Moments in the life of a Pastor

Walking with God

Author Archives: Giles


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1.The Making of the 10 Commandments – Part 1

Exodus 19:1-7

“Exactly two months after the Israelites left Egypt,[a] they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai. 2 After breaking camp at Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and set up camp there at the base of Mount Sinai. 3 Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “Give these instructions to the family of Jacob; announce it to the descendants of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. 6 And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”7 So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the Lord had commanded him.” 

As we start this new series looking at the 10 Commandments, we need to approach it with the understand that they are built around relationships not rules. It’s here in Exodus 19 that we see first the:

  1. Revelation

The giving of the 10 commandments starts with God’s call for Moses to meet Him on the mountain. This was more than just a meeting to get a list of rules but a reminder of the importance to rest in a relationship with the Redeemer. For it is here that God reminds His people that He is the One who rescues and redeems us. It begins with the reminder that God is the One who does the work. For God reveals that He alone is the One who brought His people to Himself on eagle’s wings. It starts with God’s Work not ours. Many people view the 10 commandments as a list of rules to get to God. But the 10 commandments are our response to God’s redemption, not the road to redemption. The gift of grace that we are in danger of missing here is that God brings us to Himself. Verse 4 “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” He wanted Moses to understand that He was bringing His people not to a land, but to a Person. God said, I brought you to myself.” He wants us to come to Him and know Him. That is why, after many years in the ministry, the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Philippi in Philippians 3:10 to remind them of what should be the deepest desire of every true disciple: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death”Paul came to know the Lord as his Savior when he met Him on the Damascus road. And after all those years of serving the Lord, he said, “My greatest goal in life is to know Jesus.” Today we have made it all about growing and very little about knowing God. But you can’t grow in the Lord without knowing the Lord. The goal is not growing its knowing God, growing is a byproduct of knowing. The more you know Him the more you will grow in Him. The meaning of life is to know the Lord. So, how well do you know Him? When was the last time you journey to Jesus and met Him on the mountain? It took time and effort for Moses to climb the mountain to meet with God. Why don’t we make time to meet with God on the mountain? Because we are lazy, because relationship takes time and we are in a hurry. Because we have made it more about getting that about God. So, we base our time with God more on our problems than His presence and as long as everything is fine, we don’t take the time. We are chasing the byproducts of the relationship, the provision and the peace more than His presence. So, His presence is not our priority. Yes, God’s plan involves His peace, His provision and His protection but without His presence we will never experience them. But we are reminded that the goal here is God, it’s not knowing about God but knowing God, Not an intellectual pursuit but an interconnected one. A heart knowing not a head growing. Sadly, many Christians are stuffing their heads and starving their hearts. Settling for a head knowledge instead of a heart knowing. Full heads and empty hearts. When God says that he carried the Israelites on the wings of an eagle to Himself He is referring to the work He did to ransomed them out of slavery by the blood of the Lamb. Because of the blood death is replaced by deliverance. God turns bondage to blessed as His people go from slaves to set free. In Exodus 20:3 God reminds Moses of His Redeeming power as He says, “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.”The Israelites didn’t rescue themselves by following a list of rules but through responding to the work of the Redeemer. Being carried on the wings of an eagle speaks of flight. On our own we can’t reach God. God is much too high for man to come close to by His own works and ability. There is no way for man to get to God. So, God sent His Eagle to pick His people up and carry them to Himself. It’s through the work of the Savior not self that we are saved. So, let me ask you, have you come to God through Christ’s finished work on the cross? It’s through His finished work of redemption that we are not only raised up from the dead but raised to sit with Christ in heavenly realms [Eph. 2:6].When we forget that it’s all about God’s gift of grace, we start trying to fly by rules instead of resting in our relationship. It becomes about a list of rules instead of a relationship with the Lord. Religion relies on rules, but a relationship relies on the Redeemer. That’s why religion follows a list, but a relationship follows the Lord. Are you making it about a list or about the Lord? Some of you started with the Lord but then you traded the Lord for a list, that’s legalism. Why do legalistic Christians suck the life out of living and make ministry so miserable? Because they love the list instead of loving the Lord. So, their life revolves around the rules instead of the Redeemer along with everyone they can control. They end up pointing people to their constant and exhausting work instead of Christs finished and energizing work. But what did God say to Moses, “I brought you to myself.” It revolves around a relationship with the Lord not a list of rules. Are you living for the Lord or legalism? Lists lead to legalism and legalism leads back to the bondage and slavery Egypt. God didn’t rescue you from slavery to serve a list but to serve the Lord. Some of you are slaves to secrete sin but some of you are stuck in the prison of performance because your life revolves around the rules instead of the Redeemer. Legalistic list keeping causes us to trade meaningful lives for miserable ones.Have you gotten so wrapped up in the list that you are missing the Lord? We don’t just come to Christ through grace we continue running the race by grace. Moses was not called to maintain and live by a list he was called to the mountain to do life with the Lord. We come to God through Christ’s finished work on the cross. Receiving grace always bring us close to God. But the second you try to deserve God’s blessings by your own good works you will discover a deep distance between you and God. It’s not just about receiving what Jesus has done for us by placing our faith in the blood that blots out our sin but resting in that blood bought forgiveness and freedom. Are you making it about a list of rules or about a relationship with the Lord?

