Deuteronomy 5 | Justin Grimm

Hello everyone.

This is Pastor Benjamin.

You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando.

At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer.

For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com.

Now please stand for uh the reading of God's Word.

Before we get there, we're going to do a prayer of illumination.

Pray with me.

Give us understanding that we may keep your law and observe it with our whole hearts.

Lead us in the path of your commandments, for we delight in it.

Turn our eyes from looking at worthless things, and give us life in your ways through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Remain standing for the reading of God's word from Deuteronomy chapter five, verses one through twenty two.

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today.

You shall learn them and be careful to do them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.

The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain and out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord.

For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain.

He said, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water underneath the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to those, to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God has given you.

You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, and you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

These words of the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the and the thick darkness, with a loud voice, and he added no more.

And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

This is God's word.

You may be seated.

This is Lammy.

Lammy is precious to my daughter Charlie.

Charlie is precious to me, and therefore Lammy is precious to me.

Lammy is Charlie's oldest and dearest stuffed animal.

Lammy is Charlie's ride or die.

A couple of years ago I gave Charlie a rule because Lammy is so precious that Charlie is not allowed to take Lammy outside of the house.

So a couple years ago on a Sunday morning, Charlie disobeyed me.

Now, one second and zoom in before we get into the whole story.

Why did I give my child this rule?

Was it because I'm mean or arbitrary, or somehow I didn't want what was best for her?

Well, of course not.

To all of those, I gave Charlie this rule because I loved her and I wanted to protect her.

So a couple of Sundays uh ago, Charlie disobeyed my rule and she brought Lammy to church.

While in Sunday school with the other kiddos, it's as if I could have predicted this, Charlie lost Lammy while she was out on the playground.

And because this is always when parents are informed of these types of news, it wasn't until we were done packing up and getting ready to walk out the door that Charlie had realized Lammy was lost.

So it was with tears flowing down her face, knowing that she had directly disobeyed, but also knowing that she needed my help, Charlie came up to me and she shared that she brought Lammy to church, and now Lammy was lost.

Now, in that exact and very specific uh moment, was I upset that Charlie had disobeyed my direct command?

Well, church, I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't a little angry, if there was no anger at all.

Some anger was a part of my emotional cocktail in that moment, but the vast driving emotion that I felt on behalf of Charlie in that moment was heartache.

And behind that heartache was love.

Remember, Lammy, she is precious to me because she is precious to Charlie.

And it was in that moment that I knew I was gonna do whatever it took to make sure we got Lammy back.

Now, if you guys would, can you imagine what uh this rule must have felt like for Charlie for just a moment?

Before Lammy was lost, when she is told Lammy, her nearest and dearest stuff animal, you cannot take Lammy out of the house, what must that have actually felt like for her?

Well, why can't I bring Lammy?

I love Lammy.

I want Lammy with me.

What is the big deal?

My daughter was able to experience the restriction of my rule without understanding the love that produced it.

And I wonder if we do exactly that with God.

You see, the text this morning, we're going over the ten commandments.

And I wonder if we too can experience God's commands as restrictive, outdated, arbitrary, or burdensome.

And if we do, I wonder if it's because we can evaluate God's commands apart from the heart of the lawgiver.

You see, in the story of the Old Testament, it really is this idea, evaluating God's commands apart from the law, uh, the heart of the lawgiver that leads to Israel's two great sins.

One looks like rebellion.

I don't trust what God commands is actually good for me, and the other looks like legalism.

I don't trust that God already loves me, so I will use obedience to earn God's favor.

You see, when it comes to our hearts and when it comes to God's law, I believe this.

I believe our hearts resist God's law because we miss the heart of the lawgiver.

So this morning we're in the book of Deuteronomy, we're in Deuteronomy chapter five, and I do want to take kind of a 50,000-foot view over both the Ten Commandments and Deuteronomy as a whole.

You see, the entire book of Deuteronomy, we might break it down and say, what is the theme?

What is the purpose?

