This Sunday service Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached the first sermon in the series titled ‘The New Commandment – Love like Jesus’. Her main scriptures were taken from the book of 1 Cor 13:1-13; Rom 13:8-10; Mark 12:28-34; John 13:31-35; 2 Cor 8:7-9.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

The Ten Commandments are ten laws that God Himself gave to the ancient nation of Israel thru His servant Moses. These Biblical principles apply to men’s relationship with God and with one another. If all people on earth keep at least one of these commandments, the world will be a better place. These Commandments were spoken directly by God at Mount Sinai and written by God’s finger on tablets of stone and given to Moses. This act makes them unique in the Bible. These Ten Laws are commands and not suggestions. They are personal, spoken to individuals.

BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS TO OBEY GOD’S LAW!

“Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go” (Josh 1:7). It is only a Spirit filled believer that can obey God’s Law. The Holy Spirit supplies the power to obey God’s commands. But we have a part to play. God commands us to ‘be strong, courageous, and focused’. Spiritual weakness and confusion cause distraction and rebellion. In Hebrew, the words ‘be strong and courageous’ mean the following, be a man, be a good soldier, be a champion, establish your heart in the faith; be sure and confident; seize, bind, and conquer your enemy and increase your territory. Following the lead of the Holy Spirit, becoming strong in the strength of the Lord, leads to prosperity ‘wherever you go’. Spiritual and material prosperity is your portion, and it must manifest in any place in this world. You don’t need to travel ‘abroad’ to prosper. Bloom where you are planted. In Hebrew, the word ‘prosper’ means wisdom and understanding that leads to success in life. Therefore, if you obey God’s Word, you will become wise, a mentor, a leader of men, and God will prosper you anytime, anywhere. Selah!

WHY DO WE NEED TO STUDY GOD’S LAW?

*The Ten commandments, also called The Law, are part of the Bible. It is the duty and privilege of a believer to study God’s Word, from Genesis to Revelation. Many Christians only study the New Testament. They say that we are no longer under the Law. But that is not totally true. We are not under the Condemnation power of the Law, but we are under the Commanding power of the Law. As believers in Christ, we should not be lawbreakers, even if ignorantly. The Ten Commandments are eternal. These are not just for the Jews. These are God’s commands to all people everywhere to the end of time. Patiently and faithfully, you should study the Old Testament. You will discover the mystery that the Bible is indeed one. And then, you will be encouraged thru God’s Word. “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope“(Rom 15:4). The Word gives you true hope. Many Christians are too superficial and lazy. We should not be like that! To study God’s Word is a spiritual labor that has amazing benefits. Nothing replaces that!

*Obeying God’s Law is the only way to prove that you are born again because no unbeliever is able to obey God’s commandments. Obedience is achieved only by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is given only to the believers in Christ. It is not enough to say: ‘I am a child of God’. Prove it! A man may be religious but if he still lives in sin, breaking God’s commands, that one is a liar. A man cannot act like the devil and claim that he is a Christan. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 Jn 3:4-9). Selah!

Like the branch of a tree, it is only a child of God that ‘abides’ in Christ. It is only in a child of God that you can find ‘God’s seed’. Because of this internal grace of life called ‘seed’, the believer not only does not desire to sin, but he ‘cannot sin’. He may occasionally fall into temptation and commit sin, but he cannot ‘abide’ in sin. Sin is not his natural habitat anymore. He abides in Christ, who is his salvation and life. The children of God hate sin. If they fall into sin, they still hate it and eventually they repent and come back to God. The children of God and the children of the devil are radically different, especially in the way they look at sin. Unbelievers have the seed of the devil inside them. They manifest especially by their love for sin, their neglect of the Bible and prayer, and hatred against the true believers. God’s children love to obey God’s Word! Selah!

*By obeying God’s Law, we honor and worship God. Jesus said: “If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments” (Jn 14:15; AMP). Love manifests as obedience to the truth. This is the meaning of worshipping God ‘in spirit and in truth’ (Jn 4:23). You cannot claim that you worship God with all your heart when you walk in rebellion against His commands. Search your heart! Repent of disobedience if necessary!

