1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:03,880 Thank you for opening your eyes. Now I want you to close them 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:08,080 again for just a minute and reflect on this question. 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:14,560 Picture a Christian hero, just for a minute. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,800 In your mind's eye, what is a Christian hero? 5 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:19,880 A man or woman of God? What do they look like? 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,280 How do they live and what kinds of things are they 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,600 accomplishing? And you can open them. 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,360 And I think Scripture is going to paint a portrait for us this 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,400 morning. What our hero, what our heroes 10 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,240 and role models looks like is written for us in the word of 11 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:40,680 God. They don't look like what we 12 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,400 think they will look like. And we'll take you through a 13 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,680 survey of the of the people that Scripture exalts. 14 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,680 There's a woman named Tabitha, maybe you don't even know that 15 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,040 name, and she's ministering in Joppa. 16 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,560 And she's described as full of good works and charity. 17 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,480 In Acts 936, she makes clothes for widows. 18 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,360 David protects the disabled and politically vulnerable. 19 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:09,040 Mephibosheth Mephibosheth. Elijah provides for a single 20 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,640 mother and her son Philip, under the inspiration of the Holy 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,680 Spirit, has led to and evangelizes and baptizes A 22 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:19,440 eunuch. Paul defends on this must the 23 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,960 slave, and he advocates that he be received as a son and not as 24 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:26,320 a slave. Paul organizes a Relief Fund for 25 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:31,760 the poor in Jerusalem. Boaz marries the poor widow 26 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,440 Ruth. Jesus praises work done by the 27 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,920 prophets among foreign widows and lepers. 28 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,480 And you come to Jesus invents his own illustration. 29 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,200 And what does he want to get across when he says this is what 30 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:44,840 it looks like to love your neighbor as yourself? 31 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,320 He invents a story of a man, a Samaritan, who goes and binds up 32 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,880 the wombs of a man who fell among robbers. 33 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,680 So here I think you begin to get this picture. 34 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,040 What binds all of these passages together is that the Bible is 35 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,520 exalting, caring for vulnerable individuals in our communities. 36 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,920 That is defined as those who are experiencing legitimate needs 37 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:09,039 that are going unmet. And all these categories belong 38 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:12,240 together because these actions reveal through the heart of 39 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:15,360 Jesus Christ, through the heart of the Scriptures, something 40 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,440 about God himself. And what that is, is that God is 41 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,600 impartial. God is impartial and he takes no 42 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,720 bribe as an attribute of God. We don't think about this very 43 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,200 often. We think of God as holy, and 44 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,040 he's loving and he's just, and we think he's all powerful and 45 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:33,720 he's omnipresent and we think through these things. 46 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,080 But he's also impartial. And the Bible makes much of his 47 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,720 impartiality. As as you come through Scripture 48 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,160 and you read the story of Scripture at every major point 49 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,640 in redemptive history, the Bible reminds you that God is 50 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:48,880 impartial. It it starts in Job, what many 51 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,760 people believe is the earliest book of the Bible written. 52 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,120 Job starts by saying he shows no partiality to Princess nor 53 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,920 regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work 54 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:02,120 of his hands. Moses, when he's giving the law 55 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,440 says this to us. To them you shall see no 56 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,480 injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the 57 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:13,680 poor or defer to the great. James says the same thing in 58 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,760 that that hinge verse, that critical verse in James 127 59 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,360 where he says this is what pure and undefiled religion looks 60 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:25,280 like to care for who orphans and widows and their affliction, to 61 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:26,960 keep oneself unstained from the world. 62 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,400 The very next verse chapter 2 verse 1, he says brothers show 63 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,080 no partiality as you hold to the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 64 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,920 and salvation when it comes to the Gentiles for the first time, 65 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,360 a a watershed moment in redemptive history, the Holy 66 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,800 Spirit comes on them. They begin to to show the same 67 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,360 signs, the same salvation and Peter exclaims truly now I 68 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,760 understand that God shows no partiality and if you were to 69 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:53,960 walk out the West doors of this church and look at the 70 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:58,240 cornerstone of the church chiseled in stone, you would see 71 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,480 Romans 211. God is no respecter of persons. 72 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,120 The ESV translated translates that. 73 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,360 God shows no partiality. And so it's no surprise that 74 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,680 when you're in Deuteronomy 9 and 10, God's people are on the cusp 75 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,160 of the Promised Land. It's another watershed moment in 76 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:17,360 redemptive history. What does God want to show you? 77 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,160 He is impartial. And the promises and the 78 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,000 blessings of God and the Promised Land are not for the 79 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,600 rich only. They're not for the it's for 80 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,720 everybody. His promises and his covenant 81 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,360 are to be enjoyed by everyone indiscriminately. 