What is this book of the Bible ultimately about?

It's about fresh covenant fidelity to a new generation, not just the one that Moses is speaking to, but to us as well.

So, new city this morning.

Here is what I believe God would have us learn from Deuteronomy 5.

God's law shows the heart of the God who loves us.

One more time.

God's law shows the heart of the God who loves us.

And we're gonna unpack that this morning by looking really at verse one.

There's three imperatives Moses gives us.

Let me read verse one for us one more time.

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

So we will look through this idea that God's law shows us the heart of God's law by hear, learn, and do.

Let's go ahead and jump into the text.

The first imperative that Moses gives to Israel here is the word hear, one word, Shema.

We've heard this a number of different times uh so far as we've already looked here at Deuteronomy.

Why have we heard it so many times already?

Because this word is a really, really big deal to Moses.

Over 90 times this imperative will be repeated throughout the book.

Why?

Because the book of Deuteronomy is ultimately about fresh covenant fidelity to the Lord, then we learn something here.

Covenant fidelity begins by doing what?

By listening, by hearing from God.

But we see here in the text there's actually a problem with that.

Hearing for Israel, hearing from a holy God at least, is somewhat easier said than done.

Look back at verses four and five with me.

The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord.

For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain.

Did you did you catch that?

What was the obstacle of Israel actually hearing from God?

It was their fear.

And why were they afraid?

Well, this is something that we see over and over again in the story of Scripture.

When a sinful people interact with a holy God, they are rightfully so afraid.

And so what is God's solution?

Well, it's also provided here uh in the text.

You couldn't basically hear from God.

So what did God do?

He provided a mediator that you might be able to hear my word.

You see, this is how God speaks.

This is how we're able to listen and to hear from God even today.

He speaks through a mediator, in this case, Moses, and he speaks through his word.

Now much can be said on both of these, but here was what I would want to draw our attention to.

Do you see the heart of God here?

He wants to be understood.

Even when we mistakenly are fearful, or not mistakenly, because he is a holy God, he will go to great lengths, including speaking to us through a mediator that we might hear him.

This will be the rest of the story of the Old Testament.

He will continue to speak through prophets, to speak through judges, through kings and through poets, but ultimately one day he will speak his final word through his son.

This is what Hebrews chapter one has to tell us.

Our God speaks to us in a way that we can hear him.

The question that Deuteronomy will ask over and over again is, will we?

So first we see that God speaks to us through his word, but we also see, excuse me, through a mediator, but we also see that God speaks to us through his word.

One more time, look back at me at two different verses that we read.

Verse three and verse twenty two.

Verse three reads, Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today?

And then the very end of verse 22.

Uh, and he wrote them down on two tablets of stone, and he gave them to me.

Do you see how this works?

Remember, chapter verse three.

Ben talked about this a couple weeks ago.

What is Moses doing using contemporary language saying it wasn't to our fathers that God spoke, but it was to us.

Is that factually true?

Well, no, most of this generation, it wasn't alive at the time.

But I do believe what is Moses getting at here is this idea.

God continues to address his covenant people through his covenant word.

Let me say that slightly different.

What is this that we are handling when we open what we say is the word of God?

It is not merely God once said, the word of God to each and every new generation is God says.

Verse 22, we are told that it is the Lord Himself who writes down his words, he preserves his words.

What do we learn from this?

Well, God's word, it's not written directly to you, but God's word, it is written for you.

Remember, verse 3, Moses can use contemporary language about the speech acts of God, because God can and does and still is speaking to us through his word as if we are there.

So what does it look like?

What does it look like when we actually start to hear from God?

When we actually start to listen to his word.

His name is Brian Guan.

You guys can look him up either on Instagram or Facebook if you have such things.

I don't, but Amy a couple weeks ago said, hey, you need to check these videos out.

Brian said that his friends had been trying to minister to him for a while.

They've been trying to share the truth claims of Jesus and the gospel with him.

But he said, Well, you know, I'm not totally against Jesus, but Christianity and the supernatural religion?

