Part 2 from our Church Retreat

I mentioned in the last post that our theme for the weekend was rocks in the Bible. Here’s my talk from Saturday morning:

Remember the parable about the house that was built upon a rock? “And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock?”

One’s spiritual house is the state of mind. Your beliefs and the way you live your life according to those beliefs. The storms that come are the trials or the false thoughts and ideas. A living conviction of the eternal truths of God’s Word, of God Himself and of His Kingdom, gives us a foundation, which cannot be shaken and actually can become stronger in times of trial when we keep on trusting God and doing what He commands. It’s in doing God’s will: being obedient to what He tells us, that we come into a relationship with Him.

The rock is the unchanging truth of God’s Word. I mentioned last night that Jesus quoted often from the Old Testament. There are some people who don’t enjoy the Old Testament. They think it’s ancient history, no longer important since Jesus came. But, you can’t really understand the New Testament without knowing the Old Testament.

Many of the images Jesus used to define Himself: Lamb of God, Shepherd, Sign of Jonah, the stone which the builders rejected, came straight from the pages of the Old Testament. In fact the entire Old Testament points to Jesus. It’s a foundation for the New Testament.

Proverbs 22:28 says, “Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers.”

God’s ancient boundary stones are the 10 Commandments. There was a survey done which showed that while 80% of Americans say they believe in the 10 commandments, very few could name more than 4.

We’ve all heard the funny stories where kids get the people in the Bible mixed up; like Joan of Arc is Noah’s wife. And they are funny, but also sad. We have to ask ourselves why our kids don’t know the Bible better. To me this says we shouldn’t depend on a weekly Sunday school class. Our home’s environment should be one where we do as we are told to in Deuteronomy 6:7-9: Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Remember

The book of Deuteronomy uses the word remember sixteen times. It is the reason for preaching, teaching and Bible study. It is the inspiration for song, peace and prayer. We are to remember how faithful God has been in the past.

This doesn’t mean we should only remember the pleasant memories. Often it is the most bitter and difficult experiences, which profit us the most. They help us avoid making the same mistakes and to learn to serve God better.

The Israelites spent 40 years in the desert learning unity; that they were one people, with one God, going into one land.

In Deuteronomy chapter 7 God told the Israelites to wipe out all the people in the land they were moving into. This was a holy war and the Israelites were to be united both physically and religiously. They were not to be distracted by their apparently successful, but godless neighbors. They were to practice pure and single-minded worship. America began as “one Nation under God”, but we’ve become fragmented, distracted, caught up in unholy things. Part of me understands that the Muslims look on us as the rich, successful, but godless neighbors.

Everything is a gift from God. When you are prosperous you need to be especially careful so that you don’t forget God. Bible history shows us over and over again that an attitude of self-sufficiency eventually leads to a fall. The humility forced on the people in the desert should characterize the people in the prosperity in the Promised Land when they remember God and all that He has done for them.

God humored Israel for a purpose. His purpose was knowledge. He was primarily interested in knowledge in the area of faith. To test the Israelites and show them what they were made of. When September 11th happened, we were tested. And for a little while we came through. The Israelites had everything taken from them and depended on daily manna from God to get by. Manna also refers to the Word of God. We are to depend on His Word and that is most clearly seen in His law.

God disciplines us. He has a goal in mind for our good. He does it out of love and concern. To keep us from evil and lead us to good. Peace and happiness depends on a willingness to fit into God’s ways and live by His directions. He provides the means, but we must provide the willingness. We are called to make a decision and then show consistent conduct on that decision. When we do this, Deuteronomy 24:13 tells us it will be to our credit before the Lord.

God is never the author of evil. God created a good world and it fell because of man’s sin. He allows evil and so He has control over it, but He didn’t create evil and He always offers help to anyone who wants to overcome it. In Revelation 20:10-15 we see that one day God will completely do away with evil. But, for now, God uses everything – both good and evil – for His own good purposes. Our world is very similar to the Old Testament one. National and local governments do not seek God. Countries are tormented by war. Many people follow the false gods of technology and materialism. True worship of God is rare. For NATIONS to do God’s will we need INDIVIDUALS who will do God’s will.