82 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:37,520 The good things for all his people and turn to Deuteronomy 83 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,560 10/20/12 to 22. This is our passage and he takes 84 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,800 the concept of the impartiality of God and he asks Israel to to 85 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,600 see it played out in all of the context of the promised land. 86 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,400 He says you can order your society after this, and he uses 87 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,200 it as an opportunity to expose their hearts and their lives and 88 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,680 to show Israel how woefully short they're, they're coming in 89 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,600 this issue. When God is impartial and they 90 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,560 examine their own hearts, they fall short. 91 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,800 And so he takes this concept of a Christian hero and he says, 92 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,240 today you're crossing this threshold and this is what your 93 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,200 heart should look like. This is what your society should 94 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,240 look like. Let's read it together. 95 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:24,960 Deuteronomy 1012 to 22 Moses in preaching the sermon says, and 96 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,040 now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? 97 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,560 But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love 98 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,040 him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with 99 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,080 all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the 100 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,560 Lord, which I'm commanding to you today for your good. 101 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,800 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of 102 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:43,720 heavens, the earth and all that's in it. 103 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,120 Yet the Lord has set his heart and love on your Father's and 104 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,200 chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as 105 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,240 you are to this day. Circumcise therefore the 106 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:55,800 foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 107 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,800 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords, the 108 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:00,880 great, the mighty, and the awesome. 109 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,360 God who is not partial and takes no bribe. 110 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,880 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and 111 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,080 loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 112 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,000 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the 113 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,160 land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your 114 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:16,760 God. You shall serve him and hold 115 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,920 fast to him and by his name you shall swear he is your praise. 116 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,160 He is your God who has done for you these great and terrifying 117 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,720 things that your eyes have seen. Your father's went down into 118 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,320 Egypt, 70 persons. And now the Lord your God has 119 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,520 made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. 120 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,200 So God's trying to to help Israel to understand that 121 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:38,800 they're they're coming into the promised land. 122 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,160 They're coming into this covenant has nothing to do with 123 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,920 their righteousness and he actually takes pains kind of 124 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,480 hilariously to make sure they understand this had nothing to 125 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,400 do with you and everything to do with me. 126 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,440 And he shows with rehearsing this history of Chapter 9. 127 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,680 We're in really in in Deuteronomy 9 and 10 today. 128 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,680 Last week we were in verse 8. Chapter 9 is all about 129 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,000 manifesting to them. You guys are faithless. 130 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,040 You're stubborn, you're you're stiff necked, your recalcitrant, 131 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,040 you're rebellious. Look back, turn with me to 132 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,920 Deuteronomy 9, verse 6 and you'll see it. 133 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,360 Know therefore that the Lord your God is not giving you this 134 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,040 good land to possess because of your righteousness. 135 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:23,320 I think he phrases it that way for a reason. 136 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,240 You're not here because of your righteousness. 137 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,360 And then he goes on and says, for you're a stubborn people. 138 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,440 So it's not because of your righteousness. 139 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,040 And you could have said, OK, Lord, and he says, and and 140 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,160 you're stubborn. I think, well, you didn't have 141 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:36,960 to say that. I think that's implied. 142 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,760 You need you to understand it's not you. 143 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,840 Go down to verse 13. I've seen this people and 144 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:48,280 behold, it's a stubborn people. Verse 27 do not regard the 145 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,360 stubbornness of this people or the wickedness of their sin. 146 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,960 And he proves it. Why is Deuteronomy 9 there 147 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,560 before chapter 10? Because he's showing them 148 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,440 historically this has been their life. 149 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,600 It starts at Sinai. Here's this is what the chapter, 150 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:04,840 just to summarize the chapter, he goes back and he shows the 151 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,000 history beginning on the mountain, beginning at Sinai. 152 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,400 And he says, do you remember how you broke the first 3 153 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,480 commandments before Moses could even come down from the 154 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,360 mountain? Do you guys understand that how 155 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,000 stubborn and stiff necked you were the kind of people that 156 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,600 God's chosen. And then he goes into, he 157 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:23,920 recalls Tabara and and Numbers 11 where the people complain so 158 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,520 much that God gets frustrated and he brings fire on the 159 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,080 outskirts of the city. And then he goes to NASA, which 160 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,520 was recorded in Exodus 17, where the people claim that Moses LED 161 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,200 them out of Egypt to die and thirst in the desert. 162 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,440 And then he goes to Kibrath Hatava, Numbers 11, where the 163 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:45,320 people complained. They got sick of his mana and 164 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:47,360 they said that they wish that they were in Egypt where the 165 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,240 food was better. And then the key rehearses 166 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,400 Kadesh Barnia, which was in numbers 13, you remember, they 167 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,640 come to the promised land and they send out the spies and the 168 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,160 people are big and the cities are fortified and they come back 169 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,760 faithless and grumbling and fearful and complaining. 