Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. And we'll start kind of in the middle
of what our Lord was saying here, but I want to concentrate on
reading just these last few words of Matthew 10 from verse 32 to
the end. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is
in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to
send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, And the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he
that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy
of me. He that findeth his life shall
lose it. He that looseth his life for
my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth
me. He that receiveth me receiveth
him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in
the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he that
receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall
receive a righteous man's reward. and whosoever shall give to drink
unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the
name of a disciple. Verily I say unto you, he shall
in no wise lose his reward. Heavenly Father, we come and praise and extol
you and your sovereign power and majesty. Lord, forgive us
of our sins. Lord, be with me as I stand here,
and may I be enabled by your spirit to preach the truth as
it is in Christ. Be with my brothers and sisters
who were here this morning and others who may be listening online.
Lord, open our hearts and minds once again to be receptive to
thy word. May we hear something that may
encourage us along the way. In Christ's name, amen. All right, for our Bible lesson
this morning, I have actually two passages. The first one will
be Deuteronomy, so turning to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 19. I will
read one verse from Deuteronomy 19, then God willing, we'll return
to chapter 27 and read verse 17. These two passages speak
of the same thing. Deuteronomy 19 and verse 14,
here's what the law of God says. Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's
landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance,
which thou shalt inherit in the land, that the Lord thy God giveth
thee to possess it. Now turn to chapter 27, same
book. We see something else mentioned
about this landmark. Deuteronomy 27 and verse 17. Now we read about the landmark,
but it's a little stronger language. Cursed be he that removeth his
neighbor's landmark and all the people shall say, amen. I've given the title of this
lesson, kind of take it from the text.
Strictly speaking, as this was given in the law, it lets us
know this, this is the title, Landmark Removal Forbidden. Now, I have no doubt that this
law was given to forbid dishonesty and fraud in real estate matters
concerning Israel. There is no questions to that. The land of promise, the land
that God had given to the Israelites was divided into actually 13
pieces. There was a half tribe Manasseh
here and another half tribe. We've made it 13 pieces of land.
Of course, then each Many of the male individuals,
although there were some female individuals, were given plots
of land inside their particular inheritance of whatever tribe
they were a part of. But God's law is much more than
just law. According to Hebrews 10, verse
one, we'll not turn to it and read it. Hebrews 10, verse one
says, for the law having a shadow of good things to come. Now, let us never think of God's
law as shadow only. When God said, you'd love me
with all you are, that's a command. When God said, love your neighbor
as yourself, that's a command. But we are so corrupt by nature,
we can't even begin to keep those things. But God, even though
the law itself is not gracious, the law is a glorious condemnation
of death. Yet God is so gracious that when
he gave the law, he permitted, allowed, yea better word, he
purposed that some of these things in the law shadow forth greater
things to come. Now having said that, I want
you to in your mind's eye, you can read it again if you wish,
19 verse 14, 27 verse 17, but there's one word I want us to
take note of. Note that it is landmark, not
landmarks. Correct? It is given in the singular. Now, in any plot of land, all
the landmarks are vital. But there is one landmark that
is above all else. That's why the law here says,
don't remove your neighbor's landmark. Now, I did this many
years ago when I was preaching through the first five books
of the Bible. And when I got to this passage,
specifically chapter 19, verse 15 at Sovereign Grace Chapel,
I did what I'm going to do here this morning, but what I did
then was much more detailed. I hope this is not too simplistic
for you, but I have just a little piece here. Now, for those that
may be listening live stream, all this is is just a piece of
typing paper, okay? But this typing paper represents,
here's the boundaries of the land. Now, some land is far more
complex, correct? This is just a simple illustration.
Here's your boundaries. There are four landmarks on this
boundary, you see it? But note one is in red. You know why? That's called in
Latin the datum, the beginning spot. Now having said that, I
don't know how the ancient people of Israel kept their records,
I don't know. And I know in modern days with
GPS and The advancements in doing surveys is far beyond my comprehension. But I've dealt with a few deeds,
deeds that were either mine or I received them after the death
of a family member or whatever. When you begin to read that deed,
it will give you the datum, the starting point. And the starting
point is absolutely essential. because in the deed it will be
something like this. From the datum, from the beginning
point, go, let's say 500 feet due north to the old rock with
the X pen. Okay? If you remove the datum
and start here, where do you end up at? You start with the
datum, and go all those feet this way, you end up where you're
supposed to be at the second spot, right? But if you remove
the datum and start here, guess where you end up when you first
start? Way up here. This is not the inheritance.
It's invalid. It's of no value. It's not worth
the paper, as we say, that it's written on. Now, we'll come back
to this in a moment. Simple example, simple example. Now think about this, the datum
in the deed is, again I emphasize, it is absolutely essential to
start at the right place. That's why God gave the command
to not remove your neighbor's landmark, why? Not just because
of some piece of land over there in Palestine somewhere, but because
God Almighty has a datum God Almighty has a starting point. And if we leave that point off,
we are C-U-R-S-E-D. We have no inheritance if we
remove the datum and start at another spot. I hope that's simple enough,
yet that is profound. You remember the Apostle Paul
said, if somebody comes preaching to you any other gospel than
that we've preached unto you, what did he say? Let him be accursed. But he also mentioned, I marvel
that you're so soon removed. Now, it doesn't matter what the
removal is, whether I remove the datum or I remove myself
from the datum. If I try to start anywhere else,
I'm off the charts. I'm not Indian heritage. You
see, God's a lot wiser than we are. And we're still holding
to this law today in our plots and deeds of land out there.
