sunday, february 7, 2021
SEPARATION or ASSIMILATION
Separation – in original creation
Gen 1:4 “…God separated the light from the darkness.”
1:7 “…God made the expanse, and separated the waters…below…
from the waters which were above…”
1:14 “…God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens
to separate the day from the night…”
1:18 “…to separate the light from the darkness…”
Separation – in salvation/redemption/’recreation’
- always has been God’s call for His people
Ex 33:16 “…distinguished from all the other people…”
– His covenant people; His presence distinguished from all others
Lev 20:24 “…I am the Lord your God,
who has separated you from the peoples.”
20:26 “…you are to be holy to Me…
I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.”
Num 23:9 “…a people who dwells apart,
and shall not be reckoned among the nations.”
Deut 32:8 “…when He separated the sons of man…
according to the number of the sons of Israel.”
32:9 “For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.”
1 Kings 8:53 “For Thou hast separated them from all the peoples of the earth as
Thine inheritance…”
8:60 “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God…
Assimilation & Annihilation – Satan’s strategies against Israel (David Rosenthal)
Assimilation – to make similar so as to lose distinctiveness
- to absorb into the cultural tradition of a population or group
Israel’s Assimilation:
Ezek 16 - Israel’s/Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness
16:26 “…Egyptians…” = divided/dual; sophisticated (world)
16:28 “…Assyrians…” = powerful; successful (sin/self)
16:29 “…Chaldea…” = astrologers/magicians; occult (Satan)
16:15 “…you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot…”
16:20 “…you took your sons and daughters…sacrificed them to idols…”
16:21 “You slaughtered My children, and offered them up to idols…”
- idols of convenience w/abortion, of science w/public schools
16:30 “…the actions of a bold-face harlot…”
- boisterous & brazen; ‘I have done no wrong’ (Prov 30:20)
16:32 “You adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!”
- “…your husband is your Maker…
“…your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel…” (Isa 54:5)
16:49 “…arrogance, abundant food…carless ease…did not help the poor…”
16:50 “…haughty and committed abominations before Me…”
Christian’s Assimilation:
- wanting only forgiveness; don’t want to be delivered from this present world
- wanting to live in this world without restraints thinking they have a Savior
who will forgive them in the end
- don’t want to hear about repentance, self-denial, bearing cross, judgment…
- “I can live as I please as long as I say that I believe”
Jam 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is
hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the
world makes himself an enemy of God.”
- hostility, enemy, love of Father not in (1 Jn 2:15)
4:5 “…He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us?”
(The Spirit which He has made to dwell in us jealously desires us – ref)
- as temple of the Holy Spirit, you are not your own (1 Cor 6:19)
- the working of the Holy Spirit – calling out of world
- no assimilation
What the Word has to say about the world – i.e. avoiding assimilation of world
1 Jn 2:15 “Do not love the world, nor the things of the world. If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
- the love of the world = being assimilated
- the love of the Father = not being assimilated by the world
Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world,
and forfeit his soul?”
- warning - no one has ever beat the world system
- many have lost their soul trying = being assimilated
John 12:25 “He who loves his life (in this world) loses it;
and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.”
- wisdom - seeing through the illusion of the good life (soul-life)
- understanding – “hating his soul-life in this world” = not assimilated
John 16:33 “…in the world you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world.”
- reality - of tribulation = world trying to shape into its mold
- of overcoming = in Christ not being assimilated
Rom 12:2 “…do not be conformed to this world…”
- we’re to break from this world & be conformed to Christ alone
1 Cor 3:19 “For the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God…”
- difference – of world, “earthly, natural, demonic” (Jam 3:15)
of world = being assimilated
- of God, “pure, peaceable, gentle…” (Jam 3:17)
Gal 6:14 “…the cross…through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.”
