Participants: Dale Leamon
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000006
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00:29 I'm so glad you could join us for today's program.
00:33 My name is Dale Lemon and I Pastor the Adventist church 00:38 in Battle Creek Michigan. 00:39 Today we are going to be looking 00:43 more at the ten promises that God has given us. 00:47 Ten fantastic promises. 00:50 I think you will really be surprised as you 00:53 understand where these promises are found. 00:56 But first let us have a word of prayer, Father in heaven 00:59 Thank you that we can be together now to understand 01:04 your word better. 01:05 Please send Your Spirit to bless this time. 01:09 In the homes where many are viewing and right 01:12 here as I share. 01:14 Use me that Your own words will come through and 01:18 hearts will be changed. In Jesus name, Amen! 01:22 Well the ten promises that we have in mind are usually called 01:28 the Ten Commandments and many people think of them more 01:32 as a source of guilt than they do as something to rejoice in. 01:36 But that only because they haven't understood God's reason 01:39 for giving those Ten Commandments or ten promises. 01:42 Because, in fact, as we look at them and realize that they are 01:47 far beyond our moral ability. 01:49 Then we look to Jesus and we see that He has already 01:53 full filled all ten of those wonderful promises 01:56 for us and is ready to write them in our hearts. 01:58 That is such a blessing. 02:00 To come to that understanding changes our whole attitude. 02:05 So the gospel is actually promised in the Ten Commandments 02:11 Why did God give His laws? 02:13 Was it just because He wanted to show who was boss? 02:16 He wanted to say I Am the boss and everybody needs to know it? 02:21 So these are the rules and you better obey them! No Not at all. 02:26 If you have looked carefully at the Ten Commandments, you 02:28 notice that they are all written for our happiness. 02:33 They all are intimately connected with our own 02:39 being as humans. 02:40 In other words, those who don't receive the grace of 02:44 God to obey those commandments, to live that kind of life, 02:48 cannot possibly be happy. 02:50 But those who do receive God's grace 02:52 to live in harmony with those commandments will be happy 02:56 because our very natures are created in such a way 03:03 that we cannot possibly have a good life if we separate 03:07 ourselves from God's will and the commandments. 03:10 So it was not God's desire to be boss, but it was 03:13 because He loved us that He made rules for our happiness. 03:17 Now folks, you and I have all had experiences, 03:19 especially if you are a parent. 03:21 You may remember taking your two year old the grocery store. 03:27 Two year old, of course, like to get into everything. 03:31 They know what they want and what they like. 03:35 If you go by a long counter with lots of candy, bags of candy 03:43 candy bars and so forth. 03:45 Your two year old may begin to pick these things up. 03:49 May begin to say in his/her childish way 03:54 I want this. This is what I want. 03:57 Now you are the parent, you have wisdom. 04:00 And so you realize that a two year old can't handle very 04:06 much sweets and if you let them have too many they will get sick 04:09 So in your parental wisdom you say 04:11 No, not this time. 04:13 We won't be able to buy that this time! 04:16 Of course the two year old looks at the parental rule as a 04:21 negative thing. 04:25 My mom or my dad just doesn't want me to have fun. 04:26 My mom or dad doesn't want me to have what I want. 04:29 Their restricting my desires. 04:31 He doesn't understand that you are making 04:36 your ruling out of love in fact your only motivation is that 04:41 your concerned about his well-being. 04:42 And so that is what God has to face. 04:47 It has to be really hard being God because He has to constantly 04:54 try to keep us out of trouble, which means He's making rules. 04:57 At the same time convincing us that He loves us 04:59 and is interested in our happiness. 05:01 But we think our happiness requires us to do something 05:03 that He knows would only hurt us, 05:04 that puts Him in a hard position. 05:06 But as we get more mature and grow and trust Him more, 05:10 experience more of life, we more understand that everything God 05:14 has commanded is really love. 05:17 It is an expression of His protective, parental love for us 05:21 We have the same experiences with teenagers. 05:23 Of course they are quiet a little more advanced than 05:26 the two year old in knowing what is good for them. 05:29 Although they try hard to forget it. 05:31 They often will not appreciate our rules. 