Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20100919.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part II: God's Forming Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38
K. God's Directive Of The Tabernacle To Fellowship With His People
16: God's Focusing Israel's Testimony Before The World On His Grace
(Exodus 31:12-18)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    September 11, 2010, the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America, turned into far more than a memorial for those who died then: it became a flash point for a heated worldwide debate on whether a mosque should be built a few blocks from Ground Zero where nearly 2,800 people were murdered in the name of Islam:

    (1) On the one hand, many expressed outrage that a Muslim house of worship would be built so close to the scene of the atrocity at a seeming disregard for the feelings of the victims' families. A Florida pastor threatened to burn the Qur'an if the mosque was not moved. Yahoo News on September 11, 2010 reported of a demonstration that day by conservative Christians near the White House: Randall Terry, a leader in the anti-abortionist movement and Andrew Beacham with others opposed what they said was "the charade that Islam is a peaceful religion'"! Beacham "read out a few Koran passages calling for hatred towards Christians and Jews, and then ripped those pages from an English paperback edition of the Islamic holy book."

    (2) On the other hand, thousands of demonstrators in New York City defended the right of all Americans, including Muslim Americans, to build a house of worship on their own property. Many denounced the Florida pastor's threat, and hundreds of Muslims oversees heatedly demonstrated against his announced plan to desecrate the Qur'an.

    (3) This matter that has affected not only the world and our nation, but also us Christians at the local level:

    (a) At our Church Men's Retreat on September 10, 2010, one of the men privately cornered me to get my feeling "over the mosque-near-Ground-Zero issue".

    I was moved by this event in view of the fact that this man had recently served as a member of our armed forces in an Islamic country!

    (b) Recently, on one of my "days off", my wife and I were called to an emergency meeting by a believer who was very upset over a hurtful division that had occurred in her extended family over this same mosque issue!

    The passage we are set to study today, Exodus 31:12-18, has direct application to this subject. So, as we always do to prepare for the study by asking a question, today we ask: "In view of the deep divisions over the mosque near Ground Zero issue, how does God want us to respond, and why?!"

    Need: "What should we do about the mosque near Ground Zero?!"

