Most of you have probably seen the button on the side of my blog:

That event is done and over with. There were two bands and two speakers (I was one of those). The first band, Still Waiting fsm, impressed me a fair amount. They had Amish/Menonite backgrounds and despite their tendency toward harder music were willing to perform acoustically in order to avoid the hype that so often accompanies youth activities. Because I had experience running sound boards, I ended up running the sound for the evening (some of the organizers kicked me out of the booth for the speaking). For that the band gave me a CD which I’ll have to finish listening to later. They seemed to have impressed the others too. After that first band the meeting broke for an hour of games – soccer, cards or just standing around to talk. We brought that to a close with a band called Furthermore. They were higher-energy and I had to laugh at their lead singer’s attempts to jump off of the bass drum or perform similar stunts. Then again, I shake my head at appearances like Miley Cyrus’ performance at the Teen Choice Awards (that was pathetic, really…). Dinner was provided next. Yes, a lot of time was put into this by several people – they did a good job. In addition to the soccer earlier, I got talked into volleyball after the meal. We were called in for the beginning of the worship and speaking segment. I spoke first and avoided the novice mistake of undercutting the time. Unfortunately it did not come out as smoothly as I had intended either (need to work on that). Hopefully it gave time for the meaning to sink in a little better. You can read the notes below, if you want. There was a short intermission and another gentleman named Rob spoke after that. He spoke about the need to be sure that we are where we think we are and emphasized that we are not saved by rules. Overall, everything fit together very well. We closed the service with an a capella rendition of the hymn “Higher Ground.” The words were on the projector and everyone was able to join in by the second verse. If you are interested, I spoke on Leviticus 19. Here are the notes. Don’t worry, I didn’t use everything. Some items were paraphrased too, both here and in person. The main translation of the Bible was the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) because that is what they had the projector set up to use and it did this chapter justice.

Teach Them to Obey

Introduction

Leonard Ravenhill, in a sermon called Who’s Touching the Ark?, asked:

Those of you who are trying to be justified by the law have been cut off from Christ. You have fallen away from grace.

Those laws do still have a place. II Timothy 3:16,17 (NET):

Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.

God has intentionally hidden his words from those who do not want Him. Isaiah 28:9-11 (KJV):

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

Jesus explained why it was this way before quoting from Isaiah 6. Matthew 13:10-13 (WEB):

The disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered them, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn't have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don't see, and hearing, they don't hear, neither do they understand.

**James 2:26** (NET):

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Paul holds the same view. **I Corinithians 6:9-11** (NET):

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Jesus upheld the **greatest commandments** from the Old Testament, which will come later. Most important is the "Great Commission." **Matthew 28:18-20** (WEB):

Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you [emphasis mine]. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

How do you spot a leader? A leader owns the place he is at. Shouldn't it be obvious that we are Christians as God's authority plays out through us? That is what Matthew 28 implies.

### **Main Text - Leviticus 19**
Every one of the Ten Commandments is represented in this chapter.

_The LORD spoke to Moses: "Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy._<ul>This is for everyone. The laws are not hidden. God is the ultimate authority on this.</ul>_"Each of you is to respect his mother and father. You are to keep My Sabbaths; I am the LORD your God._<ul>Wesley - The mother is mentioned first [Septuagint reverses it]
     Barnes - These are the only two of the decalogue [Ten Commandments] that are positively reinforcedn     The two commands are linked. Those who disregard one often disregard both.
     
     Hebrew - Literally, fear your parents</ul>_Do not turn to idols or make cast images of gods for yourselves; I am the LORD your God._<ul>Hebrew - _idol_ is useless or vanityn     
What of _American Idol_? The Steelers? Seawolves? Cowboys?
Who is our God?</ul>_"When you offer a fellowship sacrifice to the LORD, sacrifice it that you may be accepted. It is to be eaten on the day you sacrifice [it] or on the next day, but what remains on the third day must be burned up. If any is eaten on the third day, it is a repulsive thing; it will not be accepted. Anyone who eats it will bear his punishment, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people._<ul>JFB - _Those which included thank offerings, or offerings made for vows, were always freewill offerings. Except the portions which, being waved and heaved, became the property of the priests (see Le 3:1-17), the rest of the victim was eaten by the offerer and his friend._n     
     Leviticus 7:16 - gives more details about those who profane the offering. It is possible that this was to prevent it from being sold or otherwise abused. Our religion is against the mystical use of charms and whatnot.</ul>_"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am the LORD your God._<ul>Gill - The gleanings are what fall out of a full hand that is harvesting.
JFB - There seems to be some discretion with who they allowed to follow their workers.
Why don't we do this, or something similar, today?</ul>_"You must not steal. You must not act deceptively or lie to one another. You must not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God; I am the LORD._<ul>This is why some Jews have a reputation worthy of bankers, and many have been bankers throughout history. The Israeli government has had a lot of corruption issues, but when these rules are followed it allows people to trust each other. That is necessary for any business.</ul>_"You must not oppress your neighbor or rob [him]. The wages due a hired hand must not remain with you until morning._<ul>Calvin - The hireling often lives hand-to-mouth.
Do not hold on to another person's money beyond what you should.</ul>_You must not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you are to fear your God; I am the LORD._<ul>We should aim to help others.

