God Is NOT Doing a New Thing

Okay. Okay, good morning, everybody. Great to see many of you that we haven't seen for months and months.

Welcome back to church. It is really wonderful to be able to gather and to worship and to see you face to face.

So great to have you with us this morning.

The feeling I get is our family did some camping over the last few months.

And, you know, when you camp, you sleep really badly.

And so, like, every half an hour, you're looking at your watch or your phone and how long until morning.

And it's like half past two.

And you kind of doze back to sleep and you wake up and you look at your phone and it's only three o'clock.

And you're kind of waiting for the sun to rise.

And then eventually, at around half past five, you see the first rays of sun.

And it feels like morning is coming.

And in some ways, I feel like morning is coming.

The rays of sun are starting to begin to shine.

And hopefully, we are moving towards some level of normality.

But it's really wonderful to be with you all today.

Now, one of the questions I want us to ask is, we kind of like life is transitioning.

Hopefully, the fifth wave is coming to an end and is going to be buried.

Hopefully, there won't be a sixth wave.

But, you know, but for now, we're in this transition.

And what might God want to say to us as the fifth wave passes, as we go back to school and back to work, as we start together, as life starts to get back to normal, what might God want to say to us this morning?

Well, we're going to look at a passage.

Annabelle's going to come and read to us in a few minutes' time.

And we're looking at this passage.

That's a very well-known passage.

But the reason we're going to look at it is because this passage in Deuteronomy 6, the nation of Israel, are also at a time of transition.

And a time of transition for two reasons.

The one reason is because Israel is coming out of the wilderness.

If you know the story of the Bible, they left Egypt.

They came into the wilderness.

And they've been there for 40 years.

And for 40 years, they've wandered through the wilderness, kind of in this limbo stage, neither in the promised land, but also not back in Egypt, wondering, are they coming or are they going?

They've been waiting to go into the promised land, this land that is described as a place of rest, a place of milk and honey.

And they've been waiting.

And now at this juncture, they are finally ready to get into the promised land.

They're about to go in.

And so Moses speaks to them these words on the cusp of this new season.

But the other reason why Israel is in this transition is because Moses, the great leader, the guy who helped Israel come out of Egypt and into the promised land, he's not going to go in with them.

He is old and he's about to die.

And he's going to hand over the reins to Joshua, the new young leader.

And so in some ways, the book of Deuteronomy that we're going to look at is Moses' final sermon to the people of God, the nation of Israel.

It's kind of like his last words.

As they go into their next season, these are his final words to them.

He's led them out of Egypt.

He's led them through the wilderness for 40 years.

They're about to go in.

And he's not going with them.

And so this is what Moses wants to say to them.

What might God want to say to them in this next season?

And what might God want to say to us as we come out of the fifth wave and into this season of normalcy to some degree?

Well, Annabelle is going to come and read God's word to us from Deuteronomy chapter 6, and then I'll pick up again.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

The scripture reading today comes from the selected portions of Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

If you read along in the bulletin, note that we have the entire chapter printed for your reference.

So please skip to the appropriate verse.

Starting from verse 6, we read.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

And these words I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house

and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise.

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontless between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,

and to give you with great and good cities that you did not build,

and houses full of good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig,

and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant.

And when you eat and are full, then take care, lest you forget the Lord,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

It is the Lord your God you shall fear.

Him you shall serve, and by his name you shall swear.

You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you.

For the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God.

Lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you,

and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

Then from verse 20,

When your son asks you in time to come,

what is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules

that the Lord our God has commanded you?

Then you shall say to your son,

We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt,

and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous,

against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household before our eyes.

And he brought us out from there,

that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.

And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes,

to fear the Lord our God for our good always,

that he might preserve us alive as we are this day.

And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all this commandment

before the Lord our God as he has commanded us.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Let's just pray briefly as we look at this passage.

Heavenly Father, we come before your word this morning.

