practice what we say. It is easier to say that we love God than to keep
His Word. Many professing Christians say that they love the Lord and
feel that the Lord loves them and blesses them, but their lives and
worship are not according to God’s Word! Our Lord Jesus confirms that
our love for God must manifest the fruit of our obedience to His Word,
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love
him, and will manifest myself to him… If a man love me, he will keep my
words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him… He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and
the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me”
(John 14:21, 23, 24). May God help us see the blessings of keeping His
Word and how to keep His Word.
Keeping
God’s Word Is Surely Blessed
To Be Loved of God:
God’s common love and grace is for all mankind, “For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16), but
God has His special love for those who love Him and keep His Word,
“he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him”
(John 14:21). Daniel was called “a man greatly beloved” (Daniel
10:11), and John was called the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (John
13:23; 20:2; 21:20). How sweet and pleasant to be called God’s beloved!
Do you and I appreciate God’s love above all? Let us keep God’s Word
although many others may not so that we may be called “beloved of
God” (Rom 1:7), “the elect of God, holy and beloved” (Col
3:12), and “beloved of the Lord” (2 Thess 2:13).
To Know More about the Lord
Jesus Christ: Our Lord Jesus says,
“no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him”
(Matt 11:27). Many have a head knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and
preach about Him, but in order to have a heart knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ, there is only one way: to love Him and keep His Word, “He
that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will
love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). Paul
regarded all things but loss “for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” (Phil 3:8). How
about you and me?
To Enjoy God’s Presence:
If God is with us and for us, we are really blessed even in our
difficulties and trials because His guidance, His protection, His help,
His deliverance, His grace, His strength, His comfort are always
sufficient for us. Let us keep God’s Word so that we may enjoy the
blessed presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him”
(John 14:23) and “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John
14:16).
To Wisely Reinforce Our
Foundation: Our Lord Jesus says,
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings (or words) of mine,
and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock” (Matt 7:24). Do you and I want to build our spiritual
house on a rock or on the sand? The more we keep and obey God’s Word,
the more we reinforce the foundation of our spiritual life so that we
may still stand firm in time of troubles, temptations or trials.
Not
Keeping God’s Word Is Serious
Our Lord Jesus says, “He that
loveth me not keepeth not my sayings (or words): and the word
which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John
14:24). Jesus’ words are God’s words. It is serious to disregard and
disobey a decree of an earthly king. It is much more serious to
disregard and disobey the Word of our Creator and Maker, the King of
kings and Lord of lords! Through God’s Word, the Holy Scripture, we may
see how serious it is for not keeping or obeying God’s Word:
Adam and Eve:
God’s Word to Adam and Eve was, “Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:16-17). God means what He says,
but sadly Adam and Eve failed to keep God’s Word and fell into
temptation of Satan, who cast doubt on God’s Word and twisted it, “Ye
shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil” (Gen 3:4-5). Due to their disobedience, Adam and Eve were
cursed (Gen 3:7-19) and sin and death entered into the world (Rom 5:12).
Satan is still casting doubt on God’s Word and twisting God’s Word
nowadays and many have been deceived. Do you and I want to listen to
God’s Word or Satan’s words?
Moses:
After God delivered the children of Israel from the bondage in Egypt, He
did take good care of them in the wilderness, “Yea, forty years didst
thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their
clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not” (Neh 9:21), but
they always complained and wanted to go back to Egypt when they
encountered difficulties. Once they complained for lacking water, and
God commanded Moses to smite the rock and water came out of it (Exod
17:6). The second time, they complained again for lacking water, and God
commanded Moses to speak unto the rock before their eyes, but Moses was
angry with the congregation due to their unbelief and complaints, and he
smote the rock twice (Num 20:8-11). How about not keeping God’s Word?
God said to Moses and Aaron, “Because ye believed me not, to sanctify
me in the eyes of the children of
Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land
which I have given them” (Num 20:12). It
is serious! May God help you and me faithfully keep God’s Word with
reverence despite the unbelief and rebellion of the majority.
