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So Deuteronomy chapter 14 right there in verse 1 it says Ye are the children of the Lord you shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead for thou art and holy people unto the Lord thy God and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a Peculiar people unto himself above all nations that are upon the earth So right out of the gate before God gets into all of the do's and don'ts of the dietary restrictions These first two verses he gives us the why why is it that he's laying all these What the Bible calls is we'll see later cardinal ordinances upon man. Why is he putting these restrictions in the place? Why is he saying don't do this don't eat that you can't eat this you can't eat that Well, it's because of verses 1 & 2 where he says there ye are the children of the Lord and you know That's a very special thing to be God's child. You know, that's that's not everybody is God's child And you know, we live in a world where people have this philosophy that you know, everyone's going to heaven. Everyone's God's child Well, that's just not Bible, you know that Jesus said, you know there that there are few that be saved He called us his little flock and he goes on he kind of further explains that there in verse 2 He says for thou art and holy people and what does it mean to be holy? It means to be set apart means to be different, right? And he even further clarifies it by saying that he hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people and peculiar meaning You know not in the sense that we're weird, you know But in the sense that you know We're different that we're not like everybody else that there's something about us that is different and that's the why right there You know because of the fact that not everybody is a child, you know that makes what we have a very special thing You know that if we believed in Christ, we're as his child that we've been set apart, you know We're made distinct from that which is common We're not now I'm not saying that in a puffed up way and I don't think we should walk around thinking well You know, I'm God's child and you're not you know, we endeavor to make others God's child We want other people to join us, you know What to God that the whole world were God's children would to God that that were true That they wouldn't there wouldn't be many that go to destruction as Jesus said But the fact is that there aren't few there are few that be saved that way It is a peculiar thing that we have here that we have are Unique that we are different in the fact that we believed on Christ and he has set us apart unto himself He has purchased us with his own blood. That's a very special thing and you know this applies to them back Then you know, he chose one nation out of all the nations of the earth To be a light unto the Gentiles when he was one nation that he brought out of Egypt and that he brought You know it brought up out of bondage and raised up and and you know that applied to them then You know as being a peculiar people and applies to us today as well And if you would turn over to 1st Peter chapter 2 will see that where this is Reiterated to some degree in 1st Peter chapter 2 this is New Testament You know this applied to Israel back then but this applies To us today just as much as it did to them Back then you're going to 1st Peter 2 it says in Titus 2 that speaking of Jesus who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and Purify unto himself a peculiar people. So there's that word again a peculiar people zealous of good works He says there in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 9 and you'll see this sounds very familiar. He says but he our chosen generation A royal priesthood and holy nation a peculiar people that you should show forth His the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light Which in times past were not a people but now are the people of God which had not obtained mercy But now have obtained mercy. See what we have is very special. What we have is very dear to us That's why he goes on to verse 11 says dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims and abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul so that's what we can apply these verses to ourselves today and really that's the why and You know that could be the why for many of the reasons for many of the things that we do today I mean the things that we observe today as well as Christians, you know, we even in the New Testaments We have a lot of do's and don'ts, right? There's a lot of things like he says there at the end right of 1st Peter chapter 2 abstain from fleshly lusts You know God commands us in the New Testament not to be fornicators not to be covetous not to be drunk It's not to be all these things and why is it? It's not just because God's trying to ruin our good time down here even though those things You know might might there is a pleasure for sin for a season, you know, they don't really You know, it's not really worth it in the long run But why is it that God says abstain from these things because of the same reason that he told them Here in Deuteronomy to not do the things That he's about to tell them to do that we just read because they are dearly beloved because they are Peculiar people because they are holy because they're set apart because they've been sanctified so That's applies to us today just as much as it did back then and you know He says he's calling them a holy people right somebody that is set apart and we could think about examples in the scripture of of where things are referred to as holy and one that comes to mind is when Moses You know spoke with the Lord at the burning bush What did he tell him is to take off thy feet for the place where on thou standest is holy ground. It's sanctified It's different because it was in the presence of God So we establish this holiness or we we don't establish it But rather I should say that we we display it or we show this holiness or at least they did back then Through the behavior through the way that they live their life through the things that they did do and they didn't do You know and even before we get into the dietary restrictions He's saying look there's certain things that you as my people Will not do that I command you not to partake in that I want you to be different set apart peculiar Unto me in this way by not doing certain behaviors and he says here one of them of course is not cutting yourselves, right? This was a heathen practice if you recall this is something that they did You know, it was demonic and he says there in verse 1 You shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness before your between your eyes before the dead now I didn't really get into the making the baldness between your eyes, you know That's kind of a I don't want to say it's necessarily a vague term But it's not really we don't really use that vernacular today now when we read that we are You know, I don't know about you, but I immediately think of like this spot I'm like, well, it's already bald, you know, so I'm