“You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess” [DEUTERONOMY 5:32-33].
“The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us” [DEUTERONOMY 6:24-25]. [1]
Throughout the western world, a perception exists that the Word of God has been superseded by the wisdom of this age. We are assured both by the Word of God and by multiple ancient divines speaking as His servants that if the promises of God are accurate, we will find fulfilment only through obedience to Him and to His precepts. But if modern ideology is correct, people can only find fulfilment through pursuit of self-esteem and through surrender to personal desires, all the while ignoring accountability to the Lord God.
According to the former and more ancient perception, man is responsible to the Creator first, fulfilment and purpose of life flowing from obedience to God Who gives man his being. In contradistinction to this ancient point of view, the latter contemporary view holds that man is responsible to first find self-fulfilment through elevating self-esteem to a position of utmost importance. After that, obedience, whether to the Creator or to one’s own conception of what is right, is incidental. Be true to yourself becomes the modern mantra that guides the way modern society conducts itself.
Be true to God, states one view. Be true to yourself, asserts the opposite view. These two views cannot be reconciled—they are in utter and diametrical opposition to one another. The one view states that man is a spiritual being endowed with capacity to know God, and only through knowing God can he find fulfilment. The other view states that man is a physical being responsible to himself alone, and as he submits to himself, he finds fulfilment and a sense of purpose for life. Resolution of the question of which of these views is true is vital to our very sense of being. Our present happiness and ultimate bliss rides on the way we decide the issue.
If the modern view is correct, if fulfilment is found through elevation of self-esteem to a position of prominence, or perhaps through a determined search for self-fulfilment by gratifying our own desires, then this generation must qualify as the happiest ever in the history of the race. If the ancient view is right, then we can never be fulfilled until we have surrendered to God our Creator to obey His Law. No more may the two views be reconciled than oil may be mixed with water. And yet, the modern view holds sway over contemporary life. Educational systems are constantly manipulated to tweak the indoctrination of young minds to embrace the modern mantra, while politicians and powerbrokers dismiss worship of the Living God as foolishness.
The conflict between these two views was displayed in dramatic fashion on September 10 of this year during an afternoon session of the United States House of Representatives, when the speaker requested that the body pause to allow spoken prayer after the announcement that Charlie Kirk, a conservative political activist, had been murdered. While one party ceased activity to show respect while awaiting commencement of prayer, multiple members of the opposing party began to vociferously and loudly object. [2] The party booing and hissing was the same party that had objected to the mention of God in their party platform in 2012. [3] One party openly advocates respect for religious actions; the other party derides any mention of religion or God, except possibly for statements extolling the “Religion of Peace.”
Civility is important precisely because a civil society permits the exchange of ideas without resort to violence. It is not without reason that the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution enshrines freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble. Civil law can classify heinous acts as unlawful, prescribing penalties for such heinous acts, but the Faith of Christ Jesus addresses those vile acts before they occur. Civil law prohibits murder; but religion—particularly the Faith of Christ the Lord—addresses murder before it occurs. While murder is still but a thought in the heart, Christ warns, “I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny” [MATTHEW 5:22-26].
You may have noticed something in Christ’s words just cited—hatred precedes murder. Though contemporary governments attempt to regulate thought, passing multiple “hate laws,” civil law is incapable of preventing hate. Religion, however, can prevent hate. Hatred can lead to many criminal acts—murder, assault, slander, and so forth! Law cannot prevent hate; but the transforming power of the salvation found in Christ the Lord successfully confronts hate and circumvents the crimes that ooze out from hate. Covetousness cannot be addressed by legislation. Consequently, the crimes that are generated by covetousness—theft, burglary, embezzlement, and other such crimes—have their genesis in the heart. The heart that is transformed by the presence of Christ Jesus will eschew covetousness. Thus, the Faith of Christ the Lord provides what John Quincy Adams termed “rules for the government of the heart.” And the transformed heart prevents the crimes that originate inwardly, though manifesting themselves outwardly.
In a letter written to the Massachusetts Militia on October 11, 1798, John Adams, the second President of the United States of America, wrote, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” [4] Adams’ argument was that without a populace grounded in morality and religion, the Constitution of the United States would be inadequate for effective governance. It seems that such a time may have arrived—in Canada as well as the United States. It would almost appear that an immoral and irreligious populace has become the standard throughout the English-speaking world.
I’ve stated the foregoing to emphasise a truth that is too often neglected in this day: Our nation can be godly and moral, or our nation can be ruled by tyrants that increasingly restrict freedoms and reduce the people to servitude. Our nation cannot fulfil simultaneously both conditions of righteousness and self-centredness. An irreligious nation, a nation that ignores the God of the Bible, cannot continue as a free people. Neither can an irreligious nation anticipate enjoying prosperity and divine blessing for long. A religious nation that seeks out and adheres to the righteous demands of the True and Living God, will not require the onerous intrusion of godless officialdom. Moreover, a religious nation that honours the Son of God will be blessed. Freedom loving people and irreligious people cannot coexist—one or the other will be displaced. And when freedom goes, prosperity and blessing will soon be replaced by impoverishment and oppression. And that dread choice is precisely the challenge God placed before Israel in our text.