In this season where things are starting to open up,

we can start to gather as a church and worship and sing and pray.

Kids can go back to school and we can go back to the office.

God, this season of transition,

we want to steward this season ahead of us well.

We don't just want to get sucked into the rat race of life.

And before we know it, life is just the way it's always been.

And yet we forget about you.

So Father, we pray, come and speak to us.

Let your word come and find a place in our heart.

God, you know where each one of us are at this morning.

And won't you come by your spirit and meet us, God,

and both encourage us and challenge us.

And let your word speak to us.

We ask you to be here in your awesome name.

Amen.

So this passage that Annabelle read to us,

along with two other passages,

Deuteronomy 11 and Numbers 15,

in the Jewish faith is called the Shema.

And the Shema makes up the prayers,

the daily prayers that Orthodox Jews will pray

every morning and every evening.

It's like some of the most important part of their scriptures

and what they will pray on a daily basis.

And the word Shema in Hebrew means hear or listen.

And it comes from the first word in verse 4.

Annabelle read it to us.

Hear, O Israel.

In verse 3 again, I think,

Hear, therefore, O Israel.

Listen up.

Turn your attention to me.

If you have children,

I'm sure you've gone through this experience.

Claire and I had this recently at the dinner table

where we had to explain to our children

the difference between hearing and hearing.

Right?

There's a difference between hearing the audio sounds

and actually responding or paying attention.

So you say to your kids,

Okay, dinner is here.

Let's come to the table.

And they're grossed in a book

or they're drawing something

or they're watching something.

And what do they say?

They say,

Yes, yes, I'm coming now.

And then three minutes later,

you call them again.

Say,

I'm coming.

I'm just finishing the page.

And then seven minutes later,

you've got to call them again.

And they're listening.

They're responding.

They're nodding their heads,

but they're not listening.

Right?

Or maybe you've had this

where you're trying to have a conversation

with somebody

and they are on their phone.

And they're nodding their head

and they're saying,

Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh.

Yeah, I'm listening to you,

but they're not really listening.

Right?

Well, God here speaks to His people.

And at this critical juncture

in Israel's life and history,

they've just come out of this

season in the wilderness

and God doesn't want them

just to politely nod their heads

and say,

Mm-hmm.

We're listening.

He wants their attention.

I'll often say to my girls

when they're not listening,

I'll say,

Okay, look me in the eye.

I want your attention.

Are you listening to me?

Hear, O Israel.

Listen up.

I've got something important

to say to you.

And what does God want to say

to His people?

Well, look what He says.

Hear, O Israel,

The Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your might.

These commands that I'm giving you today

shall be on your heart.

Now, this passage is obviously very famous

because later on, you know,

in the Bible and the Gospels,

somebody comes to Jesus and says,

Jesus, there are 600 commands

in the Old Testament.

Which one is the most important?

I mean, out of 600,

I can't do all of them.

What must I prioritize?

And Jesus picks this very verse.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And so all Israel knew

this was kind of the central command

along with, you know,

the first of the Ten Commandments

in chapter 5.

You shall have no other gods before me.

This was the central command

for Israel in the Old Testament.

On Wednesday afternoons

at the office,

we have a preaching meeting

where we always review

the last Sunday sermon

and give critical feedback.

And then the preacher needs to present

some ideas and thoughts

for the coming Sunday.

And we always ask this question,

in one sentence,

what are you actually trying to say?

Because if you can't summarize

in one sentence,

you don't know what you're saying, right?

It's a good test.

In our CG,

we often say at the end of Thursday night,

okay, in one sentence,

what does God try to say to you tonight?

Summarize it.

Well, you could take

the book of Deuteronomy,

Moses' final sermon,

and in some ways,

summarize it in one sentence.

Moses, what are you saying to us?

As we go into this next season,

the promised land,

what are you saying?

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

all your soul,

all your might.

Well, Lord willing,

this won't be my final sermon

at Watermark.