05:36 The teenager will wonder why I have to be in by 10 PM. 05:40 Why do you have to know where I am all the time? 05:43 Why do you have to know whom I am with all the time? 05:46 But good parents must make such rules in order to 05:51 be responsible for their young people. 05:54 And so God is responsible with us. 05:56 He is not arbitrary, He's not bossy, He's not dogmatic. 05:59 The rules He makes are simply inherent in our very being 06:05 as the necessities for our happiness and well-being. 06:08 He is, of course, the perfect parent 06:11 He loves to be called our Father. 06:15 It's really His favorite name because it implies 06:18 that He's caring for us even though He has to be the boss. 06:23 Of course He is the only one who could be the boss. 06:25 He is the only One that has the wisdom. 06:26 He made us. He knows exactly what we need. 06:29 Only He could know what is possibly in our best interest. 06:32 Well as we have discussed the Commandments we 06:36 have seen them as promises. 06:38 Good parents of course even in their rules are 06:42 really making promises, are they not to their children? 06:45 They are saying follow this rule for your health. 06:50 You'll have good health all of your life. 06:52 Follow this rule you'll have a long life. 06:54 Follow this rule you will have good relationships. 06:56 You'll have a happy marriage. 06:58 Follow this rule and you will develop spiritually. 07:01 You will have peace in your heart. 07:03 So every good rule in a way is a promise of a happy future. 07:08 So it is easy to see that God's Ten Commandments 07:12 are ten promises for a happy future. 07:15 The neat thing is though, they are promises in and of 07:19 themselves, that is they are not something we promised to do 07:23 for God, but each rule is something God 07:26 has promised to do for us. 07:27 It's not just that if we keep them we have hope for happy 07:31 ever after. 07:32 Its more that if we allow Jesus to give us these principles in 07:38 our heart, then of course we have eternal joy. 07:42 Each of them is a promise of God's work of grace in our lives 07:48 Looking at them one by one we find ourselves now at Ex. 20:13 07:54 The sixth commandment. It's a very brief one isn't it? 08:00 Let's read it. You shall not murder. 08:04 I think probably most people regard this as the 08:09 easiest commandment to keep. 08:10 Most people hate violence, I was never inclined to 08:16 to murder anyone. 08:18 I may have broken all the other commandments 08:21 but I am sure I never broken that commandment. 08:24 because I have never killed anybody. 08:26 And yet in our wicked, wicked world 08:30 killing people, unfortunately, is not that rare is it? 08:35 Many people that seem to be law-abiding citizens 08:40 suddenly, in a fit of anger will kill or in, 08:45 or in depression. 08:47 Millions, or course, are being killed before they are born 08:51 for the convenience of the parents. 08:55 There are dictators who are murdering thousands their 09:00 own countrymen. Millions even. 09:03 Every few years that happens. 09:05 We have wars of genocide in which neighbors just rise up 09:10 slaughter their neighbors and steal all their possessions. 09:15 These things have happened and we wonder 09:19 is it true ordinary people have a killing 09:22 instinct within themselves? 09:24 Recently we were horrified by stories in all the papers 09:30 of the mother, this just seems so unthinkable, mother of five 09:37 children, who apparently grew very depressed and felt 09:43 that she could not take care of her children. 09:46 Somehow, we assume she had some kind of psychosis going 09:50 on there because she apparently felt the best thing she could 09:53 do was to put her children to death, five little children. 09:57 According to the story, her after her husband went 10:01 away to work, she took the children, one by one into the 10:04 bathroom where she held them under the water in the bathtub 10:08 until they were drowned. 10:12 Imagine a mother watching her own children struggle 10:15 fight for breath until they died. 10:18 Unthinkable. Where this does horrible evil, 10:22 come from? 10:23 Obviously the human heart is capable of things we would 10:27 hardly imagine. 10:29 The father, when he found out, was horrified and shocked 10:32 because there had been no indication that 10:34 this might take place. 10:36 She had been a faithful mother. 10:38 We all need to look in our own hearts and see what 10:41 might really be there. 10:43 Sometimes we brag about the fact I may have told a few lies 10:51 but I have never killed anyone. 10:53 Sometimes we think of five or six of the commandments 10:56 that we think we have kept. 10:57 Well I don't steal. 10:59 I've been pretty good to my parents you know. 11:02 So forth. Oh Folks 11:04 When we really look carefully at God's law we discover 11:08 that these have to be promises. 11:11 Because none of them are capable of obedience by us 11:14 in our normal condition. 