CONDITIONS FOR GOD’S BLESSINGS — The LORD commanded the People of Israel, “You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you” [DEUTERONOMY 5:32-33a].
The Great Lawgiver, soon after penning the foregoing, reminded the people of Israel, “The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us” [DEUTERONOMY 6:24-25]. This position is so obvious that it is nearly impossible not to respond, “Of course.” Refusal to obey the Lord must surely be treated as lese majesté for anyone who claims to be a follower of the Risen Lord of Glory.
Though the passage is extended, I invite you to listen to the Master as He calls those who follow Him to obey Him. Note the frequency with which He calls us to obey Him. “‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me’” [JOHN 14:15-24].
Note how the Apostle of Love iterated and emphasised the command to obey the Saviour as he wrote his first missive. John wrote, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” [1 JOHN 2:1-6].
In short, don’t call Jesus “Lord,” which is perhaps better recognised in contemporary North America as speaking of Jesus as “Master,” if He is not in fact Master over your life. Jesus, the Son of God, will either be Lord of all, or He will not be Lord at all. Jesus Himself asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you” [LUKE 6:46]? The question silences many who are perhaps best identified as “cultural Christians,” people who profess to know Jesus at an intimate level, though they are clearly unknown by the Risen Saviour.
It is terrifying to contemplate the horror that “cultural Christians” will face on that awful day when they must stand before the One they have ignored, even while professing His Name. Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” [MATTHEW 7:21-23].
At the conclusion of the Great Tribulation that is coming on all the earth, there will be a terrible reckoning. Jesus speaks of that dreadful time, saying, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left…
“He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me’” [MATTHEW 25:31, 32, 41-43]. These doomed souls will protest that they never saw the events by which Jesus judges, but their protests will prove futile—they could not see with the eyes of Christ because they did not have His heart!
It is not realistic to think that you can “say the prayer,” and receive the blessings God has promised. I understand that there are preachers and church members who tell lost souls that if they will only “say the prayer,” they will be saved. But Jesus calls His followers to believe Him. The Master has said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” [JOHN 10:27-30]. It is not the words one says that brings salvation, but it is the obedience to the Shepherd, it is following the One Whom the Father sent.
When a terrified jailer in Philippi begged of the Apostles, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved” [ACTS 16:30]? The answer did not direct Him to recite some particular words, but the call was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” [ACTS 16:31]. It is Jesus, the Risen Lord of Glory, to whom each person must look. And looking to Him, through faith in Him as the Saviour of the world, that one is delivered from condemnation and brought into the Family of God. This is the meaning of the Apostle’s call written in the Letter to Roman Christians: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” [ROMANS 10:9-13].
A short while ago, I cited Jesus’ challenge delivered to professed followers: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you” [LUKE 6:46]? Jesus continued speaking at that time, and His words are critical if you will know the blessings promised. Jesus said, “Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice—I will show you what he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against that house, it collapsed immediately and was utterly destroyed” [LUKE 6:47-49 NET BIBLE 2nd]!
Take note of what the Lord said! One may listen to Jesus’ words, and if that one puts His words into practice, he is secure despite the storms that may rage about him. However, to hear Jesus’ words, while failing to put them into practice, is a recipe for disaster. You may be certain that storms will rage and rivers of trial will beat against your life—the issue is not “if,” it is “when.” And you will either stand secure despite the raging rivers and the violent storms, or your life will collapse. What happens next is determined by whether you obeyed or disobeyed.
GOD’S BLESSINGS — Life and joy are promised in the words Moses received from the LORD. There is, however, a condition—a significant condition—that is attached to the divine promise: “You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess” [DEUTERONOMY 5:32-33].
God commanded obedience, promising rich blessing would be showered on the people if they obeyed. Dire consequences are implied if obedience is ignored. The blessings God promised are still promised to those who obey Christ the Lord in this Age. Among the professed followers of the Risen Saviour, there is a pronounced tendency to reduce the promised blessings of God to the material. If one has wealth, that one is presumed to have been blessed. By that same token, if one lives in poverty and want, that one is presumed to be without blessing.
We read the words of the Wise Man, and I suppose that most of us would agree that what he says is correct. However, I cannot help but wonder whether we believe what he says. Here are a few sayings to weigh.
“Better is a person of humble standing who works for himself,
than one who pretends to be somebody important yet has no food.”
[PROVERBS 12:9 NET BIBLE 2ND]
“Get wisdom—
how much better it is than gold!
