Advertise on podcast: Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

What does it mean to "covet"? In Romans 7:7, Paul tells us, "I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness." So Paul says that the command: "do not covet" showed him how sinful he was. I suspect that we've all seen that at work! What happens when you tell a two-year old not to touch the glass vase? Well, the next time you look at the vase, there will be a greasy little finger print there, right? When God says "do not covet" - do not desire that which not yours - what do you do? You start thinking about it. And then you start thinking, "wouldn't it be nice if I had such a nice car" "oh, wouldn't it be nice to have a husband like him?" And before you know it, you are coveting; you are desiring that which is not yours. Now, we all want things, right? What is the difference between wanting something in the right way, and coveting - wanting something in the wrong way?

[Sung Psalm:96] Sermon Outline: 1. Jesus' Humble Identity (vv. 15–18) 2. Jesus' Humble Ministry (vv. 19–20) 3. Jesus' Great Victory (vv. 20–21)

How can God command this? After all, God says, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay!" (We will hear that soon in Deuteronomy 32!) But at this time in redemptive history, Israel is the son of God – the one who is called to exhibit the justice of God on earth. So it is appropriate for Israel to serve as God's agent of vengeance – so long as Israel follows God's Law and does things the way God says! Unfortunately, Israel tended to be rather selective in how they applied God's law – they tended to apply it in self-serving ways. We do that, don't we? We expect others to perform at God's standard – but we give ourselves grace – "I was having a hard day…" And so in these central chapters we are seeing that obedience requires us to practice humility. Obedience is costly. To enjoy the land and its benefits, you must be willing to sacrifice them. Disobedience is grasping and clinging to God's gifts, making them into idolatrous objects of ultimate allegiance, desire, and trust. Tonight we are dealing with the principles of the tenth commandment: you shall not covet...

[Sung Psalm: 96] Why did God forbid humanity to eat blood? Genesis 9:4 states this pretty simply: "But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." Life is in the blood. Genesis goes so far as to say that an animal's blood is its life. To eat blood is to partake of death. If animal sacrifices could actually give life, then eating blood would make sense – because by eating the blood, the animal's life becomes yours! But God wanted to make it clear to all humanity that animal life is an ineffective substitute for human life. Don't eat blood! We may think that we are far enough removed from ancient paganism to ignore this today. But I doubt it. Pagan ways of thinking are always lurking in the background. God says that life is in the blood, and thus "you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." We should not interpret this the way the Pharisees did. They came up with all sorts of extra rules to make sure that you never ate blood! God's point is not to make you worried about a drop of blood. His point is that we should not intentionally eat blood (and by the way, there is virtually no blood in any meat sold in stores today)...

[Sung Psalm: 87] James will quote from Amos 9 at the Jerusalem Council. Amos was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos spoke to Israel of how they had become no better than the nations. Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel? Declares the LORD. Indeed, God makes it sound like Israel is no different at all from the nations: Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir? (9:7) Amos makes it clear that God is the God of all nations, not just Israel. And yet he has a special purpose for Israel. "All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword" (9:10), but the remnant shall live – especially the "booth of David." God promised to the northern kingdom of Israel that he would rebuild the tent of David. This is particularly odd, because the northern kingdom of Israel had rejected the house of David! But Amos says that the restoration of David's house will be good for Israel. Israel will be shaken among all the nations – scattered throughout the nations of the earth. And when God restores the house of David, then even the Gentiles will be called by the name of the LORD. The restoration of Israel and the ingathering of the Gentiles will go together! God has restored the tent of David: he has raised up Jesus to his right hand. And so he is now bringing in the remnant of humanity, and the Gentiles are now being called by his name...

Sermon Outline: Introduction: Comfort for God's people Behold the true God (vv. 12-17) Behold the false gods (vv. 13-24) Behold your God (vv. 25-26)

Sermon Outline: 1. Reaping of Evil (vv. 1–5) 2. Refusal to Hear (vv. 6–11) 3. Remnant Assembly (vv. 12–13)

[Sung Psalm: 104] How much have you suffered for the sake of Christ? Luke tells us "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." But we don't like to suffer! This is related to our discussion of fasting two weeks ago. Fasting is depriving yourself of food, denying yourself of not just the comforts, but even the necessities of life, as you set your heart and mind on Christ. The Christian life must include self-denial. As Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Bearing the cross is not optional. If you would follow Jesus, then you will suffer for his sake. And this will include tribulation – tribulation is suffering imposed from outside you. We have launched into the last section of the book of Acts – how the gospel is going forth to the ends of the earth, through the ministry of the apostle Paul...