Let me ask you this. When you start with the datum,
in any piece of land, where must you end up with? The datum. If you start at the
datum and go to here and to here and to here and then stop, You
have an open, valueless deed. It has to end up back at the
datum. That's why God says don't remove
your neighbor's landmark. Now, a few thoughts. Say, well, the most important
thing, preacher, isn't that like repentance toward God and faith
toward the Lord Jesus Christ? Isn't that a part of the inheritance?
It is, isn't it? Paul said, we preach repentance toward God
and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. But that's not the datum. That's either up here or up here
somewhere, you see? If I start with repentance toward
God and yet I don't know who God is, of what value is it?
If I start with faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet
he's never been revealed by the gospel, of what value is it?
You got to start with the datum. No matter how valuable this landmark
is, this landmark is absolutely essential. For instance, what
about confessing Christ in baptism? It's a part of the inheritance.
So much so that Peter says, and I'm not going to argue about
the wording. I don't feel like I have to explain God's word
to anybody or justify God's word. He said, baptism, which also,
also doth now save us, not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.
But if I use baptism and eliminate the datum, then I have no reason
to have a good conscience before God. Thus my baptism puts me
up here somewhere and there is no inheritance. What about gathering to worship?
Is that not important? We're commanded not to forsake
the assembling of ourselves together. And that's not a chore. It's
a pleasure. It's a pleasure. But if you remove
the datum, And you say, all right, here's the most important thing
is gathering together, then why are you gathering for? In whose
name are you gathering? God says, curses he that removeth. his neighbor's landmark. And
remember, these landmarks, according to legal language, was set up
of old. Isn't that what we read? Now
granted, in Israel's day, strictly according to law, it was set
up when Joshua came into the land. And remember, Joshua started
giving out the different pieces of land to different tribes.
And landmarks were set up. But some of those landmarks were
the datum. But there's something far more
vital than that. What is the gospel datum? The
gospel datum is Christ and him crucified. You hear me? That's the datum. That's the beginning spot. But
it didn't begin in time when he actually died. The datum was
set up of old. The datum was set up of old.
Peter puts it this way. Let me read it. I'll misquote
it, and I do not want to do that. 1 Peter 1, and I must move along. Let's move through this. 1 Peter 1, and I know these are
familiar to you here. 1 Peter 1, verse 18, for as much
as ye know, that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things
as silver and gold from your vain conversation, or that is
your vain way of life received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. The datum didn't begin in time.
The datum began, and that's not even probably really a good way
to put it, but I have no other language. The datum began in
the mind of God in eternity. You see, the landmark is not
even our being predestinated and chosen, because we were predestinated
and chosen in Christ. God did not just predestinate
and choose us. He predestinated us and chose
us in Christ. God help us to never remove the
datum. God help us to never be removed
from the datum. And somebody says, well, But
is that really all necessary? As long as a man believes, repents,
baptizes, joins the church, gathers, it is moral, isn't it? If you
leave off the landmark, you're cursed. You're not going to be
in the inheritance. You'll be off here somewhere,
where there is no inheritance. Seems mighty simplistic when
you just look at it like that, don't it? But the reason it's
important is it because it came from the mind and will of an
all wise sovereign God. This is what pleased him. And
if it pleased him, I best not find any fault in it whatsoever.
I best not try to remove myself or remove the datum, the landmark. Now look at Ephesians chapter
one. I want to show you this. Think about this. Ephesians chapter 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God to the saints who were at Ephesus and to the
faithful hears this prayer in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ. He just keeps
running back to the landmark, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. That's the datum. That's the
datum. According as he has chosen us
in him, that's Christ, before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestinated. So now notice, The election,
and I have to be careful how I say it, the election in order
came after the predestination. It's mentioned first here, but
it says, having predestinated. So for the sake of human language,
he'd already predestinated me, and he chose me. But he only
did so in Christ. Now, when I say that, there is
a problem there finite human understanding. We like to think
of things in chronological order. With God and his sovereign purpose,
there is no chronological order. That is, God didn't predestinate
us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. There's the datum again. He didn't
do that and say, oh, now I believe I'll elect them. This was all
one thing in God's mind. But God gives us specific orders
so that we dare not try to remove the datum, you see. God didn't say, well, today I
think I'll predestinate some people. And then the next day,
he said, well, I think that I'm going to elect some people. Now,
this was eternally in the mind and purpose of God. But put it
this way, predestination, then election, is priority of order. It is not chronological order
with God. For us, it's chronological. With
God, it was all at the same time. But let us remember, it all has
the foundation, the landmark, the starting place of the datum. Now do we begin to see how important
that law was? Amazing. Amazing. So we get the idea? That's simple
enough. And yet my heart, my old man,
my corrupt nature is so ready to abandon the datum. Let's get
down to something I'm involved in. Uh-huh, you ever think that
way? But what about what I'm doing?