- salvation – continuing work of the cross
- power to not to be assimilated by the world
Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,”
- not fully in grace until have broken from this worldly corruption
2:12 “instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live
sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,”
- temptation – assimilated into this ungodly, worldly present age
- training - how not to be assimilated
2:13 “looking for the blessed hope…appearing of…Christ Jesus.”
- seeing through the deception of assimilation
- longing for His return ending the evil kingdom of this world
- Rev 11:15 “Kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our
Lord, and of His Christ…He will reign forever and ever.”
- Kingdom of this world – w/all its pressure to assimilate is temporary
Kingdom of Lord Jesus – eternal destination of Christian
2:14 “Who gave Himself for us…
- He died that we could have eternal life
- AND, so we could be delivered from being assimilate by this world
- Gal 1:4 “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out
of this present evil age/world…”
Rev 11:15 “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
Kingdom of this world – with all its pull to assimilate is temporary
Kingdom of Lord Jesus – eternal destination of Christian
Separation – in original creation
Gen 1:4 “…God separated the light from the darkness.”
1:7 “…God made the expanse, and separated the waters…below…
from the waters which were above…”
1:14 “…God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens
to separate the day from the night…”
1:18 “…to separate the light from the darkness…”
Separation – in salvation/redemption/’recreation’
- always has been God’s call for His people
Ex 33:16 “…distinguished from all the other people…”
– His covenant people; His presence distinguished from all others
Lev 20:24 “…I am the Lord your God,
who has separated you from the peoples.”
20:26 “…you are to be holy to Me…
I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.”
Num 23:9 “…a people who dwells apart,
and shall not be reckoned among the nations.”
Deut 32:8 “…when He separated the sons of man…
according to the number of the sons of Israel.”
32:9 “For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.”
1 Kings 8:53 “For Thou hast separated them from all the peoples of the earth as
Thine inheritance…”
8:60 “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God…
Assimilation & Annihilation – Satan’s strategies against Israel (David Rosenthal)
Assimilation – to make similar so as to lose distinctiveness
- to absorb into the cultural tradition of a population or group
Israel’s Assimilation:
Ezek 16 - Israel’s/Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness
16:26 “…Egyptians…” = divided/dual; sophisticated (world)
16:28 “…Assyrians…” = powerful; successful (sin/self)
16:29 “…Chaldea…” = astrologers/magicians; occult (Satan)
16:15 “…you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot…”
16:20 “…you took your sons and daughters…sacrificed them to idols…”
16:21 “You slaughtered My children, and offered them up to idols…”
- idols of convenience w/abortion, of science w/public schools
16:30 “…the actions of a bold-face harlot…”
- boisterous & brazen; ‘I have done no wrong’ (Prov 30:20)
16:32 “You adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!”
- “…your husband is your Maker…
“…your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel…” (Isa 54:5)
16:49 “…arrogance, abundant food…carless ease…did not help the poor…”
16:50 “…haughty and committed abominations before Me…”
Christian’s Assimilation:
- wanting only forgiveness; don’t want to be delivered from this present world
- wanting to live in this world without restraints thinking they have a Savior
who will forgive them in the end
- don’t want to hear about repentance, self-denial, bearing cross, judgment…
- “I can live as I please as long as I say that I believe”
Jam 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is
hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the
world makes himself an enemy of God.”
- hostility, enemy, love of Father not in (1 Jn 2:15)
4:5 “…He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us?”
(The Spirit which He has made to dwell in us jealously desires us – ref)
- as temple of the Holy Spirit, you are not your own (1 Cor 6:19)
- the working of the Holy Spirit – calling out of world
- no assimilation
What the Word has to say about the world – i.e. avoiding assimilation of world
1 Jn 2:15 “Do not love the world, nor the things of the world. If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
- the love of the world = being assimilated
- the love of the Father = not being assimilated by the world
Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world,
and forfeit his soul?”
- warning - no one has ever beat the world system
- many have lost their soul trying = being assimilated
John 12:25 “He who loves his life (in this world) loses it;
and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.”
