Successful Living

SUCCESSFUL LIVING REQUIRES OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDS

                                                               Leviticus 19:9-18, 34-37
 

COMPASSION FOR THE POOR

V:9. "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest."

 A. Don't be selfish, consider the needs of others.

   1. God blesses us so we can bless others.

   2. We have all been in a condition called poor.

       a. We can be poor, meaning a lack of money.

       b. We can be poor, meaning a lack of the spirit.

       c. We can be poor, meaning a lack of peace.

       d. We can be poor, meaning a lack of joy.

  3. God came to our rescue. Therefore, we ought to return the favor to others.

B. The land was a gift from God.

  1. God maintained this land for the Israelites for over 400 years using the hands of their

      enemies.

  2. God has stored up blessings for believers waiting on  His time to release them.

  3.  God expects us to be good stewards of what He gives us.

      

V:10. "And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God."

 A.  God expects us to be good stewards of what He gives us.

       1. Good stewardship means taking care of your own welfare and considering the

           welfare of the needy.

       2.  Remembering the poor keeps us conscience of our present condition and our past.

           a. God brought us from a poor condition without him to a rich condition with Him.

           b. We are rich in the spirit.

           c. We are rich because our Father has promised to take care of all our needs.

           d. Without God's blessings, we are poor.

           e. A grateful spirit is a rich spirit which remembers the poor.

  B.  Before Christ, we were strangers to the body of Christ.

       1. Before Christ, we were strangers to heaven.

       2. Before Christ, we were strangers to the blessings of God.

       3. God expects us to bless strangers with what He has bless us with.

           a. Someone blessed us with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

           b. We ought to bless others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

       4. Someone blessed us with a helping hand.

           a. We ought to bless others with a helping hand.

           b. We ought to be kind to strangers. You never know if He is and angel from God. 

  C. We can support the poor and strangers through our benevolence offering each

       Sunday.

  D. "I am the LORD your God."

      1. The reason we can be generous to the poor and strangers is because the Lord is our

          God.

     a. 1st, God commands us to be generous.

     b. 2nd, God will provide the resources for us to be kind to the poor and strangers. 

     c. God owns us and everything we have, therefore He has the authority to command

         us to be kind.

     d. God is in control. He will make everything good we do for others, work out for

         our good.

HONESTY

V:11. "Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another."

  A. " Ye shall not steal."

    1. Since the Lord is our God, we have no need to steal. He promised to provide all we

        need.

    2. Stealing is a sin against God.

    3. Stealing is a sin against your neighbor.

    4. Stealing is a selfish act.

 B. " Neither deal falsely"

    1. We should always be truthful with each other.

    2. Relationships that are based on lies will not last.

    3. The truth will always stand, but a lie will be discovered.

    4. God is truth. His Word never changes.

    5. When you tell the truth you don't have to worry about the lies you told.

 C.  "Neither lie one to another."

    1. Our conversation should promote harmony between one another.

V:12. "And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD."

 A. God is Holy.

    1. His name should not be used to deceive anyone.

    2. The name of the Lord should not be used to prove your position.

 B. God is above all the world.

    2. He should not be spoken of as if He is one of us.

    3. Nothing negative should ever be said about God.

    4. We are to give God glory and honor.

        a. To do anything less is to profane His name.

        b. Profane is from the Hebrew word "chalal" which means to dishonor.

        c. We should not dishonor the name of the Lord.

  C. God is supreme and most Holy.

      1. God is the Lord, owner and ruler of our lives.

      2. We are to never take His presence for granted.

INTERGITY

V:13. "Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning."

 A. If we hire someone to do a job, we should pay them when the job is done.

     1. If we make a contract with someone, we are obligated to fulfill the terms of the

         contract when the job is done.

     2. We should not try to cheat someone out of what we owe them.

 B. We should not make someone wait to be paid for a job done.

    1. We should not make excuses not to pay.

V:14. "Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD."

 A. We should not do evil to someone because they cannot hear.

      1. We should be protective of a deaf person.

      2. We were once deaf and in some degree still deaf to the Word of God.

      3. Our spiritual deafness was protected by the Lord.

          a. We ought to protect someone in their physical deafness.

 B. We should never do anything to hinder the progress of someone because of their

       lack of knowledge or inability to do something.

    1. We should not take advantage of someone because of their disability.

    2. Because we fear the Lord, we ought to be first to help them in their disability.

    3. We were all born blind.  We were all born with  spiritual blindness.

       a. God has protected us from the devices of Satan who stand to destroy us.

       b. Satan took advantage of  Eve's spiritual blindness  in the Garden of Eden and

           deceived her into disobeying God's command thus destroying a perfect

           relationship with the Father.

   4. We ought to be grateful to God for protecting us.

      a. We owe it to the blind to nurture them in the Lord and guide them down the path

          of righteousness.

      b. Ones disability may be a gift waiting to be developed.

      c. What we lack in one area may be reason to improve in another area.

      d. Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder were physically blinded, but gifted in music. 

 D. We ought to be a help when we can, because we never know when God is using us

      for a greater good.

