Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 450 | God’s Word is Secure

Transcript

450 | God’s Word is Secure · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

• 0:00
  God is in control.
• 0:05
  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
• 0:10
  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
• 0:15
  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
• 0:18
  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
• 0:21
  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
• 0:25
  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
• 0:31
  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
• 0:37
  Living her life for Christ She's a happy girl.
• 0:38
  Music.
• 0:48
  She's a happy girl,
• 1:02
  There are moments in our lives when we confidently turn to God's Word,
• 1:06
  embracing it wholeheartedly.
• 1:08
  But when it confronts our own desires or sin, we may find ourselves questioning it.
• 1:14
  We might wonder, does it really mean that? Or think it needs further interpretation?
• 1:21
  However, Deuteronomy 4.2 reminds us, Ye shall not add unto the word which I
• 1:25
  command you, neither shall ye diminish alt from it, that ye may keep the commandments
• 1:31
  of the Lord your God, which I command you.
• 1:34
  Join us in this episode of Woman as a Well Ministries as Erica Close delves
• 1:40
  into Deuteronomy 4-2, exploring the truth that God's Word is complete and unchanging,
• 1:46
  requiring no additions or deletions.
• 1:48
  Though as Christians we live on this side of the cross, There are so many lessons
• 1:54
  in the pages and the passages of the Old Testament that are still for us.
• 2:00
  They may not have been written to us, but they are for us, and they are part
• 2:05
  of God's love letter to us.
• 2:08
  Deuteronomy is rich in life lessons, and it's a book that I love to share about
• 2:13
  and study, and it's one that I'm excited to talk to you about today.
• 2:18
  So today's verse, as Kim read to us, is Deuteronomy 4.2.
• 2:22
  You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish
• 2:27
  aught from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you.
• 2:33
  Today we'll be reading out of Deuteronomy chapter 4, verses 1 through 49.
• 2:39
  Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments which
• 2:43
  I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land
• 2:49
  which the Lord your God of your fathers giveth you.
• 2:53
  He shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish
• 2:57
  aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
• 3:02
  Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor.
• 3:06
  For all the men that followed Baalpior, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
• 3:11
  But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.
• 3:17
  Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded
• 3:23
  me, that ye should do so in the land whither you go to possess it.
• 3:27
  Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in
• 3:33
  the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say,
• 3:37
  Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
• 3:41
  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord
• 3:47
  our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
• 3:51
  And what nation is there so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous
• 3:56
  as all this law which I set before you this day.
• 3:59
  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the
• 4:06
  things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life.
• 4:12
  But teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons.
• 4:17
  Especially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb,
• 4:21
  when the Lord said unto me,
• 4:23
  Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words,
• 4:27
  that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth,
• 4:31
  and that they may teach their children.
• 4:34
  And ye came near, and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with
• 4:38
  fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
• 4:43
  And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire.
• 4:47
  Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only he heard a voice.
• 4:53
  And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform,
• 4:57
  even ten commandments, and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
• 5:02
  And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments that
• 5:07
  you might do them in the land whither you go over to possess it.
• 5:10
  Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves. For ye saw no manner of similitude
• 5:16
  on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
• 5:20
  lest ye corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image, the similitude of any
• 5:25
  figure the likeness of male or female,
• 5:28
  the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl
• 5:32
  that flyeth in the air, the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground,
• 5:36
  the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.
• 5:40
  Unless thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and
• 5:44
  the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to
• 5:48
  worship them and serve them, which
• 5:50
  the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
• 5:55
  But the Lord hath taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace,
• 6:00
  even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are to this day.
• 6:07
  Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should
• 6:11
  not go over Jordan, and that I should not go into that good land,
• 6:15
  which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
• 6:18
  But I must die in this land. I must not go over Jordan, but ye shall go over,
• 6:23
  and possess that good land.
• 6:26
  Take heed unto yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God,
• 6:31
  which he made with you, and make you a graven image of the likeness of anything
• 6:35
  which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.
• 6:37
  For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
• 6:42
  When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained
• 6:48
  long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image of the likeness of anything,
• 6:53
  and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger.
• 6:58
  I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon
• 7:02
  utterly perish from off the land, whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it.
• 7:07
  Ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
• 7:11
  And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in
• 7:16
  number among the heathen, whether the Lord shall lead you.
• 7:19
  And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone,
• 7:24
  which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
• 7:29
  But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him,
• 7:34
  if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
• 7:37
  When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee,
• 7:41
  even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient
• 7:46
  unto his voice, for the Lord thy God is a merciful God.
• 7:50
  He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy
• 7:54
  fathers which he swear unto them.
• 7:57
  For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee,
• 8:01
  since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side
• 8:06
  of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great
• 8:11
  thing is, or hath been heard like it.
• 8:13
  Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire
• 8:18
  as thou hast heard and live?
• 8:20
  Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation,
• 8:25
  by temptations or signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand,
• 8:31
  and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors,
• 8:34
  according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes.
• 8:40
  And to thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord,
• 8:44
  he is God, there is none else beside him.
• 8:47
  Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee.