No way.

Here's how he starts out his video dialogue.

He says this I would call myself a faithless Christian, meaning you don't have to believe in the supernatural existence of God and Jesus without admitting that Jesus is a cool person to frame our lives around.

I do not believe that he died, that he was resurrected, that he was the Son of God.

I do not believe in heaven and hell.

But you know what?

I'll give this idea of listening to God a shot.

From there goes the rest of this 30-day uh video diary that he pledged to.

He said, you know what?

I'm going to pretend as if God's real.

I'm going to go to church.

I'm going to read my Bible.

I am going to pray, and I'm going to see what this experiment does internally within my head, heart, and my lives.

Well, about day 20, he has a different type of video log.

He has a different kind of confession.

He said he went to church, he prayed, he read the Bible, he listened to God.

And by day 20, he said this.

Jesus is the Son of God.

He died for my sins.

He resurrected and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

By his spirit, I have been resurrected and I have new life.

I now walk with him every day.

Addictions, they are lessened.

I have hope.

I have purpose.

I have Jesus as my Lord.

What does it look like when we start to listen to God?

That is the question here in Deuteronomy.

That is the command that Moses has near and dear to his heart.

Hear, O Israel.

Why does God speak?

Well, I think we see here in the book of Deuteronomy and in Deuteronomy 5, he speaks because he wants to be known.

And let it be uh let it be said with certainty, one day he will be known by all.

Why does God preserve his speech?

God preserves his speech because he wants every generation of his people to know him.

The first imperative that Moses gives here in Deuteronomy 5 calls then this question.

Will you listen to him?

But having God's word isn't exactly the same thing as knowing God's word.

Remember, that's the whole theme of Deuteronomy, fresh covenant fidelity to a new generation.

You see, every generation must not only just simply have God's word, they must be taught to learn the heart of God, of the God who speaks.

And so that's the second commandment that we see, uh, the imperative that Moses gives here in Deuteronomy 5.

Learn.

But before we zoom in and before we talk about that, we have to maybe perhaps question some of our assumptions.

You see, learning here in the Old Testament and learning here and now here at New City, learning is so much more than information transfer.

Learning is about heart transformation.

One more time, learning is more than mere information.

Learning is heart transformation.

So what are we looking at here?

This morning we went through the entirety of the Ten Commandments.

And if by now you haven't caught on, we're not gonna zoom in on every single one of the Ten Commandments, although I hope we certainly do that here at New City one day.

I think that would be good.

But but I do want to focus in on one of them.

I want to look briefly at the fourth commandment and see if we learn a little bit of what it's like to learn God's law.

So for uh the observer who noticed, there's actually a little bit of a difference in the fourth commandment here in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and in Exodus chapter 20.

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention Exodus 20 · chapter mention

Now, what am I talking about?

The fourth commandment is still the fourth commandment.

You shall honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

But if we were to go back in time and we were to read Exodus chapter 20, we'll see that in the fourth commandment there, the reason that Israel is called to Sabbath is different than the reason Israel is called to Sabbath here in Deuteronomy chapter, uh Deuteronomy chapter 5.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

So what is going on?

Well, I would say there's one theological word for this.

It's contextualization.

But let me say this not theologically, let me say it practically.

Moses is teaching the faith graciously to this next generation.

Let's zoom in on it.

Remember, the commandment, it remains the same, but it's applied to a new context.

This generation is no longer contending with the creative claims of the gods of Egypt and their claim of authority over God's people.

It's been the last 40 years that they have been walking with the God of creation, and they have been honoring the Sabbath, and they have been resting as they follow the Lord.

Where are they at right now in the story?

In Deuteronomy, they're getting ready to enter into the promised land.

God is getting ready to fulfill these promises that He has been giving to their fathers and to them for generations upon generations.

And as they're getting ready to enter into the promised land, God makes clear they know their identity.

They will not enter and work the promised land as slaves, they will enter and work the promised land as liberated sons and daughters.

