Deuteronomy 18

Alright, I did use the Preachers Outline and Sermon Bible Commentary for preparing the sermon today. If you would take out your Bibles and turn over to Deuteronomy 18, we will continue over there. We've not been in Deuteronomy for a while, so we're going to go back. For those of you who are visiting, we're certainly happy to have all of you visitors. For those of you who are visiting, I select a book of the Bible, and we go through it verse by verse until we've gone through the whole book. Generally, verse by verse, sometimes we'll not always go every verse. But now we're going through the book of Deuteronomy, where we've gone through the first 17 chapters. The reason I selected the book of Deuteronomy to cover is because Deuteronomy is a book of sermons given by Moses. Moses realized he cannot go with the children of Israel into the Promised Land. He realized that once they crossed the River Jordan, he's history, so far as they're concerned. He's given three sermons to help them to enter, conquer, and possess the Promised Land. It was written at the end of the 40 years, Wilderness Wandering. Obviously, there's an historical purpose to the book. Moses goes through and discusses some of Israel's history and what got them into trouble, why the first generation who left Egypt died in the wilderness. Then he gives some doctrinal or spiritual purposes as to how they can be successful. The reason I want to give this is not because we want to study history. The reason I'm giving this series on Deuteronomy is because it applies to us today. There are two major reasons why God wanted the book of Deuteronomy to be written. One, to teach God's people how to live victorious lives. We, as Christians today, we want to know how to live victoriously. We want to enjoy a solid relationship with our father and our elder brother. We want to know how to conquer the spiritual enemies that face us. This book of Deuteronomy shows that. Secondly, Deuteronomy was written to stir God's people to rededicate their lives to God, to renew their commitment to obey God. Brethren, at all times, this is something that's important to each and every one of us. Each and every one of us needs to continually rededicate our lives and renew our commitment to God. Even though this book was written generations ago, the import of the book is very much applicable today. As I said, the book of Deuteronomy was basically three sermons that Moses gave. The first sermon dealt with the first five chapters, what God has done for Israel. We're now working our way through the second sermon, which goes from chapter 5 through chapter 26, the bulk of the book. In the second sermon, Moses talks about what God expects from his people. What God expects from his people. That gets us right down to chapter 18 now of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 18 talks about religion. Religion is and always will be a moving force in any community in the world. Whether we're talking the Christian world, the Buddhist world, the Taoist world, whatever world we're talking about of religion, religion is a major factor in life. Even in countries that aren't that religious, religion still has a major part to play. With all the various religions and ways of looking at things, God wants his people to understand something very important. Right now, at this juncture in Israel's history, they're a theocracy. God is in charge. God is the king. And he wants the people to understand how they should and must worship him. So let me give you an outline of the book, and then we'll get into the book itself. I mean, the chapter. Chapter 18, the first eight verses, verses 1 through 8, talk about the dedication and support of God's ministers. God's ministers are to be dedicated to God first and to the people of God second. And they are to be supported by the people of God.

And today in our church culture, our church of God culture, that is not always viewed as important in some sections of our church of God culture. We've got some organizations who don't feel that's a priority. The United Church of God feels it's a priority, and we feel that we see that as we take a look at Deuteronomy chapter 18. The second portion of the chapter verses 9 through 11 deals with the world of the occult. The world of the occult. And, brethren, as you and I get further and further into this age, this is going to be more and more relevant. We see a good bit about Jesus Christ and the early church battling the demons. They've not all retired. They're out there. And the closer we get to the end of the age, they know their time is short. And the work they're going to do, they know that time is short. And so they're going to make it their point to make life miserable for us. I think so many of the things we see today in our culture that we see on the news, we see some mass shooting, we see some horrible thing. Perpetrated by somebody that we just... this guy or woman is crazy. Well, in so many cases, what we're looking at is a demon gone wild. We want to just pin it on, well, that person's got psychological issues. Well, that may be the case, or probably in many cases that we don't understand. There is a spiritual component as to why that person is deranged. So that's verses 9 through 14, verses 15 through 19, which may be the last portion of this I'll give through. I didn't go through the whole chapter in Ann Arbor. But in verses 15 through 19, there's a prophecy about a prophet to replace Moses. And what this is, it's a prophecy about Jesus Christ, the prophet.