And get understanding—
it is preferable to silver.”
[PROVERBS 16:16 CSB]
“It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor
than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
[PROVERBS 16:19]
Here is one further proverb that views life from thirty-thousand feet. I suspect that there are many Canadians who could identify with what is written—and undoubtedly many of them are professed followers of the Risen Lord of Glory!
“Better is a dry crust of bread where there is quietness
than a house full of feasting with strife.
[PROVERBS 17:1 NET BIBLE 2ND]
The proverb suggests that rather than bringing joy, abundance often brings a deterioration of moral and ethical standards as well as an increase in envy and strife.
Allow me to cite yet another saying of the Wise. In that dark book we know as Ecclesiastes, we witness the Preacher saying, “What benefit does the worker gain from what he undertakes? I have observed the burdens placed by God on human beings in order to perfect them. He made everything appropriate in its time. He also placed eternity within them—yet, no person can fully comprehend what God is doing from beginning to end.
“I have concluded that the only worthwhile thing for them is to take pleasure in doing good in life; moreover, every person should eat, drink, and enjoy the benefits of everything that he undertakes, since it is a gift from God” [ECCLESIASTES 3:9-13 ISV].
If your focus is on the material aspects of life, know that you may not find peace and joy. The Lord promised peace and national blessing if the people obeyed. He did not promise wealth and material goods. This may account for the cautionary word of Solomon:
“Do not wear yourself out to become rich;
be wise enough to restrain yourself.
When you gaze upon riches, they are gone,
for they surely make wings for themselves
and fly off into the sky like an eagle!”
[PROVERBS 23:4-5 NET BIBLE 2ND]
Solomon’s warning is iterated when we read in a later proverb:
“A faithful person will have many blessings,
but one in a hurry to get rich
will not go unpunished.”
[PROVERBS 28:20 CSB]
Reading the words of the Wise anticipate Jesus’ words, spoken to a crowd as He delivered a sermon from the side of a mountain. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” [MATTHEW 6:19-21].
And the words of Jesus anticipate what Paul has written in his first missive to Timothy. “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” [1 TIMOTHY 6:3-10].
Here is a final word on this matter from what is delivered to us in the Word of God. “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” [HEBREWS 13:5]. Sound advice, this. However, the thrust from far too many pulpits focuses the vision of those who listen to what is taught to view all the Lord’s blessings as though they can be quantitated with a calculator. If the sum of blessings you receive from your God can be calculated by the size of your wallet, your God is too small. The True and Living God will shower you with far greater blessings than mere bonds and securities.
Well, what blessings does God promise to be given to those who are obedient to Him? Is it possible that we are blessed and don’t recognise the richness with which the Lord has showered us? Jesus had delivered His call for obedience, and He would now iterate that call. However, as He called His followers to obey His Word, He appended the rich promise of peace that would be unknown to those of the world. It is a peace that comes to the follower of the Saviour because the Spirit of God will henceforth be with those who follow the Son of God. “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father” [JOHN 14:25-31a].
Our Master promises joy for those who walk with Him. Here is one exchange in which Jesus spoke of the joy that would fill the life of His servants. The exchange gives a rich promise of joy for the obedient follower of Jesus. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” [JOHN 15:1-11].
In another exchange with the disciples, Jesus promised joy. “Jesus knew that [the disciples] wanted to ask him [about the meaning of ‘a little while’], so he said to them, ‘Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me?” Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full’” [JOHN 16:19-24].
I do want to make a detour here to point out a significant fact that will assist you in understanding the differences in attitude between those under the reign of the demonic world and those who walk with Christ. Murder is celebrated by those who are demonised, those who are under the influence of the evil one. Did you see that in Jesus’ words. Speaking of His death, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice” [JOHN 16:20a]. The reaction of those who were walking with the Master was diametrically different. Of disciples, Jesus said, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” [John 16:20b]. The world rejoices in the death of the righteous, but the righteous sorrow.
During the Great Tribulation, the antichrist will kill the two witnesses whom God sends to warn the inhabitants of the world. They will powerfully testify of the mercies of God even as they warn of judgement. Then, we read, “When [the two witnesses] have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth” [REVELATION 11:7-10]. Those who are surrendered to the reign of the evil one will refuse to let their bodies be buried. They will lie in the street where it is hoped their bodies will bloat and rot in the heat. And “those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents.” Followers of the Lord Jesus do not rejoice in murder and desecration; those of this darkened world rejoice in such wickedness.
Obedience to Christ and His Word assures the one who follows Him of life—not just length of days, but a new quality of life that we know as eternal life. Listen as the Saviour teaches some Jews who were looking for an easy way to please God. The passage is extended, but reading the whole gives us vital context.
“Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, ‘If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” [JOHN 8:31-32 NET BIBLE 2nd].