good there, right, you know But I think what he's referring to if you look in other passages We'll see it in Deuteronomy. It says you shall mar the corners of your beard, you know Not make any, you know, not to make any strange markings or to shave your head for the dead things like that So he's saying like, you know, I believe he's referring to you know, this could be considered between your eyes as well Couldn't it? You know, it's just the other way around So maybe that's what he's talking about and I'm treading very lightly here because you know that spot, you know Some of us we would like to make that bald don't we? I don't think that's what he's referring to that can continue. All right Let's just move on before I get myself in really hot water there So but more particular he's talking about the cutting of yourselves no cutting of yourselves now Why is it that he didn't want them cutting themselves? Well one, you know, it's not healthy. It's not good for you I mean, that's a very bad thing to do if you're you know People who are doing that are very disturbed people often people that are going through You know very serious bouts of depression and I believe in many instances people that are even You know demonic that have been possessed by the devil This is something that we're gonna see here if you would turn over to Mark chapter 5 But he's saying look there's certain behaviors You're not going to participate in that you as my people are not going to do because you are holy unto me and one of Them is to not cut yourselves and this was a heathen practice that went on back there and still goes on today You know, I remember when before the whole before it was emo it was called goth All right, and who remembers that right when I was in high school They called the emos the Goths and they listened to a certain type of music and they dressed in all black and they moped around they had long hair and they paint they powdered their faces and they'd paint their nails black and One of the things that they would do is they would cut themselves In fact, I had a friend that I grew up with in an elementary school we spent a lot of time together and then he was a great ahead of me and going through junior high and then into high school we drifted apart and he became one of these goth people and Later we kind of reconnected I would bump into him and talk to him from time to time But it was well known that he was known throughout the high school for being the kid that cut himself that would cut things into his arms and his idea of a good time was to go hang out at the graveyard and You can kind of see why we drifted apart. I just said, you know what? I'm gonna keep playing basketball and skateboarding you can go cut yourself Right. So but that's something that you know, it still goes on today This isn't say, you know preach something relevant this happens this goes on You know, and I'm sure nothing's changed, you know I'm sure even people today we could testify the fact that they know people that still practice this this demonic practice of cutting yourself and you know, it reminds us of course of when Elijah was calling down fire from heaven when he was stood the prophets of Baal and he said you recall the story He said put the ox on the on the they were to put their ox on the altar and call upon the name of the Baal and whoever sent fire down from heaven. He was to be he was the god and What what did the prophets of Baal do? Well, one of the things that they did is that they cried aloud right and it says and they cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets so people that are you know, demonic these these prophets of Baal right these these wicked false teachers One of the things that they practice it says after their manner, you know this is something that they were they did commonly was to cut themselves and So this is something you know, cutting yourself is associated with he that it's a heathen practice It's a it's a it's something that you see associated with demonic possession. Even we'll look here in Mark chapter 5 verse 1 it says and they came over into the other side of the sea into this country of the Gadarenes and When he was come out of the ship immediately there met him a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit Now that doesn't mean a spirit that was rolling around in the mud, you know, that's talking about a demonic spirit, you know a You know, we would say it was You know was devilish. It was a fallen. It was a demon, right? He says in verse 3 and who had his dwelling among the tomb So he's talking about this man who's to possess and no man could bind him. No not with chains Because he had been often bound with fetters and chains and the chains have been plucked asunder by him and the fetters broke in pieces Neither could any man tame him and always night and day He was in the mountains and in the tombs, right? There's that graveyard again and crying and what was he doing at the end and cutting himself with stones? So you can see why God doesn't want his people participating in this now I'm not gonna say every time somebody is involved in this practice that they're demonic But they're definitely either they are possessed by a devil or they're being influenced by somebody who is possessed by a devil A lot of times people get into this especially in high school and stuff like that Where their people are trying to fit in there and they're impressionable and they're trying to fall into a certain crowd You know, they might just start doing this to try to fit in or you know, maybe their favorite music artist You know encourages this and maybe there have been listening to I don't know who's out there anymore But you know my day was Marilyn Manson, you know a great name, you know, Nine Inch Nails these type of bands that are you know into these type of things, you know, and we could and I don't want to go on and on about that, but you know, we could see here that this practice of cutting yourself is Demonic in nature now this also would include tattoos, you know I believe that this would include tattoos as well The tattoos are not something that we as Christians should be getting, you know And let me just preface by saying, you know, if you have tattoos in here tonight I'm not you know that that's in the past, you know, you know, I understand people get saved later in life They come to this knowledge later in life and my goal is not to you know Pick on people or make them feel bad But there's a whole lot of people in this room who have not gotten tattoos that one day might be tempted to get a tattoo You know and if they and there's a lot of and they need to hear this, you know and if you're if you're right with God tonight and you have a tattoo you're gonna want them to hear this and In fact, I don't think there's anybody in this room that if somebody came to you If someone that didn't have a tattoo came to somebody with the tattoo and said hey I want to get a tattoo that person with a tattoo if you're following me still would say no don't do it I believe every person in this room that has one if