Hopefully,

we've got many more years here.

But we face the same situation.

We're kind of coming out

of this holding pattern,

being neither in Egypt,

but neither in the promised land.

We're in this kind of limbo.

It hasn't quite been 40 years,

even though it might feel like that

for some of us.

But we're in this pattern.

What does God want to say to us?

Here, O people of Watermark,

people of Hong Kong,

listen up.

The Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

We shall love God

with all of our heart,

soul, mind, and strength.

Now, this passage,

this verse is very famous,

but what does it actually mean?

What does God actually say?

Well, the point that God is making here

is that God's people

are to be those who treasure God

and trust Him

and are devoted to Him

with all that they have

in every area of their life.

The point here isn't that

we are meant to spend hours debating.

What does Moses mean by heart

and what does he mean by soul?

You know, what part of you

is your heart?

What is your soul?

Why does Jesus add mind,

but Moses forgets to add mind?

The point here,

Moses isn't giving us

a diagnostic of the faculties

of the human being.

The point really is

all of your life

and every area of your life,

bring that before God

and treasure Him

and trust Him

and devote yourself to Him

in all of those areas.

In fact,

you see,

in the ancient world,

almost every culture

understood

and was quite comfortable

with the idea

of the plurality

of various deities

and gods.

And so every culture

in the ancient world

would recognize,

there's many gods, right?

There's the God of the Jews

and there's the God

of the Babylonians

and the God of the Canaanites.

There's the God of the sun

and the moon

and the water

and the war

and fertility

and all these things.

But the general consensus was,

you can worship

whatever god you want,

but when you come

into our territory,

you know,

if you're going to come

and live in Canaan,

well, then you honor our gods.

If you're going to go

and live in Babylon,

well, then you honor

the gods of the Babylonians.

So everyone was okay

with the idea

that there's many gods.

Just don't come

and disrespect our God

when you live here.

And of course,

they also agree

there are many gods

for many parts of your life.

You want to have a child?

Okay, well,

you pray to the God

of fertility.

You're going to go off to war?

You honor the God of war,

et cetera, et cetera.

And so what would happen

is that the nation of Israel,

they were tempted

to do the same thing,

to take on this same worldview.

And so on Sunday

or Sabbath then,

I guess they go to the,

on Saturday,

they go to the Sabbath

and they bring their offerings

and they worship

and they praise God.

But then the rest of life,

they want to do other things.

They worship those gods.

If you're going off to war,

you praise the God of war.

You want to have a child,

you honor the God of fertility.

And so like the rest

of the nations around them,

Israel was tempted

to honor God supremely,

primarily,

but have these other gods

in their lives.

I recently read a story

of a pastor from Africa.

And I didn't know him,

good thing.

He was offering various body parts

of a young lady

that had died in his village.

And so he went to the cemetery

and he bought these body parts

and he would offer them

to the spirits

as a special offering

to drive out the evil spirits

and to try and secure blessing

and prosperity for his life.

Okay?

But he's a pastor.

And so someone challenged him

and said,

hang on,

hang on,

aren't you like meant

to be a man of God?

How can you do this

spirit worship

at the same time?

And he said,

yes,

I am a man of God.

I only do this

outside of church hours.

Okay?

And we laugh at that,

right?

When I read that as well,

I thought,

you've got to be kidding.

We laugh at that

and we think that is

so primitive, right?

That is so ancient, right?

You people from Africa,

you're so primitive, right?

But don't we do

the same thing

in our own kind of way?

We come on Sundays

and we worship God

and we sing,

God and God alone.

Yes, yes,

and we worship God

and we take communion.

But on Monday to Friday,

we go into our city

and we are tempted

to offer a special offering

as the word

to the various gods

and idols of our own world.

And so on Sunday,

we worship God

and we take communion.

But on Monday,

we sacrifice

on the altar of Korea

our families

and our marriages

and our children.

Or we sacrifice

our ethics

and our principles

on the altar

of financial security

and stability.