  1. Israel as a priority was to testify God's grace to a world oppressed with its despotic gods and religious error, Exodus 31:12-18:
    1. Exodus 31:12-18 on the Sabbath REST observance contrasts with the long Exodus 25:1-31:11 section on the WORK to build the tabernacle!
    2. In the historical context, this contrast showed God required Israel to uphold His grace as a priority before the oppressed pagan world:
      1. Pagan Mesopotamians held they were made by the gods to do their slave labor, Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 65.
      2. Also, the 7th day "was a day of bad luck," so each 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th day and the 19th that came 7 weeks after the start of the past month were seen as "unlucky'" when one afflicted himself, avoided pleasures and did not do important work lest it fail, Ibid.
      3. In contrast, Israel's Benevolent Creator God who gave man rule of the earth at creation, had Israel rest the 7th day for refreshment in recollection of that creation and His goodness (Ex. 31:17; 23:12), testifying that God was GRACIOUS opposite the oppressive gods and beliefs of ANCIENT PAGANISM! (Ibid., p. 64-65)
      4. Thus, in building the tabernacle, Israel was not to violate the Sabbath, for her testimony of God's GRACE in this observance took precedence over even her constructing God's tabernacle!
  2. We, too, as a priority must testify God's grace to an oppressed world:
    1. We must testify of God's grace to those in oppressive Islam:
      1. "Islam'" means "submission'"; a Muslim, as in ancient paganism, is in "slave submission to Allah . . . Man's duty is to submit, but without being sure of the result . . ." (an Arab Christian's report)
      2. In addition, Islam's holy book, "the Qur'an lacks the biblical concept of a son's relationship to God as Father." (Ibid.)
      3. Yet, opposite such oppression, we must testify that God so loved the world, He sent His Son to die for its sin, that by faith in Him, any who trust in Him will be saved, John 3:16; Rom ans 3:23-26.
      4. We must testify that Romans 8:15 with Ephesians 2:8-9 hold that God does not give a spirit of bondage to fear as in Islam or ancient paganism, but the Holy Spirit to call our dear God "Abba, Father."
    2. We must testify of God's grace to those in oppressive Judaism:
      1. In Jesus' day, legalistic Judaism had turned the Sabbath into a day of servitude to rules much as in ancient paganism, Mark 2:27.
      2. Instead of promoting salvation by grace, Jesus claimed legalistic Judaism was keeping people from being saved, Matthew 23:15.
      3. However, opposite such oppression, we must testify that Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 3:28 claim salvation is by faith without the Law.
    3. We must testify of God's grace to those in oppressive Catholicism:
      1. Due to his Church's views on penance and indulgences, the Roman Catholic, though baptized and confirmed, like ancient pagan man or the Muslim, is never sure of salvation from a loving God, but is put under a curse by the Council of Trent if he even claims he as such assurance, Loraine Boettner, Rom. Catholicism, 1978, p. 267.
      2. However, opposite such oppression, we must testify that John 3:16 with 1 John 5:13 teach one can know he has eternal life by a loving God's grace through his personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
    4. We must testify of God's grace to those in other oppressive religions like Mormonism, the Watchtower Society , Buddhism and Hinduism. We must testify that John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:15, John 5:24 and 1 John 5:13 show anyone may gain eternally secure sonship with a personal, Benevolent God by grace through faith in Jesus.
    5. We must testify of God's grace to oppressive fellow Christians:
      1. Like the Pharisees of old, some fellow Christians do oppressive acts like burning the Qur'an in protest that only serve to harden the world against trusting in Christ for salvation, cf. Matthew 23:15; Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 74.
      2. In contrast, we must share that Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 5:16; 2:20 and 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 teach we are to live a loving, meek life of financial independence by relying on the Holy Spirit to earn the respect of the world toward opening doors to shar e the Gospel.
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to be saved by God's grace, John 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9. (2) May we live by God's grace, relying on the Holy Spirit to live righteously (Gal. 5:16-23), (3) and testifying of this unmerited favor unto all. (4) Applied to the mosque near Ground Zero issue, may we testify of the need to rely on God's grace to be saved and live in kindness to all by the Spirit's power above the oppressive strife seen in the mosque issue, 1 Cor. 3:3!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 The testimony of Daniel Shayesteh, Ph. D. in "Escape From Darkness," p. 44-47 in the January-March, 2007 issue of Answers In Genesis' magazine, Answers strikingly illustrates this sermon.

Daniel was initially heavily involved in the Iranian Islamic fundamentalist revolution that brought the Ayatolla Khomeini to power. He had then been dedicated "to exterminating all Jews, Christians and other infidels'" outside his extremist brand of Islam. He had committed to memory the entire Qur'an, all of its 114 chapters by the age of nine, and taught terrorist techniques to young Islamic extremists as part of his military training, Ibid., p. 44-45.

However, upon visiting Turkey and there coming across a Bible and an evangelical church that treated him with great kindness, Daniel learned that the God of the Bible is "a personal God and you can have a relationship with Him here in this life on earth. All other religions and philosophies have left that for the afterlife. It was amazing, and I gave my heart to Jesus. It was a radical decision, and it required a radical change." (Ibid., p. 45)

In speaking now about Islam and Christianity, Daniel Shayesteh says: "The Qur'an itself says that . . . Mohammed (A D 570-632) was a sinner. Mohammed did not know whether he would go to Heaven or to Hell (Q.46:9). But even the Qur'an says that Jesus was perfect and holy and that He is living in heaven (19:16-33). Many Muslims have come to the Lord Jesus, and this is one of the reasons. Why should they follow a dead sinner when they can have a relationship with the living Son of God who was perfect and now lives in Heaven!"

Daniel's testimony gives practical evidence of the need for an emphasis on God's grace to solve the oppressive divisions over the sensitive, volatile Ground Zero mosque issue: (1) Turkish Christians graciously interacted with this Iranian terrorist leader when he was in their country, and (2) they taught him of God's grace in Christ whereby he could know God personally on the earth unlike the failure of his Islamic faith to offer such a relationship. (3) That led this trainer of Islamic terrorists and revolutionary leader under the Ayatollah Khomeini to leave his past hostile way of life and trust in Jesus as his Savior from sin and become our fellow spiritual brother in Christ.

May we then LIVE and PROCLAIM the GRACE of God in Christ to a world in great need of this healing truth.