Okay, let me give you a little bit of a... let's turn our attention now to the first eight verses of Deuteronomy chapter 18. Just a little bit in terms of preparation for those first eight verses. There is a danger that always confronts the Church of God. And a danger, one of the dangers, is a ministry that is not looking out for the members as they should. And sometimes this will take place when the ministry is involved with the cares of the world. They've got to take care of this and that and the other, and they can't just devote themselves to taking care of God's people. Now, let me quickly hasten to add, I'm not talking about our valuable elders who are not in the employee of the Church. We've got Mr. Wreckerley sitting here. We've got Keith Ha. We've got Brian McGuire. These three men and their wives are great servants in the Church. And they add a perspective that is extremely valuable to the Church. I lean on all three of these men a great deal and seek their counsel on many issues. So we're not talking about there's something wrong with being an elder not an employee of the Church. We value their contribution. But in addition to that, we need a ministry that's a full-time paid ministry that will take care of your needs when these other good men can't do it because they're working. They've got to support their family and so forth. Back in 1995, the Wreckerleys and I were in Indianapolis, Indiana for the establishment of the United Church of God. And that's one of the things we wanted to see take place for all of our local congregations. To have a ministry that was on staff, that was a paid ministry that could take care of your needs. And certainly now when we take a look at Deuteronomy 18, we see that was God's intent. It has always been God's intent to have a ministry that is a fully paid ministry and they are dedicated to taking care of God's people. Let's now turn our attention to Deuteronomy 18, verse 1.

So obviously the Levites, they don't have any income of and by themselves. They don't have an inheritance. They don't have land or properties. So they have to rely upon God. It says that God is going to be their inheritance. They don't have an inheritance in Israel. Verse 2. So here we see that God wants the ministry to look to God to be there, to be teaching the things of God, to be there for the brethren at all times, and to be dedicated to their needs. Verse 3.

Other things that they could consume for their family. They would even have wool to make their clothing and so forth. So verse 3. So verse 3.

So there in those two verses, verses 3 and 4, we see that the priest, the minister, was to receive an adequate living at the hands of the members of the congregation of Israel. This is something that God instituted at the very beginning, and something that we feel very strongly about in the United Church of God. So that's why we do what we do. Verse 5.

So here in verse 5, we notice that God gave two reasons why the people must support the ministry. Two very important reasons. It's number one, because God has chosen them to be his ministers. And those of us who are in the ministry, Mr. Wreckerley and myself, Mr. Hobb, Mr. McGuire here locally, we take that responsibility very, very seriously. Very seriously. God has chosen us. He has ordained us. We've been placed in a special capacity to serve. Not a special capacity to get, but a special capacity to serve, to be of use, to be of help to you, the members of God's church, and certainly to serve God. The second thing we see here in verse 5 is that the priests are to stand and minister in God's name. In our church culture, in some quarters, that goes against people's grain. Well, I'm independent. I'm free. I don't even believe in a ministry, some people would say. No, well, the Bible talks about a ministry and a priesthood from cover to cover here, in terms of when God established the nation of Israel. You've got the Levitical priesthood, the Aaronic priesthood that carries forward into the New Testament ministry. There is a ministry. The ministry does have a responsibility to shepherd the people of God and to do so in God's name. Now, that no way means that we in the ministry are perfect. I've been your pastor since 1997. You can't stand up here Sabbath after Sabbath by the hour and talk without you seeing, well, that guy's got some issues. He's got play feet. He's got this or that or the other. When we talk individually, you say, good old Mr. D. One of these days still grew out of that. But even though we are imperfect people, as you are imperfect people, we do teach in the name of God the Father and Jesus Christ. That is something that is very important to always keep in mind. Moving on, verse 6. So if a Levite comes from any of your gates where he was among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the Lord chooses, he comes to the tabernacle to serve, then he may serve in the name of the Lord as all his brethren of the Levites do, who stand before the Lord. So here's a provision. If one of the priests wants to move from where he is locally to the main sanctuary, he can do so, and his expenses would be covered. They shall have equal portions to eat besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance. Prior to the establishment of this priesthood, these fellows might have had money of their own, they might have had possessions of their own, and they would sell those to come work full time for God. They too get an equal portion. It's not to say, well, you know, you had money already, so we're not going to give you an equal portion as a priest. In both cases, the people who didn't have anything prior, or those who did, they would be taken care of. So here we see in these first eight verses very succinctly that God has a ministry, it's a fully paid ministry to serve God and to serve his people. Now, lessons for us to understand. Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians 2.

