Author: Yskander Arquimides Saucedo

Isaiah 46:8-11 Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. 

In verse eight, Isaiah addresses either the Babylonians or the Jews to remember the law of God and stand firm against Idolatry. Our generation may not realize how deep the issue of Idolatry was in the days of Isaiah. Remember that Israel was the only nation or people to whom God had revealed Himself. The rest of the nations were in darkness and void, without knowing the one true God. They were subject to demonic doctrine and worshipping false idols. The people of God were surrounded by idol worship from all four corners. Can you imagine the pressure and temptation they were under to compromise true worship and the law of God? In our generation and country, we are blessed. We are blessed with the light of the Gospel. We are not necessarily tempted by worshipping false Gods. But we are tempted to compromise our worship and obedience to God in various ways. Are we not? It may not be idol worship, but the enemy is crafty and knows how to attack every one of us with one goal: “ultimate destruction.” Listen, whatever the issues are in our lives that cause us to compromise, consider those our idols.

In verse nine, God tells them to remember the former things of old. I am God. There is no other or one like me, I am God. With great fervor, God is telling us not to forget Him, I am God and I am still here. Remember everything you know about me. Remember everything I’ve done in your life. Remember what you were and the Egypt of sin I have delivered you from in this life and through the righteousness and sacrifice of my Son Jesus the Christ. Come to your senses and repent, I am God! Says the LORD.

In verse ten God is the one who declares the end from the beginning. God declared the end of the ceremonial law from its very beginning because God has a plan. God declared the end of all prophecies regarding the Son of God from the beginning and saw to its completion because God has a plan. God declares from ancient times all the things not yet done. From the time of Isaiah’s writing, the incarnation of Christ had not been fulfilled. Christ’s obedience, suffering, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension had not yet happened. The sending of the Holy Spirit, the spreading of the Gospel throughout the earth, the destruction of the temple in AD 70, Christ’s millennial reign with the saints, and the resurrection on judgment day. All declared from ancient times things not yet accomplished but have come to pass and will come to pass because the counsel of God will stand, and He will do all His pleasure according to all His decrees. God has a plan. And God has a plan for all of our individual lives. God has declared in your life the ends from the beginning. Reflect on your lives and notice the work of God’s master plan.

Some may say, well, in God’s plan, what about all my sufferings and evil in the world?

Isaiah 13:11 says I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

Some may say, but is God really in control even of the suffering and evil in my life?

Isaiah 45:7 says I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. 

Isaiah 45:7 KJV I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Some will say, “I thought God was not the author of evil.” He is not. The theologian John Gill wrote, “evil” is also from him; not the evil of sin; this is not to be found among the creatures God made; this is of men, though suffered by the Lord, and overruled by him for good: but the evil of punishment for sin, God’s sore judgments, famine, pestilence, evil beasts, and the sword, or war, which latter may more especially be intended, as it is opposed to peace; this usually is the effect of sin; may be sometimes lawfully engaged in; whether on a good or bad foundation is permitted by God; moreover, all afflictions, adversities, and calamities, come under this name, and are of God.” In other words, God did not create His creatures with an evil disposition. We are not naturally evil as a result of His creation. But we are born with the natural inclination to disobey God’s moral standards. As a result of our preference to disobey God, which is the definition of sin, sin is to disobey God’s commandments. As a consequence of disobedience, the result is evil. Evil in itself does not exist as some ontological substance somewhere that God created. The evil we see and experience is the consequential happenings and events of our sin, our disobedience. So, who is the author of evil? We are. When Isaiah says God creates evil, The ESV uses the word calamity, but I think the KJV is more accurate in using the word evil. God is not the author of evil in the sense that He created it because, again, evil is not a substance to be created. Evil is the consequential happenings and events manifested as secondary effects of our disobedience. God does not tempt anyone with evil or sin. Remember that the occurrences we consider evil are the natural consequences of sin. God creates evil in the sense that He uses the natural consequences of sin in this world to punish sin and sinners.  

Some may say that is not fair. God has so much power and control; why must I suffer so much? One valid reason is that we are all sinners. Secondly, I am not anyone worthy of attempting to justify why God does what He does. I am nothing, and my sins are deep. My filthy body, which is in conflict with my Spirit, naturally feeds off the lusts of the world and is dirtier than the dirt it was created from. And none of us are in a position to judge God for His actions.

I do not mean to sound dismissive or insensitive about your sufferings. But while I’m up here preaching Jesus Christ and Christ crucified, my focus is on Christ. So what about the sufferings of Christ for your eternal security in paradise. It was God who predetermined His sufferings and the evil He endured. Jesus surrendered to the Father’s will and subjected Himself to the same earthly sufferings those around Him endured, and much more did our Savior endure. All for the sake of God’s elect and His sovereign plan. God has a plan.

