1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,760 The Blade he served in the late 18th century. 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,440 We remember him now as the father of theological 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,560 liberalism, and not a wonderful title that you want to carry, 4 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,040 but he carries it. The other was Jonathan Edwards, 5 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,239 the American bastion of theological conservatism. 6 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,920 If you've seen a Great Awakening, you've probably heard 7 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:20,560 his name. He brought the Great Awakening 8 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,760 with George Whitfield to American soil. 2 Very different 9 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:28,160 people, but have more in common than is realized. 10 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:30,880 The lecture brought the similarities between the two for 11 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,400 both men, true religion consisted in the heart. 12 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,120 It had to be in the heart and what they would call the 13 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,960 affections. And so there's there's emotions, 14 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:40,960 right? Those fleeting things. 15 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,160 If you want to think about emotions from a from a 16 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,880 scriptural standpoint, remember the very people that came before 17 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,000 Jesus throwing their palm branches down saying Hosanna 18 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,880 Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord a few 19 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,160 days later said crucify him, crucify him. 20 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:59,640 We can't trust our emotions, but the the affections is what they 21 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:01,960 were getting at. True religion consists there, 22 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:04,959 those deep, enduring inclinations of the soul that 23 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,800 weather all of the emotional ups and downs. 24 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,760 Both men, he said, were responding to the hard logic of 25 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,200 18th century Enlightenment, which was committed to science 26 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,320 and to individualism and to reason. 27 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,520 And they're coming out of that. And they're both part of a 28 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,320 movement that was called Romanticism, which was the world 29 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,920 overreacting to the Enlightenment. 30 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,760 And they're they're leading with sentiment and they're over 31 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,720 prioritizing the feelings. And both emphasized the 32 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:38,680 importance of having an experience with God and related 33 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,840 to these things was actually what set them apart above all 34 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:43,640 else. The one difference that set them 35 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,160 worlds apart was. Jonathan Edwards believed that 36 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,520 the affections and the heart arise from knowing truth about 37 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,240 God, knowing doctrine, knowing theology, and believing it 38 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:59,760 yields the fruit of religious affection, joy and peace and 39 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,040 love of God. And Schleiermacher believe that 40 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,720 the Bible is primarily a record of religious experience. 41 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,440 And he believed that doctrines are a byproduct of religious 42 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,080 affections, meaning that doctrines are produced by 43 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,280 writing out what I feel. And so for him, doctrine 44 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,920 evolves, religion evolves. And so he doesn't have much room 45 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:23,960 for books like Deuteronomy because there's more evolved 46 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:25,520 religion. We can go to the New Testament. 47 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:30,600 There's a higher religion. And so Christian doctrines are 48 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:35,560 accounts of Christian religious affections set forth in speech. 49 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,680 So for one, affections written down become doctrines. 50 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:41,800 The other one is you take the doctrines that have been written 51 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,280 down and they lead to your affections. 52 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:49,680 Who was right is the question. Listen to Deuteronomy 65. 53 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,600 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all 54 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,560 your soul, and with all your might. 55 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:59,080 If there's ever a text that pointed toward the affections 56 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,440 are aimed at the affections of your heart, this is it. 57 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:04,360 And they're obviously aimed at that. 58 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,880 But the very next verse is Deuteronomy 66. 59 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,240 These commandments that I command to you today shall be on 60 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,720 your heart. And so there you have the proper 61 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,680 order. Moses shows you the order. 62 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:17,760 It's not your write down your affections. 63 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,760 And then we'll we'll have a list here. 64 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,640 No, he says these commandments that I preached to you today are 65 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:27,160 to be written on your heart. We love the Lord our God by 66 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,200 writing His commandments onto our heart. 67 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,880 Edwards was right. So regarding the transformation 68 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,480 or the renewal of our heart, the instrument of the heart, renewal 69 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,280 is the word of God. And the agent of a renewed heart 70 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,400 is the Holy Spirit who works through that word. 71 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,800 And the fruit is properly ordered. 72 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,880 Affections, joy and assurance, and namely love. 73 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,120 That's how it works. That's the renewed heart. 74 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,280 And as you come to the book of Deuteronomy, this is the first 75 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,160 place in the Bible that God's people are commanded to love 76 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,880 him. It's demanded of us that we love 77 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:04,600 God before this. I mean, it talks about God's 78 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:05,920 love. He shows the steadfast love to 79 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,680 thousands. But we are, we are commanded to 80 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,280 fear God, to have an awe of Him, and to have a respect of him. 81 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,280 And you finally come here. And today God commands for the 82 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,440 first time. You shall love the Lord your 83 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:19,640 God. And why love? 84 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,160 I'll go back and quote Jonathan Edwards to you. 85 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,680 He says because love is the 1st and the chief of the affections. 86 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,040 It's the fountain of joy. It's the fountain of gratitude 87 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:32,360 and hatred of sin. And Edward says that love is 88 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,680 what drives everything we do, not the emotion of fear, not the 89 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:41,280 fleeting passions of pleasure, but the affections of love and 90 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:44,480 joy that are found in Jesus Christ and in the teachings of 91 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:49,520 Scripture about him. And open up to Deuteronomy 6. 92 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,600 And I want to read with you this passage, the greatest 93 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,640 commandment, Deuteronomy 6, verses 1 to 9. 