Scripture to Meditate On

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. 

Deuteronomy 7:9-11

This is another place where God is described, and described in ways that need to be noticed and embraced.

The first quality listed is that He is a faithful God. Whenever He makes a promise, He keeps it. Here, His keeping covenant and His love is highlighted. This is something for us to cling to. And that's because this is one key place where Satan loves to attack. 'God won't come through for you! It looks like you're going to have to deal with this on your own.' NO! He is the faithful God.

But then, note that this commitment is conditional. He is faithful 'with those who love him and keep his commandments'. Since ours is covenant relationship, there are obligations on our side to keep, commands to obey. God will love us, but that is supposing that we loving Him. And if you think about it, this is one place where repentance and faith are so important.

The next quality is something that many church folk these days will be uncomfortable with. Our God 'repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying[!] them'. This is just another way of talking about how 'He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished'. Note that our God is not 'slack' in dispensing this punishment. He does not delay.

All of this sets up the last line which actually is the main point here.

You shall therefore[!] be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

Moses spoke these words to the people of God in the desert as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. They were a serious warning to them. We, the people of God in our own desert, also need to hear these words as a serious warning to us as we also prepare to enter the Promised Land.

Baptize Your Heart

Deuteronomy 10.12-16

If this text sounds familiar, it should. I preached on it a month or so ago. That time I preached on one of the items in Moses' list, the fear of the Lord. This time I'm not going to focus on any one item on the list or even the list as a whole. The list will be included, but it won't be the focus of the sermon because it isn't the focus of the text. Instead, we'll work through the text and find its center and then see the rest of our text from that vantage point. So, let's start at the beginning of the text as see what we find.

The first thing to note is this language of 'require', '...what does the Lord your God require of you...' The implication of this phrase is not at all complicated, but it is most significant. God has expectations. He requires things. I point this out because this is something that far too many people have never considered. The all too common attitude these days goes something like this. 'Sure, I believe in God. He exists to help me out.' Few people would be so bold as to actually say it that way, but it is the common opinion out in the world these days. God exists for my sake. This explains why people so often get so angry at God when something terrible happens to them or to someone they love. 'Why did He let this happen to me!?!' The assumption behind that angry statement is that God is supposed to be there for me. It's His job to take care of me. The idea that He has requirements, expectations of us – beyond the occasional visit to a church – isn't even considered. So, as you encounter people like this, people who just assume that God is there for their sake, you might ask them, 'What do you think God requires of you in return for taking care of you?', followed up, of course, with, 'Why do you think that?' It might be a jarring question, and for that reason you need to be careful about asking it, but it might result in some rather fruitful conversations.

Our text also speaks to another group. The people in this group understand the idea of God having requirements. They look at our text and understand that God has expectations of them. And they recognize that that is appropriate, especially since they have expectations of God. It's something like a business contract. God has expectations of me and I have expectations of Him. If I keep my part of the arrangement I can expect Him to keep His. If they are a little sophisticated they might even label this a covenant relationship. These folk latch on to a text like this one. It answers the key question for this group. 'What are the things that I need to do to keep my end of the deal? Where can I find a list of things to do?' Is there a better text for that than this one? It makes perfect sense. To start off, there's to be proper respect and reverence for God. Then, we have all this about God's ways and serving Him and the commandments. All that boils down to things to do, like honor your father and mother, and things not to do, like adultery. And then there's this thing about being diligent in all of this, you know, doing it with all the heart. So, these folk look at our text and find exactly what they are looking for: a list of things to do. It's great because this group loves lists. It keeps things clear and objective. Just check off items on the list as you do them, and it's all good. And, in return, you get to enjoy a pleasant life since God will then keep His part of the bargain.

It needs to be said, though, that it's not always as smooth as that. Sometimes there are doubts. And these doubts pop up when life gets hard. That's when it does not appear that God is keeping His part of the bargain. Little bumps in the road are to be expected. But there are situations that no longer qualify as 'little bumps in the road'. That's when the doubts begin. Now, these people respond to this problem in various ways. Some redouble their efforts. Maybe they're not doing enough on their side of the bargain. Of course, there are others who begin to doubt the value of their arrangement with God. He doesn't seem to be meeting His contractual obligations. It needs to be said that there are some who give up on the whole thing. They may still continue some of their religious habits, but they are empty habits. Life at this point becomes very trying because hope, the hope of a pleasant life, dims.

The Spirit knows about these groups. That's why He wrote our text and its list of requirements. The message for the first group is clear. Yes, God has expectations. And you had better meet them. But when it comes to the second group, the message is different. It's particularly for the second group that the Spirit wrote this: 'Circumcise therefore your heart...' This statement mystifies the second group. It doesn't fit on a list. There's no objective thing to do, to be checked off. So, they wonder, 'What is this all about?' This is the center of this paragraph, the center of our text. Everything the Spirit has included in our text is tied to this. If we can understand what's going on here, the rest of the paragraph will fall into place. So, let's take a closer look.