Loraine Boettner, a twentieth-century American theologian, wrote, “It is unthinkable that a God of infinite wisdom and power would create a world without a definite plan for the world. And because God is thus infinite, His plan must extend to every detail of the world’s existence. If we could see the world in all its relations, past, present, and future, we would see that it is following a predetermined course with exact precision.”

God has a plan. Let us look at God’s sovereign plan for the birth of Jesus Christ. 

Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

The ruler prophesied in Micah 5:2 is Jesus the Christ. When King Herod heard of the birth of Jesus in Matthew 2:6, he assembled his chiefs to acquire the location of this new King. They read to the King Micah 5:2. In John 6:35, Jesus refers to Himself as the bread of life. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. The word Bethlehem is two words in the Hebrew. The first word is Beit, which means house. The second word, Lechem, means bread. Together, Bethlehem means House of Bread. I do not believe in accidents, chance, or coincidences. I believe in God’s sovereignty and providence. It is by God’s providence that Jesus, the bread of life, would be born in the House of Bread. Why? Because God has a plan.

Let’s look at one more prophecy.

Luke 2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 

Jesus was born under the rule of Caesar Augustus, the second emperor of Rome. Rome, at the time, was at the pinnacle of its dominion. When we read that Caesar made a decree for the entire world to present itself for taxation, the whole world meant the entire Roman Empire, which was, at that time, all of the known world. Significantly, the timing of Caesar’s decree was undoubtedly by way of God’s providence. All of Judea was subject to Rome. Due to the emperor’s decree, Mary and Joseph were compelled to travel to Bethlehem. All the characters, from Caesar to Mary, had no idea they were fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy written in

Daniel 2:40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.

There are four empires Daniel writes about. Babylone, Persia, Greece, and Rome. During the fourth empire during the reign of Rome, God established a kingdom that would never be destroyed or given to other people. Some say the kingdom of God on earth began at the birth of Jesus, while others say it began at Christ’s ascension into Heaven. In either case, His miraculous works, preaching of the Gospel, and as King of Kings, He commissions His people to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit all indicate that the kingdom of God was and is on earth. I am under the theological persuasion that Christ is currently reigning from His throne at the Father’s right hand until all His enemies are made His footstool on earth. As His saints, we are presently reigning on earth with Christ as we advance His Kingdom on earth through the successful preaching of the Gospel worldwide. In eschatology, this theological view is known as postmillennialism and, arguably, optimistic amillennialism. These views are nothing new. The Late seventeenth-century bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote, “The gospel-church is a kingdom, which Christ is the sole and sovereign monarch of, in which he rules by his word and Spirit, to which he gives protection and law, and from which he receives homage and tribute. It is a kingdom not of this world, and yet set up in it; it is the kingdom of God among men.” This Kingdom of God, which is presently reigning on earth as it is in Heaven, is a victorious Kingdom. God has a plan, and God does not plan to lose. Before the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the entire world was bound by the Devil’s deceit. Since the victory of Christ on the cross, the Devil has been bound and suppressed so that the Gospel of Christ can successfully make disciples of all nations. God has a plan. Do you think Jesus Christ commissioned His Apostles to baptize and make disciples of nations, not individuals here and there, but all nations, as a trial to see how many would convert? No, Jesus set the commission because the Father has a victorious plan and is successful in His endeavor to disciple nations. And the job is not finished yet.

Christ said pray this way; thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Is there any question of the effectiveness of God’s will accomplished in Heaven? Then why do we look at the world as if there is no hope and fall into anxiety and despair? Why do we look at the news and stress? It does not matter how bad it seems on the news. I am not saying do not consider the information and neglect emergency preparedness for your household. It has seemed pretty bad since Adam disobeyed God in the garden. Do you not trust the sovereign God of all creation. Some may say, are you blind? Do you not see how evil and degenerate the world has become? Surely, the world today is worse than it was in the days of Adam. No! Such reasoning only reveals the ignorance and faith in the power of the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of souls, the regeneration of the spirit, and the disciplining of nations. In the days of Adam, there was no Gospel. In the days of Seth, Noah, Abraham, King David, and the prophets, the world was without form, void, and darkness because the light of the Gospel was not established until God said, let there be light! And the Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and we, as messengers of His Gospel, are His candle sticks. The Gospel of Jesus Christ suppresses evil. So, I do not care about the evil narratives and predictions that are wrong repeatedly on the news because I know the power of the Gospel, its victorious promise, and its effectiveness. The world is better today than in the Old Testament because we now have the Gospel. Is that not enough faith for you? Look at the scriptures and realize how optimistic and encouraging they are. Enough about my philosophy; let’s see if the scriptures align with my message.

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 

Our faith in Jesus Christ, our belief in Jesus Christ, and His Gospel is how we’ve overcome the world in Christ. Tribulation and death we have overcome because of our faith in Christ. If God is for us, who can be against us? Nothing and no one. The Gospel will be victorious. God has a plan.

Deuteronomy 20:4 For the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.

Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle (our God is a God of war. I hope you realize that), but the victory belongs to the LORD. 