 


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30 – Judas Iscariot – “Results of a rebellious heart” – Part 2

Matthew 27:3-7

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.” “What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.” 5 Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself. 6 The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.” 7 After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. 8 That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood.9 This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says, “They took the thirty pieces of silver—the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,10 and purchased the potter’s field, as the Lord directed.”

It’s here that fourth we see a:

  1. Remorseful heart

The problem with remorse is that it doesn’t resolve the problem it just wants to remove the problem, we just wish the feelings of guilt would go away. But you can’t removal the guilt unless you replace it with God. Remorse without repentance will never make us right. Sorrow doesn’t save us from sin. Judas tried to get his fellow conspirators to offered him comfort, but they didn’t care about his conscience. He thought he could be guilt free by returning the riches, but the truth is that his remorse wasn’t over riches it revolved around a relationship.  It wasn’t a money problem it was a me problem. It is amazing how heart problems manifest themselves through hunger problems. Judas hungered for wealth because relationally he was bankrupt, but riches can’t fill relational emptiness. Some hunger to fulfill the flesh, but sex doesn’t satisfy, what about wine, it only leaves us wanting.   The list of human hunger is endless and only Jesus can heal our heart problem. Only Christ could deal with his coveting. Judas returned the silver to the temple, but he didn’t turn to Jesus. Freedom comes through forgiveness not flinging down your riches and fleeing. What about you, where will you run with your remorse, will you run to the Redeemer or Religion?

  1. Responsible heart

In verse 4 he said, “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.” “What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”The NIV says “That’s your responsibility.” It’s not enough just to have remorse we have to take responsibility for our actions. Judas confessed two things: 1. the innocence of Jesus and 2. his sin in betraying Him (27:4). The truth is that sin wasn’t just Judas problem it was also the chief priest’s problem and its also our problem. Today in our desire for satisfaction we are trading the Savior for sin. The thirty pieces of silver looked so appealing before the betrayal; only after the trade did, he realize their worth. The things of the world are like that; to covetous eyes they sparkle, and shine and we give up things of much greater worth to obtain them. The only way to weigh the worth is by comparing the cost. Today in our mad rush to get we fail to realize what we give. We trade the truth for the temporary trinkets. In our attempts to get love we sacrifice our lives, we trade our bodies for beauty, we give sex to feel special, we give all to get attention, we give up holiness to get ahead and to obtain love we give in to lust. True riches are found in the Redeemer its not about the money but the Master. What are you trading? Can we honestly say that we have never sold Jesus out? When we have played dumb in the presence of non-believers or we joined in the laughter to avoid the ridicule of being associated with Christ, we are selling out Christ for selfish gain. It’s here lastly that we see the:

  1. Response of the heart

His response to the rejection of the Redeemer.

  1. Return the riches

Judas tried to trade away his treachery by trying to get them to take it back. Even if the chief priests had been willing to take the money back, he would still have been guilty because religion can’t redeem. It’s not about taking or trading it’s about truth, it’s not about setting down the silver it was about surrendering self. We can’t undo our sin, but we can surrender to the Savior. We can’t fix our flaws, but we can be forgiven. When Judas self attempt, of trying to return the riches instead of turning to the Redeemer failed, he tried to pay for things himself. This is when we run into ruin.

  1. Run to Ruin

Today we try to pay, Judas hung himself, but he didn’t have to because Jesus was about to be hung in his place. Today many are traded God’s tree for trying instead of trusting. What if he had turned and trusted and waiting on God, in three days he would have seen the risen Savior and the victory of the resurrection. Instead Judas committed suicide. We will either run to redemption or ruin, life or death. What will you choose, to be free or to flee, to run into ruin or to the Redeemer?

  1. Run to religion

The behavior of the chief priests and elders on this occasion qualifies as a perfect example of “straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel” (Matthew 23:24). That expression, used by Jesus to describe the conduct of the Scribes and Pharisees, made reference to the custom of some Jews of putting cloth over the mouth of a vessel containing drink to prevent gnats from falling into the vessel and defiling the liquid. The Scribes and Pharisees were totally concerned about the smallest matters of defilement at the same time that they were willing to ignore much more obvious causes of defilement, i.e., “swallow a camel.” The camel was the largest unclean animal known to the region. The chief priests and elders had just condemned an innocent man and arranged for His death in a parade of unrighteous travesties, but their “piety” would not allow them to mingle “blood money” with the rest of the money in the temple treasury. Apparently, they had already “forgotten” that it was they who had paid the blood money to Judas! In keeping the price of blood out of the temple treasury, they had carefully strained out the gnat, but only after having already “swallowed the camel.” We must be careful that we don’t fall into this foolish thinking where like the Pharisees we swallow the camels in our daily lives, while ostentatiously trying to strain out the gnats to impress our religious neighbors! Jesus said, “One of you shall betray me.” And the disciples began to ask, “Is it I Lord?” Like them we too have to ask that question, “Lord is it I?” Are we going to be faithful followers or foolish frauds?