they're right with God and I believe they are would tell the person without One to not get one because number one they're permanent, you know and don't buy into this whole thing when they say Oh, it could be removed You know some if you now if you're one that you know got one with a homemade gun with like Bic pen ink You know or you know, or you have some really bad Unprofessionally done tattoo that it's just on the outer layers of the of the skin, you know You might have a chance of maybe getting that taken away, but it's still a very painful process It's still gonna leave a scar it's still gonna leave a mark, you know But if you're one who actually went to a professional tattoo, I mean tattoo parlor They're serious about their profession and it's they want it to last they want it to remain bright and colorful I mean, they're they're gonna they're gonna have professional guns that thing's not coming off friend, you know And I and I you know, I have some of my best friends are covered in tattoos and you know I can I don't even notice it, you know, but you know when this comes up We got to preach it but even one of those friends they've even showed me pictures Hey I went to have this removed with a laser and What it does is it causes the skin to boil up and you get a blister and he said it was more painful than the tattoo It's more painful and expensive than getting the tattoo to the point where you don't even bother Because it's not even going to get rid of it in the end It's just gonna dull it and fade it and maybe maybe it make it less noticeable, but it's still gonna be there So don't get tattoos if you haven't got one and if you have got one, you know what confess it forsake it It's in the past, you know, we had that new body that's coming and and praise God for that And but you know, this is a particular and you say well, how's that cutting? Well, how's that get into cutting? Well, that's what tattooing is It's making a bunch of little cuts repeatedly very fast at a high rate of speed in your skin a needle plunging into your skin You know, I mean, maybe it's not slicing but it's definitely piercing the skin and putting ink in your body So that I believe that would count as cutting And you know what if that's not good enough for you You you could turn to Leviticus chapter 19 and read verse 27 where it says you shall not round the corners of your heads Neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead nor print any marks upon you I am the Lord and you know, that's a verse on even a lot of Christians today I don't even know is in the Bible, you know, I remember when I first got saved I was hanging out with this guy who claimed to be a Christian and he very well may have been I don't I don't know I never didn't really have enough discernment to kind of feel him out there But he definitely came from a godly home with Christian parents and I remember him saying so, you know The Bible says it's okay to get tattoos. I'm like, where's the verse that says that? I don't know He's just all mad, you know, and then I read this I'm like it says the exact opposite It says don't put any prints. I mean what else could that be talking about? You know, that's not talking about you know, the your your toddler sitting down with the with just going to town with a you know One of those Crayolas or whatever the little washable markers they get it all over their hands, you know I don't walk, you know, my kids do it all the time They'll be drawing something and then you'll book them over you later They'll have pen all over their hand from other their creativity and it's like don't you haven't you read Leviticus? 1927 you're putting marks upon you, you know, that's not what's referring to it's talking about putting you know tattoos on your body because this is something that's been going on for a long time because this is something that You know and it used to be it was it was you know Only a certain group of people got that kind of thing that they would go get tattoos But now it's become so popular that it's very fashionable to get to get a tattoo I mean, we'll see policemen walking around now with just full sleeves, you know, they're representing their community and they're just you know They walk around these these full tattoos. It's just like it's weird, you know, but that's where we're at in this culture It's become so popular That You know, it needs to be preached against someone needs to stand up and say hey the Bible says don't do it So don't do it and God says that's one of the things he doesn't want you to do Why so be set apart and you know, why do a lot of people get tattoos so they can look different? So they could be unique so they can draw attention, right? But we're getting to the point now We're not having a tattoo is what's gonna make you need you need you say hey, well, what kind of ink you got man? I haven't got any Wow You're weird, you know, you want to stand out in a crowd these days. You don't get the tattoo, right? so Christians should not be getting tattooed. They should not be Cutting themselves and they should and there's several other things here. Namely when it comes to the diet that God says look These are there's certain things you're going to eat and certain things you're not going to eat and why is that? Why is God putting all these do's and don'ts here again? Because he wants to put a difference between his people and the heathen he wants to put a difference He wants us to be holy unto him to be a peculiar people So he goes on in verse three and starts talking about the not eating and the eating of certain animals Which animals are allowed in which our animals aren't? And you know, this is just a long This is the you know litany of of different animals that we are allowed and to eat and not to eat I really don't know that we need to go through the whole thing now. This wasn't in my notes You know if now here's the thing you can go over this list I know we just read it before the service if you really want me to feel like I need to break down every animal for You tell you you know we can do that later for sake of time. I'm not gonna do it I don't feel like I'm you know glossing over the Word of God or trying to avoid some you know Controversial portion of Scripture here by not reading this. I think we're just sparing ourselves a little bit time But I'm kind of shooting from the hip on this one. I will point out the fact that it says Never where does that there where he says you shall not eat the hair right the Well, we might just end up having read the whole thing here because I can't find it in my notes Verse 7 nevertheless you shall not eat of them that chew the cud or of them to divide the cloven foot as the camel and The hair which is referring to like a rabbit right now. I've heard some people and again. I'm shooting for it I probably shouldn't be going down this road, but I've heard some people say well a rat the the modern-day rabbit Doesn't chew the cut it doesn't do that so they so they'll say aha You see the Bible is wrong here because it says that they eat the cut there that they chew the cut