Hebrews 4:12 Listen to the power of the Gospel. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Ephesians 2:10 Listen to God’s prepared plan for our lives in Christ. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Do you see God’s plan? How do you see it? Defeated, reduced, compromised, suppressed, pessimistic. To me, it looks triumphant, increased, protected, and preserved, globally proclaimed, optimistic, and victorious. Let us look at a few more verses relating to His reign and dominion.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 

In verse 26, has death been destroyed? No, people are still dying. In the end, once Jesus has destroyed death, there is a literal end to death. What is Jesus doing in verse 25 until death is destroyed? He is reigning until all His enemies are under His feet. And where is He reigning from? He is reigning from Heaven. Are there enemies in Heaven that He puts under His feet? No, so we can understand that the enemies He defeats are the Devil, his angels, wicked people, and hell. There is another element of enemies Christ must defeat and put under His feet. Can you guess who those enemies are?  

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 

Not only were we enemies of God, but our mind was hostile toward God and His law.

Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 

The last message I taught was the Supremacy and Sovereignty of the Will of God, and part of its focus was on the lack of free will and expounded on the will’s bondage to sin. Just in case there are any “free willers” remaining in here, read Romans 8:7 one more time. It says the mind of God is hostile, and it cannot submit to the law of God. The word “cannot” conveys a natural inability to submit to God’s law. We do not possess the freedom of will to do so. It is entirely by God’s grace and mercy that we, while enemies of God, were justified by the blood of Christ and saved from the wrath of God. Not by our own plan but by the plan of God that while we were His enemies, the Son of God, while reigning from His throne in Heaven, was fighting powers and principalities by the preaching of the Gospel and drawing you to Himself until He conquered your hostile mind and placed it under His feet. Do you understand what it took for the Lord to conquer the enemy of God we used to be? And so our Lord is defeating His enemies for the sake of justice, and defeating His enemies for the sake of drawing His elect to Himself and reconciling them to God the Father.

God has a plan. The plan of God is eternal.

Psalms 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 

In other words, before any of my days existed, you had them written in a book since before my physical formation.

The plan of God is unchangeable.

Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.

Consider all you have gone through in life. Consider all you are going through now and all the things you have not done yet. Do you believe God has a plan? Do you trust God’s plan? Then why are we anxious? Why do we worry? What did Jesus say?

Luke 12:24-25 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?

One final issue I’d like to bring up is another form of suffering we must trust God with because God has a plan. That is the suffering of sin and temptation in our lives. Firstly, we must continually pray that we do not fall into temptation.

Luke 22:46 Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

Do not ever think you cannot fall into temptation. Humble yourselves because you can fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 

But in the case that we as Christians fall into temptation. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13 because it should bring you hope.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. 

All temptations are common to us all. And all though we are not faithful to God in obedience. God is faithful to us in His promise. If He saved you, He has loved you with an eternal love that nothing can change. God’s love for your will not change. Our love for God, that is questionable. If you belong to God, you are under His grace, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability to overcome. It may not seem like it at the time. But God’s got you. It doesn’t mean God won’t let you fall into sin and temptation. He doesn’t tempt us with sin, but we tempt ourselves as we battle with the lust our physical bodies demand from us. God is faithful in providing an escape that we may be able to endure. But until that escape comes, we must endure it. Endure what exactly? Whatever sinful conundrum we get ourselves into. The duration of sin you may have gotten into might be long and agonizing as you deal with guilt, remorse, and repentance. But don’t give up on God because He is faithful. God has a plan. If you genuinely seek repentance and remorse over your sin, there is hope for your escape. God will forgive. There is hope for your victory.

Finally, I leave you with

Revelation 21:7-8 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

There are some who may say that the Ten Commandments are not relevant to Christians today. That the Ten Commandments do not apply to us who believe in Christ because we are under a new and better covenant. We are indeed under a new and better covenant, but that does not mean the Ten Commandments are past regulations from God and not necessary for the everyday Christian life. On the contrary, it is essential for the Christian life and the entire world to be subject to God’s moral law. Tell me, at any time, should any individual worship a false god? Should an individual take God’s name in vain? Christians, should we have no reverence for the sabbath day? Children, should you disrespect and dishonor your parents in any way? Should we allow ourselves to let our carnal emotions and passions overwhelm our reason to the point of murder, lust, thievery, lying and giving false information, and maliciously desiring the property and spouses of other individuals? Who in their right mind would answer yes to these questions? Some may say the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross. We are no longer subject to them because we live under the dispensation of grace. This line of reasoning is sometimes deduced from verses like

Colossians 2:13-14. You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.

These passages present great news to us. This is gospel. Indeed, we are living in a new and better covenant. However, it is not because we are not subject to obey the Ten Commandments, but that we are free from its “legal demands.” In a literal sense, we were spiritually dead and disinclined from believing in God, but God made us alive in Him. God forgave us our sins. God canceled the record of debt that held us accountable to God’s law as our justification for salvation. God nailed our sins to the cross, and we are free from the law; praise God almighty, Son and Holy Ghost!

