[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Take your Bible with me if you would to Deuteronomy chapter 18.
[0:14] Deuteronomy chapter 18. We've got about 19 minutes. I want to show you three things very quickly. Leading God's people in an ungodly world. Deuteronomy chapter 18.
[0:25] We went over last service. We went over the fact that they had a king or would have a king. He would get into the Bible. And now in chapter 18, he's reminding them, I will have spiritual leadership over you.
[0:37] You'll have kings. You'll have governors. You'll have judges. You'll have people, elders over you. But I'm always going to have some Levites, some men of God over that.
[0:47] Look if you would in chapter 18 and verse 2. The spiritual leadership. And he reminds them, you've got to pay for them. Sorry, but you're going to have to pay for them. In Deuteronomy 18.
[0:58] He said, therefore, they shall have no inheritance among their brethren. The Lord is their inheritance. The Lord is their inheritance as he has said unto them.
[1:09] So look at this. They go into the land, to the promised land. God puts Levites in charge of them. There are 12 tribes that are going to take up offerings. They're going to give tithes. They're going to give money.
[1:19] They're going to build the temple. And then there's some Levites. And those Levites are going to have the Lord as their inheritance. And that's going to be, I don't have time to go through it, but they're going to live of the offerings.
[1:30] Read the verses here. They're going to get from the offerings. They're going to get what takes care of them. And those Levites are going to serve in different places. So you might just be in a community and a new Levite show up and all of a sudden you're going to take care of him.
[1:43] Look at 18.6. Deuteronomy 18.6. And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel where he sojourns, and he come with all the desire of his mind of the place which the Lord shall choose, he'll minister there and you guys take care of him.
[1:58] So all of a sudden a new Levite showed up. They knew from the beginning we've got to take care of God's men. I'm glad you know that. By the way, it wouldn't matter how much money he had. If he was rich and his daddy left him a bunch in chapter 18 and verse 8, y'all still take care of him.
[2:13] Take care of God's men. And that was an Old Testament teaching. This church does a great job of doing that as the pastors and of the missionaries, and I appreciate that. The second thing in the chapter.
[2:24] They live in an ungodly world, and he wants them to know that he doesn't want them to do what other people do, that he hates their actions. He hates what they do. He wants them to get all their direction from him and not from demons.
[2:39] Demonic worship is forbidden. Look at chapter 18 and verse 10. And they were known to pass their children through the fire. They would go in their worship, and they would use their children as a sacrifice.
[2:53] In verse 10 and 11, the last part, there were people that used divination or magic, observers of times, people that could look at your cards and see what's going on with you, people that could look at the stars and know what's going on with you, people that could look at all that, enchanters and witches and charmers and consultants of familiar spirits, wizards, guys that could talk to the dead and channel the dead.
[3:17] They were to never, ever be involved in that. All the people around them might be doing that, but they weren't to go to witches and psychics. They were not to talk to those who talked to the dead. They were to stay away from anybody who played those games.
[3:30] They shouldn't be around people that caught up the dead or channeled the dead. They were to realize, hey, man, God's got his way of doing things. His way of doing things is the word of God.
[3:42] Do you know why God's driving them out of the land of Canaan? Look at chapter 18 and verse 12. Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 12, he said, For all that do these things are an abomination, something God hates, something that turns his stomach.
[3:55] He says, Because of these abominations, the Lord thy God drives them out from before thee. So when they came into Canaan, the things that those people were doing was consulting with these demons, consulting with magicians, consulting with wizards.
[4:08] God didn't like it. God kicked them out. He said, And don't you guys, you're my children. Don't you be doing that. I want you to be totally, perfectly, completely loyal to me.
[4:20] Never divide your heart between me and some other God. Look if you would at chapter 18 and verse 13. And you ought to underline this verse. Put a star beside it. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
[4:32] That means don't have a divided heart. You're not supposed to be in love with Jesus and in love with your favorite way of finding out stuff. Maybe you like to study astrology or maybe you like to talk to, you like games where you talk about dead stuff and you got magicians or whatever.
[4:46] He said, No, no, no, no, no, no. You are me for me and me alone. Stay away from all of that. That's what he told the nation of Israel. Chapter 18 and verse 4. 14, 18, 14.
[4:57] God said, I have a way of communicating with you and it's not demonic channels. Look at verse 14. For these nations which thou shalt possess, they listen to, they hearken to observers of times and diviners.
[5:10] But God doesn't allow you to do that. Look at it in verse 14. God hath not suffered thee so to do. He said, God's way is not for you to listen to that. God's way is not for you to find out from other people.
[5:23] You got a way to find it out. And here's what he said in 1815. I'll raise up a man of God. I'll raise up a prophet. 1815. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him shall you hearken.
