Dispensation of the Mosaic Law. The importance of spiritual authority.
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Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!
Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).
1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND
If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to have faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.
John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]
Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV
Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:
Study to show yourself approved to God!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
Dispensation of the Mosaic Law. The importance of spiritual authority.
We have been spending a lot of time on one major passage that is important for us to understand as we continue in our study of the doctrine of dispensations which has to do with the dispensation of the Law. And probably the most important doctrine that we need to understand as we continue in the dispensation of the Law has to do with a subject that a lot of us don’t really enjoy unless we understand the importance of it, and that is the doctrine of authority.
In fact, it is such an important doctrine to understand that God the Holy Spirit has revealed to us that it is one of Satan’s most important attack against the Lord Jesus Christ and His established kingdom.
Therefore we continue once again with one of the main verses that describe Satan’s subtle against God which is found in Rev 12:9-10, And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Now, I want you to notice that after the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; that the apostle John then says in the next verse; Rev 12:10, And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. Notice that the apostle John says, Now, salvation, power, and the principle of authority has come, why?
Because the one who questions these things, salvation, power, and authority, is Satan himself who accuses God’s people before God day and night, and he has been cast down. Think of it, what is it that Satan wants you to question?
Well, first of all, we know he wants you to question the word of God as we note in Gen 3:1-5, where we read, Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’” And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Notice that Satan has always and will always cause us to question the word of God. And back in Rev 12:10, we see the major areas that Satan desire us to question; Satan wants you to question salvation!
He wants you to question the power and authority.
And so, we know why he wants you to question salvation because he wants you to question, Eph 2:8, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
He also wants you to question “the power” which is that power you rely upon, is it the power of God in Act 1:8, Heb 4:12; or the power of self, Rom 10:3.
However, the big problem that existed in the dispensation of the Law was not the problem of salvation or the problem of what power was needed but it was the problem with authority. How should born again believers accept and respond to authority? And this has been our subject, which I found in talking to many of God’s people, that they have been deeply convicted, not about salvation, or about the power that they should live under, but they have been convicted about how they have responded or reacted to the principle of authority.
Now, always remember that there is a difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation comes from Satan and the kingdom of darkness, whereas conviction comes from God the Holy Spirit and always reveals God’s mercy and grace and leads us to restoration. The big problem that we are going to see is that God placed Moses into a position of authority and the very people that God chose to be under his authority, rejected him, mocked him and accused him over and over again.
And therefore Moses had to learn the principle that God said to Samuel in 1Sa 8:7, And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.
So, as we continue with our study on the doctrine of authority, the issue for the Jews whom God had just set free from being in bondage to the world system illustrated by the nation of Egypt is: Will they live under the principle of authority and accept it or will they have the attitude that the hippy’s had in the 60’s and 70’s. which was to “Question Authority?”
Let me try and answer that according to the word of God again, even though there are those who have their mind made up already who will not agree with what I am about to say, and will tune it out! But, maybe there are some of you who are listening who may receive what I am about to say and therefore be spared from a lot of unnecessary discipline in your life, so I need to say and teach what I am about to.
Let me remind you of the basic principle again that when someone commands you to do something against the word of God that in Act 5:29, you have the right to say what Peter and the apostles answered to the high priest who said to stop teaching about this person you call the Christ, they said, “We must obey God rather than men.
So, you do have a right to question authority when it is against the word of God, but never when it is not. Now, why do I say these things?
Well go back to Exo 14:9-12, Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi hahiroth, in front of Baal zephon. And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?
Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
You see, in our passage the Jews not only had a problem because of their fears and not being able to pick up the shield of faith, but they also had a problem because they had the attitude that Satan had in Rev 12:10, they questioned authority!
Now, what does the Bible say about authority?
1. God has authority over nature; Matt 8:27.
2. God has authority over angels; 1Pet 3:22.
3. The pastor-teacher and church officers have authority over the congregation in the local church, Heb 13:7, 17.
Government has authority over its people; Rom 13:1-7.