Let me make something very clear. We are not free from observing and obeying the Ten Commandments in any way. We are free from the curse of the law that brought condemnation to us for our inability to obey it completely.

Galatians 3:23-24 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Listen, our obedience to the Ten Commandments is not to gain salvation in any way. We obey the Ten Commandments because of our faith in Jesus Christ. Our belief in Christ through faith is what justifies us. In other words, we are not justified to enter the kingdom of God based on our faith in the law; we are justified to enter the kingdom of God based on our faith in Christ.

And what did our Lord say about the law or Ten Commandments?

Matthew 5:17-19 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Regarding these passages, 19^th-century English Baptist Pastor Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preacher, writes, “Our King has not come to abrogate the law, but to confirm and reassert it. His commands are eternal, and if any of the teachers of it should through error, break his law and teach that its least command is nullified, they will lose rank and subside into the lowest place. The peerage of His kingdom is ordered according to obedience. Not birth, knowledge, or success will make a man great, but humble and precise obedience, both in word and deed.” Does that sound like the Ten Commandments are canceled out in any way?

Furthermore, I would like to emphasize Christ’s fulfillment of the law. Jesus said in verse 17, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Jesus fulfilled the prophets by fulfilling the prophecies mentioned about Himself throughout the Old Testament. Jesus fulfilled the law by living an entire life of obedience to God’s law without flaw. Our LORD is totally righteous. Now, the wages of sin is death. We know that from Romans 6;23. Jesus did not sin once, yet he suffered a wage undeservingly on our behalf who sin willingly, so that we may become the righteousness of God. What do we mean we become the righteousness of God? In what way are we sinners the righteousness of God? Certainly, we’re not talking about the essential righteousness of God, or any righteousness found within us since we have none by biblical standards. Consider verse 20 of Matthew 5: For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The Scribes were the most learned people of the law in their time. And the Pharisee was an individual who, by outward appearance, seemed to adhere to the laws of God and represented a sense of holiness. Jesus placing the two groups together as a standard made it a challenging model for them to follow. Furthermore, Jesus said they must exceed the righteousness of the Scribe and Pharisee. Not emulate them by way of at least equality, they must exceed. No one in those days understanding the culture would have been able to accomplish that imperative. No one but Jesus Christ our Lord. Chrit’s righteousness is the only righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees. Having said that, let’s circle back to those who believe in Christ becoming the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

How is that? I think the great 18th-century English Baptist Pastor, biblical scholar, and theologian John Gill, the most significant Baptist theologian if I may say so myself, comments on this subject best as he writes, “Now to be made the righteousness of God, is to be made righteous in the sight of God, by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. Just as Christ is made sin, or a sinner, by the imputation of the sins of others to Himself; so sinners are made righteousness, or righteous persons, through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to them; and in no other way can the one be made sin, or the other righteousness.” Listen, we become the righteousness of God because of our faith in Christ. And as a result of our faith His righteousness is imputed or accredited on our behalf, and as a result of that, God sees us as righteous in His sight. Remember now that the righteousness of Christ exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees. Since we’ve become the righteousness of God by way of our faith in Christ’s righteousness; in a real spiritual and legal sense we are justified and our righteousness now exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, and we will enter the kingdom of heaven! By grace alone, by faith alone, by Christ alone, to the glory of God alone!

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words.

From the beginning, the author of God’s commandments is established. God is the author of His commandments, which capture his moral law. Since man’s existence, we have attempted to discover how we ought to live in this world. Many have sought to learn how we ought to treat each other ethically and morally, and for so long, many have attempted to answer these questions apart from God. And as a consequence, man has made a mockery of God’s standards of morality. What has been made clear and evident is that man has ignored God’s law in favor of a liberal society. Now, I do not mean to conjecture political rhetoric. Still, the only liberalism our country is falling into is a state of liberty from God’s moral law.

Consequently, to liberate yourself from God’s laws is to remain in the natural disposition of the sin you were born in. Failing to believe in the existence of a God who has revealed Himself as a Holy God with a moral character. God has revealed His moral character to us through his Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments are not the ten suggestions. And we are called to live holy as God is holy, obeying His commandments.

Leviticus 19:2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, you shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

Holiness is one of God’s attributes significant from the rest of His attributes. It is the only attribute He calls us to emulate. God did not say be omniscient, for I am omniscient. Certainly, no one is all knowing. He did not say be omnipresent, for I am omnipresent. Certainly, no human can be present everywhere at all times. He did not say be omnipotent, for I am omnipotent. Certainly no human has absolute power without limit. And although it is impossible for any human to perfectly emulate any of God’s attributes, all of His attributes are exclusive to God and His divinity. Yet, the attribute of Holiness is the only one chosen by God for us to follow. This directive of being Holy is critical to the entire world because it sets an absolute moral standard for all who are created in the image of God to live by.