Put a marker there in Deuteronomy. 1 Thessalonians 2.

The first lesson we see here to be learned from those first eight verses is that we in the ministry have a calling. Our calling is to serve God, represent God, and serve you, the members of the church. 1 Thessalonians 2.4 Mr. Weckerley, before they were ordained, had to be approved for their ordination. I had to be approved for my ordination. I remember back in the late 70s working with Earl Williams. Earl Williams taking me under his wing and going out and making visits back in 1977 and 1978. Working with him. Having Ed Smith come from Cincinnati to interview me. You remember Mr. Smith? Larry Salyer interviewed me. A number of others interviewed me over the course of the time that I was being considered for the ministry. Then in the trumpets in 1979 I was ordained into the ministry. As you are aware, I served without pay for five years here in the Detroit area. From 1979 to 1984, I was hired by the church sent down in North Carolina. As we have been approved by God, notice the next phrase, to be entrusted with the gospel. To be entrusted with the gospel. Every time I sit down at my computer to put together a Bible study or a sermon or that midweek study I send out, I remember this phrase, or phrases such as this, that I have been entrusted with the truth of God. You know, Lee talked today in his message about you and I being entrusted to be lights to the world. To go to the world and set an example and say the right things. To encourage people and to stir people to a proper sense of action before God. Well, I had the same calling, but mine is for all of you as members of the church. To be entrusted with the truth. To work with you as a shepherd working with the sheep in the congregation. With God's very precious people. Christ's brothers and sisters. Verse 4, Even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.

Not as pleasing men.

And I will say something to you that I said in Ann Arbor today, and I think that there have been times when maybe I've shirked my duty a little bit on this. You know, it is never my intent to hurt people's feelings, but it is my intent to cause you to think. It is my intent to have you critique your thinking.

And there have been times where maybe I should have given some stronger meat than I have in times gone by. And I need to make sure that I'm giving you the strong meat that you need. Now, maybe you would take a position opposite of that. Maybe you think I've been giving just fine strong meat. I don't know. But I think that I can do a little better with that. I need to do better with that. You know, in our church culture, too many times, when it used to be, when we all came into the church years ago, we came into the church with the idea, I'm going to come to church, I'm going to listen, I'm going to learn. I'm going to come to church, I'm going to change attitudes, I'm going to change my way of living. And now, too many times, people come to church, and if they hear something they don't want to hear, they get up and they walk off, or they stop attending, or they go to another fellowship. And it's never anybody's intent to drive somebody away. But, again, I've been called to please God and not please men, not that I'm trying to hurt anybody, but to please God and speak the truth. So I trust that you might keep me on my toes on that point, to help me with that. We don't want to be overly gargantuan or what have you, but you're good solid people here in the Detroit church, an Ann Arbor church. You're not a bunch of people who can't take the truth. You want the truth, allow me to give it to you, and probably in stronger doses as time goes along. Second Timothy chapter 4, Lee read this earlier, I want to read it as well. Second Timothy chapter 4. Along the lines of what I just made mention of, it says here, I can stop coughing, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince. It's my job to convict you of the way you're thinking, to convict you as to a position you might be taking. Rebuke. Yeah. Rebuke. Be corrective. But also, to be balanced, you don't want to come to services week after week and hear nothing but rebuke. It says to exhort. Part of the job of the ministry is to inspire, to stir to action, to encourage. You need that in equal doses to the rebuking. Actually, you need that more than the rebuking, but you still need the rebuking from time to time, and I do as well. But we do it with all long suffering and teaching. Realizing all of us are clay. Realizing all of us change, and unfortunately, the older we get, we change at more of a glacial speed.