What is Moses doing here?

He's giving the man the command to a new generation.

And now to this new generation, he doesn't ground the reason for Sabbath in creation, he grounds it in redemption.

Look at verse 15 with me.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God.

Brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath holy.

Israel, in other words, they know what it is to be a slave who isn't allowed to rest.

Now, as they enter into the land and start living the way that God has called them to live, they will learn to love their neighbor.

The command remains the same, but it's applied to a new context.

The God who gives you rest cares about not only your rest, but the rest of your servant, the rest of immigrants, the rest of animals, the rest of your neighbors.

You see what happens, New City, when we look at just one of the Ten Commandments with a microscope?

We see that the law God gives is not arbitrary or cruel or mean.

The law that God gives is intentional, and it's intentionally good.

And I think there's something for us to learn here in what Moses is doing with this idea of contextualization.

You see this Sunday, it's a family worship Sunday.

We have parents in the room and grandparents in the room and children in the room.

And for just a moment, I want to speak to the parents in the room.

Do you see Moses' technique?

Do you see what he's doing here?

We're not called to merely repeat Christian information when we hand down the faith to our children.

We're called to help our children understand the unchanging truth of God in the world that they are actually living in.

That is what contextualization, the truth doesn't change, the commandments of God do not change, but we work hard to help a new generation see why all of them are true, beautiful, and good.

Now, if you don't know this about me, I can be quite stubborn and I can make quite outlandish points.

I think a direct quote when I was 16 years old was Blink 182 is better than the Beatles.

Stray Light Run, they have more catchy keys than Elton John.

And Jack White, well, he could probably teach Jimmy Page a thing or two about guitar.

The absurdity of my comments.

Needless to say, this particular uh debate, it left neither my father nor I persuaded, but rather both of us more stubbornly assured of our own point from our own context.

But imagine for just a second, if the conversation had been slightly more uh generous and gracious from both of us.

Rather than us trying to prove the superiority of both of our generation's music, what if we cooperated?

What if I listened to my dad and I realized the music that I loved in my own upbringing?

Well, it didn't come from nowhere.

Because here's the truth.

Mark Hoppas from Blink182 actually probably learned a thing about being both a frontman and a bass player from who?

Paul McCartney, who came before him.

The piano-driven rock music that I love from Stray Light Run owed something to Elton John, and Jack White is only Jack White from the White Stripes today because Jimmy Page came before him.

You see, maybe instead of defending my generation against his, I could have begun to appreciate the inheritance that had been handed down to me.

Now, for sake of full disclosure, uh, the Lord has been kind to me and he has given me wisdom in my age.

And my father was just correct.

Uh, I had much to learn on that.

May the Lord give me grace when it is my turn for these conversations.

But you see, this is part of what it means to teach the faith graciously.

Parents, we're not trying to make our children experience faith exactly the same way we experienced it.

We're trying to help them see the beauty and goodness of the same God in the world that they are growing up in.

We teach the faith graciously, praying that by God's grace, our children will own the faith personally.

And that is really what we see here in the text.

One more time, would you look at verses two and three to with me?

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.

So here we are one more time with this apparent problem.

How does this actually work?

How can Moses use this contemporary language to a generation that most of them hadn't even been born yet?

Old Testament scholar Eugene Merrill, comment commenting on these uh two verses, says this it was the responsibility of every Israelite in every age to identify himself with his ancestors and to participate in memory and in faith and in their experience of God's deliverance.

Said in other words.

You see, their parents' faith in one sense, it genuinely is their faith.

This is covenantal language.

You see, this generation they've been born into the covenant community.

They've inherited its promises, its word, its story.

They've been wandering their entire lives, being led by the God of their parents.

But inherited faith calls for personal fidelity.

While we have parents and teachers and educators and grandparents here in the room, we also have kiddos here in the room.

And so, kiddos, I want to address you here for one moment.

You are here this morning because your mom and your dad brought you.

You're here this morning because your parents believe in Jesus.