Balaam:
Balak, king of Moab sent his messengers to
Balaam to curse the people of Israel (Num 22:2 3, 6). If Balaam were a
true servant of the Lord, he would have loved God’s people and rejected
Balak’s suggestion right away in the first place, but his heart was for
earthly gains, so he said that he would ask the Lord for His will. The
Lord said to him clearly, “Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt
not curse the people: for they are blessed” (Num 22:12). God’s Word
was so clear to Balaam, but the second time Balak sent more princes with
more honour and wealth and reward, Balaam said that he would pray to God
again! Balaam’s heart was not for the Lord nor for His people. So he
hoped that God would change His mind and let him curse His people!
Therefore, God gave him up to his corrupt mind and sinful desires and in
the end Balaam was killed with the sword (Num 31:7-8). It is serious!
The Scripture warns against “the doctrine of Balaam” (Rev
2:14), and “the way of Balaam…who loved the wages of
unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15) and “the error of Balaam for
reward” (Jude 11). Nowadays, we can see many Balaams in the
churches. They are not true servants of the Lord, but hirelings. They
profess that the LORD is their God, while they are going against God’s
will and God’s Word, “they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is
in their shame, who mind earthly things” (Phil 3:18-19). May God
help you and me love God and keep His Word and not compromise His Word
for earthly gains.
King Saul:
God ordered Saul to “go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all
that they have, and spare them not” (1 Sam 15:3), “But Saul and
the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and
of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not
utterly destroy them” (v 9). How about not keeping God’s Word?
“Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in
obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou
hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from
being king” (vv 22, 23). It is serious! May God help you and me
carefully and wholeheartedly keep His Word to the jot and tittle.
King David:
After David committed adultery and murder, God said to him through the
prophet Nathan, “Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the
LORD, to do evil in his sight?… Now therefore the sword shall never
depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me,… Thus saith the
LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house”
(2 Sam 12:9-11). Even though David sincerely and wholeheartedly
repented of his sins right away as he expressed in Psalm 51, he still
suffered the consequences of his sins. His children sinned against the
Lord and rebelled against him. For the death of Uriah, David’s four sons
(his first son with Bathsheba, Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah) were killed
as he had rightly judged, “And he shall restore the lamb fourfold”
(2 Sam 12:6). It is serious! May the Lord help you and me fear Him,
keep His Word and depart from sin and evil.
King Solomon:
God loved Solomon and richly blessed him with wisdom, understanding,
honour, and wealth. God had appeared to him twice with His warning to
serve the Lord faithfully, but sadly, Solomon failed to keep
God’s Word and made God angry, “And the LORD was angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had
appeared unto him twice… thou hast not kept my covenant and my
statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom
from thee, and will give it to thy servant” (1 Kings 11:9, 11). It
is serious! May God help you and me not take His love, grace and
blessings for granted, but fear Him and carefully keep His Word.
The Man of God from Judah:
Due to Solomon’s unfaithfulness,
Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the Northern kingdom or Israel and
the Southern kingdom or Judah. The Northern kingdom worshipped idols and
God sent His servant to Bethel to cry against the altar. Jeroboam was
angry with him and put forth his hand from the altar, saying, “Lay hold
on him,” but his hand dried up and he could not put it in again to him.
Jeroboam asked the man of God to pray for him and his hand was healed
and he invited the man of God to come home with him and refresh himself
and he would give a reward, but the man of God said, “If thou wilt
give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat
bread nor drink water in this place: For so was it charged me by the
word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again
by the same way that thou camest” (1 Kings 13:8-9). But later there
was an old and false prophet who lied to the man of God, “I am a
prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the
LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat
bread and drink water. But he lied unto him” (1 Kings 13:18). Sadly
the man of God listened to this false prophet and received God’s
judgment, “Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD,
and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of
the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water;
thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers” (1
Kings 13:21-22). It is serious! Nowadays, many also claim that God has
spoken to them and that they have received new revelation from God. Let
us not be deceived! God has given us His perfectly preserved Word, and
we do not need any new revelation from false prophets or false teachers.
May the Lord help you and me faithfully keep His Word until the end no
mater what others may say.
Conclusion
Dear friends, we have to love God
and keep His Word to be blessed. There is no other way. May God help you
and me acknowledge our sinful nature (Rom 8:7-8), then cried unto the
Lord for help, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?” (Rom 7:24), and then rely on the Lord
totally with trust, dependence and submission like the branch to the
Vine for life and strength and fruit, for “without me ye can do
nothing” (John 15:5), and “For it is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). May the
Lord graciously help us love Him and keep His Word until the end. Amen.
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