94 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,280 Moses says, Now this is the commandment, the statute, and 95 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:06,000 the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that 96 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,400 you may do them in the land to which you're going over to 97 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,800 possess it. That you may fear the Lord your 98 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,400 God, you and your son, and your son's son, by keeping all his 99 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,360 statutes and his commandments, which I command you all the days 100 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,680 of your life, and that your days may be long. 101 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,480 Here therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may 102 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,240 go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the 103 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:28,960 Lord, the God of your Father's has promised you, in a land 104 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,880 flowing with milk and honey. Here, O Israel, the Lord our 105 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:37,200 God, the Lord is 1 And you shall love the Lord your God with all 106 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,880 your heart, and with all your soul, with all your might. 107 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:42,640 And these words that I command to you today shall be on your 108 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:44,720 heart. You shall teach them diligently 109 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:46,600 to your children. You shall talk of them when you 110 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,080 sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie 111 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,480 down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on 112 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,400 your hand, and you shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 113 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,360 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on 114 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,760 your gates. The oldest manuscript of the 115 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,960 Bible until just we, we got our Dead Sea Scrolls went all the 116 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,600 way back to the 2nd century BC and this is what we found. 117 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,480 They were, it was called the Nash Papyrus. 118 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,560 I'll spare you all the details, but what was written on it was 119 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,880 this little transition verse that we saw a few weeks ago, 120 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,520 Deuteronomy 445, which says these are the the testimonies 121 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,680 and the statutes and the rules which Moses spoke to the people 122 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,680 when they came out of Egypt. And then it put the 10 123 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,240 commandments on there. And then it was followed by 124 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,040 these words, Deuteronomy 6, four to five. 125 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,880 I say that to tell you this has been a premier verse for the 126 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,560 people of God, if not the premier verse for the people of 127 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,400 God from the very beginning. And when Jesus was asked by a 128 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,440 scribe in Mark 12/29 which commandment is the most 129 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:50,680 important of all, He didn't hesitate. 130 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:53,680 And very rarely, if you know Jesus, you know he doesn't 131 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,960 answer questions with answers. Very often people ask him 132 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:58,640 questions and he answers questions back. 133 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:00,040 But this is one of those rare times. 134 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:01,840 They say, what's the greatest commandment? 135 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:03,840 He doesn't hesitate, but answers directly. 136 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:06,360 And he says the most commandment, the most important 137 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,880 commandment is this. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 138 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,120 God, the Lord is 1. And you shall love the Lord your 139 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,440 God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your 140 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,000 mind, and with all your strength. 141 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,920 And the scribe agrees with them and he says you've answered 142 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,400 correctly. O teacher, you've truly said 143 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,560 that he is 1 and there is no other beside him. 144 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:27,440 And to love him with all the heart and with all the 145 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,880 understanding, with all the strength, and to love one's 146 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,880 neighbor as oneself is much more than all whole burnt offerings 147 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,920 and sacrifices. And then Jesus declaration to 148 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:38,080 him, he says, you've got it right. 149 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,200 You understand, I desire steadfast love and not 150 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,360 sacrifice. I desire mercy and righteousness 151 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:45,920 and not sacrifice. And so he tells them, you are 152 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,400 not far from the Kingdom of God. You've understood the most 153 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,440 important verse. And so we're studying a text of 154 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,480 Scripture now and Deuteronomy 6 that our Lord and Savior, by his 155 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,680 own confession, says is the most important commandment in the 156 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,240 Bible. And this is a commandment that 157 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,920 Jewish people have been reading twice a day when they rise up 158 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,040 and when they go to bed for millennia. 159 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,880 And we call it the Shema, which is the Hebrew verb meaning to 160 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,200 hear or to obey. He says it twice and verse 3 and 161 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,360 verse 5. And there's some word play going 162 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,760 on here that to help you remember it, he says hear O 163 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,640 Israel Shema. And then he adds to it the word 164 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,800 keep, which is shemar. And so he says, hear Shema and 165 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,400 keep the word Shemar. And this is a passage of 166 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,480 scripture that's represented the heart of the Old Testament from 167 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:36,880 the beginning is why commentators say if you 168 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,159 understand Deuteronomy, then you understand the Old Testament 169 00:08:40,159 --> 00:08:42,159 because it's the heart of the Old Testament. 170 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,080 And we have the Talmud, the definitive record of Jewish 171 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,240 traditions instructed Jewish people to this is the first 172 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,160 thing that you were to teach your children when they can 173 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,040 talk. You start here. 174 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,240 And this ought to be the last thing that you confess before 175 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,440 you die. It's that important. 176 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,000 Eugene Merrill It's the expression of the essence of all 177 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,360 God's person and purposes in 16 words of Hebrew text. 178 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:10,000 And Jesus Christ himself says this is the greatest commandment 179 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,280 in the law. And the reason is because Old 180 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,280 Testament commentators point out that when you confess the Shema 181 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,080 verses 4 to 5, when you commence the, when you confess this, you 182 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:26,600 are swearing allegiance to Yahweh, You are yoking yourself. 183 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,400 That's the, the language that they use. 184 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:30,680 You're yoking yourself to the Kingdom of God. 185 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,760 You're swearing allegiance to the Kingdom of God and it's King 186 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:38,200 Jesus Christ and Jesus commands all would be followers. 187 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,720 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. 188 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,840 We're yoking ourself to the Kingdom by reading and 189 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,280 confessing these verses. You're yoking yourself, you're 190 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,480 binding yourself, you're bonding yourself, swearing allegiance to 191 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,680 God's Kingdom. So the emphasis of Deuteronomy 6 192 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:59,560 is loving the Lord and keeping his commandments. 