170 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,480 And so he's, he's showing you stubbornness has been their way 171 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:09,760 of life for 40 years. When you come to Chapter 9, 172 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:14,200 verse 1, he says, and now today you're going to cross over this 173 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,040 threshold and you will no longer live like that. 174 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,000 So there's a a wall they're hitting and he's saying now is 175 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,880 the time for change. Today is the time for change. 176 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,000 It's a new location. It's the promised land. 177 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Today you're going to swear yourself to me today you're 178 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,880 going to live by my covenant. And so immediately after 179 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,120 rehearsing this history, the very next verse is our passage, 180 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,360 chapter 10, verse 12. And he says, this is what's 181 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,080 going to characterize your new way of life. 182 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,800 This is how a Christian lives. So a person of God lives. 183 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:49,160 And he says in verse 12, and now Israel, what does the Lord your 184 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,640 God require of you? But to fear the Lord your God, 185 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,000 to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God 186 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,040 with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the 187 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,120 commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you 188 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,000 today for your good. These five things, you're going 189 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,000 to fear the Lord, you're going to love him, you're going to 190 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,840 walk in his ways, you're going to serve him, you're going to 191 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:10,880 keep his commandments. This isn't the first time we've 192 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:12,680 seen these five. It's not the last time. 193 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:15,960 These are the themes of Deuteronomy, but from a unique 194 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,160 perspective, reminding ourselves of them today. 195 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:23,040 There's a commentator named Christopher Wright who says that 196 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,080 in all of these verbs, there's overlap, but they're they're 197 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:28,720 synonymous. They're they're saying the same 198 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:30,520 thing. He shows kind of the nuance 199 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,040 enemy, He says fear to fear the Lord is to have a, a basic 200 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,400 respect and reverence for the covenant Lord and his promises. 201 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,120 And he goes on, he says, and to walk. 202 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,480 There's a concept in Judaism called the imitatio day. 203 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:47,120 You could actually imitate God. And so you can. 204 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,640 It's the imitation of Christ, the imitation of God. 205 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,160 You said you imitate him. It's the embodiment of the whole 206 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,040 Old Testament ethic. And then you love him. 207 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,960 It's to have an express covenant loyalty and obedience that are 208 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,520 flowing from gratitude for what he's done. 209 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,160 And then you serve him. And he says serving is virtually 210 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,000 synonymous with loving him, except that he adds the metaphor 211 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,200 of he bought you, you are a servant of God and you belong to 212 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,280 him. And then he says you keep his 213 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:15,720 commandments. You can give careful, 214 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,920 conscientious, constant attention to the terms and 215 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,760 stipulations of the covenant relationship. 216 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,200 This is all of your life and devotion to God. 217 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:27,360 That's what these these few verses are saying. 218 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,160 And and so we as readers are meant to see the chasm against 219 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,080 the the present manner of life of Israel as rehearsed in 220 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,960 Chapter 9 with the high standard that they're called to in 221 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:38,800 chapter 10. And you see, it's night and day. 222 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:45,720 And so he says no more, no more Deuteronomy 10/12 and now. 223 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,560 And that marks the transition from all this history, Chapter 9 224 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,360 to 1011 to the lesson that we're supposed to learn from the 225 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,320 history, the moral and religious lesson that's to be drawn from 226 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,000 it. And the text demonstrates that 227 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,520 there's a certain logic reflecting even a certain drama 228 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,360 that comes in the text. And it goes like this verse 14. 229 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:07,880 God is sovereign and he's glorious. 230 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,680 And then you come into verse 15 and he's also gracious and he's 231 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:16,280 loving and he's merciful, but Israel is stubborn and 232 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,040 rebellious. And So what? 233 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,720 What happens when those two things meet? 234 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:24,680 He says there's got to be a heart change. 235 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,480 There has to be a change in the part of God's people, which is 236 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:30,920 where verse 16 comes. The great command of this 237 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,920 circumcise your heart. It's not. 238 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,040 The problem is not with God. The problem is with you. 239 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,760 Circumcise your heart. Something has to be cut off. 240 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,600 Be no longer stubborn. You've been stubborn to this 241 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,720 point. Be no longer stubborn in the 242 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,400 structure of the passage. If we were to draw one and 243 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:50,880 you're taking notes, you want to kind of have something to kind 244 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:52,880 of comprehend this passage. There's there's a cycle. 245 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,680 You see it in verses 14 and 15 and 16 where it brings this 246 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:59,560 message with this application. And then he repeats the cycle 247 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:01,680 again for emphasis, adding to it. 248 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:03,720 And these verses are synonymous with each other. 249 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,640 And then you have 17 and 18 and 19. 