     Bible distributor Thomas Nelson defines "Fear of the Lord" as "The term used in the OT for 'religion.'" In the NT it is those who "are faithful or converts to Judaism."
Our culture today wants to define "religion" as irrelevant. **James 1:27** (WEB):

Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Proverbs 23:17,18 (God’s Word Translation):

Do not envy sinners in your heart. Instead, continue to fear the LORD. There is indeed a future, and your hope will never be cut off.

**II Corinthians 7:1** (ESV):

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free, then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

I find it surprising that slaves could have wives given and taken away, but this was allowed by God’s law. Understand that there is still more to sex than the physical. Calvin believed it would properly translated to say that both are to be whipped. Others, such as the KJV translators render it this way: “…_ she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free_.” From my limited understanding, I think that Calvin was right. Modern translators word it as we see above, that punishment must take place but they do not specify on whom. The next part (the following verse) explains how the man is to atone for his sin.“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden. It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten.There is a time to plant and a time to harvest (Ecclesiastes 3:2). This has to do with when they planted a new tree, not their entering the promised land.In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way its yield will increase for you; I am the LORD your God.Wesley - The fruit from the fourth year went to the Levites and widows (Deuteronomy 14:28). Calvin - God promises greater blessing in the future because of the four years.“You are not to eat [anything] with blood [in it]. You are not to practice divination or sorcery.This command against eating blood is found everywhere in the Bible. It was given in Genesis 9:4 and is again confirmed for the gentiles by the apostles in Acts 15:20. Do a study on blood when you find the time. Divination and sorcery are a demonstration that you do not trust God to supply your needs. In practical terms, you do not ever control the supernatural anyway.You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.Hair was sometimes dedicated to certain gods.You are not to make gashes on your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the LORD.Cutting wrists; tattoos – deforming what God has made. Clarke - this includes the sectarian marks used by such as the Hindu worshippers

 Hebrew - literally, do not make gashes on your bodies for a soul; It is the same word used in Genesis 2 when God breathed life into Adam.</ul>_"Do not debase your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity._<ul>Temple prostitutes have been common in many cultures.

This flagrantly disregards that “the two shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24) Dating could fall into this. It is common for many people to expect sex on the first date. Sex is the consummation of a marriage. The license from the state or a church is not what marries people before God.You must keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the LORD.As Jesus said in Mark 2:27, the sabbath was made for man. It should be a time to reflect on our lives so that we can evaluate where we are at and where we are trying to go. It is a day dedicated to God. The sanctuary is a place to be revered. A lot of people have forgotten this.“Do not turn to mediums or consult spiritists, or you will be defiled by them; I am the LORD your God.“that have familiar spirits” – Hebrew: one who is an empty jar, hollow Water witching (using divining rods) would fall into this category also. A few weeks ago I saw a show on the Hallmark channel that depicted a girl who used the “paranormal” to figure out who killed her father. It is rampant. Jesus said to seek God first and His kingdom (Matthew 6:33) and that all of our needs would be met. That isn’t an excuse to be foolish either. We still have responsibilities. If you think that mediums or spiritists get results, I would ask whether you put as much time into seeking God as you do in manipulating the spiritual through “spirit guides.” I very much doubt it.“You are to rise in the presence of the elderly and honor the old. Fear your God; I am the LORD.II Kings 2:24 - Boys mocked Elisha for being bald. He cursed them and 2 female bears came out of the woods and killed 42 of the children. Respect your elders; fear God. That is pretty strong language, and I reckon it is that way for a reason.“When a foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.Treat foreigners as though they are natives of your land. Your ancestors have been foreigners at some point as well.“You must not act unfairly in measurements of length, weight, or volume. You are to have honest balances, honest weights, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure; I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.This is why many Jews were such good business men and hated for their success. They were to deal fairly.You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the LORD.”Be holy because our God commands it. Clarke - MANY difficulties occur … [they were] perfectly well known to the Israelites. In other words, we may not fully understand the law (probably because we do not perfectly understand the culture) but they were understood when the words were given. We have many commands that have been to us and they are plain in how we are to obey them. Do we?

Closing

James 4:13-17 (NET):

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit." You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, "If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that." But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.


Slow down in this world and really see the people who surround you. This is what we are called to as followers of God (Leviticus 19:18).

**Ecclesiastes 12:13,14** (WEB):

This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.