193 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:02,960 And you're soon going to see that's the same thing, right? 194 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,560 This is two sides of the same coin. 195 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:08,560 To love the Lord is to follow his commandments, which is why 196 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:12,160 there's a premium on these verses of knowing the word, 197 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,400 writing it on the tablet of your heart, and then doing the word, 198 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,720 not being a forgetful here. And I've I've see in these 199 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,680 verses, these 9 verses, what kind of binds them all together, 200 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:27,040 at least in my mind's eye is this language of totality. 201 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,800 It's all you see in verses one to three. 202 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,600 It's all of his statutes and all of his rules for all the people 203 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,400 of Israel for all of life. Verses 1 to 3 is all his 204 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:38,880 statutes. Verses 4 to 5 is this, it's 205 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:43,320 giving all of yourself. Verses 6 to 9, all of life. 206 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,160 Say another way, it's, it's all his statutes. 207 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:48,920 You can see verse 2, he says by keeping all his statutes and 208 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:50,800 commandments all the days of your life. 209 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,240 The second he says it's all of yourself. 210 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,640 Verse 5, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and 211 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,080 with all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. 212 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:02,680 And then you come to the Third Point. 213 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:04,640 He says it's for all of life, which is why he says, I want you 214 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:07,680 to bind this on your hand. As a matter of fact, ride it on 215 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,960 the doorposts of your house and put it on your gates. 216 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,400 You know what's the location of our obedience to God and his 217 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,360 covenant. It's it's everything. 218 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,080 It's it's all of life. And so I want to I want to look 219 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,160 at these three things. All his statutes, all of 220 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,120 yourself, all of life, beginning in verses one to three. 221 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,360 Read it with me again, and all his statutes, When you see the 222 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,320 word all you can say it with me, he says. 223 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,240 Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the rules that the 224 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,320 Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them 225 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,720 in the land to which you are going over to possess it. 226 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,200 That you may fear the Lord your God, you and your Son, and your 227 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:50,600 Son's Son, by keeping all you say it with me, all His statutes 228 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:54,920 and His command, which I command you all the days of your life, 229 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:59,000 and that your days may be long. Here therefore, Shema, O Israel, 230 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,080 and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, that 231 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,040 you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your Father's 232 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,400 has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 233 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:14,880 I think part of the significance of this comes from the fact that 234 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,600 the expectation of Israel, when he's given them this law is that 235 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:21,560 they will do it and it will go well for them. 236 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:26,000 The expectation is that they're going to default to obedience. 237 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:27,880 He's not giving them this law. And he's like, hey, look, I know 238 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:29,640 this is really hard, and you're probably not going to keep it. 239 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,080 You know, he's giving you the law and he's saying this is not 240 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,560 too hard for you, right? These commandments are for you. 241 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:37,440 The assumption is that you're going to be blessed. 242 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,320 It's the same way for the children that are in your 243 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:40,560 household. There's an, there's not an 244 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:43,840 expectation of discipline. We give the household roles. 245 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,080 We set expectations because we expect our children to follow 246 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,720 them, that they will there will be peace and harmony and that 247 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:51,560 there will be blessing. And the same is true of our 248 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:53,320 Heavenly Father. He gives these commands 249 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:55,760 expecting that it's going to go well. 250 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:00,120 And so you'll see in verses 1 to 9, there's all these verbs that 251 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,040 Moses is giving and he's expecting us to follow them and 252 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,120 to do them. And so you say just following 253 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,600 through as, as we read through the script, he says, I expect 254 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,920 you to keep the commandments, Shamar. 255 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,040 I expect you to do them. And then he says, and I expect 256 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,480 you to teach them. This is for all the people. 257 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,040 There's a, there's an outlet for each of you to teach the 258 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,280 commandments. My favorite quote from erman 259 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:24,880 Vitius. I know he's your favorite Dutch 260 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,240 for the Reformation theologian. I know you guys well. 261 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,680 He's mine too. When you read him, he says no 262 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,760 one teaches well unless he first learns well, and no one learns 263 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,080 well unless he learns in order to teach, and both learning and 264 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,320 teaching are vain and unprofitable unless they're 265 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,560 accompanied by practice. What's he saying? 266 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,840 You have to to learn in order to teach or you're never going to 267 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,680 learn. The best teachers are those who 268 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,560 learn in order to teach. And you're a worthless teacher. 269 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,280 You're an ineffective teacher if you're not putting it in to 270 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:57,840 practice. That's what he's saying here. 271 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,840 Keep the law, keep the commandments, do the 272 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,240 commandments, teach them, talk about them, bind them on your 273 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,560 hands and write them. That's the expectation. 274 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:10,280 And when you do these things, you will be blessed. 275 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,000 When you swear allegiance and you follow through, verse 2, you 276 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,760 will live long in the land. Verse 3, it will go well with 277 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,480 you. So he's reminding them and we, 278 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,800 this is a broad statement, general statement, that 279 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,480 obedience to the covenant is promised broadly with blessing. 280 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,440 Otherwise, if you're not following the covenant, then 281 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,880 there's going to be the consequences due to sin and 282 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:38,360 there's going to be the discipline of the Lord and 283 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:40,080 there's going to be his chastising and there's going to 284 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,200 be refinement. And these are painful 285 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,320 experiences. But the expectation of God and 286 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,720 of Moses here is he says, I'm trying to spare you of all that. 287 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,480 I'm trying to give you blessing. I'm inviting you, he says, into 288 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,440 the land that's flowing with milk and honey. 