FAIRNESS AND JUSTICE

V:15. "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour."

 A. We need to be careful not to let our personal preferences cloud our judgment.

   1. The only rule for judgment is the Word of God.

   2. The Word of God should be applied to all equally; rich or poor, popular

        or unpopular, powerful or weak.

   3. We should not let friendship or relationship get in the way of good judgment.

B. Only the righteousness of God should govern our judgment.

  1. Our opinions of someone my change based on what we know or think we know.

  2. The Word of God does not change by what we know or think we know.

  3. We must study the Word so we can rightly divide it, before making judgments.

V:16. "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD".

( Talebearer= Raakiyl= one who travels about dealing in scandals)

 A. Believers ought to stay away from gossip.

     1. We should not be the bearer of gossip nor should we receive gossip.

     2. Gossip can be very hurtful to a person.

     3. The responsibility of a Christian is to build up others in the Lord.

     4. If you are going to spread the word about someone, make sure it is encouraging.

 B. Do not be a false witness against anyone.

     1. Depending on the information and the person receiving it, false information can be

         hurtful and can cause someone to lose their life.

     2. False information can be so devastating to someone that the person may take their

         on life.

     3. Our love for the Lord ought to cause us to love our neighbor so that we would do

         nothing to cause harm or danger.

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

V:17. "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him."

 A. Our problems with others begin in the heart.

    1. We can control what we think about others.

       a. We can see them in love.

       b. We can be tolerant of the behavior of others as Christ is tolerant of us.

       c. We can see them in hate.

       d. We can allow ourselves to be unforgiving.

 B. If we know our brother is in an activity that is unpleasing to God, we should

      love him enough to speak to him.

      1. We should speak to him in private in a caring and supportive manner.

      2. Counsel your brother, if he will listen.

V:18. "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."

 A. Vengeance is mine said the Lord. Rom 12:19

      1. The Lord is in control and will fight your battles. 2 Chr 20:15

      2. We should promote peace and not hold grudges. John 14:27

          a. Holding a grudge keeps you upset.

          b. You hold the key to your peace; let go and let God.

 B. The way to keep yourself peaceful is to love your neighbor.

     1. Love over looks the faults of others.

     2. Love forgives the wrong done.

     3. Love realizes that we are not perfect and we make mistakes.

     4. Love realizes that we are not perfect and we can't expect anybody else to be

         perfect.

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, FRIEND OR STRANGER

V:33. "And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him."

 A. The Jews were just getting settle in the Promise Land. As directed by God,

       battles were fought and won for them to gain control of the land. They were

       naturally defensive.

     1. Any stranger not part of the family of Israel may have been considered a threat.

     2. God directs us to do no harm to anyone who is a stranger to us.

 B. The Jews were under the protection of the Lord and had nothing to fear.

     1. We are under the protection of the Lord and have nothing to fear.

     2. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but  power, love and sound mind.

         2 Tim 1:7

     3. Our faith in the Lord will protect us in the mist of strangers.

         a. We have the power to love and the spirit to be kind.

V:34. "But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."

 A. We are all God's creation.

      1. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

      2. A stranger should be treated as if he is a family member.

 B. We were not always welcomed in this land.

     1. You are not always welcomed in places that you go.

     2. There have been times when you have been treated as an outsider.

     3. Because you know the hurt, because you know the feeling, treat strangers

         with compassion.

  C. Because you are a child of God, treat others as children of God.

      1. Because you are brothers and sisters in Christ, treat others as brothers and

          sisters in Christ.

BE JUST IN BUSINESS

V:35. "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure."

 A. Judge others in righteousness, the same way you want to be judged.

     1. What you measure out, will be measured back to you.

     2. There should  only be one standard of measurement.

         a. The same measure should apply to everybody.

B. Don't try to cheat someone out of what is theirs. Four terms are use in which

     one can be cheated.

 1. JUDGMENT in all cases that come before the civil magistrate; he is to judge and  

     decide according to the law.

2. METEYARD,   " bamidah" , in measures of length and surface, such as the reed, cubit,

    foot, span, hand's breadth, among the Jews; or ell, yard, foot, and inch, among us.

3. WEIGHT," bamishqal" , in anything that is weighed, the weights being all according to  

     the standards kept for the purpose of trying the rest in the sanctuary, as appears from   

     Exodus 30:13; 1 Chronicles 23:29; these weights were the talent, shekel, barleycorn.

4. MEASURE, "bam­suwrah" , from which we derive our term. This refers to all

    measures of capacity, such as the homer, ephah, seah, hin, omer, kab, and log. See all

    these explained Exodus 16:16.

V:36. "Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt."

A. In our business activities with one another we should be just in all our ways. 

    1. The Lord watches how we treat one another.

    2. Proverbs 11:1, "A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his

        delight."

THE PROMISE FOR OBEDIENCE

V:37. "Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD."

A. God expects us to be completely obedient to His commands.

    1. If we are obedient to God's commands, He promises to bless us with all we need.

    2. Leviticus 26:3-4

         3."If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out,

         4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce  

            and the trees of the field will bear their fruit."