https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEXGeddDqEw
Welcome to Covenant of Hope Ministries and our combined written and live Sunday sermon, which is normally broadcast every Sunday. I am Rev. Laura A. Neff. Our ministry was built on the truth of God’s love, sharing the Word of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ in a way that we believe embraces the ways Jesus taught us to manage. We bring His Word to the many as opposed to the few, in order to continue the legacy created by the ministry of Jesus Christ.
You will find us at the following location: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Rev. Laura’s other sites: Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin & USAlife & YouTube & Twitch & TruthSocial & Instagram & Facebook
Wedding officiant page: Wedfolio & Wedding Chicks
Prayer List: We have many on our prayer list. Some wish to remain anonymous, and others only wish to have their first names mentioned. Our prayer list grows or changes every week. This is our current list.
- Rabbi Karen L. Hertzog has asked that we pray for her mother’s health. She also asks for prayers for her brother’s attitude and also for Rabbi Karen’s stress levels.
- We pray for JB’s sister Debbie, who has completed her proton treatment and is cancer free, may her life continue long and uncomplicated. We pray for JB who suffered a massive migraine this past week requiring a visit to the ER, may her migraine dissolve fully to allow her to get a good night’s rest.
- We continue our prayers for Evangelist Cal Jennings, who had oral surgery this past week. We pray that his health becomes steadier than it has been for far too long. He has had quite a few heart issues of late. We pray that his medical needs are fully met, and he has all that he requires for comfort and peace.
- We continue our prayers for JB and EB as they navigate through the maze of medical tests and specialists to get all the answers that they need in both of their health issues. They are continually frustrated with the runaround they have been getting with the various referrals.
- We continue to pray for a friend of ours, Alexis, who is in desperate need to improve her current situation and has set up a site for donations to help her with this. If you want more information, send me a private message and I’ll pass on the information.
- We continue with our prayers for my niece Autumn, who has been suffering seizures due to a head injury from a car crash.
- We continue to pray for my Mama who has had a lot of anxiety issues lately. Her car ended up being totaled after the fender-bender. This combined with the fact she misses my father as he passed away three years ago due to COVID-19 has made it a tough year for her.
- We continue to pray for all sufferers and survivors of the various types of cancer, including several survivors of the disease, JB’s sister Debbie, our friend Alexis, my Aunt Donna, and my friend Kelly.
- We pray for those who are in the path of dangerous weather, and other dangerous conditions, including volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, worldwide.
- We pray for the various outreach ministries we have joined with, with their leaders, Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Pastor Amir Aneel, Sister Santhi Swaroopa, Pastor Duke Moenga, and others in Kissee, Nairobi, and other places in Kenya, Pakistan, and India.
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We pray also for our American outreach
ministries, including Rev. Lisa Tyler on the other side of Georgia from where I
am and Rabbi Karen L. Hertzog with her ministry, Way Maker Messianic Jewish and
Christian Center – USA as well.
· Happy Birthday! My friend Kristy had her birthday yesterday and we wish her a great year!
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You this morning bringing thanks for Your presence in our lives and Your ability to teach us so much through our Savior Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for Everything You have brought to us in this world. We are blessed to have Your presence here with us this day. We ask Your healing powers to be used for those who are sick and those who have been injured or have had oral surgery, like Evangelist Cal Jennings. We ask Your protection over those who are in danger from the weather, the tremors and earthquakes, the wars and battles, diseases, and so much more. We thank You for everything that we have been blessed with in this world, even if we do not realize what those might be. We ask Your comfort for the orphans and their caretakers, our outreach ministers and their congregations including Pastor Stephen Okoth, Pastor Simon Peter Javaji, Pastor Amir Aneel, Pastor Santhi Swaroopa, Pastor Wakas Gill, and all the others who have joined us. We ask for Your blessings to be felt with our American Outreach Ministries including Reverend Lisa Tyler and Rabbi Karen L. Hertzog as well. We ask all this through Your Holy Name in the blessings of our Savior Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen and so it shall be.
Opening Song: How Shall I Sing to God?