289 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,680 So he's going to, we're going to take all of his statutes, all of 290 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,960 his law. And then he addresses in verse 291 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,520 2, he's addressing the people of God as a whole. 292 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,840 So it's all of the statues of God, all of the people of God. 293 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,840 And as you've already confessed yourself, for all the days of 294 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,520 their life, there's nowhere where obedience, there's no 295 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,600 location where obedience is not commanded, where allegiance is 296 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,400 not demanded. And so it's all the commandments 297 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:22,120 for all the people for all the time on earth. 298 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:24,720 It's all of yourself poured out for him. 299 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,800 Paul takes passages like this. He puts it in the metaphor of 300 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,400 you are to be a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, 301 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,640 which is your spiritual worship. It is your Christian service. 302 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,800 He says it's pouring yourself out as a drink offering, as he 303 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:41,920 says in in second Timothy, even as I'm being poured out as a 304 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,360 drink offering on the sacrificial offering of your 305 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:45,960 faith. It's a pouring yourself out. 306 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,480 It's a it's a whole life experience. 307 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,440 It's laying down your life all the days of your life. 308 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:54,680 That's why when the Bible tells you to do something, the one, 309 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,640 the, the command that comes to mind is from Doug Melton in the 310 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,320 marriage retreat. If you remember, he was right 311 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:00,600 here. What's the first thing he said, 312 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:02,760 the most important thing that you were to do with your spouse? 313 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,840 Anybody remember #1 pray. We're supposed to pray with our 314 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:09,280 spouse. What if we don't feel like it? 315 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,080 What if we had a bad day? What if we just got in a big 316 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:14,600 fight? And you say, I don't know, 317 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,280 husband, I don't want to pray with my wife. 318 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:18,800 I don't feel like praying with my wife. 319 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,600 That's where verses like this are so significant because we 320 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:26,680 have to recognize in this moment, I am not the Lord of my 321 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:28,520 life. Aaron is not the Lord of Aaron's 322 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:30,680 life. Jesus Christ is the Lord of my 323 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,400 life. And he said I'm supposed to pray 324 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:35,960 with my wife. And so in that moment, I have to 325 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:37,760 swallow my pride. And what do I do? 326 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,000 I pray with my wife. Same wives to your husband's or 327 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,200 your family's. I don't want to. 328 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,040 My kids are acting foolish. I don't want to pray for my 329 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:47,600 kids. I don't want to put them to bed. 330 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,520 I'm going to do melatonin. I'm going to go take a bath. 331 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,760 No, scripture says you are not the Lord of your life. 332 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:55,840 Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life. 333 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:57,520 It's all of your life and every sphere. 334 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,400 And so you pray for your family and you serve your family and 335 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,560 your children. Moses goes on past this. 336 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,560 He continues this kind of all-encompassing comprehensive 337 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,359 language. He continues into verse 4 to 5 338 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,599 as he says we must apply all of ourselves to this covenant 339 00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:17,800 second point. All of yourself read with me 340 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,480 this incredibly famous passage of Scripture in Deuteronomy 6, 341 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:27,680 four to five hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 1. 342 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,120 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all 343 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:33,560 your soul, and with all your might. 344 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,320 This is the the passage of scripture that we call the 345 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,000 Shema. It's these verses specifically 346 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,240 and it's it's always been read in one of two ways. 347 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,160 All of you will have a footnote in your Bible, a little note 348 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,240 that says that there's kind of some some different readings 349 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,160 that you can have here. Regardless of the reading, it's 350 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,280 it's allegiance to Yahweh is the point. 351 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:55,680 The most common readings are this one. 352 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:57,080 Number one would be the Lord our God. 353 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:00,680 The Lord is 1. Emphasizing of course, the the 354 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,800 oneness, the unity of God over and against all of the 355 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:06,880 polytheistic religions of the ancient Near East. 356 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:10,440 No, no Baal follower could make the confession. 357 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,040 Baal is 1. There's so many gods that would 358 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:15,520 they would give the title Bail to. 359 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:18,480 It would make no sense to say that Bail is 1. 360 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,200 And the second common alternative is that the Lord our 361 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:27,400 God, The Lord alone is God, emphasizing his uniqueness and 362 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,640 hit the exclusive nature. He is the only God in a world of 363 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,120 counterfeit gods. And so in light of the first 364 00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:37,320 commandment, we are to have no other gods beside him. 365 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,680 That would be the emphasis and you can have your take on it. 366 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:46,480 I read it as the Lord our God. The Lord alone is God flowing 367 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,040 naturally out of that first commandment that says you shall 368 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,440 have no other gods besides me. Meaning Yahweh alone is God and 369 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,240 he doesn't compete for glory. This is what the scribe says. 370 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,640 I think it he kind of interprets that when when Jesus says this 371 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,080 verse, the scribe says, right, you are right. 372 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,680 There is no other God beside him. 373 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,840 And that's what Deuteronomy 435 says Yahweh alone is God. 374 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:11,680 The Lord is God. There is no other beside him. 375 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,000 Deuteronomy 439 the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth 376 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,560 beneath. There is no other. 377 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:21,680 Isaiah 4521 says it beautifully. There is no God besides me, a 378 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,600 righteous God and a savior. There is none beside me. 379 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:31,080 This is a verse that is demanding you, yoking yourself 380 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,480 to the the the Kingdom of God. It's your swearing allegiance 381 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:40,080 and it's, it's important to see that in Mark 12/29 when, when 382 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,320 Jesus uses this, it's recorded in Mark at the absolute climax 383 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,160 of all of his teaching in the capital city of Jerusalem. 