They pray for you, they read the Bible with you, they bring you to church, and what an incredible gift this is.

But your mom and dad cannot know and love Jesus for you.

You see, here's what your parents can do.

They can teach you about Jesus, they can show you about Jesus, they can pray that you will know Jesus, but there will come a time and a day where you have to ask, do I believe this?

Do I love this God?

Will I follow Jesus?

Because one day you won't be sitting next to mom and dad when you have to make a hard decision.

They won't always be there when someone challenges what you believe.

They won't always be there every time that you're afraid, you're tempted, or when you are wondering if God is good.

So, what does Moses call this generation and what does Moses call you to this morning?

Well, you need to know that your parents' God is your God.

You need to know that Jesus is your savior.

You yourselves need to learn to trust him, to love him, and to follow him.

Your parents, they can give you an incredible inheritance of faith, but at some point you must love the God that they love.

Looking simply here at the fourth commandment, looking simply here at the way Moses can address a new generation with ancient yet contemporary language, what do we learn?

Parents, if if our children are going to learn who the God of the law truly is, well, when we teach the faith, we must teach it to them graciously in the world that they are living and growing up in.

But children, you yourselves, your parents' faith is not merely enough for you.

You must own this faith yourself.

But we see here in Deuteronomy, eventually faith, it has to move beyond what we've heard and even what we've learned.

You see, in Deuteronomy, covenant fidelity ultimately it takes shape in an actual life.

It's about what we actually do.

And that's the third and last imperative that Moses gives us here in verse one.

Be careful to do them.

Why?

Why do we need to do God's laws or practice or obey God's laws?

One sentence.

Because obedience leads to life.

Obedience leads to life.

Now, if you have been at New City for any amount of time, or in fact, if you have belonged to a Christian church for any amount of time, you might be saying, hey, this feels incongruous with what I think I hear every single week.

Obedience leads to life.

What do you actually mean by that?

Because isn't it the message of the gospel that we're not obedient, but Jesus is?

Yes.

So let's see if we can unpack what I mean by that.

And we need to know these two things.

First, life is a prerequisite for obedience, but obedience is a response to life.

Life is a prerequisite for obedience, but obedience is a response to life.

After Moses gives his preamble, before he begins with the first of the Ten Commandments, verse 7, you shall have no other gods before me.

Moses does what?

He gives Israel an imperative.

And it's not Moses, it is the Lord.

Verse 6 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You see, this is how a relationship with God works.

Key word there being relationship.

Both for Israel in the Old Testament and for us here and now, we are not called to obey that God may love us and give us a relationship with Him.

We obey because God goes first.

Here in the text, it's the indicative and it's right before our eyes.

I am the Lord your God, I am Yahweh, and what do I as Yahweh do for you?

I rescued you, I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

I am your redeemer.

Relationship first, then response to this relationship is obedience.

We see this all throughout the scriptures.

Before the commandments were given the indicative who God is and what he has done for us, then the call for obedience.

Because life is a prerequisite for obedience.

But what we learn here in Deuteronomy, and really the whole entire story of the scriptures for that matter, but not ours.

Life is a prerequisite for obedience, but not ours.

See, earlier I told you the story about my daughter breaking the rule and Lamy becoming lost.

Here's the truth when we look hard at the Ten Commandments.

We break God's rule and we become lost.

That Sunday so many years ago, for Amy and I to find Lamy, well, it cost us a few hours on a Sunday afternoon when we're already tired and ready to go home and rest.

For us to be found, cost the Father, his son.

You see, here's the thing: the Ten Commandments, it's the way of life.

But here's the truth.

We are the ones who would not hear.

We are the ones who would not learn.

We are the ones who would not do and obey.

But the good news this morning, both for God's ancient people and for us now, is Jesus, he is the faithful Son.

Where we refuse to hear the Father, Jesus perfectly listens to him.

Where we misunderstand and distrust the Father's heart, Jesus perfectly knows him and loves him.

Where we fail to obey, Jesus perfectly does the Father's will.