250 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:09,760 And so there's these two cycles and it begins in verse 14. 251 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:14,000 The cycle begins with revelation and a declaration of who God is, 252 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,680 and this is really all God reveals himself to us. 253 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:20,240 This is the source of all of our obligation and all of our 254 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,320 ethics. It's we have a God who reveals 255 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,680 himself and there's a statement of theology proper in verse 14. 256 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,560 It says, behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the 257 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:33,280 heaven of heavens and the earth and all that is in it. 258 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,560 As Moses is grounding these commandments to you, circumcise 259 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:40,600 your heart, He's grounding it in authority. 260 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,960 I have the authority to do this. I am the owner of heaven and and 261 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:46,200 earth and everything that's in it. 262 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,360 And you belong to me. And so he commands them to 263 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,480 change their heart and he puts it in this unrivaled 264 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,720 sovereignty. Heaven and heavens belong to 265 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,240 him, the earth, that is all and all that is in it. 266 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,960 And then he moves into verse 15. The cycle moves from the 267 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:06,680 sovereignty of God to his affections, meaning what it what 268 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:08,720 he loves. What does God love? 269 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,640 Verse 15? Yet the Lord set his heart and 270 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,680 love on your Father's and chose their offspring after them, you 271 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,520 above all peoples, as you are to this day. 272 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,400 So he grounds this command and his sovereignty, and then he 273 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:23,160 grounds his command and his love. 274 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,120 He says, yeah, I get to command you as your God, whether you 275 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,920 should go to the right or to the left, but I also love you. 276 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:33,520 And so here's sovereignty with love, absolute sovereignty and 277 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,680 dominion with unconditional love. 278 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,880 And because he carries authority and because he loves them, the 279 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,320 confrontation happens. Moses commands in verse 16. 280 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,600 This is the application to you, the take away, the purpose for 281 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,320 revealing this. He says be no longer stubborn 282 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:54,520 and circumcise your heart. And circumcision is a, is a 283 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,440 metaphor that that runs in so many directions and it teaches 284 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,400 so many things, but not least of all that something has to be cut 285 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,080 off from you in order for you to truly to belong to God. 286 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,400 If your heart's going to truly belong to God, something has to 287 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,440 be cut off. There's something wrong in your 288 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,160 heart. And so we ask, how can a man 289 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,280 who's not righteous become righteous? 290 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,000 How can an unjust woman just become just? 291 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:25,080 How can a stubborn man or a stubborn husband become no 292 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:30,440 longer stubborn? And Jeremiah asked the question 293 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:32,920 this way. Can the Ethiopian change his 294 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,200 skin? Yes, it rhetorically. 295 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,800 Can a leopard change its spots? What's the answer? 296 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,760 Neither can one who is accustomed to doing evil do 297 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,040 good. And so we know. 298 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:46,880 We all know the process of circumcision. 299 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,000 If you don't know, ask your parents. 300 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,800 We understand this process is somewhat embarrassing process, 301 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,480 somewhat painful process. But how do you circumcise your 302 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:59,200 heart? And Romans 229 gives the answer. 303 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,640 Circumcision was never about circumcision of the flesh. 304 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,000 It always reflected A deeper circumcision is about the heart. 305 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:09,600 This is what Paul says in Romans 2. 306 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:11,840 Circumcision is a matter of the heart. 307 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:13,400 How can you circumcise your heart? 308 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,480 By the Spirit, Not by the letter. 309 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,200 You can't circumcise your heart. This is something you rely on 310 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,320 God's Holy Spirit to do. It's by the Spirit, not by the 311 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:25,360 letter. By the Spirit, the Ethiopian can 312 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:27,200 change his skin and the leopard can change his spots. 313 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,840 The evil person can become righteous, but he says it's not 314 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,480 your righteousness that by any of this was accomplished. 315 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:33,960 It's not your uprightness of heart. 316 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,960 By God's Spirit, it's possible. Amen. 317 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,400 And so whose righteousness is it that's accomplishing these 318 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:43,880 things? Go back to Romans 9, verse 4. 319 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,960 This is, he makes this a point and he hits it over and over and 320 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,680 over. Verse 4, do not say in your 321 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,320 heart, it's because of my righteousness that the Lord has 322 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:54,000 brought me into this land to possess. 323 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,840 Chapter 9, verse 5, not because of your righteousness or the 324 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,400 uprightness of your heart. Verse 6 Know therefore that the 325 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,000 Lord your God's not giving you this good land because of your 326 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,839 righteousness, for you're a stubborn people. 327 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:08,960 It's because of God's righteousness. 328 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:11,640 It doesn't say that here, but we go to the new test and we see 329 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,440 it's it's because of Christ's righteousness, because of what 330 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:18,560 he accomplished is the basis of his blessings and promises. 331 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,359 And we see this is where the power to live a Christian life 332 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:24,560 comes from. How do you become a Christian 333 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,000 hero and a role model and embody these things? 