To start with, remember Moses' audience. The book of Deuteronomy is a collection of Moses' final words to the church he had pastored for the previous forty years. Moses will soon die. Joshua is about to take the reins of leadership. Israel is about to cross the Jordan River and conquer the Promised Land. So, Deuteronomy is something like Moses' farewell address. These are his last words to Israel. Here, he reminds them, cajoles them, exhorts them and encourages them. Moses knows his audience, and he knows where they are tempted. So, he points to one thing that ties them all together as a group: their relationship with their God and in particular circumcision which is the symbol of that relationship. But as he refers to that sacrament he reminds them that the physical act of circumcision is not enough. That way of thinking about circumcision can only lead to a check list mentality. So, he exhorts them. 'Faithfulness is so much more than some check list. Deal with your heart! Circumcise your heart!' Now, just to be clear, when the Bible speaks of the heart it's not calling for some emotional response. The heart is not the seat of the emotions. It's the real you on the inside. It's where your desires, motivations, affections, hopes and dreams reside. What Moses is telling them is that if they would pursue their God aright, they will need to do it from the inside out. A check list mentality – something that only deals with the outside – will never do.

All of this gets to why I'm preaching to you from this text. As God's people we face many dangers, many potential pitfalls. One of them is becoming merely religious. It's the merely religious who like check lists. They see some objective religious things that can be checked off, things done not from within but merely externally, and they figure that doing that is good enough. Let me remind you of one of Jesus' parables about two men who were praying. The first man was all about check lists. He began with the list of things not to be done. 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men ... I'm not an extortioner [check], nor am I unjust [check]. I am not an adulterer [check] or a traitorous tax collector [check].' So much for that check list. But then there was the other check list, things that are to be done. 'I fast twice a week [check]. I even give tithes of all that I get [check].' This man was a member of God's Church. He had a relationship with the God of his fathers. Yet, his circumcision, the symbol of that relationship with his God, never touched his heart. Today, there are many whose bodies have been wet with the waters of baptism, the symbol of their membership in God's Church and of their relationship with the Father, and yet their hearts are bone dry, completely untouched by the sacrament. Now, please hear me when I say this: falling into that kind of mentality is a danger that we all face. None of us is exempt. Remember, we have an enemy who hates us. So, like Moses, I would exhort you to be careful. And lest anyone here not take this danger seriously enough, let me quote the Apostle. 'Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.' We all need to be careful.

Moses urges the people but not by giving them some rule to follow. What good what that be? It would just become another item on the list to be checked off. Instead, to motivate them to heed his call, he points them to their God. Listen. 'Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.' Do you understand what Moses is saying here? 'Consider your God. He is the God over all things. He is high and lifted up. He can do whatever He wants. And yet, whom did He decide to love? You! He could have chosen anyone, but He chose you.' And so, following Moses' lead, I exhort you in the same way. Consider your God. Of all the people that He could have chosen, He chose you. He decided to love you and to send Jesus to suffer hell for you. Can anyone here give me even one good reason why He should have done that to us but not to the many others whom He has passed over? Why are you going to heaven while so many others are going to hell? Consider your God. The person who gets this, even just a little, is someone whose heart has been baptized. Something has been stirred within. Mere religion – that check list mentality – just doesn't get it.

Moses has a second motivation for the people. Listen to this, especially the end. 'And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?' Did you hear that? Responding to God's call will result in your good. Your Father is not just dumping some requirements on you. Remember, He wants you to flourish. Being sure that your heart is baptized and grows in its baptism will result in much good for you. Your Father wants you happy. But that can only happen His way. Beware of the temptation of that evil check list mentality. Pursue your God from the heart. Pursue Him in this way and see how good He is to you.

The sermon thus far has only been descriptive. And it's important that I do that. But now you're ready to deal with the matter of what to do. And that is not complicated. Go back to what God requires. He wants you to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with all your heart and soul and to keep His commandments and statutes. As you take this list of things with you to do them, to do them from a heart that has been baptized, you will discover something. You will discover that you aren't able to do them, not really, not in the way that God requires. And that's a very good thing to discover. For one thing, that's evidence that you are not looking at the list in the way someone who is merely religious would. You understand this list as a Christian. You understand what God expects, and you know that you aren't meeting His expectations. You can't. Now, don't get all discouraged as you see your inability. That's what Satan wants. Instead, remember the Gospel. Remember that you have a Savior. Jesus has come. He has come to bless you. And one of His blessings is the gift of the Spirit. It's the Spirit who makes all this work. It's because of what the Spirit does that you see what it means that Jesus died for you and suffered your hell. It's because of what the Spirit does that you begin to get it, that you understand what the Father requires and how that is so much more than being merely religious. The Spirit must do His work. And He does. And bit by bit, it makes sense. You don't need to do that check list to somehow make God like you. Jesus has already fulfilled the requirements. All the expectations are already met. The Father already likes you. Jesus has come for you, and the Spirit makes that work in your life. And that's what the merely religious never get. They think in terms of a business contract. 'I'll keep my end of the deal, and You keep yours.' How foolish. But those whose hearts have been baptized know that there are no conditions to be kept. Jesus has taken care of all of that. So much for the check list. But then, interestingly, you return to the list and consider it. And it becomes even more interesting as you find yourself working to satisfying its requirements: fearing God and loving God and serving Him with all your heart and all the rest. But it's so very different now. You don't do it to try to make God like you. That's unnecessary. You do it simply because you love Him. No check list mentality here. Just love. And out of this comes much good. And one bit of that good is joy. You rejoice in your God. You see what He's done in Jesus and what He continues to do by the Spirit. You see His kindly grace at work in your life and in the lives of others. And you rejoice in that. And, over time, there will be more and more joy in your life. And that will be more than enough evidence that your heart has been baptized.