This is a critical fact today as it was when it was given from God to Moses. Tragically, the world and, more relevant to us, our nation ignores and rebels against God’s commandments. Failing to realize the objective nature of their existence. God is a self-existing eternal being. As a result, every one of His thoughts is self-existing and eternal. Without getting too deep into the attribute of God’s omniscience, God’s thoughts are not as our own, where our thoughts are vulnerable to arbitrary and spontaneous decisions. God’s thoughts are eternal and perfect without beginning or end. It logically follows that God’s Ten Commandments are as eternal as His very existence.

Can you imagine what the world may look like if all lived with the perspective of God’s Ten Commandments as the absolute infinite moral standard for all to live by? Can you imagine the true ethical reform of our justice system if it recognized the Ten Commandments as the moral basis of the law? Furthermore, for those of us politically and constitutionally inclined, can you imagine the virtue of our country if the Ten Commandments were legislated as the moral basis of our land? Oh, if only our founding fathers were truly “enlightened” enough to think of establishing not a religion for the land, but simply setting a concrete moral basis for the land in the Constitution as the Ten Commandments. Of course, many would consider this idea as radical. Radical, really? More radical than the legislated morality we are currently subject to? You see, if we are not subject to God’s moral standards, we are subject to the state’s ethical standards. Whatever moral standards you choose to obey is your chosen God. What God will you follow? The God who sent His Son to sacrifice Himself to atone for your sins, the God who condemns murder, adultery, stealing, lying, coveting other people’s property and family members with lust and greed? Or, figuratively speaking, the legislated God of the state who promotes the slaughter of unborn babies. The legislated God of the state who promotes the mutilation of children over gender conflicts and political bias. The legislated God of the state who promotes the indoctrination of children in some public schools not all, to dishonor their parents as they motivate them to keep secrets from their parents. Who’s moral standard would you prefer? Choose today, your God.

Joshua 24:15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

What God’s will we choose over the service of God. How about the idols that make up our sins. Do we choose our lusts and carnal desires over obedience and service to God? Listen to the words of John Wesley, the 18^th-century English theologian, and Evangelist: “But know this, if you should all be so base and brutish, as to prefer senseless and impotent idols, before the true and living God, it is my firm purpose, that I will, and my children, and servants (as far as I can influence them) shall be constant and faithful to the Lord. And that, whatever others do. They that resolve to serve God, must not start at being singular in it. They that are bound for heaven must be willing to swim against the stream, and must do, not as most do, but as the best do.”

Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“I am the LORD your God” serves as the preface and authority to establish His moral laws for His people. Israel belongs to God by right, redemption, and covenant. God has rescued His people from bondage and has the right to enact whatever moral law He chooses, and Israel is obligated to obey them with reverence and pleasure. The same applies to all of God’s people today. Rest assured that God’s people today are not Israel alone, but all who believe in Jesus Christ are the people of God.

Romans 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also.

Romans 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on Him.

As miraculously as God delivered Israel from Egypt and the house of slavery, God has provided a savior to deliver us from Egypt and the house of slavery. Just as the Israelites were born into slavery as babies. We were also born into the bondage of sin as babies.

Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

Just as the Israelites struggled daily with rigorous labor before being delivered to the promised land. We struggle daily with the rigors of a sinful nature, wrestling with our flesh as we try to walk in obedience toward the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  

Who can keep all of God’s commandments? No one but the Son of God who lived a full life of pure obedience to God’s law and the Father’s will. The wages of sin is death. Death is not what the Son of God deserved, but torture, pain, and death are what He suffered on the cross on our behalf. In a real miraculous way, Jesus bore our sins on Himself just as it was written in
Isaiah 53: 4-6 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions: He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way: and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

My friends, if you truly believe those words through faith, you believe the gospel.

Just as the Israelites were encouraged to believe in God by faith in a coming savior to deliver them from Egypt.

We are called to believe in the Gospel of Christ. Blessed are we who believe in faith without the necessity of empirical evidence. We do not need to see miracles or the physical wounds of the LORD to believe in Him. We do not need to depend on our sensory perceptions to believe in the gospel of Christ. But by faith, we are justified to enter the kingdom of God. By your faith, and never forget that even the faith you carry was a gift from God given to you by His grace for you to believe. Without that free gift from God, you would not have believed in the Gospel of Christ. Or were you under the impression that you were somehow the originator of your faith? Have you never read

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Or

Hebrews 12:2 Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

The Apostles were well aware that faith comes from God and not from themselves. That is why the Apostles begged Jesus in

Luke 17:5 LORD, give us more faith. Or Philippians 1:6, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Psalm 138:8 The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

My friends, that is biblical faith. Believing that your faith was given to you from God, and that God began it in you, and will complete the work of faith He began in you. Trust in the LORD your God. If you lack biblical faith, pray for faith from Jesus as the Apostles did. Pray that the LORD never removes the work of His hands from your life. Without God’s gift of faith, we all would have remained in the proverbial land of Egypt in bondage to our sin and serving a master who seeks only to destroy us.