334 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,960 It's by the power of the Spirit, it's Christ's righteousness as 335 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,400 he circumcises your heart, He takes away your heart of stone, 336 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,240 replaces it with the heart of flesh, and then guess what, you 337 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,960 become righteous and you can deal righteously. 338 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:42,720 And Moses wants to stress the point, so he makes it again. 339 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,240 We have the cycle a second time. It begins in verse 17. 340 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,160 And I have to admit, these are some of my favorite verses in 341 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,640 the Bible, maybe my favorite verses in the Bible. 342 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,920 When we were doing our our dissertations, it was learning 343 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,160 about Christ and the vulnerable. This was the premiere. 344 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:00,280 This was chapter 1 for me, Deuteronomy 10/17 to 19. 345 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,000 It summarizes our responsibility and you see the cycle. 346 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,080 It's the second version of the cycle, verse 17. 347 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,040 God is sovereign and glorious. You can read it with me, says 348 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,880 for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords, the 349 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,000 great one, the mighty one, the awesome God. 350 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,200 And this is the Old Testament foundation for Jesus Christ 351 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,240 titles in the New Testament when he's called King of kings and 352 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,760 Lord of Lords. So here it's saying Yahweh is 353 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,160 God of gods and Lord of Lords, the New Testament says, and that 354 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:31,400 is Jesus Christ. So all the world belongs to him. 355 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,120 This is his title. He's the great, the mighty, the 356 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:37,400 awesome one. This is theology proper, pure 357 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,920 theology proper. And he moves on, but beyond his 358 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,080 sovereignty and his, his glorious nature. 359 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:45,920 And now he moves to his affections again. 360 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,320 He's merciful and he's loving, which is verse 18. 361 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:53,320 He continues who is impartial and takes no bribe. 362 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,720 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow and he 363 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,040 loves the sojourner giving him food and clothing. 364 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,600 So he says God loves. What does he love? 365 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,000 What is his affection for? He loves the orphan, he loves 366 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,440 the widow, he loves the foreigner and then the demand to 367 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:13,240 us comes because of who he is. And with this command he gives a 368 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,840 qualification for what it means to have a circumcised heart. 369 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,080 What does your life look like if your heart has become 370 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,560 circumcised? It and he says here it means to 371 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,840 image God's loving kindness to imitate him. 372 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,880 Verse 19 love the orphan, love the widow, love the sojourner, 373 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,680 for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 374 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:33,720 If you want to know what a Christian hero looks like, it's 375 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,920 one who images God's loving kindness on the earth. 376 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,360 It's one who follows in the righteousness of Jesus Christ 377 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:42,800 and in his mercy and in his passions. 378 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:49,120 And as you see this, I want to stop too and show you a 379 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:51,920 theological point. Because mixed in this he says he 380 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,600 executes justice for the fatherless. 381 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,240 And when we're looking at this concept of justice theologically 382 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,520 in Scripture, that that word means one of two things, and you 383 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:03,320 see them both going on in this passage. 384 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,640 We talk about biblical justice. There's two categories. 385 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,720 The first one you can write down is what we would call 386 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:14,000 retributive justice, retribution or rectifying justice. 387 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,600 I think when we think of justice, this is what we think 388 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,880 about. If justice does do somebody, our 389 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,720 minds immediately go to, I want justice served. 390 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,680 I want this person punished for all their wrongdoing and all 391 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,880 their evil. And so we, we see this actually 392 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,240 fuels our hope, it fuels our apologetics when you'll be 393 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,080 talking to people who have not yet come to understand all of 394 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,400 the, the nuances of theology. And they say things like, how 395 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,240 could God allow this injustice and this injustice? 396 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,880 And why is God not doing something about this situation 397 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:45,720 and this situation? And that's your opportunity to 398 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,400 say the very fact that your heart longs for justice is proof 399 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,640 that there is such a thing as justice. 400 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,680 What your heart is longing for in that moment is this 401 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:57,920 rectifying justice when the psalmists are are praying 402 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,760 imprecatory Psalms on people, they're saying God bring your 403 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:05,880 justice on the earth. And so this is this first 404 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,000 category. It's it's flowing out of God and 405 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:09,800 the pages of Deuteronomy 9 and 10. 406 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:13,720 God's patience has worn out of all this child sacrifice and all 407 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,240 of this sexual immorality. And so Moses records Deuteronomy 408 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,880 9 verse 3 know therefore, today your God is going out. 409 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,040 He is a consuming fire and He's going to execute justice. 410 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,920 That is, he's going to punish and destroy the wicked. 411 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,560 Deuteronomy 94, again, it's because of the wickedness of 412 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,000 these nations. He says you think it's because 413 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,160 of your righteousness. You're tempted to think it's 414 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:35,720 because of your goodness that you're going in. 415 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,920 It's actually because of the wickedness of the nations that 416 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:40,360 you're going in to possess this land. 417 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,440 It's his justice, verse 5, because of the wickedness of 418 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,640 these nations. So you see his first element 419 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,160 being worked out on the Canaanites. 