*By obeying God’s Law, you defeat the devil in your life and establish your testimony as a believer. The devil is a murderer. He sinned from the beginning of sin. The devil is the first sinner in the universe. In the Garden of Eden, he deceived Eve to break God’s Law. Adam rebelled and joined in his wife’s deception. When Jesus died on the Cross, He destroyed the power of sin and death. He also destroyed the works of the devil. The devil is a liar, the accuser, and slanderer of God’s people. Jesus died to destroy these evil works. As Christians we should not indulge in the works our Master died to destroy. We should not lie, gossip, slander or give false witnesses against others. Jesus became Man and died for sinful men so that He can destroy death, the power of death upon the believers and their bondage of fear. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Heb 2:14-18). Christ became man to identify with sinful men and to die for their sins. God the Father accepted His Son’s sacrifice. To prove that He raised Him from the dead. By His death and resurrection, Jesus is now the Lord of all, the living, and the dead. But He is the High Priest only for the believers. He made ‘propitiation’ for the sins of His people. The word ‘propitiation’ means to calm down a god or a person who was angry with you. God hates sin. God was angry when Adam betrayed Him and rebelled against Him. Jesus died on the Cross on behalf of sinners, to honor God’s justice and holiness. Jesus died as an atonement that makes reconciliation between God and man possible.

“For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living” (Rom 14:9). As God the Son, Jesus has always been the Lord of the Living. By becoming Man, and by His death on the Cross, now Jesus became the Lord of the dead also. This is an extension of His authority. This was not possible, except Jesus became Man and that He died. Because of the Cross, no one can hide in hell and refuse to bow to Jesus. David knew about this revelation. He said: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there” (Ps 139:7, 8).

The devil himself, as the chief murderer of the human race, is now under the feet of Jesus. If you believe that Jesus is merciful and that He died for your sins, then it is your duty to surrender your body to Him and worship Him. Paul says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:1, 2). By doing God’s will, you have destroyed the power of sin in your flesh and the power of the devil over you!

WHAT GOD’S LAW IS NOT SUPPOSED TO DO

God’s Law was not given to save man or to bring him into an intimate relationship with God. God did not send His Commandments to bring us into a relationship with Him. God already had a relationship with His people that started with Abraham. God’s people were people of covenant already. God, as the faithful Covenant Keeper, has promised them blessings and pledged to fulfill them. In the Ten Commandments God introduces Himself as their God. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Ex 20:2). As you can see, God is their Savior already. He is the One that brought them out of bondage. Therefore, the Law was not given to save them from sin. Later, Apostle Paul says: “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Gal 2:16, 17). Trying to go to heaven by obeying God’s Law is called legalism and that is sin! Selah!

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S LAW?

*The Law brings knowledge. As we study the Law, we now know who God is, what He likes and what He hates. We now know that God hates sin. It is God’s will that once we get saved, we receive the power to love and obey God’s Law. We become disciplined people and holy like God.

*The Law brings the fear of God, which is necessary for us to become wise, humble, and respectful of the God of the universe. When God came down on the mountain to give the Ten Commandments, His presence manifested with great noise, fire, and earthquake (Ex 20:18-21). The people were afraid and ran away. They told Moses to go and meet God by himself then come back to tell them the Law. Here, Moses is a symbol of Jesus Christ, who is the Mediator between God and man. Studying God’s Law does not save from sin, but it gives us the necessary respect for God so that we don’t become over-familiar with Him. There is safety in wisdom. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction” (PV 1:7). Selah!

*By the Law of God, we know what sin is and how ugly sin is. Sin is a terrible thing. Nothing less than the Blood of Jesus could atone for it. The Law of God must convict us of sin before we see our need for the Savior. We cannot appreciate the grace of God if we have not been convicted of sin, as lawbreakers. “They must be slain by the Law before they can be made alive by the Gospel” (C. Spurgeon). Because sin has weakened man’s will, no natural man can obey God’s Law. We are born sinners and lawbreakers. Jesus died to bring us out from the condemnation of the Law. Salvation is not by obeying the Law but by faith in the Gospel. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:3, 4). Praise the Lord!

*The Law was given to restrain sin. Governments have the power to arrest and punish lawbreakers. The prison may not change their hearts, but they are restrained from committing more crimes “For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Rom 13:4). Thank God!

*The Law leads us to Christ! This is the greatest work the Law does. The Law did not come with mercy or grace to help us obey it. The Law is a harsh Master, a disciplinarian Teacher or Tutor. It humbles us. It kills our pride and boasting. As we try to obey this Teacher, slowly, we are led to Christ, our Savior. “For Christ is the end of the law [it leads to Him and its purpose is fulfilled in Him], for [granting] righteousness to everyone who believes [in Him as Savior]” (Rom 10:4; AMP). “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Gal 3:19-25). “The Law leads to the Gospel and the Gospel leads us to Christ” (Charles Wesley).