384 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:52,120 And I, I think Carson and Beale, their commentary kind of walk us 385 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:54,760 through this, this theme of loyalty and allegiance. 386 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,160 And they show how we get to this climax. 387 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,040 And they begin in Mark 834 to 35 as Jesus is teaching, you can 388 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:03,920 hear the radical nature of his teaching. 389 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:08,120 He starts by saying you have to lay down your life Contra or 390 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:11,280 evangelism strategies. Jesus makes it hard to believe 391 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,160 and he says you have to take up your cross every day and follow 392 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:16,840 me. That's what loyalty is going to 393 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,880 demand of you. Set your alarm, you wake up, 394 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,680 confess me as Lord, take up your cross and follow me. 395 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,000 Mark 942 to 48. Then he says you have to deny 396 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,640 yourself. He says you're human fleshly 397 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:31,280 inclinations. He says if your right hand 398 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,120 causes you to sin, what are you supposed to do? 399 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,400 Cut it off? You know, I actually cut it off. 400 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:37,840 It's hyperbole. He says you need to take your 401 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,960 sin seriously and if your right eye causes you to sin, what do 402 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,120 you do? You pluck it out because it's 403 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:47,120 better to go into heaven missing 1 member than to go into hell 404 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:50,480 with all of your members. He's saying take sin extremely 405 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,440 seriously. He continues to mark 1017 to 21. 406 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,120 And here he says you're going to need to lay down your material 407 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,480 goods and don't make an idol of those. 408 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,760 It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than 409 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,400 for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven. 410 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,800 And he continues to build. And then he comes. 411 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,120 Then comes Mark 12/29. You shall love the Lord your God 412 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:12,120 with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind 413 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:14,120 and all your strength. And he just takes it all to the 414 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:15,520 pinnacle. And he says it's going to cost 415 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,920 you everything, all of your resources, all of your life. 416 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,080 Total focus. This is what it means when we 417 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,240 say that salvation is a narrow path. 418 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,800 It's a it's a narrow gate because we enter through Jesus 419 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,120 Christ who is the door, and it's a narrow path and we cannot go. 420 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:34,840 That's what he said last week in our passage in Deuteronomy 5. 421 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,320 You can't go to the left or to the right. 422 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,840 We have to stay on the path of righteousness and keep our gaze 423 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:44,040 focused on Jesus Christ. It's a giving of your whole self 424 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,560 to every commandment at the expense of yourself for the 425 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,680 glory of God and Jesus Christ. And to yoke yourself to the 426 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,640 Kingdom of God means you look at your own affections and there 427 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,080 are no competitive affections. You look at the goals of your 428 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:00,640 own heart and there are no competing goals. 429 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,240 When I think about this in my own mind comes used to drive for 430 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:10,960 a living before like 4 lifetimes ago and did non-emergency 431 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:12,880 medical transportation and you meet some very interesting 432 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,880 people in that and some would confess to be Christians. 433 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:20,280 And there was this one lady who was addicted to drugs, and 434 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,440 there's a very stark image in my mind of trying to follow an idol 435 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,520 while you follow Jesus Christ. Her prayer, I'll say it in her 436 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,160 own words. She said, I pray every day that 437 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,600 God will help me find a way to keep smoking crack and still 438 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:37,640 keep my baby. And you say, how foolish to 439 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,760 think that you can follow after the things of the world and 440 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:45,560 follow after idols and then expect the blessing of God and 441 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,000 the things that he's promised. And yet we are so foolish. 442 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,040 We are that foolish when we try to serve God and mammon. 443 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,680 We try to serve God while we serve all of these other 444 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,000 functional gods in our lives. And we expect blessing. 445 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,960 And Jesus says no. That's what this text is saying. 446 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:04,160 He demands allegiance. He doesn't share his glory with 447 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,040 another. The Lord our God. 448 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:10,360 The Lord alone is God. What's the greatest commandment 449 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:13,520 according to our Savior? You shall love the Lord your God 450 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,040 with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your 451 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,520 might. And he, he says with all your 452 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,920 mind and with all your strength. That's how Jesus reads it. 453 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,320 And he's not cataloging, you know, the different aspects of a 454 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,920 person where you've got a mind and you've got a soul and you've 455 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,240 got, it's not what he's doing, it's rhetorical force, 456 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,800 rhetorical emphasis showing Christianity is going to demand 457 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,200 everything of you. And so he begins with the heart. 458 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,520 And you go back to the ancient world and you think of heart. 459 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,600 We kind of have heart and mind backwards of them. 460 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,280 The heart for them was the intellect. 461 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,080 Your heart is your mind. Your heart is your will. 462 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:51,320 It's where you make decisions. David says in Psalm 1/19/11. 463 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,800 I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin 464 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,080 against you. And he moves on and he says it's 465 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,720 the soul, which is your inner person. 466 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,960 The soul is you as you know yourself to be. 467 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,920 And he says with all of your strength, which is your 468 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:16,240 muchness, literally your very variness, what does he mean by 469 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:17,600 that? He's saying your full 470 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:21,760 capacities, your natural abilities, even your resources. 471 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,400 You might say your time, your treasure, and your talents. 472 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,440 What does he demand of you? All of your might. 473 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:28,520 You are everything. Your time, your treasure, your 474 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:30,400 talents. The Shema teaches you to love 475 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,040 exceedingly. The Shema asks you to love 476 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,960 unreservedly. We sometimes use death as kind 477 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,080 of an intensifier, right? I'm bored to death. 