In closing, remember that the sum of the Ten Commandments is obedience to God’s moral law resulting from our love for God.

Deuteronomy 6: 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Do you realize the type of strength and sacrifice required to express such love for God? Certainly, this must be a supernatural love. This is not a love natural to the human being without God’s grace. Otherwise, why is the commandment necessary to love God with such great measure? It serves as our reminder to love God in good times, in hard times, and when the temptations of sin to break one of His commandments are slithering at your feet. It is relatively simple to believe you love God with all your heart, soul, and strength when you’re in church worshipping with Christians. When you’re worshiping God with music at home or in your car on your way to work. By the way, this is a great way to start your morning. When you’re in prayer or giving time to study the Word of God. But once we are face-to-face with the serpent tempting us to disobey God, our measure of love for God suddenly may not seem as simple or robust as we thought. At that moment, you will know, oh you will know, your measure of love for God. Never become overconfident or arrogant to believe you will not fall into sin. Stay on constant guard. Remember 1Coritnthians 10:12. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Hebrews 3:12,13 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart  leading you to fall away from the living God. I am reminded of the two prostitutes of 1 Kings 3:16-28 who bore two babies in the same home. One died, and both women claimed the remaining baby as their own. When King Solomon declared to cut the baby in half and give each portion to the two women, the true mother cried out and said in verse 26, “oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “he shall be neither mine nor yours: divide him.” Look at what sin does in the mind. The false mother was willing to see the baby slaughtered to conceal her sin. Such a slippery slope on the edge of a razor blade we walk when we are in sin. Isn’t that right? My casing point is, that the true mother was so motivated with such an immense love for her baby that she was willing to sacrifice her claim as mother so that her baby may have life. That is the measure of sacrifice and love we need for God when tempted to disobey God’s commandments. Pray that God gives us the faith to surrender all for obedience to His laws. Furthermore, realize that the hand of King Solomon was restrained from cutting that baby down. But nothing, there was nothing to hold back the hand of the one true Sovereign King of Kings from cutting down His only Son for the sins of the world. For God so loved the world, if you believe and love the LORD, then He held nothing back for you. There was no one to plea for the life of Jesus but Jesus Himself as He prayed in Gethsemane in Matthrew 26:36-42 where Jesus said, “my soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” And as He walked a little further, he fell on His face and prayed. “Fell on His face.” Christian have you ever experienced such suffering where you fell on your face and prayed regarding the circumstance? If not, I would never pray that no one experiences such suffering, but instead, I would pray that God gives you the grace and faith to endure it until the end. Jesus then said, “my Father, if it be possible,” if it be possible? Look at the humility of the Son of God. “Let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” He then said in verse 42, “my Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Evidently, the Father said no. Listen, God the Father displayed His wrath for sin on His Son in a display of love, grace, and mercy for us who believe in Jesus Christ. That is amazing grace. There is one more thing that Jesus said between these verses in 40 and 41. He found Peter and the two sons of Zebedee sleeping when Jesus asked them to keep watch. Jesus then said, “watch (Jesus already told them to watch, now he adds to watch and pray) and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The spirit of God has already captured your conscious, but the flesh, our carnal nature, still desires the pleasures of sin. If you think about it, doesn’t it seem just a little random, that Jesus, while in the context of praying for an alternative method of atoning for the sins of the world and nearing His betrayal, Jesus said to watch and pray that you don’t fall into temptation. Christian! Do not fall asleep on your sins. Stay vigilant and look for the signs of temptations around you. Stay in constant prayer regarding obedience to God’s laws just as Jesus told them. I don’t know your sins. I don’t know what your walk with the LORD is currently like. But if you know you are not living according to God’s laws. If you know what you need to do to correct it. If you know what you need to repent from. Then repent now while you have air in your lungs and the grace of God is available for you. Repent now for tomorrow is not promised to anyone. Let Luke 12:20 resonate through your mind, “But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you. Repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ, and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Something that resonates in my mind over and over again are the words of the great 17^th-century  Puritan Thomas Watson, “a cup of pleasure, is not worth a sea of wrath.”

MATTHEW 4:4 It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Interestingly, providence has it that Luke wrote about the temptations of Christ in the same chapter as Matthew chapter four. Not only the same chapter but the response from Jesus in verse four of Matthew is also mentioned by Luke in the same chapter and verse, Luke 4:4. The difference is that in Luke, there is one clause in the sentence instead of two. Both Matthew and Luke declare that man shall not live by bread alone. Man shall not live by bread alone serves as a proverb implying that the biological body not only necessitates bread but furthermore needs a spiritual element that only God can provide spiritually through every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus references Deuteronomy 8:3, where God humbled His people to hunger and fed them with manna for forty years, testing their obedience toward the commandments of God. Just as God provided physical bread for His people to subsist, God also provides spiritual bread for nourishing the spirit, found only in God’s word. Indeed, we are reminded and humbled that Jesus is the bread of life, and the manna in the desert we can consider as analogous to Jesus as the provision of God for our eternal bread and redemption, which subsists our spirit for eternity. Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life necessary for our spiritual growth in the gospel, regeneration of the spirit, repentance, baptism, sound doctrine, faith, and ultimately salvation.