420 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,800 And you know in your own heart, you don't just long for the 421 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,720 wicked to be punished. There's another longing that's 422 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,880 in your heart and in your soul. You long that the homeless 423 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,520 individual would come into a home, and you long that the 424 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,480 orphan would come to find a father and a mother. 425 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:09,280 And you long for the poor to be satisfied and refreshed. 426 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,720 And he says that too is justice. That's where we get to the 427 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,640 second form of justice, which is sometimes called primary justice 428 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,520 there, or retributive justice, not retributive, but 429 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:24,080 distributive justice where God brings good things to all. 430 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,800 It would be the the rightly ordered society grounded in the 431 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,600 dignity of God. And you come to Deuteronomy 10. 432 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,960 He says he's clearing out the wicked in that element of 433 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,280 justice, and he's bringing this well ordered, righteous, just 434 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:42,560 society in its place. And you see the second form, it 435 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,920 means being impartial in your dealings, treating people with 436 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,920 dignity and respect, empowering the weak to what Moses wants of 437 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,240 the promised land is why he says in verse 18, God executes 438 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,560 justice for the fatherless and the widow, and he loves the 439 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,200 sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 440 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,400 And so this is what Moses is requiring of you. 441 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,760 He says in light of who God is, this is who God is. 442 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,040 If you're going to image God, if you're going to image Christ, 443 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,960 this is who you are. Be no longer stubborn. 444 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,440 Circumcise the foreskin of your heart. 445 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,000 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the 446 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,000 land of Egypt. Jonathan Edwards preached a 447 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,800 sermon on kind of this idea of of primary justice and he said, 448 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:28,000 how is it that rule fulfilled of bearing one another's burdens if 449 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,960 we're never obliged to relieve others burdens, but only when we 450 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:32,760 can do it without burdening ourselves? 451 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,720 Says how do we bear our neighbors burdens when we bear 452 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,400 no burden at all? Bruce Walke says the righteous 453 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,440 are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the 454 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,320 community. The wicked are willing to 455 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,360 disadvantage the community to advantage themselves. 456 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,920 Where our hearts are aimed at justice. 457 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,560 And when you come to the Scripture three dozen times, 458 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,320 seems like every time you see this word justice, it attributes 459 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,320 another word synonymously with it. 460 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,560 Justice and righteousness go together such that they're 461 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,680 almost synonyms. It's what Job says in Job 29. 462 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,440 He speaks these words. He says I put on righteousness 463 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,640 and it clothed me, justice. And it was my robe. 464 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,920 It was my cloak. It was my turban. 465 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,560 And what Job is saying is he says, I am so characterized by 466 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:23,160 my goodness and charity and justice, my righteousness, that 467 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,800 it's like the clothes I wear. When people see me, this is what 468 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,160 they see. When people think about me, this 469 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,720 is what they see. It's this concept of primary 470 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:33,680 justice. He wakes up every morning and he 471 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,480 puts on righteousness like his clothes. 472 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,400 He puts on justice like a cloak. He wears it all the time. 473 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,400 It's his lifestyle. It's who he is. 474 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:46,440 So Moses is saying is, is being a Christian is inseparable from 475 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,600 this kind of goodness and generosity and charity, because 476 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,600 when the Holy Spirit circumcises your heart, you love what God 477 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,400 loves, and you serve who God serves. 478 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,400 Remember Paul's metaphor in Ephesians 6. 479 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,800 He says, put on the breastplate of righteousness. 480 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:10,000 He says put on charity and righteousness and justice like a 481 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,800 breastplate, a shining, resplendent breastplate, he 482 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:14,960 said. And Satan's going to throw all 483 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,720 these pangs and all these arrows at you, and it's not going to do 484 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:19,440 anything. Because when people look at you, 485 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:21,440 this is what they see. You're protected. 486 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,360 Your reputation is protected. You're so identified with this 487 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:26,760 that this has become who you are. 488 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,200 You take the armor on and you don't take it off until you take 489 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,720 it off in glory. It's on the whole time we're on 490 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,200 the earth. And then Job even goes on and he 491 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:39,120 clarifies what he means by justice, what what it means by 492 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:40,480 righteousness and love of neighbor. 