The laws that we are discussing tonight focus around the theme of honor. There are lots of echoes of the sixth commandment (you shall not murder), as well as the eighth commandment (you shall not steal), but as we go through these laws, we start to see aspects of the ninth (you shall not bear false witness). The Ninth Commandment declares: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." The point of this law is to preserve the "reputation, dignity, and respect of people within the community, whatever their status or condition within the society." (Richard Olson, Deuteronomy and the Death of Moses, p108). When you think about the ninth commandment in terms of reputation, dignity, and respect – you start to see how all these laws fit together: Paul comments on this in Romans 13:7 – "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." Give honor where honor is due...

[Sung Psalm: 16] In Isaiah 49, the prophet makes it clear that Israel is the servant of the LORD. And that Servant Israel's calling is to bring back the preserved of Israel! So Servant Israel should be understood as a singular figure – after all, our Lord Jesus Christ is the suffering Servant! He is the singular Servant who brings back the remnant of Israel! Jesus is the true Israel! And yet, Paul will quote verse 6 to speak of the apostolic mission: "I will make you [singular] as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Because Jesus is the light of the world, therefore the message of the apostles bears witness to that light.

Sermon Outline: 1. Audience's Attention (vv. 1–4) 2. Samaria's Sin (vv. 5–7) 3. Micah's Lament (vv. 8–9) 4. Micah's List (vv. 10–16)

[Sung Psalm: 121] Have you ever fasted? Have you ever gone a whole day without food? But for that matter, why would you do this? Why would you spend a whole day without eating? Some people have objected to fasting on the ground that it seems like it is trying to manipulate God. "I'm going to starve myself until God does what I want!" That may be the point of a hunger strike, but that is not the point of fasting. What is the point of fasting? The point of fasting is very closely related to the point of praying. After all, if God already knows all things, then what is the point of praying?! There is no argument against fasting that does not equally strike against praying. Prayer and fasting are closely related in scripture. Fasting is a way of getting your whole self involved in prayer. Prayer utilizes the mind and heart, but fasting adds the body. When you fast, you include both body and soul in the discipline of praying...

This time we are looking at the intersection of the seventh and eighth commandments – you shall not commit adultery – and you shall not steal. As we've seen in this section of Deuteronomy, Moses weaves together the commandments regarding murder, adultery, and theft as he discusses the theme of loving your neighbor as yourself. And yet through all of this, he continues to remind us of the great commandment – Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Because in everything we do, we need to love God above all else. So what does it mean – "You shall not steal"? Like the other commandments, stealing is a broader principle than just outright theft. Tonight, as we work through the various themes of: Runaway slaves Wages of prostitutes Interest on loans Fulfilling vows Snacking on grapes Divorce What I want you to see is how the incarnation transforms our economic relationships. Moses may not have understood that the Word would one day become flesh. But the Law that God gave him is rooted in the principle of the incarnation. Moses does not teach a modern individualist economics. He is neither a libertarian nor a Marxian! Moses teaches an incarnational economy. We must have the same mind among us that is ours in Christ Jesus. In the same way that Christ emptied himself – humbling himself to join himself to our humanity – even so we must have the same mind: humbling ourselves to love our neighbor as Christ has loved us.

[Sung Psalm: 52] Sermon Outline: 1. Greater Than David (vv. 1–4) 2. Greater Than the Temple (vv. 5–8) 3. Greater Than Sheep (vv. 9–14)

[Sung Psalm: 136] Our passage today is bracketed by the relief efforts of the church of Antioch. In Acts 11:29-30 Barnabas and Saul are sent to the elders in Judea bringing relief from the famine. In Acts 12:25 they return to Antioch. Throughout church history there have been lots of ways that church finance has been handled, but in every age, there has been a collection for the poor taken up in connection with the Lord's Supper. And in the same way, we regularly see churches sending assistance to each other – rooted in the principle seen here that all churches of Jesus Christ are connected! So these two stories in chapter 12 are held together by the coming and going of Barnabas and Saul as they provide relief to the church in Jerusalem. But the rescue of Peter and the death of Herod are connected by something else. Both Peter and Herod experience the same thing: the angel of the Lord strikes them both! Verse 7 – The angel of the Lord "struck Peter on the side". Verse 23 – An angel of the Lord "struck [Herod]" This word, patasso, is used only a few times in the NT: It is used in the gospels to quote from Zechariah "strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered" as well as when the disciples wanted to smite Jesus' foes with the sword in the garden of Gethsemane. And it is used in Revelation of Christ who strikes the wicked and brings judgment. But it is used over 400 times in Greek translation of the OT – pretty much any time you see the English words "strike" or "smite" or "slay". Overwhelmingly, this word "patasso" is used to refer to judgment as God strikes down his enemies...