Jesus illustrates Himself as bread being broken in Luke 22:19 as He gives thanks for the bread and breaks it, and distributes it with His disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” The Apostle Paul further elaborates in 1 Corinthians 11:24, which the KJV reads, “this is my body, which is broken for you,” alluding to the suffering, pain, and sacrifice of Jesus for all who believe in Christ. John Gill (1697-1771) comments from the Ethiopic version of the bible that His body was broken “for the redemption of many,” which echoes that our Lord was preparing for a definite atonement and not merely a sacrifice with the hopes of saving many, but with the assurance that many will be saved.

Concerning the temptation of Christ, we observe a determining moment in redemptive history. Satan tempted Adam and was victorious and now tempts the second Adam, which is Christ. If Jesus had fallen to the temptations, redemption would have been lost. The temptations from Satan to Jesus were of a significant nature. Temptation against the natural man born in sin is of a common nature shared universally. Satan did not tempt Jesus with momentary pleasures which entice most men and women. Satan did not tell Jesus as he told Eve, “Did God actually say?” It is not a commandment of God Satan is attempting to cause doubt, but instead, he is pressuring Jesus to doubt his divine deity as the Son of God. Satan begins his dialogue with a dependent clause, “if you are the Son of God.” In this circumstance, the enemy uses it to set up a command and temptation to Jesus. The temptation is against the deity of Christ. Satan tells Jesus to command that He turn the stones into bread. It would have been catastrophic for Jesus to follow any suggestion from the Devil.

By this time, Jesus had not performed any miracles or used His diving power in any way. Undoubtedly, Jesus was hungry being fasted for forty days. For Jesus to use His divine attributes to feed Himself would be comparable to behaving in a self-centered, selfish, and according to Jesus’ own will, instead of being subject to the will of His Father in heaven. In other words, to use His divine power apart from the Father’s will would have been an act of disobedience to the Father, which is equivalent to sin. It is not that Jesus was without power in his human nature. Jesus said in Matthew 26:53, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” The Word of God was manifested as a humble servant of the Father’s will. John 5:19, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

Finally, in true warrior fashion, Jesus responds with His sword of the Spirit, God’s word. Ephesians 6:17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” In Charles Spurgeon’s sermons, he writes, “You also, believer, have this powerful weapon in your hand. Let no man take it from you. Believe in the inspiration of Scripture.” Indeed, we are Christian Soldiers. We are spiritual warriors and fight against the enemy daily. When temptations come, rely on every written word of God. Imagine the bible as a literal sword we carry every day, just as natural Soldiers maintain their rifles. The natural Soldier knows his rifle enough to disassemble and reassemble in the dark by feeling. In a combat zone, a Soldier is never an arm’s reach distance from his rifle. He keeps it clean and lubricated, loaded, and ready for combat. So also, you Christian Soldier must keep your sword sharp. Maintain it in your sheath. Be prepared with the manna from heaven. Know the gospel and study sound doctrine. Know your bible from cover to cover and draw it for battle against the enemy whenever necessary. Be vigilant against false doctrine and the power of suggestions from the Devil, which entice us to sin. Jesus defeated the powers of hell against Him. In Christ, we are victorious.

MATTHEW 3:15 Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness

Not that our Lord had any need of baptism toward repentance. Jesus was guilty of no sin his whole life. That is why He was the ultimate innocent lamb slain while guiltless of sin for those guilty of breaking God’s commandments. Moreover, Jesus led by example, commanding humility and exemplifying humility in baptism. The baptism of Jesus was an act of obedience to His Father’s will, and the Father was pleased. So, likewise, the Father is pleased with our good deeds as we submit to the Father’s will in our lives. Jesus said in John 13:15, For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Jesus displayed His love for His sheep as he guided the way of obedience as our shepherd.

We follow the example of our master as we are His proud servants, and servants are not greater than their masters. Never let there be a moment of shame as we follow Christ’s example as Christians. In baptism, Jesus exemplified becoming sin on our behalf and washing away sin as if He needed to become pure. Therefore, let us repent of sin and be baptized as our Lord was baptized. Notice that our Lord was first baptized before beginning His ministry, before any miracle, and before preaching and teaching, He was first baptized. In the same manner, for those who desire a ministry for God. For those who desire to preach and teach. First, repent and be baptized. Then, strive daily to do God’s will and starve sin from our lives. Remember the words of Christ as He said in John 4:34, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. Let us wake up with a passionate desire to obey Christ’s commandments in love. To prepare our minds and bodies to carry our cross and sacrifice sin daily for the sake of holiness. Let us rest our heads at night with pride that we fought a good fight against sin. Let us rest our heads at night, knowing we placed God’s will first instead of giving way to disobedience. Let there exist a desire in our hearts to accomplish the work of God in our lives as Christ accomplished His work for our salvation.