God’s Law is like a mirror. It shows your stains but cannot wash them. It only makes you sad because you now know that you are unclean. As you pray for something to wash your face, God directs you to a basin filled with Blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins. The Blood of Jesus is the only ‘soap’ that can wash your stains and cleans your conscience. Glory to God! “Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?” (E. A. Hoffman)

LAW AND GRACE

In the Bible, we discover the greatest separation: It is between Law and Grace. You see it clearly in the story of the adulterous woman who was to be killed according to the Law but was saved by Jesus, by His Grace (John 8:1-12). The Law says adultery is a sin. It also says that anyone who commits adultery should be killed (Ex 20:14; Lev 20:10). By God’s Law, the woman is to be stoned to death. This is what the Pharisees wanted to do. They are filled with religious pride, anger, and envy against Jesus. They came to test Jesus. Silently, Jesus writes something on the ground. Nobody knows what He writes. He is the Judge who takes His time. Nobody can proceed to do anything in His Court until He speaks. None speaks. None moves. His silence is His authority. The courtroom is quiet as a graveyard. His very presence stops all evil men from killing. Then He stands and says: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (Jn 8:7). The Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus. Now they are trapped by God’s Law. They are criminals at heart. They thought that they were the judges. Now, the true Judge and Lord of all men, both the living and dead, declares His judgment. The Word pierces them and paralyzes them. One by one, the older ones first dropped the stones, and went away. The devil, the accuser of the brethren, has lost this case. Jesus then commands the woman to stop sinning and go free. Grace does not condemn but Grace does not condone sin. It is a great sin to take Grace for granted!

Lesson: It is not enough to know the Law. To please God, you must obey it. But no natural man can obey God’s Law. Sin in the flesh has weakened the will. That is why you see doctors who know that alcohol leads to liver failure, they still drink it. You see lawyers taken to court for breaking the law. That is why financial gurus end up bankrupt, breaking the very laws of prosperity they teach others. You see pastors who preach against sin, and they are caught practicing the same sin. God’s Law is good, but it frustrates the sinner until he surrenders to Christ, who alone can save his soul. The Law says to the man who fell into the gutter: ‘you have fallen’. The Law has no hand to stretch to offer help. But the Gospel always goes inside the gutter to help the fallen man out of it. Grace is available only to the humble man who repents of his sins. Grace gives sinners the power to ‘go and sin no more’. Grace speaks because Blood was shed on the Cross. Praise the Lord!

The Book Pilgrim Proogress written by John Bunyan is the second-best seller after Bible in the whole world. In it you see a man called Christian who travels from the city of destruction to the heavenly Zion. There is a place where Christian goes to the house of the Interpreter. In that house there was a room full of dust. A man is trying to sweep the dust, but the room becomes worse. This dust is the original sin. The more you want to deal with it, the worse it becomes. The broom he uses to sweep is the Law. As he sweeps, the settled dust on the floor rises to fill the whole room. Lesson: you can’t kill sin with the Law. Then a lady comes to sprinkle water. The dust settles back to the floor. It is now wet with the sweet water of God’s grace. Now, the dirt of sin is easily swept away by the broom law. Praise the Lord!

“For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love” (Gal 5:6; AMP). Faith seeks to do God’s will, to obey His Word. Love tells faith what God’s will is. Love gives faith the fuel it needs to trust God for answers to prayers. Love gives faith the power to pray and receive the answers. Because Love never fails, faith will always win.    

KING GRACE BECAME POOR SO THAT LOVE WILL MAKES YOU RICH

This is God’s eternal Word: “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it” (PV 10:22). The word ‘rich’ means godly success and true prosperity.

“But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also. 8 I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:7-9).

Apostle Paul encourages the believers to give generously to God’s work and to help the needy. He does not command them. He encourages them. He tells them that they should be leaders and examples in spiritual things (faith, knowledge of the Bible, diligence, and love). They should also lead in the practical grace of giving to the needy. That generosity is a fruit of love. The Apostle says that it is right to compare our diligence and faithfulness to that of others. All true mature believers are generous with their resources. The greatest model of giving is God the Father and God the Son. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16). “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32). Love gives! Hatred is stingy! Selah!

See what Jesus had to ‘lose’ to give us salvation and many other blessings. Jesus came down from heaven. Earth was not His real home. Heaven is! The plan of salvation included humiliation. Jesus became a Man on earth. He had no house of His own. Jesus said: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Lk 9:58). Most of the time He borrowed from people. He borrowed food, clothing, a coin to give an illustration, a donkey to enter Jerusalem, and finally a tomb to be buried. He had friends who were rich, and they hosted Him sometimes. But He Himself had nothing at all. To save sinners like you and me, Jesus gave up everything. He was crucified naked. He voluntarily gave up His life and all that He had as a Man. He not only became a Man, He became a poor Man. He knows how it feels to lose it all. Why? For the glory of God, for a greater purpose than just having treasures on earth. We are commanded to be like Him. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:5-11).