Where we know that the rabbit does not know I again I don't I should have taken the time to go on Google I was just thinking about this as brother Garza was reading I remembered this came to mind That somebody had said that to me once now does anyone know whether or not that's true does the hair chew the cut or not I? Thought I was in the impression that they did now maybe so maybe somebody's wrong, but here's the point I was gonna make it doesn't matter to me if that if they have the rabbit today does not chew the cud It doesn't even I'm not gonna You think my whole faith is resting upon whether or not you know whether the the silly little rabbit is chewing its cut or not Like I'm gonna go all the Bible's wrong. You know like well. Here's here's a possible explanation Let's say that the rabbit doesn't chew the cut and it sounds like it very well may so maybe this is pointless anyway But let's say it didn't or you know and you could apply this to something else Maybe you know another objection like this comes up if if let's say it didn't chew the cut well You know do you remember when this was written? Thousands of years ago, this is written, right So really that would just testify to the fact that animals change on their own the animals adapt You know maybe it could just be that the rabbit is adapted now. It sounds like the rabbit hasn't changed at all, but You know we can continue to be Christians today right because the rabbit still choose the cut Right like people point out things like that like aha you know and they think they just blew your whole faith right out of the water And we shouldn't be just so shaken by that well Here's a possible explanation Perhaps that animal has done exactly what it's God's created to do to adapt to change not evolve You know a micro evolution not evolved in the sense that it was once a different animal But that it's actually adapted to a different set of circumstances where it no longer needs to chew the cut. You know I'm not Gonna break that down. Why that might be or why not anyway again kind of shooting from the hip there But I thought it was worth pointing out that hey You know little things like that in the Bible there could be another explanation But Now when we read through this list You know there's nothing inherently bad or good about any of these animals You know he starts to talk now. I will say he starts to talk about you know seafood there. It has to be anything Verse 9 these shall you shall eat of all that are in the waters all that have fins and scales shall you eat, right? So there goes your lobster, or was I affectionately call it the sea rat, right? It's like a little rat of the sea scurrying around under the rocks It's got a weird tail you know there goes your shrimp, which has also been affectionately called the sea cockroach Right another bottom feeder right, but so delicious at the same time right so this would be kind of a bummer back Then you're right because we enjoy those things right now We could eat the cow right so you'd go to the restaurant, and they'd say it's surf and turf on the menu tonight Well, no sir for me all right well praise the Lord for the New Testament And we can have the lobster tail and the the steak as well So, but why is that? Why is it God saying no lobster is it because lobsters bad for you? Is it because shrimp is bad for you is? Because any of these animals have some new you know are devoid of nutritional value But they have nothing to offer to you in the way of nutrition No, that's not it at all. It's again because God is trying to put a difference between his people and other people Now you know go have somebody come up to you and ask hey You want to get some seafood say I don't eat seafood whenever I hear that I think you're a little weird you know cuz seafood's good. You know depending where you go I don't recommend red lobster anymore, but You know if you're anytime. I'm near an ocean. I was in Houston a few weeks ago I'm like where is the seafood at unfortunately didn't have time to get to it But you know whenever you get somewhere you could actually get fresh caught seafood. That's great You know now not everybody's not into seafood. I get it. You're just a little weird That's fine, but first proves my point You know that that not eating certain things makes makes you peculiar Right like if this is what's on the menu well my religion tells me. I cannot eat that You know well why is that why you know that's the way the Lord said you know in Deuteronomy? You know and it just it just makes a difference between God's people and his people I mean how else is God going to make a distinction? between his people and the lost his people in the heathen I mean How else but besides through their behaviors I? Mean sure you could reach down from heaven and maybe you know put a dot on our foreheads or something like that right you know but Wouldn't it be easier just to have us you know it would be more on our part We would have to hold up our end of the bargain at that point You know and actually and you know watch what we eat or at least they did you know and watch what we allow our? What we're gonna allow into our lives and what we're gonna keep out See it's it's it puts something we have a responsibility to uphold to to Take on that privilege of being God's peculiar people you know it's a two-way street You know we know whether even if we don't do those things that God tells us, so we're still saved We're still his people. It's just that you know we're not we're not showing that to other people other people aren't going to notice that So again, there's nothing inherently good or bad about any of these animals You know but the purpose of them not eating it was simply to set them apart from others around them and There is some symbology here though that I've heard preached, and I think this is just as true And where it says you know they were allowed to eat animals that chewed the cud and part the hoof Right so I think everyone knows what chewing the cut is with an animal brings up that which is partially digested Chews it some more and it goes down into another stomach I think cows have like was it four stomachs, but they bring food back up Then they chew it some more it goes back into their stomach. It's just part of their digestive process But they also part the hoof You know so they don't have a cloven hoof, but they part the hoof He says well an animal that chews the cud and parts the hoof you are allowed to eat now Why is that why does God choose that animal I believe it's symbolic of Basically it boils down to this this common phrase You got to walk the walk and talk the talk when you think about it That's kind of what the symbology is there This is somebody who not only walks the walk But talks the talk and I believe there's a lot You know there was a great pastor Anderson preach a great sermon on that called part the hoof and chew the cut I believe it. That's what it's called where he really goes into that if you're interested. I really recommend that one, but I Believe that's some of the symbology that's behind it that God doesn't