478 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,600 You can apply that here It's it's it's the greatest love. 479 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,120 We love him to death, literally and metaphorically. 480 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:51,240 Lord, I love you to death and what is love and scripture 481 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,120 accept obedience to God's commandments. 482 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,160 Driver, the infamous commentator, says that when God 483 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,080 expresses his love for mankind, it's expressed in benevolent 484 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:06,040 acts. What does that mean? 485 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:12,040 John 316 For God so loved the world that he gave his only 486 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,520 begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will have 487 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,040 everlasting life. He says in Deuteronomy, we're 488 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,280 going to come to it in just a few moments that God loves the 489 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,560 sojourner and it never stops there, giving him food and 490 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,920 clothing. There's no such thing as loving 491 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,720 that doesn't follow with loving actions. 492 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,520 If you love someone, you move. And so it's Israel's duty to 493 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,560 love. God is inseparable from actions. 494 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,400 It's not just emotion of the heart. 495 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,840 Love is not an emotion at all. Love is a commitment and it 496 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,960 manifests itself in obedience to God's commands. 497 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,080 So to love someone means also to act lovingly. 498 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,920 It's not works righteousness. It's love that shows itself in 499 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,920 life and ministry and devotion. Last week God said in 500 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:01,120 Deuteronomy 510 he shows his steadfast love to thousands who 501 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:04,200 love him and who keep his commandments. 502 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,320 And if you want this picture, Jesus had much to say about 503 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,120 this. You'll be This list is going to 504 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:11,640 exhaust you. Listen to Jesus in the upper 505 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,720 room what he says to his disciples. 506 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:19,480 John 1415 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 1421 507 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,480 Whoever has my commandments and keep them, keeps them. 508 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:27,520 He it is who loves me. 1423 If anyone loves me, he will keep my 509 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:32,520 word. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my word. 1510 510 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,000 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I 511 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,600 have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his 512 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:43,240 love. John 1514 You are my friends if 513 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:48,080 you do what I command you. So he's not saying obedience is 514 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,600 the cause of love, and he's not saying obedience is separate 515 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,440 from love. He's saying it's the necessary 516 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,040 expression and evidence of genuine love. 517 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,080 And so to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our 518 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,720 soul and all our strength means we have to internalize the Word. 519 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,200 We have to know it so that we can fulfill it. 520 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,120 We have to know it in order that we do it. 521 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:11,880 So we've said before last week, we'll say it again this week, 522 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,960 You have to take it. God has written His law on stone 523 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,320 tablets. It's your responsibility now to 524 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,760 take the stone tablet and to write that law on your heart. 525 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:22,440 And he's written it onto the pages of the Scriptures, and 526 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,440 it's all your responsibility to take that. 527 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,840 Proverbs 3 says this. Write it on the tablet of your 528 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,880 heart so that you can know it. You know His will and you do it. 529 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,400 Remember the word play that comes here, Shema. 530 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,720 Hear the word shemar. Keep the word, internalize it, 531 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,480 and do it. Moses has some metaphors. 532 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,840 Not the metaphor I would use, but a metaphor nonetheless. 533 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,880 Deuteronomy 10/16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your 534 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,040 heart, and no longer be stubborn. 535 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,080 Internal internalizing of the word. 536 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,520 Deuteronomy 30 verse 6. And the Lord your God will 537 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,560 circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring so that 538 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,320 you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all 539 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:06,640 your soul and that you may live. You go back to the the rabbinic 540 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,200 teachings was reading some of that this week and some of these 541 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,760 essays that Doctor Mario sent me as I'm trying to wrap my head 542 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:18,280 around this Shema passage. And they emphasized kind of two 543 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,720 ways that you can gain obedience. 544 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,360 And they said those two ways are fear or love. 545 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,560 And you can, you can use those. You can get obedience as a 546 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,720 parent, as a landlord, as a employer through fear. 547 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:37,520 You can, you can do that, but the same rabbi said that love is 548 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,600 more durable than fear. What do they mean by that? 549 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,440 You can consider in your own household, do you want children 550 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,240 that obey because they're afraid of you, because they're afraid 551 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,600 of how you're going to react, because they're afraid of what 552 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:52,160 you're going to do, because they're afraid of the 553 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,080 consequences? Or do you want children that 554 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,800 obey you and are obedient to you because they love you and 555 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,840 because you are for them? And you can think about as an as 556 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,040 an employer, do you want employees that obey you because 557 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,960 they fear you and they're afraid of how you're going to react and 558 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:08,440 the consequences of what they do? 559 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:13,440 Or do you want employees that that love you because they know 560 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:14,920 that you love them? The answer is clear. 561 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,560 Love is more durable than fear. Fear is here. 562 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,280 It's in verse 2. You can go back and see it we we 563 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,960 still have this respect and this awe of God. 564 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,920 He says that you may fear the Lord your God by keeping all his 565 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,960 statutes in command, but this fear is is a respect. 566 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,640 You go to the the old Baptist, John Gill, He said this isn't a 567 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,160 a slavish fear where we're afraid of what God's going to do 568 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,160 and these consequences. He's just delivered them out of 569 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:40,720 that. He just delivered them from 570 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,960 Egypt, which was they were afraid of their taskmaster. 571 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,040 This is not God as a taskmaster. This is a filial fear. 572 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:51,440 He says there there's a respect of God as their father, but he 573 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:56,240 says that that relationship is characterized primarily by love. 574 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,960 That's the the point of this John 316. 