• 8:51
  And upon earth he showed his great fire, and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
• 8:57
  And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them,
• 9:02
  and brought thee out of his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt,
• 9:07
  to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in,
• 9:13
  to give thee their land for an inheritance as it is this day.
• 9:18
  Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is
• 9:23
  good in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath there is none else.
• 9:27
  Thou shalt therefore keep his statutes and his commandments,
• 9:32
  which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee,
• 9:34
  and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon
• 9:39
  the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for ever.
• 9:43
  Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sun rising,
• 9:47
  that the slayer might flee thither, which thou should kill his neighbor unawares,
• 9:52
  and hated him not in times past, and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live.
• 9:58
  Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, the Reubenites,
• 10:03
  and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites, and Golan in Basham, of the Manasites.
• 10:08
  And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.
• 10:12
  These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments,
• 10:17
  which Moses spake unto the children of Israel after they came forth out of Egypt.
• 10:22
  On this side, Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon,
• 10:27
  king of the Amorites, which dwell at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of
• 10:31
  Israel smote after they were come forth out of Egypt.
• 10:35
  And they possessed his land, and the land of Og,
• 10:38
  king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side,
• 10:42
  Jordan toward the sun rising, from Aroror, which is by the bank of the river.
• 10:46
  Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, which is Hermon, and all the plains on this side Jordan eastward,
• 10:53
  even unto the sea of the plain under the springs of Pisgah.
• 10:58
  Chapter 4 of Deuteronomy is not a short chapter, and as we are looking at chapter
• 11:05
  4 of Deuteronomy, the chapter begins another review.
• 11:10
  Just like in the previous chapters, which had a lot of review in them.
• 11:15
  This is another review, but this time it's not the history that has occurred
• 11:19
  in the lives of the Israelites, but a review of the laws and commandments of God.
• 11:26
  In this chapter, Moses starts to recount all the things that the Israelites have heard from God.
• 11:32
  He asks them to be obedient, and he patiently shows them the results of living a life of obedience.
• 11:39
  This chapter opens up with a powerful verse on the sacredness and the holiness of God's word.
• 11:46
  You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish
• 11:50
  from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you.
• 11:55
  God's word must be taken in its entirety. We cannot pick and choose with the word of God.
• 12:02
  No matter how tempting it may be to follow only parts of the commandments and
• 12:07
  teaching of God, it only leads us to destruction.
• 12:10
  Jesus didn't go halfway when he walked to the cross to die for our sins.
• 12:16
  And in the same way, we can't go halfway when we're living a life for him.
• 12:21
  Obedience was key to the survival of the nation of Israel.
• 12:25
  Sometimes it may seem that the consequences for our sins are not as severe as
• 12:30
  they were for the nation of Israel.
• 12:32
  Verse 4 tells us, But ye did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.
• 12:39
  Those who obeyed were still alive.
• 12:42
  In their case, obedience was the key to the protection in their travels through the desert.
• 12:47
  And we may not be traveling in the desert, but the consequences of our disobedience
• 12:52
  are just as real as they were for the children of Israel.
• 12:56
  What is probably one of the greatest lessons ever found is in verse 6.
• 13:00
  Talking about the statutes and judgments that are given to Israel,
• 13:04
  Moses states that in the keeping of them is wisdom and understanding.
• 13:09
  The nations that surrounded Israel marveled at their wisdom,
• 13:13
  and their wisdom stemmed directly from following the will and the commandments of God.
• 13:18
  The law that was set before the Israelites was the most righteous law ever given,
• 13:24
  because in it laid the keys to a life lived alongside the Lord himself.
• 13:30
  The law of the Israelites was given to them by God himself, and God's actual
• 13:36
  voice spoke out of the midst of the fire.
• 13:39
  This law didn't come by prophets, but by the actual voice of God.
• 13:44
  How much more command, obey, was necessary for those Israelites?
• 13:50
  Verses 14 through 24, which we read, are a commandment to follow God and to follow God alone.
• 13:58
  Israel was surrounded by nations that worshipped other gods,
• 14:02
  the sun, the moon, and the stars.
• 14:04
  And Moses reminded the people that this was unacceptable.
• 14:09
  The Israelites had heard from their God, and Moses was reminding them that there
• 14:14
  was no other God that they could follow.
• 14:16
  They might be tempted to turn and to worship the moon, which the Lord created
• 14:20
  for them, but it was God who brought them out of Egypt, and they were his people and his alone.
• 14:28
  The Lord was angry with Moses for smoting instead of speaking to the rock to bring forth water.
• 14:35
  How much more angry would he be if his chosen people worshipped the things of
• 14:40
  this world instead of worshipping him?
• 14:43
  Moses ends this section with a reminder that the Lord is a jealous God.
• 14:49
  The Israelites are his people, and Moses didn't want them to forget it.
• 14:54
  Moses understood the results of disobedience, and he didn't want that for any more of God's people.
• 15:01
  Moses lays out the consequences of disobedience for the people of Israel in verses 25 through 28.
• 15:07
  When they worshipped other gods or graven images, they would be cast out of
• 15:13
  the promised land and scattered among other nations where they would be forced
• 15:17
  to serve those other nations and be in captivity.