You know, we would like to change really quick, but you know, you just kind of reach the age where nothing happens really quick. No, nothing happens really quick. I may fall asleep really quick if I'm watching TV that I don't like, but I really fall asleep quick. But this is the job of the ministry. Now, let's look at the job of the people as we were outlining here in Deuteronomy 18. 1 Corinthians 9.

1 Corinthians 9.

Verse 14. Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. People sometimes will make great, hey, well, Paul didn't always do that. Well, that's true. Paul didn't always do that. But it was rare when Paul didn't live from the gospel. He didn't do so when he was there at Thessalonica because people were thinking that Paul was in it for the money. So when he was ministering to that group of people, he would ply his trade, which he was a tentmaker. And if business wasn't that good, not enough money was coming in, Paul would always write to the church in Philippi and say, you know, I need some extra coin. Can you help out? The tent making businesses is a little slack these days. And they would help him out. But here it says that we who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. 1 Timothy 5.

1 Timothy 5, verses 17 and 18.

1 Timothy 5, verses 17. Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. Notice the phrase rule. Or who assist. Let the elders who rule or assist or work with the people be counted worthy of double honor. Well, first there's the honor that goes with the office. The honor that goes with the office.

Here about a month ago, maybe six weeks ago, I purchased the number of years ago the miniseries called Band of Brothers. That miniseries has taught me an awful lot of lessons. The story about the 101st Airborne Division that landed on D-Day behind enemy lines in France. It shows Easy Company going from that first drop into enemy territory all the way to capturing the Eagle's Nest, which was where Hitler made his home.

It shows all they did in about a year's time. The first man that began training Easy Company, these paratroopers who were really tough, these are the guys who held out in Bastone against unbelievable odds. The kind of weather we've got now, they had summer clothing for. In some cases, the men only had one or two bullets apiece, and they were surrounded by the German army.

They held out for, I think it was three weeks, very little food, very little way of ammunition, very little way of hospital supplies in the bitter cold, in ditches, in that sort of atmosphere. But the first person who trained them in boot camp wasn't much of an individual. They eventually left his training to go to the war, and then one of the men, who was a lieutenant through the course of the war in the eight or so months that they were fighting the Germans, rose to the rank of Major.

And he eventually saw the man who was training them back in boot camp, and the man was only a captain. The captain who was training this guy now was a major who now outranks the man who was the trainer. And the trainer didn't want to salute the major. The major looked at him and said, Look, you salute the office, not the man. You salute the office, not the man. Salute the rank, not the man.

The same thing is true for us, brethren. We have honor to the ministry. Hopefully, the minister himself is honorable, but we have honor for the ministry. So verse 17, Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, the honor as a minister, and then the honor as somebody who needs to be honored with your substance, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

For the scripture says, You shall not muzzle the ox while it treads out the grain, and the laborer is worthy of his wages. So I've got a responsibility. You have got a responsibility. I've got a responsibility to preach in all the various ways I talked about there earlier. You've got a responsibility to respond to the preaching, to respond in a positive way. And again, hopefully I'm doing that in a way that you can accept.

If not, you can contact me and we can discuss that. Okay, let's go back now to Deuteronomy chapter 18. We're going to go through a section of the scripture that's very important here, and that is, verses 9-14, and it talks about the world of the occult. The world of the occult. A few words before we get into the actual verses here. People want a full and a satisfying life. Because of that, people seek to know their destiny, their future events that might affect their lives, and because they want to know their future, many times they feel they can go to a psychic, or they can go to somebody who knows how to look into the future.

And people say, well, that will give me an edge if I know what the future holds. And that's why God begins to talk about this, because this was true back in Moses' day as well as today. Today people will read very... I'm not going to use names, but you know the names that people have read in times past. People have had newspaper columns, certain ladies, and so forth.

Other gentlemen as well. They write books, they say they claim to know the future, and so on. You have it today, they had it back in their day. Deuteronomy 18, verse 9.

When you come into the land which the Lord your God has given you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. So God says, and he's going to say here in a little while, that the reason why you are displacing the Canaanite people is because they were just so entrenched in the occult, in spiritism, in demonism.