want us just to be people that only talk the talk He wants us to be people that you know say what we mean and also you know we preach and we practice what we preach Because you're you're you know as the saying goes your walk talks louder than your talk talks right So that's I believe what he's getting across here, and that's something that we've seen in the New Testament as well He says in 1st John chapter 3 my little children Let us not love in word neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth And you know if you recall this was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees You know they did a lot of talking But they didn't do a lot of walking did they they did a lot of chewing of the cud, but they didn't part the hoof Right and he said of them and Matthew chapter 23 then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples saying The scribes and the Pharisees said in Moses see all therefore whatsoever They bid you observe that observe and do he's saying look what they're telling you to do is right It's it's the law. It's it's Bible, but do not after their works Before they say and do not They're saying you guys need to do this you need to do that and they say hey what they're telling you to do is right But don't be like them where you say to do this, and then don't do it yourself. Don't be a hypocrite He's saying for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders But they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers So I believe that's some of the symbology there in that dietary restriction Why did God choose those specific animals is because of the symbology of walking walk talking to talk not being Hypocrite and you know what there's probably a whole lot more in there, too Even a passage like that that we would read and say what it know why why does that even in there? We don't you know this isn't for us today well There's probably a lot that we could pull out of it if we would meditate upon the Word of God and compare Scripture with Scripture And we probably get even even more out of it But I will say this you know this needs to be clarified too Is that the dietary restrictions these these this law Deuteronomy here only applied to? The to them to Israel during the time of the Levitical priesthood You know it all things were allowed prior that you know if you recall in Genesis God when Noah came off the ark He tell them be fruitful and multiply replenish the earth and the fear and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the Earth and upon every fowl of the air upon that moved upon the earth Upon all the fishes of sea into your hand they are delivered He said every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you No restrictions, so the surf and turf is back on the table You know the surf portion is there if you want it unless you're weird, right? So I know there's somebody in this room that doesn't like I'm kind of picking on them a little bit, but anyway But it's there. You know we can eat whatever we want. We can have whatever we want. We don't have to worry about Well at least that's the way it was back then that's the point I'm trying to make and all things are allowed today, and this is important to understand because there's some people You know Judaizers that would want to bring us back under the law back under Carter Lawrence's, and if you would Turn over to Hebrews chapter 9 You know people want to go back to this they want to say well Let's bring the dietary restriction back into play you know they'll say well. You shouldn't eat pork That's that's blasphemy my friend You know fry up the bacon get the pork sandwich out, let's go to smoky Moe's You know they're closed already, but you know I almost went there this afternoon But ended up at Chipotle anyway Chipotle I gotta start saying it right Hebrews chapter 9 old habits are hard to break Hebrews chapter 9 verse 8 it says the Holy Ghost this signifying that the way That the way into the holiness of all a holiest of all is not yet made manifest Well as yet the first tabernacle was yet standing Which was a figure of the time then present in which were both offered gifts and sacrifices? That could not make him that did the service perfect as pertain to the conscience which stood only in meats and drinks and Diverse washings and cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reaffirm way reformation So he's saying look this old. He's talking about the Levitical priesthood here, right? He's talking about You know the tab or the first tabernacle the holiest of holies which could not make the comers there unto perfect in regards to the conscience and it says that it stood only in meats and drinks and Diverse wassings and carnal ordinances, and it says that all that would now the carnal ordinances that would include you know carnal Is the flesh things that pertain to the body like a diet right? He's saying look your diet the the dietary restrictions would be included in the cardinal ordinances He's saying these things were imposed on them until what until the time of reefer make reformation That's not talking about Martin Luther. Okay, it's talking about in verse 11, but Christ becoming in high priest of good things To come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with ants that is to say of this building It's talking about the coming of Christ. That is the Reformation Christ came so all of these cardinal ordinances the tabernacle do we still set up a tabernacle today? We still go sacrifice animals and and have a priest that puts on the garments and Burnt incense and all of that that goes on that goes along with that. We don't do any of that Because those are cardinal ordinances that have been done away in Christ and that would include The dietary restrictions as well Well, I mean how you can't people they want to select and pick out of the Old Testament what they want Well, we're gonna take the dietary restrictions. We're gonna leave off the animal sacrifice. Well, that's convenient, isn't it? You know, we're gonna we're gonna take, you know honor, you know, keeping the Sabbath holy and on the fifth day, you know But then we're not gonna you know, do some other part of the law They they pick and choose that's not how it works either, you know Now there are certain things that have you know that are very if they're not specifically spelled out In the New Testament that are still in play, right? Does God need to repeat everything in the Old Testament in order for us to understand that we you know, we shouldn't kiss grandma Or something, you know in a bad way, you know, he goes on we're gonna get into later in Deuteronomy We're talks about you know, all of the different types of physical relationships that are you know wicked and allowed Does God need to reiterate all that in the New Testament for us to get it? No, all those things still apply unless they're specifically done away with in the New Testament and one of the things that we see here in Hebrews and if you would turn over to Colossians chapter 2 is The cardinal ordinances were done away at the time of reformation and the