- wisdom - seeing through the illusion of the good life (soul-life)
- understanding – “hating his soul-life in this world” = not assimilated
John 16:33 “…in the world you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world.”
- reality - of tribulation = world trying to shape into its mold
- of overcoming = in Christ not being assimilated
Rom 12:2 “…do not be conformed to this world…”
- we’re to break from this world & be conformed to Christ alone
1 Cor 3:19 “For the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God…”
- difference – of world, “earthly, natural, demonic” (Jam 3:15)
of world = being assimilated
- of God, “pure, peaceable, gentle…” (Jam 3:17)
Gal 6:14 “…the cross…through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.”
- salvation – continuing work of the cross
- power to not to be assimilated by the world
Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,”
- not fully in grace until have broken from this worldly corruption
2:12 “instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live
sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,”
- temptation – assimilated into this ungodly, worldly present age
- training - how not to be assimilated
2:13 “looking for the blessed hope…appearing of…Christ Jesus.”
- seeing through the deception of assimilation
- longing for His return ending the evil kingdom of this world
- Rev 11:15 “Kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our
Lord, and of His Christ…He will reign forever and ever.”
- Kingdom of this world – w/all its pressure to assimilate is temporary
Kingdom of Lord Jesus – eternal destination of Christian
2:14 “Who gave Himself for us…
- He died that we could have eternal life
- AND, so we could be delivered from being assimilate by this world
- Gal 1:4 “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out
of this present evil age/world…”
Rev 11:15 “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
Kingdom of this world – with all its pull to assimilate is temporary
Kingdom of Lord Jesus – eternal destination of Christian
SUnday, february 21, 2021
LOVING GOD
Our concept of God – shaped more by movies & culture than how He has
revealed Himself in Scripture
- see Him as having a split personality
OT as cruel & judgmental
NT as ‘gentle Jesus’ carrying lambs & hugging children
A.W. Tozer – “We rise and fall with our concept of God”
Ex 33:19 “…I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim
the name of the Lord before you…”
Ex 34:6-7 - Who He is
34:8 “…Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.”
- worship that is based on the goodness of God
(needed shift from how it benefits me to Who God is)
Israel’s example (1 Cor 10:11) – reason for Babylonian captivity
- not surface issues – political, economic, religious practices
- but spiritual problem – did not love God; lack of love led to such rebellion
2 Chron 36:15-16 “…no remedy.”
How important is it for man to love God? - supreme issue of life/highest privilege
Deut 6:5 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all of
your soul and with all of your might.”
Heart – Heb thinking, heart is seat of thoughts, rather than feeling (western)
place of the mind, understanding, intentions & planning
i.e. as we make our plans, we are to love God in our heart
Soul - Heb usage, soul is the seat of the emotions and personality
place of our desires, longings, passions & drives in life
i.e. as we dream our dreams, we are to love God in our soul
Strength – Heb meaning, strength is ‘fullness’
the energies and actions that flow out of the decisions of the heart
i.e. as we use our energies, we are to love God in the fullness of our
activities
all our heart – the things we think about (make our plans)
all our soul - the things we feel strongly about (dream our dreams)
all our strength – the activities with which we fill our lives (use our energies)
Deut 6:6 “…these words…I am commanding you…shall be on your heart;”
- loving God at all times
6:7 “…you shall teach them diligently to your sons…talk of them
when you sit in your house…walk by the way…lie down…rise up.”
- loving God by teaching our children (His lambs – John 21:15)
- loving God in all of life’s activities, woven into fabric of daily life
(not just an add-on or collection of empty words)
Matt 22:36-40 - according to Jesus, the greatest command of the Law upon which
all Scripture hangs
2 Tim 3:1 “…in the last days difficult (perilous/terrible) times will come.”
3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money…”
3:4 “…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
- lovers of self:
humanistic, self-inflating false gospel, psychology (you are worth it)
more worthless we realize we are in God’s eyes > our love for Him
Luke 7:36-48 i.e. sinful women forgiven much & loving much
7:47 “…she loved much; but he who is forgiven little,
loves little.”
