“Three Spiritual Laws”
February 17, 2008
We are all governed by laws. Right now there is a political battle going on over who is going to be the law makers. The liberal side wants more laws and more regulations to protect and take care of people, they say. The conservative side wants fewer laws, saying less is better. Whichever side gets in will have the power to write laws and try to get them passed. The President, liberal or conservative, will sign those laws into effect that he (or she) and his side agree with. It is important to have the right law makers in Washington.
There are other laws that affect us, too. There is the law of gravity and the law of momentum. An example of those laws is the story of the guy who jumped out of a plane and his parachute wouldn’t open. He was struggling with it as he was falling, trying to open it up. As he struggled with it – he saw a guy flying up toward him from the ground. As they passed he yelled, “Hey do you know anything about parachutes?” The guy yells back, “No! Do you know anything about propane stoves!”
Those kinds of laws affect us every day. Break the law of gravity or the law of momentum or any of the other physical laws that governs our planet – and you will suffer for it.
There is also the “Levitical Law” in the Bible. Those are the laws that God gave Moses to pass on to His people. The “Ten Commandments” are a part of the Levitical law. When you think of these laws – you can substitute God’s ‘will’ instead of ‘law’ and it may make it easier to understand. Instead of the “Ten Commandments” think of it as “10 things that are God’s will”. And the Levitical law can all be summed up with one thing. Paul writes.
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." [ Lev. 19:18] (Galatians 5:14)
“Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10
So, basically the Levitical law has to do with God’s will. If you willfully go against God’s will, you are in rebellion and will suffer the consequence of separation from God and His blessing. But, if you love God and express that love to God through obedience to His known will in your life, that love covers a multitude of imperfections. Jesus paid for our sins with His blood - so keeping the law doesn’t justify us. But having a desire to do God’s will and walking in obedience because of our love for Him, fulfills the law.
Today I want to talk about three other laws that affect us every day. They are not legislative laws or scientific physical laws or even the Levitical law. They are spiritual laws and they affect us every day as much as any of these other laws do. Our lives are changed because of these laws. If we keep them – we are blessed. If we violate them; if we break them – we suffer the consequences.
The first law I want to talk about this morning is the “Law of Life and death”. I call this the law of life and death because keeping this law brings life – and breaking this law brings death. The Bible says,
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
Usually when we talk about this verse we are talking about the final consequence – which is eternal death or eternal life. The wages of sin – or the result of sinning is eternal death. We call that hell and it is eternal separation from God and all that is good. It has been described by Jesus as a lake of fire and a place where the worms never die and a place of absolute darkness and a place of total isolation –being all alone- for all eternity. That is the ultimate result of sinning.
But there is a more immediate consequence to rebelling against God’s will. It is immediate death – or immediate separation from God and His blessing. It is not total, because as long as we are alive we are under God’s prevenient grace. In other words, even the most wicked can enjoy some of God’s goodness. They experience pleasure and happiness and satisfaction – sometimes even in a perverted way. They may get pleasure out of doing evil. But when we sin, there is an immediate separation from God and His blessing. God can not bless the wicked. You may experience some of God prevenient grace – but you are separated from His best blessings when you rebel and knowingly go against His will. The bible says.
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
Psalm 66:18
One way that sin separates us from God is that it hinders our prayer life. God does not listen to the person who is rebelling against Him. Someone said that the only prayer God hears from the rebellious is a prayer of repentance. I think that makes sense. Imagine a child refusing to obey her mother and demanding something she wants at the same time. Do you think she would get it? Not in my house, she wouldn’t. Her request would not be heard until that attitude of rebellion has changed.
Another way we are separated from God’s goodness when we rebellion is we are separation from His protection. Even the devil knows that. The Bible says,
“Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.”
Job 1: 9-10
Do you see the two-fold blessing in this Scripture? There is a hedge of protection around the righteous person and God also blesses the work of His hands. Frankly, I am afraid to get out of God’s will. I am afraid to get out from under the umbrella of His protection. I want to stay safe in the hollow of His hands, don’t you?
In the “law of Life and Death” we experience immediate separation from God when we break this law and we experience some immediate ‘life’ when we obey this law. This law affects us every day. Every day, if you are living within that love relationship with the Lord, blessings come your way. You may even take them for granted. If you don’t walk in love with the Lord, your prayers are hindered, you lose His protection and are under a curse. The next law goes into this a little more.
The second spiritual law that affects our life every day, is the law of the increase. Sometimes it is called the ‘law of the tithe”. God says,
"Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, ’How are we robbing you?’
"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse… because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe," says the LORD Almighty.” Malachi 3:8-11
Did you notice that God blesses the work of our hands? Job was blessed financially because of His obedience. In this Scripture God clearly promises a financial blessing when we walk in obedience. A loving relationship with God pays off- literally. Notice that God blesses us when we walk in obedience and hinders us when we don’t. David said,
“You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth— each man is but a breath. Selah” Psalm 39:11
“Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
Haggai 1:5-6
"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands." Haggai 1:9-11
Do you realize that God actually works AGAINST us when we break the law of the increase? When we do not tithe – we are under a curse. God works against the work of our hands. We think we should have a lot – but it’s like we have holes in our pockets. We are dissatisfied and unhappy with what we have – even though we make a lot of money. But when we keep this law – little is much, when God is in it. We can have very little in the world’s eyes – and yet have so much. Wealth is more an attitude than it is a thing.
Some people say they can’t afford to tithe. You can’t afford NOT to tithe. The less you have and the more you need – the more important it is to tithe. You want God to bless you – not curse you.
Some people aren’t sure what tithing is. It simply is to give God 10% of what He gives you. To Julie and me, it means when we bring that check home, the first check we write is to the church. I may not have enough to pay all my bills – but if something is not going to be paid – it won’t be my tithe. I can’t afford to not pay my tithe. I want God’s blessing, don’t you?
Some of you haven’t discovered this law yet. And you wonder why you are always struggling. There is never enough to make ends meet. God says, “Test me! See if I won’t bless you.” This is the only area I know of that God gives us permission to test Him. Check it out. Start tithing for a month and see what happens. See if God won’t bless you. The law of the increase works!
The last law I will mention today is the “Law of the Harvest.” God says,
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. People reap what they sow.”
Galatians 6:7
“Cast your bread upon the waters: And after many days it will come back to you.” Ecclesiastics 11:1
The law of the harvest is “what you sow – that is what you will reap”. If you sow kindness – that is what you will receive. If you sow love – you will receive a life of love. If you are generous – it will come back to you. Someone said we all pretty much get what we deserve. I’m not sure if that’s accurate or not – but I do believe that we receive what we sow. What we plant as seed will sprout up as experience in our lives. I want to plant the seed of kindness and gentleness and patience and love and all the good stuff – don’t you? That’s what I want to experience in my life. What you sow – that is what you will reap.
This week, I hope you remember these laws governing your life.
1. The law of life and death. 2. The law of the Increase. 3. The law of the harvest. They can sprout into a harvest of blessing for you. Life is good when you keep them. Not so good when you don’t. Let’s put Jesus first. Let’s seek Him – rather than anything else.
“Seek Ye First”