Or we sacrifice

on the altar

of people pleasing

our convictions

and our honoring of God.

And so in the same way,

we can do exactly

what Israel

and these other people

are doing.

But God is saying here

that when we do that,

when we limit God

to one facet of our life,

to say forgiveness of sin

or to Sundays

or to eternal life

or one facet of our lives,

actually we reduce God

into an idol

just like the other idols

of the nations around us

and the idols of our lives.

But look at what God

wants to say here.

He says,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

And the Hebrew there

can be translated

in various ways.

If you have a Bible,

you'll see there are probably

notes at the bottom.

There's a couple of different ways

it can be translated.

But the big idea here

is the Lord,

Yahweh is His name,

He is the one true God.

He's not just

the God of Israel.

He's not just

the God of the Jews.

He's not just

the God of salvation

or atonement

or forgiveness of sins

or the God

who got you out of Egypt.

He is not just

the bombshell to God

that we kind of

keep on standby

and when things go badly

we kind of rush

and take refuge in Him.

He is the one true,

true, eternally sovereign

Lord of all creation

of all universes.

If there are multiple universes,

that's okay.

He's Lord of all of them

as well.

He's the God

of every dimension of life

because He is the one true,

uncreated, eternally glorious,

sovereign God.

He's the God

of every facet of life,

of all peoples,

of all cultures,

of all countries

and circumstances.

He's the God

of all of life

and all of our lives

and therefore

the God of every facet

and part of our lives.

He's not just the God

we run to for salvation.

He's the God

who's Lord

over Sundays,

service,

but He's also the God

who's Lord

over the Thursday afternoon

board meeting.

He's God

of the prayer meeting

on a Thursday night,

but He's also God

of your staff meeting

on a Monday morning.

He is Lord

over creation

and cosmos,

but He's also Lord

of our finances

and our sexuality

and our relationships

and our relationships

with our parents.

He's the God

of our longings

and our fears

and our anxieties

and our worries.

The Lord,

your God,

the Lord is one.

God over every facet

of life

and therefore,

He calls us

for this undivided love

and affection,

this undivided devotion

and loyalty,

this worship

and this trust.

Hear, O Israel.

Hear, people of God.

The Lord, our God,

Yahweh,

the God of the Bible,

is the one true God.

Therefore,

love Him

with your heart,

your soul,

your mind,

your strength,

with every facet

of our lives.

In some senses,

as Israel

stands on the verge

of going into

this new season

in the nation,

the life of Israel,

God is actually

not doing anything

very new

and original.

Sometimes,

Claire and I

laugh to one another

because,

I don't know if you

ever hear this,

but we often hear

people saying,

you know,

God,

He's doing a new thing

in the world.

I really just sense

God's doing something

new in the world.

And we often laugh

and say,

no,

He's not really.

He's actually doing

the same thing

He's been doing

for millennia.

God,

by His grace,

is saving sinners

and redeeming

and rescuing

those who need Him.

And He's calling

all people

to love Him

with all their heart,

soul,

mind,

and strength.

God,

He's not really

doing all that much

new.

He's doing the same

thing He's always done.

Here,

oh,

watermark,

as the restrictions

lift,

as we go back

to school

and university,

as life,

we go into

this new season,

what does God

want to say to us?

Listen up.

I've got something

to say.

I am the one

true God.

Love me with

every facet

and dimension

of your life.

Now,

what does this

actually mean?

What are the

implications of this?

Why is this

necessary and

important for us?

Well,

let's look at this

passage,

and it's going to give us

four things briefly

why this is important

for us.

Look,

firstly,

the reason why this is

important is for our

own good.

For our own good.

Look at verse

three with me.

It wasn't read to us,

but it's in the

bulletin.