time of reformation was when Christ came and It says in Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 It says beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the after the tradition of men After the rudiments of the world and not after Christ for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and he are complete in him Which is the head of all principality and power in whom also you are circumcised the circumcision with made without hands in Putting off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ buried him with him in baptism where and also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead and You being dead in your sins and the uncircumcised in your flesh hath he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses doing what? Verse 14 blotting out all blotting out the handwriting of ordinances there it is again Cardinal ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way It says nailing it to his cross and having spoiled principalities and powers and made a show of them Hopefully try anything over them in it verse 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat. He's saying this right here It's clear as day Let no man judge you therefore in me You know not just the eating of meat whether it's okay or not to eat meat, but specifically what meats are you know? Forget the pun on the table and which ones aren't You know, that's what he's saying here. Don't judge You know if I want to sit down and eat sea rat and sea roach, you know I have that liberty to do that The more I say that the less likely I'm probably to do it because they'll have that image with every time I go to eat It right, but if I want to eat something that that doesn't you know, chew the cud and something that doesn't part the hook I'm a lot. I you can't judge me on that according to Colossians According to the New Testament, you know, he goes on He says, you know a meat or a drink or inspective and holy day or the new moon or the Sabbath days All these things have been specifically done away in Christ Which are a shadow of the things to come but the body of Christ I mean that was the purpose of those things to point us to Christ. There's a lot of symbology in this in these things So go ahead and go back to Deuteronomy chapter 14. We'll move on here And he says in verse 21 You shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself thou shalt give it under the stranger that is in the gates That he made of it or thou might say it sell it unto an alien now when it says an alien It's talking about a stranger. It's not saying give it to ET Right because we all know he ate Reese's Pieces anyways This is so bad, but you know, he's saying look if you're something dies of itself and this kind of thing goes on today You know, I don't know that this would classify Roadkill would count as that. I mean, it's not really dying of itself I think it's referring more of like a disease or something like that. He's saying look you're not gonna eat of that You're gonna give it to somebody else, you know, you can give it to the stranger because he's not like you And wouldn't that can you see how that would back then especially like that would make them a peculiar people to that person? Hey, I found this fresh roadkill that there's and people do this in Alaska and other places I knew a guy from Alaska. He lived up there worked for a while He said that you would actually put in a part you would you would apply for roadkill license And you would get a tag they'd have you a name on a list They just start calling down the list and they because I mean, you know a moose or an elk or something like that It hits up there. That's that's a lot of meat I mean you could feed a family for a very long time on one of those animals And he said, you know that someone would hit a moose or something like that and He'd get the call. Hey over on highway so-and-so at the certain mile marker on the you know, whatever bound lane It's yours go take it and you know Someone would go cut that up and eat it cuz a lot of good meat So it's not like God's saying hey sell rancid meat to these people, you know or give them something That's gonna make them sick and die. That's not what he's saying here, right? What he's saying is I give them something that there's nothing wrong with it You can sell it to them, but you're not allowed to eat it Now wouldn't that make me strange? You know if I if a peculiar person if I had perfectly good meat and I just said here you can have it here I'll sell it to you. Well, why don't you want it? Is there anything wrong with it? No Why don't you want it, you know cuz back then especially it wasn't like you just went down to bashes and you know picked up You know, whatever the roast beef was on sale or whatever you get a chuck roast or something You know meat was something you had to raise a lot of went into it They'd say we'd say well I don't do that because you know, the Lord doesn't allow us to do that Well, tell me more about this this God of yours, you know, it would make us peculiar You can see how these things would set you apart and you know, God does it in such a practical manner He sets his people apart through their behavior the things that they do and the things that they are not allowed to do So he says there He could sell it to an alien for thou art and holy people in the Lord thy God there again That's the reason because you're holy because you're different because you're peculiar And he says thou shalt not see the kid in his mother's milk Now if anybody in this room has an idea of why that's there I'd love to hear it because I've thought about that and talked to guys about it and I've not heard a really great explanation I'm sure there is one. I know there is one but that's that's a real interesting verse and I'm sure there's a lot to it But I don't have anything for it. So if you got anything, let me know after the service I'll say where were you earlier, you know, but verse 22 it says thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed That the field bringeth forth year by year and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in a place where he shall chose choose to place his name there the tithe thy corn of thy wine and thine oil and the first thing thy herds and thy flocks That thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always so, you know, this is another go He goes he's talking about the tithe back then how it was done but notice another great principle even one that we practice here when it comes to the tithe is that he says there and You know, he says thou shalt truly try tithe right verse 22 the verse 23 and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God So it wasn't like they take their tithe and give it to the priest and then they're like, oh You know, well good thing we brought our sack lunch while the priest goes and eats our food, right? He says no you'd go there and you make the sacrifice and the priest and you would eat together You would eat with him, you know, you would partake of that tithe, you know, and that's a principle that we practice here You