[5:40] Don't go to the witch talker. Don't go down and get somebody to read your palm. Don't go down to get somebody to look at the cards for you. God will raise up a man and let him teach you.
[5:52] Chapter 18 and verse 18. That man will teach this right here. Listen to this. This is what he's going to teach. The word. Look at chapter 18 and verse 18. I will raise him up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth.
[6:07] I will put my words in his mouth. And he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. I'm going to raise up a prophet. I'll raise up men of God. I'll have them come out. The real prophet that's really coming at the very end of this is Jesus.
[6:19] But he said, that's who you listen to. You stay away from everybody else. And you obey the prophet. Look at chapter 18 and verse 19. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I'll require it of you.
[6:33] I'm coming to find out why you don't listen to my book. That's what he told them in the nation of Israel. Then he said, now since you guys know that, since you guys figured that out, some sorcerer, some wizard, some magician, some diviner will come forward someday.
[6:48] And he'll say, I'm a prophet and I have a word from the Lord. And he said, I'll tell you how to know if he's from me or not. If what he says doesn't come true, it's not from me. Look, if you would, at chapter 18 and verse 20.
[7:00] He shall presume to speak a word in my name. And if it doesn't come true, kill him. Wow. We're not living in those days. This is for Israel. You'll know he's lying.
[7:11] Chapter 18 and verse 21. And if thou say in thy heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, if it doesn't come true, doesn't come to pass, you don't need to be afraid of him.
[7:27] You don't need to worry about it. He has spoken presumptuously. I'm going to sum all this up here in just a minute and talk to you more about where we are. But I just would like to remind you. You live in a world where you probably consult with a thousand other ways to know what's right and wrong.
[7:41] What you ought to do or not do more than you do the word of God. And that's not where Christians are supposed to live. This is the Old Testament. These are the Jews. This is Israel. This isn't for us. I'll bring it to us in just a minute.
[7:52] But let me remind you, today we don't have prophets like that. We don't have apostles like that. We don't have those kind of people. We have this book. We no longer have to wonder, do we know what God said?
[8:06] We got what God said. He wrote it down. He gave it to us. He took care to keep it for us so that I have a copy of what God said. And so I now know. So God would raise up men.
[8:17] He said, when you get over there, I'll have some men for you. There'll be Levites. That was for the Israelites. In the New Testament, we'll look at a verse in just a second. In the New Testament, God was going to bring men of God. How do you know if he's a man of God?
[8:27] Does he preach this? If he comes in with other opinions, you can look and say, whoa, whoa, what anybody says. I don't have to listen to you. What you said ain't in the Bible. I'm not afraid of that. It's not what the word of God says. And so they weren't to listen to it.
[8:40] God has a way of communicating with you. You do not need to seek the ways of the lost world to know God's will. God's will is abundantly clear for us in his word.
[8:53] God's prophets speak God's words. Don't play with demons. Do obey what God says. So let me just tell you before we leave. You know what the big problem is all around the world? If you go over to Africa right now, if you go to South America, in South America there are shamans, witch doctors, there are people you can go to.
[9:12] You can get them to work out. You can get them to do some damage to your friend. Everybody down there will believe in it. You can get them to make a girl fall in love with you. You can get them to fix any kind of problem you got. You can go to all those people.
[9:23] They're everywhere. They're advertised. Like they're advertised here. They're advertised there. I really think they probably have some power. If you've ever been around, you'd probably think that. In the Bible they had some power. But he said, I don't want my people doing that.
[9:34] I have what you need. I will give it to you through my men and through my word and I will raise up a prophet. That prophet eventually ends up being who? Jesus.
[9:44] He's the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by him. But you and I ought to decide this. We decide what's going to happen because we study the word of God and we let God's word speak to us.
[9:56] So let me give you some lessons that we can learn for our church. Number one, God will call out men and women to serve him in his ministry. God will call out men and women to serve him.
[10:07] It's been God's way since right back in the beginning that he would pick out people and say, I want you to serve me in a special way, in a leadership position, in a preaching position, in a teaching position, in a ministry position.
[10:19] And that's the way he's been doing it for a long time. That's what he did in the New Testament. That's what he continues to do today. The second thing is when we have leaders, we hold them to high standards and they can be confronted.
[10:32] We hold them to high standards and they can be confronted. Look with me if you would at 1 Timothy 5 verse 19. This is New Testament. In the Old Testament, if a prophet walked up and said something, you didn't have to just do what he said.
[10:45] You had to check what he said. Is that what God said? Does that come true? Is it really going to happen if it doesn't? That guy was not to be feared. He was actually to be put to death. In the New Testament, when the preacher or a pastor or somebody, even at Vision Baptist Church, me or somebody else in the future, look what it says.
[11:01] Against an elder, receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Now, in the Bible, you probably say, what's an elder? Well, an elder from all the way back in the Old Testament was a leader.