They were rife with that. And God said, you know, I just can't work through that because the people don't want to come out of that. God can work through anything, I should say, but people didn't want to come out of it. So God says, don't even think about going that direction, because that's the direction that's really going to hurt you. Now, verses 10 and 11 talks about various types of the occult world. And we want to take a look at this and spend some little time with this.

Verse 10 and 11. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire. Or one who practices witchcraft. Or a soothsayer. What's a soothsayer? I think we're pretty aware of what a witch is. What's a soothsayer? Or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer. Or one who conjures spells or a medium or a spiritist.

Or one who calls up the dead. You remember this story in the Old Testament where, for his life, Saul just never really listened much to Samuel. And Samuel dies, and Saul all of a sudden, since Samuel's now gone, Saul wants to talk with Samuel.

And so he goes and visits a witch, the witch at Endor. I need to talk with Samuel. And so sure enough, she has basically a séance, and the figure of Samuel appears. But of course, it's not Samuel. It's a demon impersonating Samuel. And that's why we need to be careful about this sort of spirit activity, the psychics and all that. There is a spirit world. And they very much want in your life. You are a Christian. They've already got the world.

They've got the world. They want you. They want a true believer. They want you eating out of their hand. And many times, these spirits, they're sly. They're cunning. They're bright. They're brilliant. You know, if we were to give them one of our IQ tests, they'd blow the IQ test away. They're brilliant. And they've got 6,000 years of human history to study us, to us. And we are nothing more than lab rats to them. They're brilliant. And they look upon us as these poor, stupid people. How can I get at these poor, stupid people? That's how they view each and every one of us who has ever lived.

I don't care how bright we are. They're brighter. But we've got God's Holy Spirit. We've got God's protection. We've got things that they don't have, which makes us, if we allow ourselves, we're not vulnerable to them in the way they think. It doesn't mean we don't have to be on our guard. We do. Let's take a look at these various definitions here, verse 10. Making a son or daughter pass through the fire.

We say, well, boy, that doesn't affect me. Oh, really? We have abortion in this country. Have you voted ever for somebody who is pro-abortion? We have killed between 55 or 57 million babies in this country. In some states, I think it's a law now where a person who's considering abortion has to actually watch a video of what that baby does. I'm not going to get into all that. We've got a young one here in the audience. So many times when people see that video, they say, no, I don't want an abortion. But the occult world practiced child sacrifice, hoping in their minds to get some sort of favor from God by doing so. Then we've got the soothsayer.

The soothsayer is one who practiced divination or fortune-telling. And again, an attempt to foretell the future. They claim certain hidden knowledge. So if you see people, and I see it all the time over in Ann Arbor, if I'm going a certain direction near the university, there's a shop where they've got the big palm there and you can have your hand red or key leaves red or whatever. And people are going to tell you that they've got hidden knowledge that you need to know.

Then you've got the sorcerers. They attempt to control the future because they think they can control the evil spirits, or the spirits, the spirit world. Do you think they can control? Can you think some fleshly human being who is not one of God's true people can control a spirit, an evil spirit? That's folly. You've got the witch that practices magic. We don't want that. Again, I know I'm preaching in one sense to the choir, but take these thoughts in because there are people you know.

You've got friends. You may have relatives who feel, this is the way to go. I remember back when I first got out of college working in a furniture warehouse. There was one guy, this is going back into the 70s, kind of dating me, but back when the move of the exorcist came out.

This guy went and said, I'm going to go see that movie. I want to get into that. I said, you don't want to get into that. Oh, yeah! I want to experience that. I said, no, you don't. Yes, I do. I thought, some people do have to experience things and realize how dumb it is. How totally spiritually insane it is. No human being should want to experience a demon.

If you were to go to the movies and you see the movie Alien, is that what you want to cozy up to? Some alien being who wants to destroy you. You've got the omens, interpreting omens. These are people who will attempt to tell future events based upon signs. There are people even in the Church of God who are always looking for signs. I don't know. Maybe I'm different. In my life, I just don't ask God for signs. I study His Word. I look for the principles. I live my life.

