<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Brian Hindman

Dead Sea Christianity

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth.

He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.

He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him for he knoweth our frame he remembereth that we are dust as for man his days are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth.

For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all.

I say again, The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all.

I say again, the Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Bless the Lord, ye His angels that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word.

Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts, ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure.

Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion.

Amen, I am so glad you are here this morning as we are here to worship our holy God on this His holy Sabbath day.

Our subject this morning might sound a little odd.

Dead Sea Christianity, And we'll explore that biblically in just a moment.

But before I launch into that, I would just like to share something I've thought about for some time and I think would be of value and benefit to you in the time that we share together here in the Divine Worship Hour.

And first of all, if you would go with me in your Bible to the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy chapter 27 and I want to notice a passage here.

This is something that I believe will benefit all of us if we will follow, I believe, what God is designing for us to do.

Deuteronomy chapter 27, the book of Deuteronomy means second law giving.

I do appreciate the duet earlier that we had with Clive and Judy.

Thank you for sharing your talents with us and blessing us this morning and lifting our hearts and minds to heaven.

Deuteronomy chapter 27 beginning in verse 1 the Bible says, And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.

Now if you'll just jump down with me to verse 11.

Moses speaking to the people, verse 11, and Moses charged the people the same day saying, and I'm gonna skip a little bit further, we went from 1 to 11, and now we're gonna move down to verse 15, and I'm gonna ask you a question, do you see a pattern in what is being said here by Moses.

Beginning in verse 15, cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place, and All the people shall answer and say what?

Verse 16, cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother, and all the people shall say, Amen.

Verse 17, cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark, and all the people shall say, Amen.

Verse 18, cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way, And all the people shall say, Amen.

Verse 18, cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way.

Verse 19, cursed be he that perverted the judgment of the stranger, fatherless and widow, and all the people shall say what?

Verse 20, cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife because he uncovereth his father's skirt.

Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother, and all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law, and all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbors secretly, and all the people shall say amen.

Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person, and all the people shall say amen.

Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them, and all the people shall say what?

Did you notice a pattern in any of those verses?

As Moses was speaking the word of the Lord to the people, they were instructed to respond.

They were instructed to respond by saying something and they were asked to say amen.

And I'd like to just share with you something that I read some time ago.

This is from Signs of the Times, June 24, 1886, speaking about the divine worship service which we are here for this morning.

It says there, much of the public worship of God consists of praise and prayer and every follower of Christ should engage in this worship.

We've had prayers this morning, we've had songs this morning, music this morning, we should all participate and engage in that.

But now notice this, there is also the preaching service conducted by those whose work it is to instruct the congregation in the word of God.

Although all are not called to minister in word and doctrine, they need not be cold and responseless listeners." I'll say that again.

They need not be cold and responseless listeners.

When the Word of God was spoken to the Hebrews anciently, the Lord said to Moses, and let all the people say, Amen.

All the people were required to respond by saying, Amen.

This response, in the fervor of their souls, was required as evidence that they understood the word spoken and were interested in it.

Alright, so There's 2 things that were stated in why God asked the people to say amen when the word of God was spoken.

Number 1, they understand what is being said.

God wants us to understand, come now and let us reason together.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

Let us think about it and understand it together, God says.

And then second of all, it was that they would show and express that they were interested in what God's Word said to them.

So I want to invite you, we're starting a new year now, this is 2017, this is my first time here in the sacred desk.

I would like to invite you to cultivate this as part of your time, no matter who's speaking, it doesn't matter, when the word of God is spoken, respond by saying amen.

If it's something that you understand and you agree with.

So, not for my benefit, but for your own, I think you will be blessed as you sit and respond to what God says, rather than just passively listening to words, you will be encouraged to follow along and to respond to the promptings and conviction the Holy Spirit will bring to your heart.

If I'm up here and I'm telling a funny joke, do not say amen.

But if I'm saying something to you that is from the word of God, and you understand it and you're interested in it, please, not letting me know, let God know, you are interested and you understand his word to you.

So I will be reminding you, there might be a quiz from time to time, but I will be reminding you, I'll take it upon myself throughout this year and the coming months and years to come, think about responding to what God says to you.

It is reverent and appropriate to say amen.

You don't have to say it loudly or it might wake up your neighbor if they're getting sleepy.

But please, if the person next to you does seem irritated by that, then you might say it softly.

But the Word of God to me as I have tried to cultivate this, it calls forth a response from within me that I have to respond in some way because the word of God is powerful.

The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.

Back to Menu

Dead Sea Christianity

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Sound Doctrine