DESTROYING THE STRONGHOLD OF POVERTY MENTALITY

The subject of material prosperity and poverty is something that interests everybody. This time I am speaking only to believers! As children of God, we must have the mind of Christ. We must view everything thru the eyes of Christ, as it is revealed in the Word of God. We must be careful; there is a danger concerning the doctrine of material prosperity. We must avoid and reject the worldly way of preaching prosperity. We must also avoid and reject the preaching of poverty as it is done in some cults. We do not love or hate money! We love God and hate the devil! The Holy Spirit shall lead us safely into the whole truth. “We need You, Holy Spirit!” 

There are more ‘poor people’ in this world than the ones called ‘wealthy’. But poverty is relative. A hut in your village may be a palace in my village. Let me be more practical… There is something called ‘poverty mentality’. It is a spiritual evil stronghold in your mind. If you are ignorant about it, it will stay there in you for a lifetime. It will affect your thinking in general and your ability to make money in particular. It may have been planted in your youth. It is the devil’s seed. As a child of God, you need to discover this evil plantation, uproot it, and destroy it. The Word of God has greater authority than any idea, imagination, or theory in your mind! This stronghold affects the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate. It is a spiritual structure that forms a hindrance in your mind when you want to think about material prosperity in life.

These are some of the characteristics of poverty mentality type of stronghold in the mind:

*You think that money should be kept in ‘fix deposit’; you hate spending money; you feel bad and guilty after spending money.

*You think that the opportunities to make money are limited. You complain that there are no jobs or businesses in Nigeria.

*You think that taking the risk to start a business is too dangerous and that material success is temporary.

*You are afraid to be a leader. When it comes to finances you choose to follow than to lead others to a greater level of prosperity.

*You fear that you’ll never be able to save enough money to feel comfortable in life.

*You love receiving gifts and ‘free money’ from others.

*You daydream about being rich ‘one day’, like winning the lottery or that one day ‘you hammer’ (as we say in Nigeria).

*Your mind set concerning prosperity: you are a consumer and not a creator!

*You have an inferiority complex (feeling apologetic, anxious, or guilty) when it comes to your finances. You always says: “I no get money’.

*You see the world through the lenses of the poor people who hate the rich! You are silently jealous of others who have more money than you.

*You see wealth as a mysterious stranger who is mocking you from afar! For you, to stay poor, is easier than making money!

“A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest… then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber” (PV 6:10, 11). In the Bible, Poverty is described as an armed robber that attacks you in the night, when you sleep! Do you love sleep? Be careful! Sleep is a good servant but a bad, selfish master. Do not take sleeping pills! Too much sleep is a sign of sickness, depression or laziness and it will end in poverty. Do you fear armed men coming to attack you at night? The attack of poverty is worse than an EK47. Poverty is a spiritual bandit. It attacks when you sleep, when you relax too much, when you are not watchful and prayerful (ask Samson, he will tell you…). Once poverty pounces on you, it will chain your feet and your hands, blind your eyes, and confuse your mind. It will make you it’s prisoner, it’s servant. It will carry you to its smelly dungeon and steal all your dreams. It will kill the wonder of worship. It will destroy the romance of marriage. You will not be able to move on in life, to make any progress. Your hands will be too weak to do any work. You become easily tired, bored, or restless. You will be blind to opportunities to invest and make money. You become foolish, fearful, and confused when it comes to financial decisions. May God forbid! I pray for you…

Just before the Cross, He remembers the time when He was ‘rich’ in heaven. All glory was His! He owned everything! We can see with the eyes of the Spirit. Jesus is God. He was God in heaven. All angels worshipped Him. He was the richest Person in the universe. He reminds God the Father about the glory He had before He came down to earth. He said: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (Jn 17:5). This prayer from Son to Father is a great mystery.

Question: Why did Jesus give up all things? Answer: to make us rich! Have you considered how rich you are? “Count your blessings, name them one by one. It will surprise you what the Lord has done!” Let us count some of the glorious riches you have in Christ Jesus: eternal salvation, peace of mind, joy in your soul, divine health, the privilege of prayer, the power to live a godly life, forgiveness of sins, the opportunity to belong to a local church and serve God there, no more doubts, fears, and bondages; freedom to fulfill destiny; blessings to your family and business, and so many others. How rich has Jesus made us! We have a treasure in heaven that no thief can touch. On earth, we are blessed to be His servants. This poverty mentality is a curse from the devil. But having all these blessings, reminds us to be responsible before God and man. We must love God! We must be generous and willing to bless others. May the grace of giving be our portion! God will reward us! Worship the Lord!