The husband has authority over the wife; Eph 5:22; Col 3:18.
Parents have authority over children, Eph 6:1.
Teachers have authority over students.
Coaches have authority over athletes.
Management has authority over labor.
Authority in business stabilizes the economy, Eph 6:5.
Employers over employees; Eph 6:5.
Freedom through military victory is based on the principle of the authority of military; Neh 4:13-15.
The point being is that authority is our friend. We all need it and should love and appreciate it. For example, when it comes to appreciating those who are in positions of authority, do you? Look at 1Th 5:12, But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,
Heb 13:7, Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.
Heb 13:17, Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
My point that I am trying to convince you of is that authority is your friend, not your enemy. Well, what about if the one in authority abuses that authority? That is answered by two main verses I take very seriously: Luk 12:48, Jam 3:1.
Luk 12:48, From everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
Jam 3:1, Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.
Now Moses was perhaps one of the greatest leaders who ever lived. And no leader ever had more difficulty with those under his authority. No man ever had his authority challenged so often. And no leader ever had the genius that Moses had. In other words, Moses is in a class all by himself. 2 million adults in the Exodus generation were constantly complaining. Therefore, before we go on we need to note a few things about Moses and his leadership.
First of all, one of the most popular statements concerning Moses is found in Num 12:3, Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.
That statement in itself explains it all! Moses was more humble than any person on the earth. Moses had true humility and humility does not make an issue of self and it is not overly self-conscious. Instead humility makes an issue out of Bible doctrine.
1. Therefore, because humility makes an issue out of Bible doctrine, it does not get caught up in the functions of subjective or self-righteous arrogance. If you are truly humble, you take your mind off of yourself.
2. Humility functions under the principle of grace orientation and occupation with the person of Christ. Obviously, any true genuine humility possesses grace orientation and occupation with the person of Christ. This is one of the main reasons why Moses could put up with a rebellious congregation, he was occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ rather than them. Unlike the Pharisees who we read in John 12:43, they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. Moses wanted the approval of God.
3. Humility is objective and genuine evaluation of your own helplessness to solve the problems of stress, pressure, calamity, and disaster. In other words, you recognize your own problems rather than the problems of others. Matt 7:3-5, “And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
4. Humility from the biblical viewpoint is always God-consciousness rather than self-consciousness. And God consciousness includes personal love for God the Father and occupation with the person of Christ. Not with people, 2Co 5:16, Phi 2:12.
5. Humility does not deny the function of self-consciousness of the soul, but in the Christian life true humility relates everything to Bible doctrine and the escrow blessings of every believer.
Why?
Because the humble believer wants to glorify the Lord and not himself. Isa 43:21; Rev 4:11. Now, you must remember that Moses was not a man of destiny (Heb-Bashert) until he spent 40 years in Bible class between leaving Egypt and coming back to Egypt 40 years later. It was Bible doctrine that made Moses a man of destiny…and nothing else. Just like it is Bible doctrine that will you a man or woman of destiny and nothing else.
6. Humility cannot co-exist with sins, especially the sins of arrogance and the emotional complex of sins. In fact, the two greatest enemies of the believer’s soul are the sins of arrogance and the emotional complex of sins.
7. Humility is the basis for objectivity in life as well as keeping professionalism and integrity together. One of the greatest problems of life that most people are not aware of, and yet it is a problem to all of us, is keeping professionalism and integrity together.
This is what Moses did for the last 40 years of his life. He kept professionalism and integrity together. What was his profession? Leadership! What was integrity? Humility! Moses is the greatest leader in the Bible. In fact, he is probably the greatest leader in all of history. No one ever had 2,000,000 (million) rebellious people to lead, except there may be an exception of that today. But no wonder that Moses was called the most humble man on the face of the earth.
The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.
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