I ask God to open doors. I don't look for signs. I ask God to open doors. There are always those who want to look for signs. That's what the omens try to do. Verse 11, you've got people here in verse 11 who conjures spells. They want to tie other people in knots. I was down there in the Yucatan Peninsula. Everywhere you go down there, you see Maya artifacts, because that's where the Mayan Empire was down there in Cancun. Of course, they were big into all that sort of thing. Casting spells and what have you. Of course, other Caribbean islands with the voodoo and the what have you.

That's a very big thing in some cultures as well. A medium. Verse 11 talks about mediums. This is a person like that witch in Endor who wants to communicate with the dead.

We even had a TV series. Not that long ago. I forget the name of that series. But something about the other side or what have you communicating with the dead. Then it talks about a spiritist. Today we would call them psychics. A psychic. A person who claims to be sensitive. They are sensitive to the supernatural. Some people are probably sensitive to the supernatural. But in what way? Is it a positive way? Is it a healthy way? Is it a way you want to be involved with the spirit world?

I doubt it. Then there was the last thing we see here. The one who calls up the dead. Again, very much like that witch in Endor. Working with the spirit world. Working with the demon. Brethren, we just simply don't want any of this.

We want to walk away from this totally and fully. Okay, Deuteronomy 18, verse 12. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listen to soothsayers and diviners, but as for you the Lord your God has not appointed you for such. God wants us to walk away from that. To walk quickly away from that. Let's take a look. Now put a marker here in Deuteronomy 18. Let's go to a couple prophecies. One over in Isaiah 47.

Isaiah 47. This is a prophecy about the end time Babylon. We view it to be a world power. A power that controls world events. A wealthy power. The whole world wants to have commerce with this power block. Isaiah 47. Verse 9. But these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day. Now think about, I'm not going to turn there, but you can think about Revelation 18 where it talks about the end time Babylon, how it falls in one day. In a moment in one day the laws of children and widowhood, they shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries for the great abundance of your enchantments. Now we often think about the rise of the United States of Europe, of that super block in Europe. We think about a great political power. We think about a great religious power. The part of the religious aspect will be the occult. That's a key element. You need to be looking for that. Now the individual who we would call the anti-Christ, claim to be doing things because they are claiming to be Christ. But if you and I examine them more closely, we will see the workings of the occult there. We will not see the workings of God. We will see the workings of demons there, a demonic, a satanic influence there. And it's for us to be able to pick that up and to understand that, to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Now there are some signs that the Bible does give us. I don't ask for signs, but when God gives them we certainly want to look at them. And this is one of the signs we see about that end time power, that they are entrenched in the occult. And so that gives us something more to go on as we're looking for this end time power. Now, Zechariah chapter 10, in the Minor Prophets, Zechariah chapter 10, just before the book of Malachi, which is the last book of the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter 10.

This is talking about Israel, end time Israel, and Judah.

Zechariah chapter 10, verse 2, For the idols speak delusion, the diviners envision lies. Now we're talking, notice we're talking about the diviners. Again, this nation is very strong into this. The diviners envision lies and tell false dreams. They comfort and vein. Therefore, the people win their way like sheep. They are in trouble because there is no shepherd. The Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown commentary says in this verse, Therefore, they went their way. The people go their way. That is, Israel and Judah were led captive. And this is an end of the age prophecy. An end of the age prophecy. So even in our country, the occult is going to be becoming stronger and stronger. I mean, we've got, don't we have a weird enough Hollywood as it is?

I mean, I used to enjoy going to see the occasional movie. But now, if you're not a zombie or a vampire, there's not much to go see anymore. You know, people gnawing on one another, trying to bite you on a neck and all that stuff. I mean, it gets to be pretty, you know, it's so sad. It's kind of funny in its own horrible way, but sad.

Revelation 21, verse 8.

Revelation 21, verse 8.

Talking about who will not be in the kingdom of God. Who will not be there? 21, verse 8. But the cowardly. You know, I've mused on that. And, you know, why is God picking on cowards?