• 15:21
  This jealous God didn't want his people scattered to the far ends of the world,
• 15:25
  but he laid out for them that there are consequences for their actions.
• 15:31
  And after God lays out the bare facts of the consequences of disobedience, he lays out his mercy.
• 15:37
  Moses tells them that even if they find themselves in captivity, they can still find God.
• 15:43
  While giving them a corporate law to be followed, he shows them that the love
• 15:48
  of mercy and God is still so very personal.
• 15:52
  We read in verse 29, But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God,
• 15:57
  thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
• 16:03
  Wherever these Israelites found themselves, they could seek and find their God,
• 16:08
  and he would extend mercy towards them, and he would not forget the covenant that he made with them.
• 16:15
  There had never before been a nation that heard from the voice of God or had
• 16:20
  been taken from another nation.
• 16:22
  There had never before been a people created to hear the voice of God and designed
• 16:27
  to receive direct instruction from God himself.
• 16:31
  Because of the love God had for their fathers, the Israelites now found themselves
• 16:35
  a chosen people, able to drive out nations far greater from themselves and for
• 16:41
  which was held a land of promise.
• 16:44
  The land and life of promise was held in their obedience. There was no other
• 16:50
  God, and in him alone lay the keys to their successful life.
• 16:54
  Just as obedience is key for the children of Israel, obedience is key for our lives as well.
• 17:01
  Though we get to live on this side of the cross, and we have many things that
• 17:06
  the Israelites didn't have, like Jesus, the truths that God sets before them are timeless.
• 17:14
  Obedience for the Israelites held the key to their very survival.
• 17:18
  And in some cases today, obedience holds the same for us.
• 17:22
  God gives us commandments and speaks to our hearts what we are to do,
• 17:26
  that we might be protected from the things of this world.
• 17:30
  So many heartaches from the consequences of worldly sins will be avoided when
• 17:34
  we live a life according to the will of God.
• 17:37
  God's laws are not meant to bind us or to limit us, but to protect us.
• 17:43
  Most importantly, the obedience to God's law gives us a ways that we can show God that we love him.
• 17:50
  When we choose him over the world, we're saying, I love you,
• 17:53
  and I thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.
• 17:57
  Because of all you've done, I'm going to choose to follow you.
• 18:01
  John 14, 21 tells us one of the statements that Jesus made regarding obedience.
• 18:07
  Jesus said, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them He it is that loveth
• 18:13
  me And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father And I will love him and
• 18:18
  will manifest myself to him.
• 18:20
  Jesus told us himself that to show him that we love him, we need to obey his commandments.
• 18:25
  It's that simple. What is not simple, but rather is magnificent and significant,
• 18:31
  are the results of our obedience.
• 18:34
  If we are obedient to Jesus, Jesus will manifest himself to us.
• 18:40
  That means that by each and every
• 18:42
  act of our obedience, Jesus will make himself more and more real to us.
• 18:48
  Later in John 14, we read, If a man love me, he will keep my words,
• 18:52
  and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
• 18:58
  Obedience holds the key to a life lived closely alongside the God of the universe and his son Jesus.
• 19:04
  We all want a close personal relationship with Jesus and a life of blessings.
• 19:09
  What this chapter shows us, however, is that these do not come without effort on our part.
• 19:15
  While a saving relationship begins with the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your
• 19:20
  personal Savior, a deep and satisfying walk with Him comes with obedience and
• 19:26
  time spent with Jesus in prayer and Bible study.
• 19:29
  Let's close this chapter with a really important thought on obedience.
• 19:34
  Here it is. It gets easier each time.
• 19:38
  I think that each and every time we obey God and see the results of obeying
• 19:42
  him, it gets easier to obey him again.
• 19:45
  Each step of obedience takes us closer to the heart of God.
• 19:48
  Therefore, the next time we're called to obey, we're in an easier position to do it.
• 19:54
  Now, there are many times that we are going to fall and we're going to disobey,
• 19:58
  but God is faithful in his promise of forgiveness.
• 20:02
  1 John 1.9 reminds us of this. We read, if we confess our sins,
• 20:07
  he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• 20:13
  We may sin and disobey, but we can always get back up and start again.
• 20:19
  God never promises us that a life that is lived in obedience will be easy.
• 20:25
  While it may get easier each and every time we obey, the devil is always going
• 20:29
  to try to get us and to keep us from obedience.
• 20:33
  Therefore, we have to stick close to God and to his word.
• 20:37
  Whenever we hear a voice in our head encouraging us to disobey,
• 20:41
  we need to try that against the truth of God's word and then follow his word.
• 20:46
  The only way that we can defeat the devil is by our obedience to God himself.
• 20:53
  Remember that you are loved. Jesus loves you.
• 21:05
  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
• 21:10
  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
• 21:13
  We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
• 21:17
  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
• 21:20
  You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
• 21:24
  store or through our website at WATWM.org.
• 21:27
  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash WATWM.
• 21:32
  If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
• 21:36
  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
• 21:41
  Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
• 21:46
  And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
• 21:51
  To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
• 21:56
  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
• 22:01
  We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
• 22:06
  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.
• 22:15
  Music.