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Do I Abuse God's Name?

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Q. What is required in the third commandment?  We are not to blaspheme or to abuse the Name of God by cursing, Leviticus 24:10-16  Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp.  And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)  Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them.  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.  “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.  ‘And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregatio...
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What Motivates God to Do the Things He Does?

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When President Trump took his oath of office, he failed to put his hand on the Bible.   Whether that failure was intentional or not, God in His providence allowed it to happen.   Looking at today's disastrous state of affairs, one cannot help wonder if God was sending us a message -  Trump's failure to put his hand on the Bible could be a sign that God Himself had removed His hand of blessing over our country.   And that God in His providence and power ordered this very public "mistake" to happen to both protect and promote the glory of His name. Why does God do the things that He does?  What motivates God to action?  One thing, and one thing alone - the glory of His Name! When God created the world,  He did so in order that man might glorify His Name for creation’s majesty and beauty.  And so man does.  O LORD our LORD how excellent is Your Name in all the earth  (Psalm 8:1).  The heavens declare the glory of God, an...
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By the Living Preaching of His Word

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Q. But may images not be tolerated in the churches as “books for the unlearned"?  No, for we should not be wiser than God.  He wants His people to be taught NOT by means of dumb images... Jeremiah 10:8  But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.  Habakkuk 2:18-20  What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it, to make mute idols?  Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all.  But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. ...but by the living preaching of His Word. Romans 10:14-15  How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how...
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How to Worship with Our Hearts

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2. You shall not make for yourself a graven image,  or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,  or that is in the water under the earth;  you shall not bow down to them or serve them... Basic to this second commandment is the temptation for man to make for himself some kind of representation of God.  Man desires to see with his eyes what he worships with his heart.  Yet God says, “You shall not make any kind of image of Me.” Why not? There are at least three reasons:  In the first place, God cannot be visibly portrayed.  God is spirit (cf. John 4:24).  It is impossible to make a physical representation of a spiritual being.  In the second place, any representation we might make of God would be a creaturely representation.  Man is not able to conceive of anything except what he has seen in creation.  It is impossible for man to think of something which he has not seen on earth.  Whateve...
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How Am I to Worship God?

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Q. What is the second law of the LORD?   You shall not make for yourself a graven image,   or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,   or that is in the earth beneath,   or that is in the water under the earth;   you shall not bow down to them or serve them;  ...for I the LORD your God am a jealous God,  visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,  but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Reading the first and the second commandments, you might ask what difference exists between them, for they appear to deal with the same thing.  The first commandment reads, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  The second reads, “You shall not make a graven image of any likeness...”  Even though they appear to be the same, they deal with two different subjects.  The first commandment deals...
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What Must I Know Before I Can Really Trust God?

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The first commandment says that we are to trust wholly in God and in no other.  We must depend completely and only upon Him.  We must expect all good from Him alone. There are a number of things which we must know before we can really trust God.  1. God’s omnipotence.  Unless we believe that God has complete power, we cannot have complete trust in him.  We must believe that He is able to do anything that He wants to do.  We must believe that nothing is impossible with Him.  2. God’s love.  If we have any doubts about God’s love for us, we will not fully trust Him.  For we do not trust one who hates us.  We do not trust our enemies.  We trust our friends who love us.  Now God has revealed His great love for us in His Son. Surely if God has given us such a great gift as His only begotten and well-beloved Son,  He will surely give us all that we need (Romans 8:32). 3. God’s faithfulness.  There are times when we must exp...
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Have I Rightly Come to Know the Only True God?

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1. You shall have no other gods before Me. Q. What does the LORD require in the first commandment?  That I rightly come to know the only true God,  John 17:3  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  trust in Him alone,  Jeremiah 17:5  Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.”  Jeremiah 17:7  Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.  submit to Him with all humility  1 Peter 5:5-6  Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,  and patience,  Romans 5:3-4  And not only that, but we also glory in ...
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