Nevertheless, as every Christian warrior fights sin daily, we receive our wounds. Wounds take time to heal, and we grow weary of the fight for righteousness. Praise God that Christ fought and conquered sin and death, resurrected and ascended into heaven. As Christ was victorious, so are we victorious in Him. In Christ, all righteousness was fulfilled; therefore, we are righteous not by our good deeds but by our faith in Christ. We are relieved from the obligation of fulfilling the law of Moses as a justification to enter heaven. Our Lord fulfilled all the laws of Moses on our behalf. Even the exact time Jesus began His ministry was in obedience to the law. It is written in Numbers 4:3 that the legal age to begin ministry is 30. Jesus began His ministry at the age of 30, as stated in Luke 3:23. Jesus was righteous in observing all of God’s righteous ordinances.

11^th-century bible commentator and scholar Thophylact of Ochrid writes, “righteousness means the law. Human nature was accursed, Jesus says, because it was not able to fulfill the law; therefore, I have fulfilled all the other requirements of the law. One thing remains for Me to do, that I be baptized. When I have fulfilled this, I shall have delivered human nature from the curse. And this is befitting for me to do.” 

4^th and 5^th-century early archbishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom writes, “for righteousness is the fulfilling of the commandments., says He, and this alone remains, it also must be added: because I have come to do away the curse that is appointed for the transgression of the law. I must, therefore, first fulfill it all, and having delivered you from its condemnation, in this way bring it to an end. It becomes me, therefore, to fulfill the whole law, by the same rule that it becomes me to do away the curse that is written against you in the law: this being the very purpose of my assuming flesh and coming hither.”

What a glorious gospel. The law of God is glorious because it reveals the righteousness of God. As God is righteous, so we are called to be righteous. Isaiah 42:21 reads that the LORD was pleased, for His righteousness sake, to magnify His law and make it glorious. However, man has failed to fulfill the law and is forever cursed with the inability to fulfill the righteousness of God. In sin, we are born, and our natural inclination is to disobey God’s commandments. But God, rich in His grace and mercy, came in the flesh to remove the curse of the law. Being conceived in the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit and incarnated as the Son of God, the Christ. He suffered and passed various temptations common to man, including temptations exclusive to Christ from Satan. Obeyed all commandments of God and fulfilling all righteousness went to the death on the cross guiltless, yet became sin for our sake. So that by His death and resurrection, we can be called righteous by faith in Christ and are therefore justified by our faith to enter God’s kingdom. Let us forever express our thankfulness with our love and obedience to Christ’s commandments. John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. Amen.

Since a child, I have had an interest in biblical knowledge. My mother never took me to church, but I read the Bible on my own as I grew up. Sermons were sometimes frustrating because I felt I wasn’t learning enough substance. Sunday morning sermons seemed to be composed of a message to make the individuals feel good about themselves and return next week. I later enrolled in a bible college composed of a church I was attending. In the same period, I discovered reformed theology. With reformed theology, I felt I was learning solid theological substance. The bible college I attended promised more in-depth biblical knowledge. I attended one year and then dropped out because of disappointment in the overall teaching and material. I realized I was learning more on my own than when I was subjecting myself to the bible college. I later discovered expository teaching. Biblical exposition enlightened me to a more significant study, learning, and teaching method.

Around 2006, I watched an interview with Richard Dawkins talking about the God Delusion. I began to reflect on how someone like him can become a believer in Christ. I realized arguments from the Bible would not work against someone who has no belief in the Bible. So, I thought to myself, there must exist a way to prove the existence of God without the Bible. In my research, I discovered Dr. Greg Bahnsen, who, in his time, was considered the man the atheist feared most. He publically debated atheists on the existence of God only using logic and reason. So I began to read his books and listen to his debates. The man is a Godsend. Unfortunately, he passed away young due to health complications, but he left behind a legacy. Leading up to his Ph.D., he simultaneously received a Master of Theology and Divinity. His first degree was a B.A. in philosophy. I was so impressed and influenced by this man I enrolled myself for a B.A. in philosophy, from which I will graduate, Lord willing, in June.

That was the beginning of my academic and intellectual path. I have several intellectual goals. I am a dreamer but don’t share them with many because I’ve experienced that people are too discouraging. But, just for context, if people say they want to work at a bank, I’d reply, I’d rather own a bank, and that is where they discourage. It is not the action or verbiage they discourage; it is the idea and the complexities that come with it. Regardless, philosophy has become instrumental in establishing my beliefs. Knowing and having the ability to express and defend my beliefs is one of the greatest assets of philosophy. With it comes responsibility. Relatively, a philosopher can become persuasive and develop an audience. Just as Dr. Bahnsen influenced me, we will also influence. And we must have the self-awareness of whether our beliefs will influence others for better or worse.