11:16 In fact we find that we have violated all of them. 11:21 According to Jesus' teaching even on this commandment 11:25 about murder, we are all murders 11:29 That's hard to imagine isn't it? 11:31 Lets see how that can be. Matthew 5 where we have Jesus 11:38 great long sermon on the mount. 11:41 It gives us an explanation of spiritual character of God's law 11:47 It helps us to see why we can't achieve even one 11:52 principle of it in our own strength. 11:54 Let's look at the verses together from Matthew 5:21-22. 12:33 So here we see Jesus re-interpreting this commandment 12:39 Thou salt not murder and showing that even anger 12:42 now He says anger without a cause, I want you to remember 12:46 the Bible, the apostle Paul, Ephesians tells us that we are 12:51 not to be angry past the sunset, if we are then we have sinned. 12:56 So we know what it means to be angry without a cause is to 13:00 it means to hold on to our anger until it becomes 13:02 resentment and hatred. 13:04 It is okay to have a little flare of anger when we see a 13:09 wrong thing happen. 13:10 There are things in this world that are worth getting angry 13:12 about, but to hold on to that and to be hateful and to be 13:15 resentful and desire vengeance against the other person 13:19 that is wrong isn't it? 13:21 And when we do that, Jesus says that we are 13:24 in violation of the sixth commandment. 13:27 How can that be? 13:28 I think it is because it is natural to wish that person dead 13:33 Whom we really hate, we wish they would just disappear 13:41 Sometimes don't we? Have you ever been there? 13:43 Well I hope you haven't. 13:44 But this is certainly an important thing to 13:47 ponder in our hearts. 13:48 I want you to understand our own liability to this 13:54 commandment so that you can appreciate Christ's promise 13:57 in full filling it in our hearts. 14:01 We often have excessive anger. 14:05 And excessive anger, of course, is the first cause of murder. 14:10 Also we sometimes lose respect for people. 14:13 We say we don't hate them. 14:16 But we just don't have any respect for them. 14:19 I want to point out to you friends, that is the same as 14:22 calling someone a fool according to the scripture here. 14:24 And Jesus says that those people who call people fools 14:27 are also in danger of hell fire. 14:29 Remember that when we lose respect for people we are not 14:32 being Christ-like because Christ respects everyone. 14:35 You say wait a minute the Bible says He doesn't respect anybody. 14:38 Yeah but that is Old English, it just means He doesn't favor 14:41 anyone over anybody else. 14:42 But He respects everyone, He respects doesn't He? 14:45 He gives you free choice, He listens to your 14:47 prayers, He does not seek to distance Himself from you, 14:50 He listens to your thinking even though your thinking is 14:53 so immature and unwise. 14:54 And He reasons with you, He says come let us reason together 14:59 Jesus and the Father respect you. 15:01 Even though you have done a lot of things which would 15:05 deserve to be disrespected. 15:06 He respects you. 15:09 And He asks us to respect each other also. 15:12 And if we don't do that we are in violation 15:15 again of the sixth commandment. 15:19 Well I found myself in violation of that 15:23 commandment one time. 15:25 In fact, of course, several times. 15:27 But one really serious occasion, in my life. 15:30 It came home to me. 15:32 I know the Lord allowed this to happen to me because He 15:33 wanted me to learn something and to grow. 15:36 I had a colleague that I worked with. 15:39 And you know when in ministry and when you have someone 15:43 you work closely with, in ministry it is a special bond. 15:47 You feel that person is a real ally, and a real 15:51 brother or sister in Christ. 15:52 In this instance I certainly felt that way. 15:55 The work we did together came out so well. 15:57 We often prayed together. 15:58 We often did various programs together and I felt really 16:04 bonded to this person. 16:06 Then one day I discovered. 16:09 To my complete amazement. 16:12 That this person was really my enemy. 16:14 That this person was jealous of me. 16:16 And had been undermining me, with my friends and with others 16:20 I was trying to minister to. 16:21 That this person had been like Absalom at the gates. 16:24 Turning people away from me and trying to gather 16:27 other people to himself. 16:29 I found that this person had tried to damage 16:33 my relationship at home, and to hurt my marriage. 16:37 I found that this person had also tried to damage my career, 16:41 by spreading tales about me to my superiors. 16:45 I was shocked. 16:48 I was horrified. 16:49 I was devastated. 16:51 I felt betrayed. 16:52 I felt absolutely abused because this had been a person 16:56 that I thought was a real brother In Christ. 