Sermon: Today we are completing Chapter five in 1st Corinthians. There is so much that Paul shares in these seven verses that needs to be shared even to this very day. It is a subject many would rather avoid in society because it touches, yet again, on the Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Terrible Troubles. In this specific passage, Paul is discussing how we celebrate anything. He wants the people there at Corinth to stop using the same old, same old, and throw out the old to renew themselves to be what Jesus taught and how they should truly be. You see, habits, especially old and well established habits, are seriously hard to break. This is something that even Jesus warned about. Here’s where we begin.
1 Corinthians 5:7 KJV –Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
NIV –Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Have you ever seen what old yeast looks and acts like? Maybe you’ve seen a soda pop that’s set out overnight? It goes flat, which kills the flavor, well, yeast that has lost the ability to rise tastes and acts the same. We all go through periods of time in our lifetimes that deflate quite a lot like this. Sometimes we have to clean house, and this isn’t just figurative or for the place where you live. It is for your mind, your heart, your spirit, and soul too. The sacrifice of yeast and a lamb without spot is a symbolic celebration which was proven true in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, almost two millennia ago now. That is what Paul is reminding us about and doing the same for the church at Corinth. It’s important to remember the reason we are known as Christians. He is the Christ, the Lamb of God, the sacrifice predicted thousands of years before He came down here on this earth as an infant born of a virgin only to be sacrificed on a cross thirty-three years later in the prime of His life. Here are two Old Testament references Paul makes.
Exodus 12:5-6 KJV – Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
NIV – The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
Isaiah 53:7 KJV – He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
NIV – He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Paul includes three Gospel references, one of those in the Word of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:17-19 KJV – Now
the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus,
saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
And
he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say
unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy
house with my disciples.
And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready
the passover.
NIV – On the first day of the Festival of
Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us
to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and
tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate
the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” So the disciples did as
Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
John 1:29 KJV – The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
NIV – The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 19:14 KJV – And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
NIV – It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
Paul adds four other references from the Hebrew Prophets, his fellow Apostle, Peter, and also John the Beloved’s Revelation.
Hebrews 9:14 KJV – How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
NIV – How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 10:10-12 KJV – By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
NIV –And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
1 Peter 1:19 KJV –But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
NIV – but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Revelation 5:6 KJV – And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
NIV – Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Paul is speaking of keeping ministry and church pure as it has always been taught, not dragging in the daily grind, the baggage from your work or family, or anything else. The objective of church is to purify your heart, mind, spirit, and soul, and just worship our Lord Jesus, Yeshua, and God our Father, Yahweh. This is how he shares the process with the church there at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 5:8 KJV –Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
NIV –Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Paul references three of the five books of the Torah to begin with, describing the feast of unleavened bread.
Exodus 12:15-20 KJV – Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
NIV – For seven days you are to eat bread made
without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever
eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be
cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly,
and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to
prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.
“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day
that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting
ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you
are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day
until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no
yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or
native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the
community of Israel. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you
live, you must eat unleavened bread.”
Exodus 13:6-7 KJV – Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
NIV – For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders.
Leviticus 23:6-8 KJV – And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
NIV – On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”
Deuteronomy 16:3-4 KJV – Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
NIV – Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.
Paul adds three references to the word of Jesus in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Matthew 16:6 KJV – Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
NIV – “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Matthew 16:11-12 KJV – How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
NIV – How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Mark 8:15 KJV – And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
NIV – “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
Luke 12:1 KJV – In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
NIV – Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Paul adds a final reference for this in the words of the Hebrew prophets.
Hebrews 12:1 KJV – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
NIV – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
Next Paul reprimands the church, reminding them not to associate with specific forms of sinful people. Much like Jesus warned everyone, and God has done the same.
1 Corinthians 5:9-10 KJV –I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
NIV –I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
Paul chose four segments of the Poetic Books of the Old Testament.
Psalm 1:1 KJV – Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
NIV – Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
Proverbs 4:14-15 KJV – Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
NIV – Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.
Proverbs 13:20 KJV – He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
NIV – Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 23:20-21 KJV – Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
NIV – Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Paul includes three gospel references from Matthew and Luke.