I'm thinking that when you and I are looking at that, you know, you or I can be spiritually speaking. We could either be cowardly, which means we don't want to fight our spiritual battles that we give unto Satan, or we can be heroic, and we really put up a good fight. We put up a fight like a hero would. And I'm wondering if that's not really the context there. That God wants us to put up, you know, we may not think we're heroic when it comes to some armed conflict. We've never been in battle or anything. But when it comes to battle spiritually with Satan, that we're going to take Satan right to the wall and be very, you know, press the battle to him. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers. And there's a whole category there. The sorcerers, the people into witchcraft, the psychics, the spiritists, the people, the mediums, the enchanters, all that. That's that one word that talks about the whole group. Idolators and all liars have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

So obviously, that's the verse we want to keep in mind. We don't want any part of that. Okay, we go back now to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Probably the last section we won't finish the whole chapter today. But verses 15 through 19 shows that there is going to be a prophet to replace Moses. Moses can't go across the River Jordan with the people of God. He sinned, and God is a forgiving God. But God, for one of the greatest men who's ever lived, who put up with so much, God makes an example of Moses to teach you and I a lesson. And a lesson is not that God doesn't forgive. God forgave Moses of his sin. But God wanted all of us to remember that sin has its consequences. Yes, Moses was forgiven, but there was a consequence. You and I can do things in our life, and we can be forgiven. But there are consequences to sin at all times.

And it's a dear lesson to learn, and Moses learned that lesson very dearly. As the children of Israel crossed that Jordan, I'm sure he was just overcome with tears in many ways. I'm sure he was happy for them, but on the other hand, he was sad. He couldn't be there with them. Just as if your family was about to be given some tremendous blessing, and you see your family being blessed, and they're happy, and they're excited, but you can't be a part of it. You want to be a part of it. You love your family, but you can't be part of that because of a previous sin. Not that God isn't forgiven again, but because there's a consequence, and God is teaching a very powerful lesson that sin brings its consequences. Verse 15, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like from me, from your midst, from your brethren, Him you shall hear. Now, in my New King James Bible, the kind of Bible I have is a little white star. Next to verse 15, it's just the outline of a star. It's white in the middle. That always indicates a future prophecy of Jesus Christ. And they're right on here. This represents a prophecy about the coming of Jesus Christ as a prophet. Jesus Christ was a prophet. Verse 16, And you remember when the Ten Commandments were being given, there was powerful lightning and thunder and noises, smoke, and the earth was trembling, and people thought that they were going to die. And they said, you know, we can't let this God talk to us. We're too frail for this. We're going to shake apart and die. And so I said, please, give us some sort of go-between. Give us some sort of liaison. God said, verse 17, Now, verse 18 is a prophecy about Christ, but it's also dual in nature. Not only is it speaking about Christ, it's speaking about the whole genre of prophets. Let me read to you from the pulpit commentary on verse 18, when it's talking about the word prophet here. Talking about a succession, I quote, A succession of priests, judges, and kings were contemplated in this part of the Mosaic legislation. The presumption is that a succession also of prophets was contemplated. At the same time, the use of the singular here is remarkable, for nowhere else is a singular, not he employed to designate more than one individual. And this suggests that the reference here may be to some individual in whom not only was the succession to culminate as in its crown and eminence, but whose spirit was to pervade the whole succession. So obviously, that's true. We would agree with what the pulpit commentary says here. Verse 18 is not only talking about Jesus Christ, but is talking about a series of prophets that would have the spirit of God, the spirit of Christ. But Christ would be the preeminent one among them, because He is God in the flesh. Verse 19, it shall be that whoever does not hear my words, which He speaks of my name, I will require it of Him. I will require it of Him. So again, God is very clear that He wants people to listen to the words of the ministry. There is a need for the ministry, and there's a need for the ministry to be what it should be, in terms of its relationship to God, its closeness to God, being as spiritually pure as it should be. And there's a need for the people of God to listen to that ministry, and to heed the words of the ministry. Turn over, if you will, to... let's really take a look at some of the verses that deal with this. The very first prophecy about Jesus Christ is found way over here in Genesis 3. Genesis 3.