Jesus gives the Father the covenant fidelity that Israel was never able to give, and that you and I simply won't.

But do you see?

Jesus doesn't come merely to show covenant breakers how to obey better.

The faithful son takes the place of faithless sons and daughters.

The one who perfectly kept God's law bore the judgment of those who broke it.

Jesus on the cross, the Lord of life, lays down his own life that sinners enslaved to death may be set free and walk in his new life.

Jesus doesn't simply forgive us and send us back out to try harder.

Jesus then goes on, as we read in our call to worship this morning, he gives us a new spirit.

He gives us new hearts.

He begins to write God's law on our hearts so that increasingly we want what God wants.

Because of the work of the Son, we are able to begin to hear.

We are able to begin to learn his heart.

We are able to begin to do his will.

And lest we go back into that legalistic temptation, which many of us are so tempted by, myself included, be reminded, not so that God will love us, but because in Christ He already does.

And because we know the heart of the lawgiver, then obedience stops looking like something like God is keeping us from life, we begin to see and discover that his commands, they're actually showing us the way of life.

You see, that's really the heart, that's what's behind all of the Ten Commandments.

Obedience is a response to life.

And even here in the Old Testament, why does God say He gives us these commands?

Well, it wasn't part of our scripture reading, but if we jump ahead to the very last verse of chapter 5, verse 33, we read this you shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Do you hear?

Do you see the heart of the lawgiver?

He gives the law for your good.

He gives the law for your life.

So when he calls for us to hear, learn and to do, it's not out of legalism, it's not because he's looking to punish, it's not because he doesn't want our thriving, but he wants our thriving.

And can you imagine that for one moment, New City?

Can you imagine if our in our own city here in Orlando, if we actually took this to heart, if every man, woman, and child knew the heart of the lawgiver and therefore loved his law, what would Orlando look like?

Imagine with me for one moment, what would Orlando look like if we worshiped God more than we did career, money, politics, or success?

What if God's name was treasured above all names?

What if exhausted people received rest and gave rest to others?

What if children honored parents and parents lived lives worthy of honor?

What if we actively protected and preserved our neighbors' life?

What if we protected and strengthened one another's marriages?

What if we actually sought our neighbors' prosperity instead of taking from them?

What if we protected our neighbor's reputation instead of tearing it down?

What if someone else's blessing actually gave us joy and made us happy?

All of these what ifs?

Does that sound restrictive?

Does that sound like death?

Or does that sound like life?

You see, all of a sudden, we're back last week into Deuteronomy chapter 4.

Deuteronomy 4 · chapter mention

Why do we have the law?

Deuteronomy 4, verses 6 and 7.

Deuteronomy 4:6

Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us?

The laws of God are meant to not only cause you to flourish and to walk in life, but to cause your neighbors to flourish and to walk in life.

This is the way that it has always been.

But as we close, there's a great temptation.

You see, there literally is an evil voice, an evil messenger who would have you believe this.

God's command is keeping you from life.

The first time this lie was told is in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

In humanity, we've been believing it ever since.

Look at Deuteronomy, but look beyond Deuteronomy.

Look to the cross of Jesus Christ and see that the law shows us the heart of the lawgiver, that the law shows us the way of life.

So may we hear, learn, and do God's commandments.

Would you pray with me?

So, Father, what law do other nations have like your law?

What God do other nations have like you?

Indeed, you are you are the God of gods, the king of kings, and the Lord of Lords, and you are good.

You are good to us.

Forgive us for the ways that we have treated and handled your law at times arbitrary or as if it's something that we can manipulate to earn your love.

We know those things aren't true.

Thank you for the work of your son Jesus Christ, who is obedient on our behalf.

Thank you for the gift of your spirit, who is working and growing faith and obedience in our hearts and our lives right now.

Prepare our hearts to come to your table that we might be strengthened and grown in the grace we need to love your law and more importantly, to love you.

It is in the name of Jesus we pray and ask all these things.

Amen.