know, that's why you know, the baby shower was free of charge, you know That's why all the borrows came down and you know, that was part of the tithe, you know That's why we're gonna have the you know, the barbecues the church picnics and activities. That's that same principle, you know It's not just that God's the people that are you know in full-time the ministry just hoarding all this money and sitting on it And becoming something rich now is that out there sure it is Right, but you know the principle is that you know, everybody gets to partake in that to some degree and he says here And I want to go on about the tithe because I preached sermon about that recently and he says in verse 24 So he's telling him, you know, hey, you got to bring the first fruits of your your your your seed You know all your fruits and vegetables your livestock You got to bring this to the place where he puts his name and tied it and he says in verse 24 at the way Be too long for thee so thou are not able to carry it or if the place be too far from thee which Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there When the Lord hath blessed thee then thou shalt turn it into money and bind up the money in thine hand And shall go into place with the Lord thy God shall choose and shall bestow the money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after For oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink or for whatsoever thy soul desireth And thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God and thou shalt rejoice thou in thine household. So he's saying look God, you know God is very practical You know, God God understands man's position and God I that's all about the Bible is so practical and all of these things He says look he understood that there's gonna be people that are very far away from Jerusalem or Shiloh or wherever he put up the tabernacle or the temple eventually and he says look you can if it's too far for You if you have so much abundance that you know, you you don't even have a cart big enough to haul it all down there It's just gonna be too much work. It's not practical and just turn into money and go down there and buy it I mean God, he's just he's very practical in the way. He he asks us to serve him and Now I do want to point out here where it says in verse 26 that they were allowed to buy wine or for strong drink Right and some people I've seen turn to say will say well see that there that is an endorsement for drinking alcohol They'll say hey Bible says you could gone down there and bought strong drink now I do not believe that this is an endorsement of drinking alcohol at all Yeah in in the same verse if you notice it says there and thou shalt eat before the Lord They got notice the drinking is left out right and other passages. God says talks about eating and drinking Okay, and I don't believe that's a coincidence And if you look elsewhere and we're not gonna dive real deep into this But you know God talks about strong or strong wine being poured out as a drink offering in the holy place before the Lord That I believe that's what was to be taking place with this you say well, I don't know about that Well, it doesn't say anywhere It says they're allowed to eat but doesn't say they're allowed to drink this stuff right doesn't say go ahead and drink the strong drink and You know elsewhere we know if we know our Bibles is that strong drink is strictly forbidden in the Bible And he says in Leviticus chapter So this would be a contradiction for God to say don't read alcohol except when you come to worship me Except when you're gonna come worship me then you can just get drunk as a skunk all bets are off You know get three sheets to the wind and make a fool yourself at the tabernacle or at the temple that makes no sense Okay, and anybody who knows anything about strong drink is this it doesn't take much that's why it's called strong drink right now I don't believe that this is referring exactly to what you know, this isn't your black label whiskey, but this is you know potent You know fermented beverages that would get people drunk as I believe it's referring to he says We know elsewhere that it's forbidden, you know, specifically in the priests, you know, Leviticus chapter 10 He said and he spake an errand saying do not drink wine nor strong drink nor thy sons with thee He says look you're not to drink strong drink. We know Proverbs right Proverbs has a lot to say about the subject It says wine is a mocker strong drink is ranging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise And you know any of us that have either Had it had experience with this in the past or know people who were involved in it can probably tell a lot of very Embarrassing stories about you know people that who are who have been deceived by strong drink and Even tragic things have taken place due to strong drink, you know a things that people are not proud of It's raging, you know, it says there Proverbs chapter 31 It says it is not for kings o'leh me. Well, it is not for kings to drink wine Nor for princes to drink strong drink and what about Proverbs 23 and I've preached on this I know brother Cale was down here. He preached on this recently. So we're not gonna turn to all these passages But he says look not thou upon the wine when it is red or giveth its color in the cup with it move itself Right saying look it's not for the priests. It's not for the kings He's saying if you're deceived by it, you're not wise and he says here you're not to look upon the wine when it's red now What's the problem with the wine? Because if you think God doesn't want you're looking at it because of the color Is that what guys think don't look at it. It's the wrong color You know, it's it's too much of a chartreuse You know when it gets more into a burgundy, you know or whatever, that's not what God's that's not the problem with the wine The problem of the wine is that it moveth itself, right? It's fermented, right? It's it's has living Organisms in there that will get you drunk. It has yeast in it And you know, some people will object all this and say well, you know everything you just cited only applies to the priests It only applies to Lenuel Kings right and only apply it only applies to the priests the sons of Aaron Well, what does the Bible say about us It says in Revelation chapter 1 verse 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia grace be unto you and peace And from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which were before his throne And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and it says that in verse 6 and hath made us kings and priests unto our God So now, you know, it's it's twofold not for us, you know, not every priest was a king And not every king was a priest. We're both we are kings and priests unto our God And it's not for kings and it's not for priests and notice if you know I know I didn't have you turn there But if you if you paid attention there when I read verse 6 and half made us kings and priests that's present tense You know if you're saved today, you already are a king You already are