Matthew 9:10-13 KJV – And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
NIV – While Jesus was having dinner at
Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his
disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does
your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy
who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this
means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call
the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 18:15-17 KJV – Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
NIV – “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Luke 15:1-2 KJV –Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
NIV – Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Paul includes writing from his fellow Apostle, John the Beloved as well.
2 John 1:10-11 KJV –If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
NIV –If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
Revelation 21:8 KJV – But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
NIV – But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Revelation 22:15 KJV – For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
NIV – Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Paul warns the people at Corinth not to associate with specific types of people. If they paid attention, they would realize who these people were. This holds true even to this very day.
1 Corinthians 5:11 KJV –But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
NIV –But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
Paul references one verse from the Old Testament.
Proverbs 22:24-25 KJV – Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
NIV –Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.
Paul adds four references to his letters to Thessalonica, Galatia, and Ephesus.
2 Thessalonians 3:6 KJV –Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
NIV –In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 KJV –And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
NIV –Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.
Galatians 5:19-21 KJV – Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
NIV – The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 5:3-5 KJV – But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
NIV – But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Now, Paul speaks in his final verses for this chapter, about judgment. It’s a challenge to utilize righteous judgment over human judgment. It takes discernment, but it isn’t impossible to utilize righteous judgment in the church. That’s why even now there are those who get away with being wolves in sheep’s clothing in the church. We’ve seen this manifest in many dangerous ways all over the world far into the past and even to this day. That’s why Paul shares this.
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 KJV –For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
NIV –What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
Wickedness is something that God Himself warned about all the way back in the Torah. Here are the two Old Testament Torah references Paul notes.
Deuteronomy 13:5 KJV – And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
NIV – That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 17:7 KJV – The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
NIV – The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
Now we hear from Jesus and His own Word in a much-quoted portion of Scripture. Yet, this is also a very misunderstood segment of the Word as well. It’s very hard to be a discerning human being in a world as corrupt and wicked as our word would be.
Matthew 7:1-5 KJV – Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
NIV – “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
There is a serious difference between human judgment and righteous godly judgment. This is what Jesus warned about. This is what God warned about, and they still warn about it to this day. If we don’t pay attention to our own sins and our own reasons to be judged, we have no right or ability to judge others from a righteous point of view. Paul’s final reference is this from the Hebrew prophets.
Hebrews 13:17 KJV – Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
NIV – Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
The church is supposed to be a discerning, caring, teaching, preaching, consulting hub for righteous living and existence. It doesn’t matter the language spoken, or the country it exists within, righteous living and existence is the goal for all of Christianity. It’s not easy, and Jesus professed that often. It’s not always the exact same look across the miles from country to country, culture to culture, but righteousness in God’s eyes is the target we should be aiming for. That means even the priests, the preachers, the pastors, evangelists, brothers, sisters, all of us must be judged by the exact same measure as God would measure us. This is why Jesus came to teach and preach and on the last day will come to judge. It is important to remember the reason for our being here. His name is Jesus Christ, who comes from the great Jehovah God our Heavenly Father. It is through the life death, and eternal legacy of Jesus Christ that we are here today. Now, let’s show each other how faith and belief in God go hand in hand, and all of us have the opportunity to walk in the faithful steps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ability to do this requires us to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you are willing to do so, please leave me a note in the comments and I’ll be in touch. Now, that’s something to think about as we pray in the prayer that Jesus taught us.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13)
Closing Song: Shalom! My Friends!
~ Shalom ~
Rev. Laura A. Neff
Blogspot & Twitter & Linkedin & Twitch & USAlife
Evangelist Calvin Jennings
Covenant of Hope Ministries Main Site: http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Scripture Excerpts: The New Open Bible Study Edition: Copyright © 1990: Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.
Scripture Excerpts: Holy Bible: Copyright © 1982: E. E. Gaddy and Associates, Inc.
Scripture Excerpts: Holy Bible: Copyright ©circa 1890-1910: International Bible Press, The John C. Winston Co.; Philadelphia, PA, USA
Sermon or Study Copyright © 2025 http://www.covenantofhopeministries.blogspot.com
Our mission for Covenant of Hope Ministries is not to
exploit fear, but to conquer it, and overcome all that is
created through fear
together as the bringers of the
light of Jesus found in the midst of darkness.
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