493 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,440 Does love of neighbor mean that when your neighbor comes home, 494 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,480 you wave at him and wish him a good day? 495 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,160 Is that what Jesus is requiring of you? 496 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,480 Is it to, you know, to be friendly, to open doors for 497 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,640 people to wear a what would Jesus do bracelet and have a 498 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,960 positive demeanor? That's not what he's talking 499 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,000 about. Job says I delivered the poor 500 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,480 when they cried for help. Job says I was eyes to the blind 501 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,320 who had none. I was feet to the lame who had 502 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:08,200 none. I was a father to the 503 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,320 fatherless. I hope that you can say this. 504 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,480 I searched out for the cause of him who did not know. 505 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,840 I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made them drop 506 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,960 their prey from their mouths. That's righteousness, that's 507 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,160 justice. And Moses goes on and in these 508 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,680 11 verses and he reminds us there's there's 2 tablets to the 509 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,840 law. We love God, we also love our 510 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:34,400 neighbor and so God's obligation for us concerning himself is 511 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:36,360 clearly in verse 12. I want to remind you, what does 512 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:39,520 the Lord your God require of you but to love the Lord your God, 513 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:43,080 to fear the Lord, to walk in his ways, to serve him with all your 514 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,160 heart, with all your soul, to keep the commandments and the 515 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,920 statutes of the Lord, which I'm I am commanding you today. 516 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:52,480 And everyone says yes, all of life lived in devotion for God. 517 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,480 Yes and Amen. And I want to remind you of a 518 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,000 Timothy Keller quote that connects these two tablets of 519 00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,800 the law. Tim Keller says though 520 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:02,640 righteousness is primarily about being in a right relationship 521 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:07,400 with God, the righteous life that results is profoundly 522 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,960 social. And so therefore Moses includes 523 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,400 verse 19. Love the sojourner, therefore, 524 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,840 for you were sojourners in the lands of Egypt. 525 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:24,400 So these verses are pure and undefiled religion from Moses 526 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,840 perspective, Deuteronomy saying this is pure and undefiled 527 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,280 religion in the promised land and they represent the the image 528 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,720 of a faithful Christian and that's his elders. 529 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:36,200 As we put these core values out, we say we hope that the kind of 530 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,800 the archetypal heritage member will look like somebody who 531 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,520 embodies these core values. And we believe that this is a a 532 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,680 distillation of what Moses is including in these 11 verses, 533 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,000 that you would engage in theological education, that you 534 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,080 would be equipped for ministry, that you would advance the 535 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,760 gospel, that you would love on vulnerable people and seek the 536 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,400 welfare of the city while you live there. 537 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,080 And that when you do this, you would be embodying these verses, 538 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:01,240 love of God and love of neighbor. 539 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,280 And it's this logic that led Christopher Wright again to say 540 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:09,080 quote, Deuteronomy 1012 to 22 is unquestionably one of the 541 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,880 richest texts in the Hebrew Bible, Exalted and poetic in its 542 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,840 language, comprehensive and challenging in its message, It 543 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,000 purposely tries to boil down the whole theological and ethical 544 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,280 content of the book into memorable phraseology, packed 545 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,120 and pregnant, rich and resonant of all of the surrounding 546 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:27,520 preaching. In quote. 547 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,160 This is the summary of the teaching of Moses. 548 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,840 This is the requirement of Israel in the Promised Land. 549 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,760 It's the response to the lessons of Israel's history. 550 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,240 It's the wisdom they need to succeed in the Promised Land. 551 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,840 In 11 verses, that's what you're reading. 552 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,320 It's, it's so important. And what these verses are are an 553 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,120 invitation to move beyond the external signs of circumcision 554 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:53,720 and fasting into what those signs represent, justice and 555 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:58,000 righteousness and mercy. True circumcision, a 556 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,360 transformation of the heart. True circumcision, he says, is 557 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,560 permanent. It's a it's, it's a heart issue. 558 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:06,840 You go through the prophets, they say this about all of these 559 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:08,120 signs. What about fasting? 560 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:09,760 We want to fast and the people are fasting. 561 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,480 And he says I would that you engaged in a true fast. 562 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,040 What was the true fast of Isaiah 58? 563 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,240 It was a permanent fast, a life of justice and righteousness and 564 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,600 mercy. These verses are telling you to 565 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:30,160 put down your songs and to put down your festivals and your new 566 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,960 moons and your Sabbaths and enter the true religion of Amos 567 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,760 chapter 5. Who says let justice roll down 568 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,560 like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream? 569 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,520 Job says put on righteousness like clothes and justice like a 570 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:50,080 robe. Your new identity in Christ is 571 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:55,120 this life, righteousness, and justice because you're it's 572 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,320 God's identity and you are found in Christ. 573 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,920 This becomes your identity. He is sovereign, He is glorious, 574 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,160 He is impartial, and He is loving. 575 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,480 So if you've kind of assumed these external things as your 576 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:15,200 identity, but you haven't assumed the weightier things 577 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,360 that they represent, then Moses's words are for you. 578 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,640 Circumcise your heart and be no longer stubborn. 579 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,280 This is Moses's message to Israel. 