GOD’S PATTERN
-Introduction
-Many of my fond
childhood memories involve my grandma and grandpa.
-Grandpa –
working in the garden – planting, pulling, digging, etc; the barns –
cows and
chickens
– I can still see and smell the dirt of the garden and the hay in the
barns.
-Grandma –
helping her break green beans, seeing her canning, smelling and eating
her
cooking, watching her sew
-When I think about the
time spent with grandma, there was always one thing that I dreaded – the
times that she would go to the fabric department at the
store to look at patterns – boring.
-pattern – (Mirriam/Webster
Dictionary)
-noun –
“1. an ideal model 2. something used as a model for making things…
-verb – “to
form according to a pattern”
-In the time we have
this morning, let’s talk about God’s pattern for us – His ideal model
that we
are to pattern ourselves after.
-God
Provides Patterns
-God is not the author
of confusion (1 Cor 14:33). Therefore, He provides patterns that are to
be
followed – patterns that provide order and cohesiveness.
-When we follow God’s
instructions (patterns), we all benefit.
-Jas
3:13-18 – Envy, strife and confusion come from following the ways of the
world. We
are to
follow the wisdom which is from above.
-Where do
we find it? - God’s word
-Throughout the
scriptures, we find that there are blessings (here and to come) for
those who conform
to God’s patterns. For those who do not, there are
dreadful consequences (here and to come).
-Josh 22:1-5, 10-12, 15-16
-The people viewed this altar as a violation of
God’s pattern (His instructions). Therefore, they
considered it a trespass and rebellion and
feared the consequences that would result.
-vs 21-29 – “behold the pattern” (vs 28)
-Additional
Old Testament Examples
-Rom 15:4 - To help us
with our application of the scriptures, we should try to think of Old
Testament
examples which will motivate us in our efforts.
-Noah & the Ark
– Gen 6 – Was Noah supposed to build the ark according to a specific
pattern?
-Did he?
Gen 6:22
-Moses and the
Tabernacle – Was the tabernacle and the things associated with it to
be made after a
specific pattern? Ex 25 – 30
-Did Moses and the people follow the specific
pattern prescribed by God? Ex 35-39
-Ex 39:42-43
-Solomon and the Temple – Was Solomon given any
type of a pattern to follow? – 1 Chron 28 (vs 19)
-1 King 6:38 – “the fashion of it” – (Strongs)
- mishpat – “…a verdict…pronounced judicially”
(Brown-Driver-Briggs)- “judgment, justice, ordinance”
-Lev 18:4 – “my judgments” – same word
-The pattern that God had given was binding
(authoritative).
-The Example of Jeroboam
-Consider the following question, “In the Old Testament
scriptures, who is condemned more often
than any other person?” – King Jeroboam, the first king
of the Northern kingdom of Israel
-There are 25 scriptures which contain a
condemning reference to Jeroboam
-Often times, the kings who did evil in the
sight of God are classified as those who followed the
ways of Jeroboam.
-What was it that
Jeroboam did that was so terrible?
-1 Kings
12:28-33
-vs 28 –
“gods” – (Strongs) - Elohiym – “gods in the ordinary sense; but
specifically used (in the
plural thus, especially with the
article) of the Supreme God”
-Gen 1:1 – “Elohiym”
-Jeroboam
wasn’t necessarily trying to direct the people’s attention away from
worshipping and
serving
the true God of heaven.
-However,
he changed God’s prescribed pattern and did according to what “he
had devised of
his own
heart” (vs 33)
-Summary
and Invitation
-God’s word provides
the pattern that must be followed in the various aspects of our
lives – family;
church – organization and worship; obedience – initial
obedience to the Gospel and faithful living, etc.)
-We must abide by His
pattern.
-John 12:48
-Matt
7:24-27
-Rom 6 – Paul talks
about the wonderful topic of freedom – freedom from sin.
-How did
the Christians at Rome receive that freedom?
-They
“obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered” to
them.
-“form” –
(Vines)** - “the representation or pattern…a cast or frame into which
molten material is
poured so as to take its
shape. The Gospel is the mould; those who are obedient to its
teachings become
conformed to Christ, whom it presents”
-God’s word provides
the pattern that we must conform to. What about you?
-Obey the Gospel:
Believe (John 3:16, John 8:24), Confess (Matt 10:32, Rom 10:9-10),
Repent (Acts
17:30, Luke
13:3,5), Be Baptized (Matt 16:16, Acts 2:38, Gal 3:26-29)
-Live Faithfully: Rom
6:4, Eph 4:22-24 – If you haven’t been faithful, come back to God – 1
John 1:7-9,
Acts 8:22-24
Reference Works:
Merriam-Webster
Dictionary, Copyright 2001, Merriam-Webster
Incorporated, ver 2.6
Biblesoft's New
Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary.
Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and
International Bible Translators, Inc.
The Online Bible
Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon,
Copyright
(c)1993, Woodside
Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for
Creation
Research.
Vine's Expository
Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright
(c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers
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