64.1 A New Covenant Of Peace

(Exodus 34:23-30)

"Three times a year all of your men must come to worship me, the Lord, the God of Israel.  After I have driven out the nations before you and extended your territory, no one will try to conquer your country during the three festivals.

"Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me.  Do not keep until the following morning any part of the animal killed at the Passover Festival.

"Each year bring to the house of the Lord the first grain that you harvest. Do not cook a young sheep or goat in it's mother's milk."

The Lord said to Moses, "Write these words down, because it is on the basis of these words that I am making a covenant with you and Israel." Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing.   He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant-- the Ten Commandments.

When Moses went down from Mount Sinai carrying the ten commandments, his face was shining  because he had been speaking with the Lord, but he did not know it.  Aaron and all the people looked at Moses and saw that his face was shining, and they were afraid to go near him.

63.4 Confident That God Will Help Us

(Psalm 54)

Save me by your power, O God; set me free by your might!
Hear my prayer, O God; listen to my words!
Proud men are coming to attack me; cruel men are trying to kill me--
men who do not care about God.

But God is my helper. The Lord is my defender.
May God use their own evil to punish my enemies.
He will destroy them because he is faithful.

I will gladly offer you a sacrifice, O Lord;
I will give you thanks because you are good.
You have rescued me from all my troubles,
and I have seen my enemies defeated.

63.3 It Is My Duty To Preach (Am I Ruined If I Do Not Preach)

(1 Corinthians 9:15-18)

But I haven't made use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this now in order to claim such rights for myself, I would rather die first!  Nobody is going to turn my rightful boast into empty words!  I have no right to boast just because I preach the gospel.  After all, I am under orders to do so.  And how terrible it would be for me if I did not preach the gospel!  If I did my work as a matter of free choice, then I could expect to be paid; but I do it as a matter of duty, because God has entrusted me with this task.  What pay do I get, then?  It is the privilege of preaching the Good News without charging for it, without claiming my rights in my work for the gospel.

63.2 Witness To The Nations

(Acts 26:12-18)

"It was for this purpose that I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests. It was on the road at midday, Your majesty, that I saw a light much brighter than the sun, coming from the sky and shining around me and the men traveling with me.  All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?  You are hurting yourself by hitting back, like an ox, kicking against its owner's stick." 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.  And the Lord answered, 'I am Jesus, whom you persecute.  But get up and stand on your feet.  I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant.  You are to tell others what you have seen of me today and what I will show you in the future.  I will rescue you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles to whom I will send you.  You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people."

63.1 Speak The Word Of God

(Ezekiel 2:1-3:11)

When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice saying, "Mortal man, stand up.  I want to talk to you." While the voice was speaking, God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue, "Mortal man, I am sending you to the people of Israel.  They have rebelled and turned against me and are still rebels, just as their ancestors were.  They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them.  Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them.

"But you, mortal man, must not be afraid of them or of anything they say. They will defy and despise you; it will be like living among scorpions.  Still, don't be afraid of those rebels or of anything they say.  You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not.  Remember what rebels they are.

"Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. Don't be rebellious like them.  Open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you." I saw a hand reaching out toward me, and it was holding a scroll.  The hand unrolled the scroll, and I saw that there was writing on both sides--cries of grief were written there, and wails and groans.

God said, "Mortal man, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel."

So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. He said, "mortal man, eat this scroll that I give you; fill your stomach with it." I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey.

Then God said, Mortal man, go to the people of Israel and say to them whatever I tell you to say.  I am not sending you to a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language, but to the Israelites.  If I sent you to great nations that spoke difficult languages you didn't understand, they would listen to you.  But none of people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me.  All of them are stubborn and defiant.  Now I will make you as stubborn and as tough as they are.  I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond; don't be afraid of those rebels."

God continued, "Mortal man, pay close attention and remember everything I tell you.  Then go to your countrymen who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not."