God says,

listen up,

hear my commands,

and make sure you

obey them,

you,

your children,

and your

grandchildren,

verse three,

that your days

may be long,

that it may go

well with you,

that you may

multiply greatly

in the land

that the Lord

your God,

the God of your

fathers,

has promised you,

the land flowing

with milk and honey.

God actually says

the same thing

in verse 24.

He says,

In other words,

why does God

command us

to love Him

and treasure Him

with all that we have?

To trust Him

above all things.

Well,

one of the reasons

it is God's love

that commands us

to love Him.

It's not His harshness,

it's not His severity,

it's certainly not

God's insecurity

because, you know,

He needs some love

and affirmation,

and if we don't love Him,

who's going to love Him?

So He commands us

to love Him.

It's not His insecurity

or His need

for affirmation,

it's because of

our best interest,

for our own sake.

God,

in His love,

because He's designed

the world

and designed humanity

to flourish

and to be blessed

as we obey Him,

God calls us

for our own good

because God calls us

to be fully human.

There's a pastor

by the name of N.T. Wright.

I'm sure you've heard of him.

He's a very famous

British pastor.

He's still alive

and he writes this.

Listen to what he says.

He says,

what on earth

are we here for anyway?

I mean,

why are we here

as human beings?

The fundamental answer

is that what we are here for

is to become genuine human beings,

reflecting the God

and whose image we made,

and we're doing so

on the one hand

by worship

and on the other hand

through mission.

We do this,

not least of all,

by following Jesus.

And N.T. Wright goes on

and he says,

the way that this

actually works out

is not just by blindly

following the rules.

You don't become fully human

by just doing what God says

because that's what

the pastor tells me.

Actually,

as we give our lives to God

and say,

God,

I'm going to trust you.

With this area of my life

that's so hard,

I'm going to trust you.

What happens is that

God actually starts to change us

and transform us

from the inside

so that our hearts

correspond with

what is really true.

So that what happens

is you do start to

follow your own heart

or become authentic,

right?

We all want to become authentic

in this day and age.

So you can actually become

your authentic self.

You can follow your heart.

But at the same time,

you will also

do what God commands

because God's commands

are written on our hearts.

You see what he's saying?

He's saying,

God doesn't just call us

to just be your authentic self,

whatever your version

of truth is.

No, no, actually,

there is a thing

called truth.

But as you follow Him,

your truth,

whatever that is,

will correspond

with what is actually true

and you will be

your most authentic self

as you follow Him

and you will do

what God commands

because your life

will align

with what is ultimate reality.

What are we actually here for?

We're here to become

genuine human beings.

And how do we do that?

By saying,

Christ,

have your way

in my life.

But not only that,

not only for our own sake,

but also for the sake

of the next generation.

Look at verse 6 to 9 with me.

Look at what Moses writes here.

He says,

These words that I command you

shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently

to your children.

You shall talk about them

when you sit in your house

and when you walk by the way,

when you lie down

and when you rise.

You shall write them

on the doorposts of your house

and on your gates.

D.A. Carson very famously said,

if you've been to Watermark,

you've probably heard this quote.

He says,

One generation loves

and treasures the gospel.

The next generation

just assumes the gospel.

And the third generation

denies the gospel.

Most of us who are parents

know that it doesn't matter

what you tell your kids

is most important.

Our kids are going to grow up

to love and treasure

what is actually

most important to us.

Okay?

So, men,

those of us that are fathers here,

you can tell your kids

as much as you want

to honor their mother,

your wife, right?

But if our kids see us

actually treasuring other things,

work or video games

or ourselves,

more than our wives,

you can tell them

as much as you want

our kids are not going to grow up

to honor and treasure

their mother, right?

Why?

Because our kids don't do

what we tell them to do.

They do what they actually

see us doing.

Our kids are going to value

what's most important to us,

not what we tell them

is most important to us, right?

I remember our youngest daughter,

Shiloh,

when she went to kindergarten first,

okay, here in Hong Kong.

She's three years old

and there's this boy

in her class.