17:00 Well, of course, I supposed I had some right to a little 17:04 bit of anger, but then the sun went down and I was 17:06 suppose to forgive, Jesus says forgive or your Father 17:09 can't forgive you. 17:10 He says for us to pray forgive our debts as we 17:14 forgive our debtors. 17:16 But I would not forgive. 17:17 I was angry, I went to bed angry. 17:19 I woke up the next day angry. 17:21 In fact my anger was increasing and my 17:23 resentment kept increasing. 17:24 And I became so angry and it went on week after week. 17:28 This thought of anger would plague my thoughts whenever 17:32 wasn't really busy doing something else. 17:33 When I was just driving in my car, or wake up in the 17:36 middle of the night. 17:37 I would think about this person and how angry I was. 17:40 In fact I became aware of my anger had become totally hateful 17:44 I truly became aware that I was violating the sixth 17:48 commandment because I really began to desire 17:51 this person's death. 17:53 I thought they desired the worse possible vengeance. 17:57 I had even worked up a scenario in my mind where this person 18:00 would be on the road and run into a huge tanker truck. 18:04 All the fuel would spill out and it would be a terrible 18:06 confrontation in which this person would be 18:09 completely vaporized. 18:10 Boy was I angry. 18:11 Sounds really embarrassing now as I remember that. 18:15 Not at all Christian. 18:17 The Lord reminded me that He had forgiven me 18:21 of so many abuses. 18:22 He had forgiven me so wonderfully. 18:24 He told me you have to forgive this person. 18:27 He reminded me to of all His forgiveness of me 18:30 wouldn't do me any good unless I would turn 18:33 around and forgive also. 18:35 There are many scriptures that teach that. 18:38 Don't forget that precious beatitude from the sermon on 18:42 the mount, blessed are the merciful for they 18:46 shall obtain mercy. 18:50 So I was driving in my car one day and I had lost my 18:52 appetite and was beginning to get an ulcer, I was so upset. 18:53 I was going down the road and thinking 18:55 these terrible, terrible thoughts 18:56 The Spirit of God convicted me right there on the road. 19:00 You must forgive and I said Okay Lord I agree. 19:06 I want to, I am ready to, but I do know how. 19:11 I can't seem to, I've already tried but I can't seem to let go 19:14 of my anger. 19:15 That is where the Lord reminded me that He had kept this 19:19 commandment for me. 19:21 He had certainly faced the anger himself. 19:28 He had, as they nailed Him to the cross, He had said 19:36 Father, forgive them, as they nailed Him to the cross. 19:43 But then He was there to forgive, wasn't He? 19:46 that was the whole point of the cross, He was there to forgive. 19:49 Sins passed, sins present, and even sins future. 19:53 It was all covered there. 19:56 He knows how to forgive. 19:59 As I remembered that, I thought okay. 20:02 Certainly if you could forgive everyone, everyone. 20:06 Hitler, Paul Pot, surely you can help me 20:15 forgive my enemy. 20:17 So right there in my car, driving west bound, in 20:25 Los Angels California, I said Okay Lord help me 20:34 and help me now. 20:35 I choose to give up my hatred. 20:38 I choose to give up my feelings of vengeance. 20:42 I choose to stop condemning this person and leave the 20:45 judgment with You. 20:46 I choose to forgive. 20:49 Please give me that grace. 20:53 And you know what? 20:54 instantly I had peace in my heart and all my anger was gone. 20:59 I love to tell this story because so realistic. 21:03 Your going to say, What's realistic about that, I prayed 21:05 lots of times and nothing happened. 21:07 Oh yes, every time you pray for God's blessings 21:09 some thing happens. 21:10 The problem is, what happened to me 21:13 My peace, and my freedom from that anger, resentment 21:17 lasted for five minutes. 21:19 Then all my anger came back again. 21:21 But I was so glad that happened, because that is realistic. 21:24 God does answer your prayer. 21:26 When you pray for victory, He gives you victory right now. 21:28 But that victory doesn't always last. 21:31 In fact it almost never does. 21:32 Because God wants you to pray again. 21:34 Well I realized that. 21:37 And I said, You know that was the best five minutes 21:40 I've had in three months. 21:42 I said, Lord if You could give me five minutes that good 21:44 You did once You can do it for me again. 21:46 And so I asked Him again, I said, Lord would you please 21:49 give me the power to forgive my enemy again. 21:53 I choose to let go, and once again perfect 21:57 peace came upon me. 21:59 And this time it lasted for ten minutes. 22:01 But you know I was so grateful because 22:03 ten minutes was an improvement. 22:06 And instead of being discouraged, I said Lord 22:08 You did it twice, You can do it again. 22:10 And I prayed again. 