575 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:04,200 The emphasis is love, for God so loved the world that he gave his 576 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,840 only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will 577 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:08,840 not perish, but have everlasting life. 578 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:14,480 That's John 316 first, John 316 By this we know love, that He 579 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:18,800 laid down his life for us. That's how Israel knew the love 580 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,960 of God, because he redeemed them from their slavery. 581 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,640 He heard them, He delivered them. 582 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:27,000 Now he gives them the law as he swears himself to them, as they 583 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,240 swear themselves to him. The nature of the relationship 584 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,920 and the covenant is love. Obedience is an outgrowth of 585 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,680 love. And then finally, more than more 586 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,520 than all of the statutes, more than all of yourself, Moses 587 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,160 takes us to this Third Point. He continues this 588 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,000 all-encompassing language by expressing that it is for all of 589 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,680 life. Let's read verses 6 to 9 one 590 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,240 more time. And these words that I command 591 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,240 to you today shall be on your heart. 592 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:56,800 You shall teach them. Here's the word again, 593 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:00,160 diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you 594 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,040 sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, 595 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,600 and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on 596 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,640 your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 597 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,240 You should write them on the doorposts of your house and on 598 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,080 your gates. Just bind them on your house. 599 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:17,120 Teach them diligently to your children. 600 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,400 Talk about them when you sit in the house, when you walk by the 601 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:21,840 way, when you lie down, when you rise. 602 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,920 What's he saying with all of this? 603 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:30,760 This is always the Word of God. His covenant is always to be on 604 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,640 your mind and the most, the most mature Christians that I know, 605 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:36,480 and I know this is true for you too, because out of the 606 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,200 abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 607 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,080 The most mature Christians I know, when you talk to them, 608 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:42,440 you're going to talk about the Bible. 609 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,320 It doesn't matter what the context is. 610 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:45,880 It doesn't matter what you came to talk about. 611 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,000 They're going to take the word. They're going to apply it 612 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,200 because they love it. They know it. 613 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,320 That's why they reached maturity. 614 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,400 And it's not debates and conflict about the less known 615 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,600 parts of the Scriptures or the less clear parts of the 616 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:02,600 Scriptures. It's taking the word of God and 617 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,280 applying it to our circumstances. 618 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,040 That's what mature Christians do. 619 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,240 His word is for all spheres of life. 620 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,920 And you can look at how he begins with the word is for you 621 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,120 as an individual and it slowly out pours into society. 622 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,080 Look at verse 8. He says you were to bind it on 623 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,400 your hands. This means the word of God is 624 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,560 for you as an individual. And then he extends out into 625 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:24,280 verse 9. He says and you shall write them 626 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:28,040 on the doorpost of your house, meaning that the word of God is 627 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,320 is for your family. This is meant for you as a 628 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,320 family. And then he goes on and it says 629 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,840 and on your gates and the the Jews have no gates on their 630 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:37,400 houses at this time. It's very rare. 631 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,480 This is the gates of business and society. 632 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,800 This is like Trafalgar Square is for London. 633 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:45,320 It's the heart of the city. It's the Civic Center. 634 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:47,800 So is the gate. He's saying it it out pours. 635 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,160 What's the location of obedience for you as a Christian? 636 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,960 The answer is yes. There is nowhere that this, this 637 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,800 law does not touch. What's the location of your 638 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,000 obedience? It is your daily rhythm. 639 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,880 It's your daily habits. It's all of life, all of the 640 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:05,720 context. You're applying the word of God. 641 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,360 And he says as you're going, you teach the word diligently and 642 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,640 you talk about it constantly and you write it down and you teach 643 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:16,400 it to your family. And what does it mean to to keep 644 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,920 them and do them? I don't think he would ask if it 645 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,520 was easy, if this was something that was just going to come 646 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:23,720 naturally. We never have any problems. 647 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,840 It's it's difficult to keep the word of God and it means doing 648 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:28,280 it even when you don't feel like it. 649 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,360 It's doing it when it's hard. It's you're saying I'm not the 650 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,320 Lord of my life. You are the Lord of my life. 651 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,360 And you show with your action that you believe the words 652 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,120 nevertheless not my will, but yours be done. 653 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,880 What does it mean? Teach them means, teach the 654 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,200 culture, teach your children, teach your grandchildren. 655 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,400 The emphasis in in Deuteronomy 5 last week was on the generation 656 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,480 that came before where he rehearses the 10 commandments as 657 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:55,800 he's giving it to the next generation. 658 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:58,840 And our text today is is forward directing. 659 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,480 The rest of the book is going to be forward directing as he's 660 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:05,040 saying now this is for you as you enter into the promised land 661 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,679 and for your children. And Deuteronomy 6 says covenant 662 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:11,760 succession is too important to be left to chance. 663 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,199 So we teach our children so that they can take it. 664 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:18,239 It's not a, it's not a game. We teach them diligently. 665 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,560 If your kids are in the the children's area at this church, 666 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:23,840 they're going to get the Bible three times. 