[11:14] The elders sat in the gate. The elders were the guys that led the church or led the nation of Israel. The elders are the guys who would lead the church. They're older men of God. It's not about age.
[11:25] It's about spiritual maturity. It's about people that God put there and those guys are leading. And so here I am in this church, you might say, I'm an elder. I'm like the elder of our church. And it says, don't you receive an accusation against me?
[11:37] I know you know I was elder because I'm older than everybody in the room except Brother Frick. Praise the Lord. And Betty. Thank you, Lord. So, but you don't receive an accusation against me without at least two or three witnesses.
[11:50] Come back Sunday night and you'll find out you don't receive an accusation against anybody without two or three witnesses. But in the book of Timothy, he told Timothy, he said, now you teach them that they're not to receive an accusation against their spiritual leader without two or three witnesses.
[12:03] But if the guy's doing wrong, look at verse 20. This is good for independent Baptists to hear. Them that sin rebuke before all that others may fear. Who's he talking about them?
[12:14] Them goes back to elders. That elder, if he doesn't do right, then he must be rebuked before all. So we ought to know we're going to have spiritual leaders. We ought to know that you're held to high standards.
[12:24] And can be confronted. As a church, we should be careful not to follow the currents of the world in our worship. I want to challenge you to remember this.
[12:36] They don't understand anything we do. It's an us-them world. I've told you that several times in the last two or three weeks. It's an us-them world. The people of God and them that aren't the people of God. Those that are saved and those that aren't saved.
[12:48] Those that love Jesus and those that don't love Jesus. And so here's what he was saying. Hey, nation of Israel, when you walk into the promised land, you need to know that those people are there. I don't like what they're doing.
[12:58] That's why I'm throwing them out. Don't you do what they do. Some young missionaries will read a book that says if we'll do what they do, they'll come to our church. And the Bible would say, and I won't like it.
[13:11] How's that? And the Bible would say, and I won't like it. We should give out of a heart of love and never try to cheapen our worship. God's people ought to give out of a heart of love and never try to cheapen our worship.
[13:26] That comes from the last chapter. But you don't come to God with something you don't want to keep for yourself. If it's ill-favored, that's the word, evil-favored or ill-favored, which is the word it used. You don't want to give that to God.
[13:36] You don't want to go to God and say, hey, I don't like this. I'll give it to you. You know, when you get a box of chocolates, there's some chocolates. You ever have one of them assorted box of chocolates? There's some of them that are just not that good.
[13:48] God meant for your wife to have those. Amen? You're like, I don't like that one. You can have that, baby. And if you don't want it, honey, we'll give it to our child who doesn't know any better. And maybe they'll hate all chocolate.
[14:01] So that's what he's saying is you don't give to God what you don't like. You're going to give to God what you know did cost you something. You're going to give to God because you're in love with him and you're not going to give him what's cheap.
[14:12] You're not going to give him what's cheap. So we should give from a heart of love and never cheapen our worship. We should separately and individually and corporately separate ourselves from sin.
[14:26] That's a Bible truth all through the Bible. The nation of Israel was told, you're not like them, stay away from them. You're not like them, don't do what they do. You're not like them, don't pick up on their practices.
[14:37] You can say, well, brother, we're a church of love and grace. Yes, we might be, but we're people of this book. If we're people of this book, it means, hey, I don't really want to run with the adulterers. I don't really want to run with the drunkards.
[14:51] I don't really want to run with the people that I know are doing stuff that if God was here, he'd say, I don't like that. He is here because he lives in me. Amen. So be separate. As a church, we separate. And as corporate or individually, we separate.
[15:04] We're willing to take an unpopular stand if necessary to please God above all. I have chosen to serve Jesus. Now, he's first. Next one. I've got to hurry.
[15:15] Church discipline is real, and it should apply to all. Church discipline is real. Now, I'm going to give you two or three things real quickly about that. You say, why is that mentioned? Because there were false prophets.
[15:27] They had to know as a church that you just don't accept everybody at face value. You don't just look at a guy that comes walking up. He's got a little thing that says he's an elder. He's got a robe on.
[15:37] It says he's a father. He's got a robe on. It says he's a prophet. And he walks up and he goes, oh, he must be a father. I'll take you what he says. He must be a prophet. He must be a pastor. He must be doctor, bottle stopper.
[15:47] He must be right because of who he is. And he said, no, no, no. We don't do it that way. We check them out. But everybody in the church ought to know we've decided as a body that we're going to please Jesus.
[15:58] And Matthew 18 gave us instructions about how to do that. That goes from the pastor all the way down to the smallest, youngest member in there. That's why you need a clear and organized membership in a church.