We met him

and all he could talk about

was Liverpool.

Okay, I know

things are bad around here.

The state of affairs

are really bad.

All he could talk about

was Liverpool Football Club.

And I was like,

he's three years old, right?

Well, anyway,

he followed Shiloh

and went from the same kindergarten

to the same school.

And so,

even this year,

when I see him

on the way to school,

say,

hey, Lucas,

how are you?

And what is he talking about?

Football, right?

The Premier League

and which managers

have just been fired

and which ones are coming in.

And he's just talking

all about football.

And when I met his dad,

what do you think

his dad spoke about?

Football, right?

Football.

That's all they could talk about.

Now, I tried to convert them

to a proper football club,

but anyway,

we're still working on that.

But why?

Parents,

because our kids

treasure what we treasure.

Our kids love

what we love.

Friends,

if we want our children

and our kids

to love the Lord Jesus Christ

and to trust Him

and to treasure Him

above all things,

in this world

of confusion and chaos

when there's so much

that's unknown,

if we want to give our kids

rock-solid identity

that they can stand firm

in a world of sinking sand

and confusion,

we can't just drop our kids

at church on Sunday

or pray a quick prayer

before they go to bed.

We need to make sure

that we are loving

and treasuring

and delighting

and trusting

in the Lord Jesus Christ

above all things,

that we love Him

heart, soul, mind,

and strength,

that He is the most important

one in every facet

and area of our lives

so that what is glorious

and wonderful

and beautiful

about Christ to us

becomes wonderful

and glorious

and beautiful to them.

Now,

you may be here

and you may say,

okay, but I'm single

or I'm not married

or maybe you are married

but you don't have kids.

I don't, you know,

the next generation,

that's someone else's business.

Okay, but what about

the next generation

in Hong Kong?

What about the next generation

in our church?

Maybe you don't have

biological kids

but friends,

our city,

the next generation

is awash with despair

and hopelessness

and there's a call on us

even if you don't have

biological kids

to stand

and to give the next generation

hope

in the midst of all

the hopelessness

in the midst of the despair

to say,

there is a God

and He's real

and you can trust Him

and you can bank

your life on Him

and friends,

our church

is a young church.

I know a lot of the students

are away now,

they've all gone back home

but our church

is a young church

and this church

needs men and women

that are older,

that have walked the life

to show us

what it looks like

to love and trust

and honor Christ

in every area of our life

when you're 40

and you're 50

and you're 60

and you're 70.

If you are 50 plus

here this morning,

maybe your kids

have grown up

and are no longer at home,

this church needs you

because we need to know

and see what does it look like

to still trust Christ supremely

when you're in your 50s

and can I just say

if you're in your 40s,

I know your 40s

are probably a crunch period

of life,

you know,

kids,

it's full on

and work is full on,

I'm going to get there soon,

I'm almost there,

please,

if you're 40 plus,

Oscar,

one or two others,

we need you

in this church

because can I just say,

sorry,

I shouldn't have said that

but can I just say,

okay,

listen up here,

look me in the eye,

right,

when you're 20

and 25,

it's easy

to be radical

for Jesus,

you've got so much time

on your hands,

you know,

you don't have

that many demands,

I know it feels like

university is demanding

but it's not really,

okay,

and it is easy

to be radical for Jesus

and you go on mission trips

and you lead a thousand CGs

and you're always serving

in a thousand ways

but when you're 40,

it's hard,

it's hard,

your boss is breathing

down your neck

and he's wanting you

to work,

you know,

70 hours

and you're not just graduated

but you're also not

top of the pile

and so you're in that

middle management zone

and you've got kids

and you've got demands

and you've got aging parents,

it's hard to love

and trust Jesus

in every area of life.

Friends,

if you're in your 40s here,

we need you to show us

and to show the young people

in this church

what it looks like

to love God

with all of your heart

and all of your soul

and all of your mind

and all of your strength

because we need examples

and so the next generation,

not just our biological kids

but this city

and this church,

we need it,

okay,

so for our own sake,

for the sake of the next generation,

third reason,

this is quick,

because of the danger

of grace,

the danger of grace.