If we see ourselves as worth His sacrifice < appreciation of His love
God loves us not because of who we are, but who He is (1 Jn 4:16)
- lovers of money:
storing up in these last days; Prov 18:11 i.e. looking to for security
- lovers of pleasure:
things we turn to for relaxation, comfort or peace of mind
when we are drained tend to run to wells that can’t satisfy
we forget our “first love” & seek pleasure instead of God’s love
2 Tim 3:5 “…denied the power…”
- power of the gospel, grace, prayers of the Son, of the Holy Spirit
- power of the possibility to obey the “great & foremost command”
- power to stand in these difficult last days
- power to be “lovers of God”
- power to love God back
Our concept of God – shaped more by movies & culture than how He has
revealed Himself in Scripture
- see Him as having a split personality
OT as cruel & judgmental
NT as ‘gentle Jesus’ carrying lambs & hugging children
A.W. Tozer – “We rise and fall with our concept of God”
Ex 33:19 “…I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim
the name of the Lord before you…”
Ex 34:6-7 - Who He is
34:8 “…Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.”
- worship that is based on the goodness of God
(needed shift from how it benefits me to Who God is)
Israel’s example (1 Cor 10:11) – reason for Babylonian captivity
- not surface issues – political, economic, religious practices
- but spiritual problem – did not love God; lack of love led to such rebellion
2 Chron 36:15-16 “…no remedy.”
How important is it for man to love God? - supreme issue of life/highest privilege
Deut 6:5 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all of
your soul and with all of your might.”
Heart – Heb thinking, heart is seat of thoughts, rather than feeling (western)
place of the mind, understanding, intentions & planning
i.e. as we make our plans, we are to love God in our heart
Soul - Heb usage, soul is the seat of the emotions and personality
place of our desires, longings, passions & drives in life
i.e. as we dream our dreams, we are to love God in our soul
Strength – Heb meaning, strength is ‘fullness’
the energies and actions that flow out of the decisions of the heart
i.e. as we use our energies, we are to love God in the fullness of our
activities
all our heart – the things we think about (make our plans)
all our soul - the things we feel strongly about (dream our dreams)
all our strength – the activities with which we fill our lives (use our energies)
Deut 6:6 “…these words…I am commanding you…shall be on your heart;”
- loving God at all times
6:7 “…you shall teach them diligently to your sons…talk of them
when you sit in your house…walk by the way…lie down…rise up.”
- loving God by teaching our children (His lambs – John 21:15)
- loving God in all of life’s activities, woven into fabric of daily life
(not just an add-on or collection of empty words)
Matt 22:36-40 - according to Jesus, the greatest command of the Law upon which
all Scripture hangs
2 Tim 3:1 “…in the last days difficult (perilous/terrible) times will come.”
3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money…”
3:4 “…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
- lovers of self:
humanistic, self-inflating false gospel, psychology (you are worth it)
more worthless we realize we are in God’s eyes > our love for Him
Luke 7:36-48 i.e. sinful women forgiven much & loving much
7:47 “…she loved much; but he who is forgiven little,
loves little.”
If we see ourselves as worth His sacrifice < appreciation of His love
God loves us not because of who we are, but who He is (1 Jn 4:16)
- lovers of money:
storing up in these last days; Prov 18:11 i.e. looking to for security
- lovers of pleasure:
things we turn to for relaxation, comfort or peace of mind
when we are drained tend to run to wells that can’t satisfy
we forget our “first love” & seek pleasure instead of God’s love
2 Tim 3:5 “…denied the power…”
- power of the gospel, grace, prayers of the Son, of the Holy Spirit
- power of the possibility to obey the “great & foremost command”
- power to stand in these difficult last days
- power to be “lovers of God”
- power to love God back
|
Lexington Foursquare Gospel Church
(PO Box 570) 21 Snowy Egret Lane Lexington, VA. 24450 |