a priest you are you know that you might as already well be in the kingdom ruling and reigning with Christ You're as good as there so it's not for us to be partaking in Strong drink and things like that and to turn to a passage like that and try to I mean if that's that you're you're pretty Desperate to go to a passage like that to try to justify the the consumption of alcohol when there's so many other verses that strictly forbid it and condemn it and cast it in a very poor light and Like I said earlier anybody who knows has been around it involved with it knows everything that goes wrong with it And it doesn't take a genius to figure out and you know the so the warning You know is don't find out for yourself. You know kids There's no reason for you to go figure that out the Bible already told you alcohol. It will ruin your life God already told you you know don't cut yourself. Don't go and do those things Right so we've already we can learn so many things about what not to do from the Bible And it will help us become what a holy and peculiar people and a God When we learn to abstain from the things we should abstain from and start to actually do the things that we're supposed to be doing You know we'll finish up here in verse 27 He says in the Levite that is with thine the gates thou shalt not forsake him for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee At the end of three years thou shall bring forth all the tithe of thy increase the same year and shall laid up with thy gates and a Levite because he hath no part or inheritance with thee and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow which are in that Gate shall come and shall eat and be satisfied You know God doesn't have a welfare system You know then that's not because God doesn't care for the poor It's because God has provided a better way to take care of folks that are in you know in Tough circumstances such as the fatherless the widow you know you think of the fatherless You know that that's probably in all likelihood going to be a poorer family There's one you know the maybe mom has to go out and earn the income now You know she didn't you know if she's widowed later in life She didn't get a chance to develop the skills as a you know as a tradesman that dad did to go out and earn a Profitable living you know and now she's got all these kids to provide for you know that that makes for a very poor set of circumstances Where you know food could become? Scarce you know nutritionally it's not there So God has provided a way to take care of the fatherless and the widow right and like I was just saying you know He says you know the the woman that has lost her husband You know maybe doesn't even have kids to provide for her You know or has a you know a whole bunch of little kids that she herself has to take care of God's provided a way to take care of them. This isn't the only way either You know we'll get into it later in Deuteronomy where God tells them to not go back after the sheave if they forget it in The field but to leave it for the poor that they were not to you know glean every corner of the field That they were to leave some behind for so that the poor of the land could come and eat He says there and notice it says that these poor people were to come and shall eat God didn't say send it to them in their post office box and let them just you know walk out in their you know Pajamas and just go you know or get it electronically and just decided you know Well, they when they work up enough ambition to go use their EBT card or something like that They had to go there and to put some effort into it You know when the God told them to leave this stuff in the field they had to actually put some effort You know and say well, why is that because they probably felt better about themselves? Rather you know you feel better about yourself when you actually have to put it some effort into it Especially you know as a poor person maybe you know Maybe they don't have the ability to you know Do a lot of that you know to work a regular job or whatever it is They have an opportunity to go out and to earn what they get and that gives you a sense of self-worth That's what I'm trying to say So that God systems better you know and it's not that God's you know you know neglects the poor You know God in fact you know warns his people To to not neglect the poor to not treat them poorly to treat them well to care for them to have compassion now Well, it'll come up later in coming weeks What actually constitutes the poor, but we have a different idea what it means today, which is not biblical I believe but God does provide for the poor and this is one means that he does it that When people would come and eat of the they bring their tithes It wasn't just you know if we were to go to Jerusalem if we were under live back Then it took all our tithe our our first fruits of our animals, and there's you know our field and went there You know wouldn't just be the Levite over there. You know stuffing himself to the gills You know and leaving us with nothing. You know we get to partake in that as well, and it wouldn't be just us You know it would be the widow would come along with us You know and it would be a great time of fellowship, and if you recall we read there earlier It says and you shall go and you shall eat, and you shall do what you shall rejoice It would you know have been a great Fest you know festival have been a great time of fellowship and food and a really great system praising the Lord worshiping God this wasn't a this wasn't dreary this wasn't something that they did grudgingly in fact. I'll be perfectly honest. You know there's a There's a little a Mexican meat shop right down the road From where I live and I go by every day to the church and Several times during the week they have just a big grill that they go out And they just grill up all their meat You know they turn the stereo speakers on and it's they're having a good time over there And I mean the flames are like leaping out onto 40th Street, and the smell of just burning You know cow flesh just comes across and it just smells so good Right sometimes. I go me that Levitical priesthood wasn't such a bad thing you know me Maybe these Judaizers are onto something maybe we know I'm just kidding you know, but you know this thing I mean imagine just having been there It's smelling that all the food cooking and the vegetables and everything and the Bible makes you hungry sometimes, right? But what's this chapter about this chapters about you know God's people being peculiar? God's people being holy being set apart unto him, and how are they to do it? You know not through just their words, but actually how they behave not just talking to talk, but walking the walk you know through Abstaining from some things and practicing other things in their practical life. That's how we're going to be peculiar today We're going to obey the commandments of God when he tells us what what to do and what not to do That's how we're going to be holy. That's how we're going to be set apart. Let's go ahead close the word prayer