667 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,679 They're going to go through the entire Bible three times before 668 00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:28,800 they hit youth. And then Chris is going to teach 669 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,239 him about discipleship and he's going to bring systematic 670 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:33,880 theology in. And if these kids depart from 671 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:35,639 it, we've taught them the way to go. 672 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,080 We, we're not leaving this to chance. 673 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:40,960 And he says just to talk about it, it's supposed to always be 674 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:42,800 coming out of your mind and always be coming into 675 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,159 conversation. And then he says, bind them to 676 00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:48,000 yourself. Write it on your hands, put it 677 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,560 on your mirror, on verses, on T-shirts, on bracelets, on 678 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,639 necklaces. The oldest document we have of 679 00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:58,000 the Old Testament, the most the oldest manuscript we have of the 680 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:02,120 Bible period actually doesn't technically qualify as a 681 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,200 manuscript because it was an amulet there was to be worn 682 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:07,600 around the neck. And the oldest Bible manuscript 683 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:13,040 we have was somebody writing the words of number six on their on 684 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:15,000 a little piece of paper that they wore around their neck. 685 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,200 It's that may the Lord bless you and keep you, turn his face to 686 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,920 cup, shine upon you, be gracious to you, give you peace. 687 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,600 They took it and they bound it. That's what that was for. 688 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,640 So we write them. Proverbs 3 three. 689 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,160 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. 690 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:33,960 Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your 691 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,040 heart, so that you will find favor and good success in the 692 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,800 sight of God and men. And then lastly, it says you 693 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:43,560 write them. Remember kings, when they came 694 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,880 to succession on the throne, had to write the entire law. 695 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,440 This was Deuteronomy 1718 to 20. When he sits on the throne of 696 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,080 his Kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this 697 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:58,000 law, and it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the 698 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,880 days of his life. It's not just for kings. 699 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,240 It's it's for us. We write it. 700 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,960 And as you write it, and as you journal the word, you take it 701 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,480 from the pages of the Bible and you write it onto your own 702 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:12,880 heart. So what's the Shema teaching? 703 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,440 It is the greatest commandment in the Bible. 704 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,600 It's this passage is teaching complete your complete 705 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,640 allegiance to Yahweh, and it's teaching that that relationship 706 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:28,560 with you and God is characterized first by love. 707 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:32,840 As we've already sang the hymn said summer summarizes this 708 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,320 whole message. Love so amazing, so divine, 709 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,920 demands my soul, my life, my all. 710 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,280 So make the word and your obedience to it part of your 711 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,680 daily rhythm. Remember this all of life, when 712 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,720 you lie down, when you get up, when you walk along the road, 713 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:51,360 all the days of your life, keep it. 714 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,760 And it's all the law, verse 2, all of the rules and all the 715 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,200 commandments. And it's all of yourself, all of 716 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,840 your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, all of your 717 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:02,800 strength, your time, your treasure, your talents, and in 718 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,480 all contexts, personally, in your heart and that internal 719 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,800 monologue. And he goes on to say and, and 720 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,560 personally and in your household and in your society. 721 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,000 And the ask of you is that you yoke yourself to the Kingdom of 722 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,600 God. And the ask is that you confess 723 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:21,760 his lordship and you remove all rivals from him, because His 724 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:23,720 glory He will not share with another. 725 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,520 And you bind yourself to Him in life and in death, and you give 726 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:31,360 allegiance of yourself totally to him with that. 727 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:34,120 Let's pray for the strength to do that. 728 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,480 Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. 729 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,720 Lord, increase our faith, increase our love, increase our 730 00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:44,320 knowledge. Lord, we want to do this. 731 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:48,160 We've sworn allegiance to you. And Lord, we know we constantly 732 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:51,920 fall short. If there is any in the room who 733 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,280 do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, I pray that they will 734 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:58,680 remember that the day is coming where every knee will bow and 735 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:04,240 every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, whether out of love and 736 00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:06,240 obedience or because He makes them. 737 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:08,680 But I pray that now they would see you. 738 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,640 You'd open their eyes to the beauty of the gospel, that it's 739 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:14,800 you first loved us, that you gave yourself for us. 740 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:16,400 I pray that they would turn in their hearts and they would 741 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:18,720 swear allegiance to you so that it may go well with them. 742 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:21,840 They would experience peace and joy and blessing and assurance 743 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:24,960 for those who are trying to swear. 744 00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,280 They've sworn allegiance to you, but they're, they're being held 745 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,120 back, Lord, by some sins, some rival. 746 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,600 Lord, help us to remember now your power that you've given us 747 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,000 the Holy Spirit, that you've given us all things for life and 748 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:38,520 godliness. You've given us a local church 749 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,400 that can keep us accountable and keep us believing and keep us on 750 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,520 the path so that we don't go to the right or to the left. 751 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,720 And I pray that they would come and confess that sin to somebody 752 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:49,880 so that we can help them, that they would turn and follow you 753 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,680 and you alone. And Lord, I pray for those who 754 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:56,600 are who are keeping their heart under control as so far as they 755 00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:59,560 are able, they're free from from major idols in their life, that 756 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:02,520 they would strengthen the others, that you would keep them 757 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:04,720 on the path that they would experience this blessing. 758 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:08,280 God, we thank you that your word is for all of us. 759 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:12,400 We submit to it. Lord help us in Christ's name, 760 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:16,120 Amen. Thanks for listening. 761 00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:18,840 To learn more about Heritage Church or if you'd like to 762 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,280 respond to this sermon, visit our website at 763 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:24,920 www.heritageshawnee.org.