580 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,400 Circumcise your heart. And what are they supposed to do 581 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:33,680 if priority is not sacrifices and is not fasting and new moons 582 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,240 and Sabbaths Again, MO here, Amos, let justice roll down like 583 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,400 waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream is. 584 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:42,680 If you do this, then you're not going to go to be like Tabra 585 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:43,840 again. There's not going to be the 586 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:48,640 faithlessness at Kadesh Barnea, those places of rebellion. 587 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,560 God's message to the church. The priority is, is not rituals 588 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:54,840 and obligations. Jesus says this in Matthew 7. 589 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,480 Many of you are going to come to me and say Lord, Lord, did we 590 00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:59,680 not cast out demons in your name? 591 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,080 And did we not do mighty works and prophecy? 592 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:06,040 And Jesus's response is what? Who are you? 593 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,560 Who are you? I don't know you. 594 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,160 I was naked and you didn't clothe me. 595 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,800 I was hungry and you didn't give me something to eat and I was 596 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,680 thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 597 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,520 I don't know you. Who are you? 598 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,800 So what do we do? 5 things representing your 599 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:28,360 wholehearted devotion to God. The first thing you do is you 600 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,080 devote yourself wholly to Him. You are His bond servant. 601 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:33,880 He is your love. He is your praise. 602 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,840 Our passage says what does the Lord require of you but to fear 603 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,240 the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to 604 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,240 serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your 605 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,880 soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the 606 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,120 Lord which I am commanding for you today. 607 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,360 That's the first requirement, the first responsibility and the 608 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,000 second is like it. We've seen the connection. 609 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:55,840 He says you also have to demonstrate your love for your 610 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,800 neighbor. There's a a theologian named 611 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:03,560 Nicholas Walter Storf who wrote a, a book on justice that if, if 612 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:05,600 you want to seek this more deeply, you can go and read 613 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:07,720 that. But he talks about, he has an 614 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,440 illustration that is very powerful about George 615 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,760 Washington. And he says, if you go to Mount 616 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:15,120 Vernon, kind of his lifelong home, and you were to go and 617 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,960 look at all the houses that are there, he'd say George 618 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,560 Washington's house is not the prettiest house there. 619 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:22,680 He says. And yet everybody that comes to 620 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:24,480 visit, they all go to Washington's house. 621 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:26,600 They all want to go there. Why do they want to go there 622 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,280 when there's other houses that are more beautiful? 623 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,560 There's other estates, he says. And when you go in his house, 624 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,960 it's it's it's not filled with beautiful things. 625 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,880 He said that the houses around are have cooler stuff inside. 626 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:41,520 So why is it that everybody visits this plantation house? 627 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:43,520 Why do they go to George Washington's? 628 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,960 And his answer is because we honor the owner of the house. 629 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,160 We honor the house because we go there because that's George 630 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,680 Washington's house and he applies it to to justice and the 631 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,640 people and he says, why do we love our neighbor? 632 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,120 It says because we love God with all our heart and with all our 633 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,800 soul and with all our mind. And so because we love the 634 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,040 person, we love the house because we love God. 635 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:10,440 We love everybody who's made and his image and we love them 636 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,640 indiscriminately. When we love God, even though 637 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,160 the relationship is primarily with him and his righteousness, 638 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,680 the righteousness that results, Tim Keller says, is profoundly 639 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,240 social. We love our neighbor because we 640 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,120 love God. So God circumcises your heart 641 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,240 that you might forsake the old way of stubbornness and false 642 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:33,760 righteousness and choose instead the new way of faithfulness and 643 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:37,200 becoming like God. And let's pray for that end. 644 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,400 Dear Lord, we thank you for this church. 645 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,320 We are a redeemed creation, God. We're not here because of our 646 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:45,680 righteousness. We'll be here because of your 647 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:47,400 righteousness. But your righteousness is 648 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,840 social, it moves, it loves the orphan and the widow and the 649 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,880 sojourner. And, and so we pray, Lord, if we 650 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,720 do not have this heart, grant us this heart, circumcise our heart 651 00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,840 so that we wouldn't love the things of this world and chase 652 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,120 after the things of this world, but that justice and 653 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,920 righteousness and mercy would flow from us when people would 654 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:07,000 look at us. And when they would look at 655 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,520 Heritage Church, they would see breastplates of righteousness. 656 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,719 They would see waters and justice rolling down like 657 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,560 waters. Lord, if we do have this heart, 658 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,199 increase it in US. Give us the mind of Christ. 659 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:21,040 Give us the heart and the compassion of Jesus Christ, and 660 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,920 give us the strength and the capacity and the resources so 661 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,199 that we can do this well. God, we love you so much. 662 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,000 We ask all this in the name of your Son. 663 00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:32,239 Amen. Thanks for listening. 664 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:34,960 To learn more about Heritage Church or if you'd like to 665 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,400 respond to this sermon, visit our website at 666 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:41,080 www.heritageshawnee.org.