In theological circles, this is known as the protoevangelon, or the first gospel. That's right over here in Genesis 3. In my Bible, again, there's a little white star next to verse 15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise your head, you shall bruise his heel. So here's the very first prophecy in Genesis 3 about the coming of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ would take on the serpent. That Jesus Christ would bruise the serpent's head. And so forth. John 6. We've got a few minutes here before we conclude. Let's take a look at some of these. John 6.

And verse 14.

John 6.14.

And those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. They realized that there was a prophecy way back in the days of Moses that there would be somebody who would come into the world. The people of Jesus Christ era, they understood that. They had been to synagogue. They were told that. They were looking for that. Acts 3. Verses 22 and 23. No, it's going to be good. Yeah. Acts 2. This is 22. 23.

In Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to by God, for you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him, and you are dismissed. As you yourselves also know him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. You have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, put to death, whom God raised up, having loosened the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. For David says, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, he is at my right hand, and so forth. Well, I've got the wrong chapter, don't I? I'm sure I'm going on about that.

Let's go over where I should be. Chapter 3, in verse 22. I was in chapter 2, in verse 22. For Moses, this is Acts 3, 22, For Moses truly said to the fathers, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from your brethren. Him you shall hear all things, whatever he says to you, and it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. So here we've got Peter talking about this prophecy that Moses discussed. Acts 7, verse 37, Acts 7, 37. Stephen, just before his death, Acts 7, 37.

This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from among your brethren. Him you shall hear, and so forth. So, you know, in various ways, the children of Israel were prepared for somebody to come and take Moses' spot. And Moses did just that. Okay, I've got a few minutes. I think I will try to finish the chapter. Let's go back to chapter 18 again. And we'll finish the chapter.

Moses chapter 18, Moses. Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 20. Deuteronomy 18, verse 20. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. So here, God says very plainly that there was a strong, and here's a strong warning to all the prophets. Two things clearly identify a false prophet. One, proclaiming a message that is contrary to God's word, and two, speaking in the name of a false God. Verse 21. And if you say in your heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord has spoken, which the word has not spoken?

Verse 22. When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, the prophet has spoken that presumptuously you shall not be afraid of him. So how are the people back in Moses' day to understand which is a true and a false prophet? Well, in Isaiah's case, he could talk about the coming of Jesus Christ, but that was hundreds of years down the road.

People would have laughed at that and said, Isaiah, how can we know what you're saying is true? We're not going to be around for several hundred years. The test was for these guys that they had to prophesy something that was immediate, something in the very near future. And then whatever they prophesied had to come true in every case, every aspect of what they said. If that didn't come true in every aspect of what they said, then they were a false prophet.

It had to come true in their lifetime, and generally speaking, in the very near future. There's an example of this over in Isaiah. Let's take a look at that. Isaiah 37, verses 33 and 34. Isaiah 37, verse 33. Now this was a prophecy that Isaiah gave in his own time. And people were able to take a look at this and say, well, is Isaiah really a true prophet of God or not? Isaiah 37, verse 33, therefore says that, He shall not come into this city, nor shall she shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it.

By the way that He came, by that same way He shall return. He shall not come into this city, says the Lord. For I will defend the city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. That prophecy came absolutely true in Isaiah's day. There was not a single arrow that was shot. There was not anything done that Isaiah made mention of here. So there is a case where, how do we know if you're a prophet or not? Well, that's certainly one thing, one way for them to know back in their day. But for us, a spiritual lesson for us to learn, turn over to John 16.

John 16. We don't...we look at something else. The people back in the Old Testament times did not have use of God's Holy Spirit. We do. We do. John 16, verse 13. However, when He the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. He will guide us into all truth. That Holy Spirit will do that. The next chapter over, chapter 17. John 17, verse 17. Sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth. So today, we understand because the Holy Spirit guides us to understand. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the Bible. One last scripture is found over here in 1 Corinthians, chapter 2. Starting here in verse 9. 1 Corinthians 2.9. But as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. As we saw in John 16.13, John 17.17. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. What man can know the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. So you and I are fortunate, we are blessed, that we are on a whole different level. A whole different dimension, a spiritual dimension. Verse 12. Now we receive not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. Though we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. It's because of God's Spirit, God's Scriptures, that you and I can understand the truth and know the way we should be going.