[16:11] Because you don't just discipline anybody that comes off the street. Guys walking down the street out in front of the church will be walking there and say, hey, you can't be a drunk. Be a part of Vision Baptist. He said, I ain't part of Vision. I just happen to be out here. But, you know, if you're a member of Vision Baptist Church, being a drunker ought not to be a part of your lifestyle.
[16:25] And if it were, you ought to be told it can't be a part of your lifestyle. Whoa. So that's discipline. We do it biblically. We don't discipline those who are not a part of our fellowship. No one in church leadership should ever use their position to take advantage of others, get popularity, pride, or possessions from it.
[16:45] He said to those priests, God's going to take care of you. He said to the king, don't you multiply horses. Don't you multiply wives. Don't you use it to get ahead, to get rich.
[16:55] That's not your goal. All of us should spend time in the word of God so we can obey him and we can stay humble. I would just like to say to you, you don't live, thank God, you don't live in the days of the Old Testament, guys.
[17:10] If we were alive in the days of the Old Testament, guys, number one, none of us would even be allowed to get close. We're all Gentiles. Or most of us, I would say, are Gentiles. We wouldn't even be allowed to get close. But if we did live in the days of the Gentiles, if you're a woman, you certainly couldn't get close.
[17:23] If we did live in the days of the Gentiles, only a few people really know everything God's got to say. But I got it in my hand. I'm going to walk home with it in just a minute. I can put it in my heart. I can read it.
[17:33] I can memorize it. I don't have the first five books of the Bible. I got all 66 books of the Bible. I should be a man who would decide I'm going to get into God's word. How are you going to know what's right?
[17:43] How are you going to know how to live? You know how you ought to run your family? By this book. You know how you ought to treat your wife? By this book. You know how you ought to pay your bills? By this book. You know how you ought to be a citizen? By this book.
[17:54] This is our Lord's talking to us. You say, well, you know, if God told me that, I'd believe it. He did tell you that. And he wrote it down. Let me give you another one.
[18:04] As a church, we'll always be responsible to take care of our spiritual leaders. 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 14. I've gone over it with you before, but I'll remind you.
[18:14] 1 Corinthians 9, 14. And even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. That was probably the hardest thing of proving for them to accept.
[18:25] When I started working in Peru, they were like, that's just too much. We don't make enough money. You want us to take care of a pastor? I said, I don't want you to take care of a pastor. God does. I don't want you to take care of a missionary.
[18:36] God does. It's what God says do. And look what it says. God has ordained. God has said, this is my order. This is my way. If they preach the gospel, they should live of the gospel.
[18:48] That's how they're to be taken care of. We've had people here even at vision. They're not here now, but at vision. And their whole thought was every preacher ought to go get him another job so he can preach. Well, they hadn't read 1 Corinthians 9, 14, Hedy.
[19:00] We are to hear from God through his word and should not seek other means of getting to him or hearing from him. We definitely do not follow a lost world in their religion and in their actions.
[19:14] You know, people go on vacation. People look on the internet. People check it out on Facebook. If you see other religions, you think, oh, that's pretty. That's different. I like that. That might be nice.
[19:24] If we did that, we don't do stuff like that. If you say to me, well, you know, the Islam or Mormons or anybody else has a good thing to do in their worship, I just say to you, sorry, I'm not interested. If it ain't in the book, I'm not interested.
[19:37] We go by this book. That's how we lead our church. And we know this, that the prophet that has truly come with the truth is the Lord Jesus. You know what this book is about?
[19:48] It starts off in the beginning, in the beginning, God. And it ends up with a book that says, let me reveal Jesus to you. It starts off telling you God did everything, and it ends up saying, let me show you who it's all about.
[20:00] You know who the story is about from Genesis 1-1 all the way through? It's about that prophet. And his name is Jesus. In Genesis, he is the guy who's going to come. He'll be born to that woman.
[20:11] He'll stomp the head of the serpent. His name is there, and he goes all the way through the Bible. It's about one guy. This book is about Jesus. He's your prophet. He's the guy you follow. And we're going to live in an ungodly world.
[20:22] There's only one way we can live in an ungodly world. So follow Jesus, and this is how we do it. There's not a lot of spooky stuff to follow in Jesus. This is it, and I quit. There's not a lot of spooky stuff. Sometimes I think modern-day Christians are like, we need a word from the Lord.
[20:37] We need a word from the Lord. I don't see how you need a word from the Lord. You got the word from the Lord. I've even heard preachers say, I just don't have a word from the Lord today. And I'm like, you could just lower your head a little bit and read.
[20:48] You'd have a word. It's right in front of you. Amen? The Lord of God. And you got it. Go home with it. Get involved in foundations. Disciple other people. Get people in the book. Get the book into you.
[21:00] Here's the honest truth. So many Christians don't know what God wants when it's so simple. So simple. Get into the Bible. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[21:14] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[21:25] Thanks.