The words Jesus spoke stung them, revealing that they were not truly disciples. The Jews exclaimed, “We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ‘You will become free’” [JOHN 8:33 NET BIBLE 2nd]?
The Master calmly answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the family forever, but the son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be really free. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. But you want to kill me, because my teaching makes no progress among you. I am telling you the things I have seen while with the Father; as for you, practice the things you have heard from the Father” [JOHN 8:34-38 NET BIBLE 2nd]!
Well, that stung! The shock was evident in their response to the Lord’s assertion, “Abraham is our father” [JOHN 8:39a NET BIBLE 2nd]. They felt that Jesus had just attacked their religion, and they were responding as anyone does when they are trying to defend their religion, though they have never known the love of God!
The Master then exposed them as mere adherents of religious dogma and not followers of Abraham when He confronted them with facts. “If you are Abraham’s children, you would be doing the deeds of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! You people are doing the deeds of your father” [JOHN 8:39b-41a NET BIBLE 2nd].
Confronted by the reality of their religious perfidy, the Jews responded with insults—they accused Jesus of being an illegitimate child! “We were not born as a result of immorality! We have only one Father, God himself” [JOHN 8:41b NET BIBLE 2nd].
Take note of Jesus’ response. “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. I have not come on my own initiative, but he sent me. Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept my teaching. You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I am telling you the truth, you do not believe me. Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? The one who belongs to God listens and responds to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond, because you don’t belong to God” [JOHN 8:42-47 NET BIBLE 2nd].
The Judeans took leave of their senses, delivering what they surely imagined to be the greatest insult they could deliver; they responded to Jesus, “Aren’t we correct in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon” [JOHN 8:48 NET BIBLE 2nd]. They had no answer to His challenge and the exposure of the one they were serving, so they were reduced to resorting to a pitiful attempt to insult the Lord. The tactic is still used to this day. Whenever a worldling is confronted by the truth of the Word of God, insult is the response of choice. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work with you if you are a child of the Living God. Insults don’t work to turn the twice born follower of the Christ from walking with the Saviour.
Listen to Jesus’ answer. “I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor my Father—and yet you dishonor me. I am not trying to get praise for myself. There is one who demands it, and he also judges. I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will never see death” [JOHN 8:49-51 NET BIBLE 2nd].
Jesus promised deliverance from death. His deliverance results in eternal life, a quality of life that gives courage. This becomes evident when we witness the Master testifying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” [JOHN 10:7-10].
Jesus offers not mere length of days, but a new quality of life. It would be a curse to be trapped eternally in a body that grows progressively weaker, a body subject to the limitations that accompany ageing. We will receive a new body, if we are in Christ, and this new body will no longer be subject to the limitations of this life. We are promised a glorified body like His. “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” [PHILIPPIANS 3:20-21a].
What we are promised is a glorified body, just as we read when the Apostle writes, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” [ROMANS 8:28-30]. This is a done deal for all who follow Jesus our Saviour. Our obedience to Christ results in our transformation; and that transformation is taking place even now as we walk with the Master.
APPLICATIONS OF THE PROMISE — Have you followed the message to this point? As you survey your life, are you obedient to the commands of the Lord Jesus? Have you believed Him when He calls you to faith in Him and to receive the sacrifice He has provided for your sake? Perhaps someone hears my voice, and the Spirit of Christ has given understanding of the message. Hearing the call of the Master to life, it is time to heed what He calls you to do. The Word of God urges you, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
“Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,
‘In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:20-6:2].
Have you put faith in the Son of God? Have you openly identified with Him as He commands? Jesus commanded us to identify with Him in baptism as believers, charging His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” [MATTHEW 28:19].
Having believed Him, and having been baptised as He commanded, are you faithful to the service of the assembly where He placed you? We are taught, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” [HEBREWS 10:23-25].
Are you walking with the Master? Does He reign in your life? Is it evident that He is guiding you as you carry out the routine of your days? Your Father calls you to a life of purity, a life of holiness, a life that reveals the glory of your Father, just as Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” [MATTHEW 5:16]. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Byran Chai, “Watch: House Democrats Loudly Object to Moment of Prayer for Charlie Kirk,” The Western Journal, Watch: House Democrats Loudly Object to Moment of Prayer for Charlie Kirk, accessed 11 September 2025
[3] Alana Semuels and Christi Parsons, “Obama: Why was ‘God’ taken out of platform in the first place?” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 5, 2012, Obama: Why was 'God' taken out of platform in the first place? - Los Angeles Times, accessed 11 September 2025; Billy Hallowell, “Democrats have officially abandoned ‘God,’” Washington Times, August 14, 2024, Democrats have officially abandoned 'God' - Washington Times, accessed 11 September 2025
[4] William J. Federer, Great Quotations: A Collection of Passages Phrases, and Quotations Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced according to Their Sources in Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions and Constitutions (AmeriSearch, St. Louis, MO 2001)