Now I know that sounds blasphemous

but look at verse 10

and 12 with me.

What Moses is going to say here

is that God's blessings

apart from covenant relationship

with God

are actually a dangerous thing.

Look at verse 10.

It says,

when the Lord your God

brings you into the land

that He swore to your fathers

to give you

with great and good cities

that you didn't build

and houses full of good things

that you didn't fill

and cisterns that you didn't dig

and vineyards and olive trees

that you didn't plant

and when you eat

and are full and satisfied,

then take care

lest you forget

the Lord your God

who brought you

out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

What God is saying here

is that,

oh let me say it this way,

I know it sounds blasphemous

to talk about grace

as a dangerous thing

because at the very heart

of Christianity

and the heart of who God is

is the fact that God relates to us

on the basis of grace,

not what we earn

or our effort

or our good works.

It's God's grace.

But the whole point of the Bible

is that people are saved by grace

not by works.

But look at this passage

that's saying to us,

God in His incredible kindness to us

if that kindness,

if the blessings of God

are untethered,

disconnected

from covenant relationship to Him,

those blessings actually have a way

of becoming a snare to us,

of tripping us up

because it's easy to fall more in love

with those blessings

than the one who gives those blessings

in the first place.

And so His very blessings

can actually destroy us.

And so He says here

that these things become more important

and we get cut off

from the very one

who gives those blessings to us.

Look at verse 11.

When you eat and are full,

take care lest you forget

the Lord your God.

In the Bible,

to forget God

doesn't mean to have a lapse of memory.

It means God fades

into the background

and is no longer

in our consciousness.

And so how do we stop

the gifts of God's grace

becoming a snare to us?

How do we stop ourselves

loving God's kindnesses

more than God Himself?

Hear, O Israel.

The Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God

with every facet of your life,

all your heart, soul,

mind, and strength.

And that brings us

to the last and the final point

is this.

Because God loved us first.

Look at verse 20 to 22 with me.

This is amazing.

It says,

When your son or your daughter

asks you in time to come,

what is the meaning

of the testimonies

and the commands

and the statutes?

that the Lord God commanded us.

In other words,

your son or your daughter

comes to you and says,

Why should we obey God?

I mean,

why should we do

all this stuff anyway?

Then you shall say to your son,

Well, Moses told us to.

I don't know.

I'm just doing what Moses said.

Because Kevin the pastor

just told me to.

No, no, no.

That's not what you say.

What you say is,

We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt.

And God brought us out of Egypt

by a mighty hand.

In other words,

when your children come to you

and say,

Why do we do these things?

Why do we obey God?

And why should we do

all these things?

You tell them.

There was once upon a time.

You remind them

of the salvation

and the deliverance

that God accomplished for you

when they had no way

of saving themselves.

What's Moses saying here?

He's saying,

You tell them the gospel.

Right?

You know,

in the Old Testament,

the story of God

saving His people

out of slavery in Egypt

and bringing them

into freedom

by the blood of the Lamb

is always a picture

of an analogy

of a signpost

to point them towards

the cross.

Right?

The way that we were slaves

to sin and death

and darkness

and we were delivered

out of that slavery

and brought into freedom

by the blood

of the true and better Lamb,

Jesus Christ.

In other words,

so when God says,

Why should we do these things?

Why do we honor God?

Why do we obey God

in every area of our life?

Because once upon a time,

friends,

you and I were slaves to sin.

Once upon a time,

we were unlovable

in our natural state.

We were unlovable

in our depravity.

We were dead in our sin.

We were deservedly

objects of God's wrath.

But God,

in His supreme mercy,

in His unmerited grace,

God poured out for us

riches and mercy

by sending His Son

to the cross,

by dying in our place

so that we could come

out of that place

and be reconciled

and be welcomed

into His family,

that we could be set free

from bondage to sin

and live for God.