Even if I try to be really doctrinally accurate and say it's God that
works in me, both to will and to do is a good pleasure, that's
a part of the inheritance, isn't it? But it's not the datum, not
the datum. You see, as I've already pointed
out, and I'm gonna try to wind this down here in just a couple
minutes, There's so much here. As I said, when I did this at
chapel, I had a whole lot more details. And I gave everybody
a copy of what I had in front of me so I didn't have to keep
doing this. But I wouldn't do that. You all don't need just
a white piece of paper, four spots on it. I think you get
the concept. All right? Here's the thing. I mentioned it. There's so much here. And this
is just a short Bible lesson. But as I've already mentioned,
this is vital as well. One more thought, the datum must
be, always, it must be the end as well. Has to be, or it's an
invalid deed. It's an invalid plot of land.
Ray, would you buy a piece of land or more importantly, sell
a piece of land to somebody and not have the datum connected
at the end? Just have an open board and that
person could come back and say, well, I want all the rest. Look,
there's no boundary lines. I want the rest of that. No,
God says, here's what you get. I gave it all to you in Christ.
And you know what it is? All things. He's blessed us with
all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. So if I need
it, I got it. even if I don't recognize it
at any one given time. Did not our Lord Jesus Christ
say, and it is recorded by the Apostle John in the book of the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter one in verse eight, I am the
alpha and the omega. I'm the datum, and when you get
all the way around that plot of land, you gotta always come
back to where? Me. Not me, Christ, Christ, Christ. Or it's the invalid inheritance.
Got to come all the way, even if it's a football-shaped piece
of land, got to have datum, at least one other point, and then
back to what? Datum. Maybe there's some out there,
I don't know. Even if it's a circular thing. Okay? And you measure
by geometry or trigonometry. I wasn't very good at all that,
so don't, if you're a teacher here, don't hold me to that.
Even if it's a circle, you still got to have that, and it's got
to go where? All the way back to that. Now
turn to the book of the Revelation. Remember Christ said, I am the
Alpha and the Omega. I am the beginning and the end. He didn't say, I am a beginning
and a end. I am the beginning all the way
around that plot of land. I'm the end. Same person, same
person. Turn to the book of the Revelation
chapter 21. Just a couple of verses for the
sake of time. Chapter 21. Now think of this. Now I'm going
to read what I've just quoted to you. Christ said this in the
beginning of this book, and look at what it says in chapter 21
and verse six again. And he said unto me, it is done. I am alpha and omega, the beginning
and the end. Now think about it. This is then
going to give to us in 21 and 22, what we call the eternal
state. I don't know much about that.
I have hope that one day I'll be there. But I don't know what
this one, I don't know what it's, I can't wait to be done with
me. I like you all. I like you all. But I don't like me. I'm getting
tired of me. If me wasn't me, I could put
up with you all a whole lot easier. But me is me, self-centered,
egotistical, fallen flesh. But one day, by God's grace,
all of this flesh, inward and outward, will be dropped and
I'll have new flesh, right? But even in glory, I'm still
gonna see my Lord Jesus Christ as who? The Lamb. the datum. Now look at it, if I must spot
Revelation 6, verse 6, not 6, 21, verse 22. And I saw no temple therein for
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. Even though Raon will be
done with sin, the shame and guilt will be gone. No more feelings
of remorse. No more thinking of something
in your mind that you did days ago and just shivering because
of yourself. And shake, it'll be gone. No
more tears. Does it go on like that? No pain,
no suffering, but I'm still gonna see Christ as my lamb. I can't
explain that, how I still know I was a sinner, but no longer
be affected by it. What a glorious thing that will
be, will it not? I can still view him as my lamb,
my datum. I saw no temple therein for the
Lord God Almighty and the lamb of the temple of it. The city
had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it,
for the glory of God did lighten it and the lamb. is the light
thereof, you see. And the nations of them which
are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth
do bring their glory and honor unto it. What? Preacher, what?
Their honor and glory? Yeah, they gonna really have
some then, you see. Every one of these people that
God saved, God said to the Apostle Paul that the sufferings of this
life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be
revealed. And what's that next word? I-N. Not just to us, but I am in us. I'm longing for that day. I'm
longing for that day. And the gates of it shall not
be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. They
shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
There shall no wise enter into anything that violates whatsoever,
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie. And here it is. but they
which are written in the Lamb's book of life. And you remember
what John has already said about this book? It's the book of God
that was written before the foundation of the
world, the data. This thing will, as we say, finally
come full circle. And God Almighty will be magnified
in and through His Son amidst all of creation, all of it. And those of us who are in Christ
are heirs and join heirs of that inheritance. Isn't that glorious? Heavenly Father, may these things
encourage us. God, keep our hearts and minds
stayed on Christ in His name, amen.