22:11 I believe that we gain almost every victory, 22:14 in the Christian life, in that very way. 22:15 Sometimes people pray once and instantly they are 22:18 instantly they are transformed and never 22:20 have that temptation again. 22:21 But most cases we pray repeatedly. 22:24 And repeatedly the Lord give us the victory. 22:27 And as we continue to pray, it becomes a strength 22:29 of character to us to depend upon God. 22:31 in that area of our lives. 22:32 I want you to know that it took two weeks of praying 22:34 repeatedly for the victory in that area. 22:36 Before it became permanent. 22:38 I was never angry or resentful towards that person again. 22:40 But folks, it was only because Jesus had kept 22:47 the promise already in the commandments. 22:49 He had kept the promise in His human life. 22:52 He was born under the law. 22:55 That is what it says in Galatians. 22:56 He was born truly under the condemnation of the law. 22:59 He was truly born to carry the weight of all our sins 23:02 upon His back, and because He was born under 23:06 the law and kept the law so perfectly for us. 23:10 We may look at the law as a promise. 23:12 Instead of as a terrible condemnation. 23:15 When they nailed Him to the cross. 23:16 He said Father forgive them. 23:20 He could of said you fools. 23:22 You're killing your Messiah. 23:25 He could of said, Don't you realize you are killing the 23:28 only person who really loves you? 23:29 But He had no condemnation for them. 23:33 He simply said, Father they don't know what they are doing. 23:35 He could of said, you should crucify Satan not me. 23:40 He's the enemy. 23:41 But no He didn't. 23:43 He bore it all. 23:45 He didn't complain. 23:46 He had no self pity. 23:47 He didn't say, What are you doing to me. 23:50 He refused to condemn even those where crucifying Him. 23:55 He won the victory over hate. 23:59 Therefore He won the victory over killing, over murder. 24:05 The Bible says, you shall not murder. 24:10 And yet many of us have thought 24:14 Thoughts of bloody murder. 24:17 The Lord wants to deliver us from those. 24:21 In fact, we have a scripture right here that 24:25 I want to share with you from Matthew 5:44 24:40 Love your enemies, that is not possible. 24:45 Unless we have Jesus doing it for us, in us. 24:48 But that what we're call to isn't it? 24:51 Not only then is this a commandment not to do 24:55 something bad to others, 24:56 but it's a commandment to promote life, 24:59 to encourage others, 25:00 to strengthen them, to give them more energy. 25:05 Not to take it away. 25:07 Do good to your enemies. 25:09 I don't know about you, but I'm not capable of keeping 25:12 that commandment, as a commandment. 25:15 Only if it is a promise is there any hope for me. 25:18 Thank God it is a promise. 25:22 His covenant has been kept in Christ Jesus 25:28 So the natural attitude of all those who have this 25:33 commandment written in their heart. 25:35 Will be to forgive those who do them wrong. 25:39 To forgive fathers who have abused. 25:43 To forgive mothers who have neglected. 25:46 To forgive siblings who have been selfish. 25:50 Who have taken more than their share. 25:52 To forgive even God, well He hasn't done anything wrong. 25:58 but sometimes think He has. 25:59 And to forgive even God for allowing the trials 26:05 to come into our lives, to do so. 26:08 To let God take away all resentment 26:11 from our lives. 26:13 Oh folks we have to let Him do it. 26:14 Don't you know that when we really want to 26:17 kill somebody else, it ends up killing us. 26:20 The anger and resentment that we carry 26:22 ends up stealing the life from us. 26:25 Weakening our immune systems and making vulnerable 26:28 to every sort of illness. 26:29 Jesus not only doesn't want us to kill anybody else, 26:32 He doesn't want us to kill ourselves. 26:34 And by hanging on to anger and resentment we are dying 26:39 we are dying emotionally. 26:40 In our inability to really trust people. 26:44 And we are dying physically 26:47 as this inner turmoil eats away at our inner vitality. 26:52 It makes us vulnerable. 26:55 So Jesus has delivered us 26:57 From the violation of the sixth commandment. 27:01 By His perfect obedience. 27:04 He has done that. 27:05 And since Jesus has kept the commandment for you 27:09 you can now turn to Him and say now Lord I believe 27:12 That all the anger, resentment, malice in my heart 27:19 has already been nailed to Your cross. 27:22 I believe that when You said, Father forgive them 27:28 You were saying that for me. 27:31 I believe that those words are the very words that You 27:36 will put into my mouth, as I claim your grace 27:40 in relationship of those who have wronged me. 27:44 Thank you so much Lord for forgiving 27:50 and for planting your commandment of forgiveness 27:53 in my heart today. |
Revised 2014-12-17