Do you know that amazing verse

in 1 John?

It says this,

In this the love of God

was made manifest for us

that God sent His Son

to die that we might

live through Him.

This is love.

Not that we love God first,

but that He loved us

and sent His Son

to be an atoning sacrifice

for us.

You see,

in Deuteronomy chapter 7,

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

the very next chapter,

God says to His people,

It's not because

you were the biggest nation

or the most powerful nation

that I rescued you.

In fact,

you were the smallest

out of all the nations.

I rescued you

simply because I loved you.

And chapter 8,

He says,

It's not because

you were the wisest nation

and had it all going for you.

No, no,

you weren't very wise at all.

But I rescued you

simply because

I set my love upon you.

And chapter 9,

He's going to say,

It's not because

you were the most righteous nation.

No, no, no.

You were just as unrighteous

as everyone else.

I chose you

and loved you

simply because

I chose to love you.

So friends,

why do we love

the Lord Jesus Christ

with all of our heart

and soul

and mind

and strength?

Because when we were unlovable

and had nothing

to bring to God,

He loved us

by sending His Son

to die on the cross.

And so friends,

when our children say to us,

why do we need to obey God

and do what He asks?

Why do we go to church on Sunday

rather than going to

soccer club

and rugby club

and tennis club?

Why do we do family devotions

around the dinner table

rather than just watching TV?

Why do we take communion regularly

and ask God

to forgive us of our sins?

The answer is

not because we're Christians

and that's what Christians do.

The answer is

you tell them the gospel.

You tell them that

once upon a time

I was God's enemy

worthy of hell

but Jesus sent His love upon me

and died on the cross

so that I could be ransomed,

healed, restored, forgiven,

that I could be brought

into His family.

God loved me

so that now I can love Him.

And friends,

when your colleagues

or your workmates

or your school friends

or your university friends

say to you,

why don't you just sleep

with your boyfriend

or your girlfriend?

If it feels right,

it must be right.

Or why do you give a portion

of your income to the church?

I mean, that sounds crazy.

Why would you do that?

Or why not cheat on this test?

Or why not just exaggerate

on your resume

and get that job?

The answer is not

because I'm a Christian

and this is what Christians do.

The answer is

because I once was lost

and hopeless

and worthy of hell.

And Jesus Christ

set His love upon me

and woke up my heart

so that I can love Him.

Ransomed, healed,

restored, forgiven.

Now because Jesus loves me,

I love Him

with every facet of my life.

And friends,

when your own heart

questions you

and that voice

in your head says,

why do you honor God?

Why don't you do

just what feels good?

Why don't you just

live for yourself?

And when that voice comes

and says,

why don't you hold

on to that grudge

and just bear

and not forgive that person

that's treated you so badly?

The answer is not,

I'm a Christian,

I guess I better forgive them.

You preach to your own heart

the gospel

that once you were

an enemy of God

and for no doing

of your own accord,

God set His love upon you

and He sent His Son

to die on the cross

so that you may be rescued,

ransomed, healed,

restored, forgiven,

that you may love Him

because with all of your life

because Jesus loved you

with all of His life.

Friends, as we come

to this juncture,

hear, O people of God,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

Let's love the Lord our God

with all of our heart

and all of our soul

and all of our mind

and all of our strength.

Let's take a few minutes

and respond

and we're going to take communion

in a few minutes' time

but I want to,

before we get there,

I want to just give us

three minutes

just to sit quietly

and Nate,

maybe you want to come

and just play the keys for us

and let's just think,

what has God

been saying to you today?

And then what does it look like

to respond?

Maybe you want to think

specifically,

is there an area of life

where I'm still holding on?

I've allowed Jesus

to be Lord of this area

and this area

and this area

and this area

but there's one area

that I don't want to let go.

Let's respond to God

this morning.