The Fear of the Lord

Deuteronomy 10.12-13

I came upon this bit of Scripture during my daily Bible reading recently. As I read it I thought that it could be a good text to preach. It had a good question, 'What does the Lord your God require of you?' It answers that with a checklist, and we all like checklists. So, I thought it would make for a good sermon or maybe two. But as I considered the text, it became clear that the Spirit was directing me to preach on only one of the items. Today's sermon is about the requirement to fear God. This, as you can appreciate, is a challenging topic. It's an area that is not at all clear within the Church these days. And that's why I need to preach on it. As I studied the topic the Spirit made some things clearer to me. It's my hope that He will make some things clearer to you as well. Let's find out.

Let's start with a working definition. What is the fear of the Lord? There are several of suggestions that have been offered, things like reverence, respect or awe. All of those are expected of us in our attitude to God, but I think that you'll agree with me that none of them really feel quite right, that with each it feels as if something is missing. So, let me suggest this as a definition: fearing God means fearing God. The fear of the Lord is our being afraid of God. Now, why would I say that? Well, as you might guess, I have reasons. For one thing, if God wanted His people to reverence, respect or be in awe of Him, He could have and would have said that. But He didn't. He used the word 'fear'. And 'fear' means fear. Even after just a moment's reflection you know that's right. 'Fear' means fear. So, to fear God means to be afraid of Him. Now, on top of that, I have verses. Why did Adam hide from God in the Garden of Eden? Here's Adam's answer: 'I heard the sound of you in the Garden and I was afraid.' Then there's the time that God came down on Mount Sinai. 'Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid.' Then there was the time that Jacob had his dream. 'Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." And he was afraid.' In each case we see people interacting with God and in each case they are described as being afraid. I think that it's pretty clear that the fear of the Lord is being afraid of God. If you're not yet persuaded, keep listening.

One part of our problem with understanding the fear of the Lord is that we've never been in a situation of deeply fearing someone who loved us just as deeply. Those who have lived under that authority of an absolute monarch understand fear, fearing the sovereign. These people feared the king because they knew that he could have them executed for whatever reason, even just a whim, just like that. There was a reason to fear. Is God an absolute monarch or is He limited by some constitution protecting our rights? Could He decide to execute someone just like that? Or does He need to go through a trial? Do you remember Korah from last week? There was no trial when Korah and those with him were swallowed up by the earth. People fear absolute monarchs and with good reason. You would. Now, let's add something to the picture. Add the fact that this absolute monarch really loves you. He wants to see you flourish. His authority over life and death isn't changed. He can still order your execution – just like that. But that power is tempered by the love He has for you.

Our experience in a modern democratic republic hurts us here. Having an absolute monarch to fear is not a part of our political experience. In fact, we have been taught not to fear those in authority over us. We've been told that we have rights and that we should insist on them being respected. So, no government official is going to bug us, not without a good reason. And even if does does, we'll have a good lawyer at hand. But God is a sovereign, an absolute monarch, who holds in His hands the power of life and death. And we have no rights before Him. He doesn't need to have a trial. He really is the absolute monarch. But He loves us deeply. He wants to see us do well. So, we are to fear this loving sovereign.

There are other things that trip us up. One of them is that we assume that once someone becomes a Christian the hard part is over. To be sure, there are some things to be cleaned up here and there, but these are no big deal. Once you're in it's just a matter of enjoying being a Christian. But in reality once someone becomes a Christian it's the beginning of the process not the end. Remember the goal of God's salvation is not to get you to heaven. He goal is to make you like Jesus. And it is specifically the work of the Spirit to perform that transformation. So, He will teach, guide, correct and do all those other things He does to transform us. And when He does these things to us, it's best for us to respond in faith. When He teaches, we should heed what He says. When He guides in a certain direction we should turn and follow. When He corrects we should repent. Those who fear God listen to the Spirit and thus become like Jesus. They have this attitude because they know that if they don't submit to the Spirit, there will be consequences. They fear what the Spirit might do in response to their sin.

Uzziah was a king in Judah and he was a very good king – that is, until one day. 'But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God." Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord.'

Asa was another king of Judah. God had blessed him greatly, giving him amazing military victories. But when he was about to be invaded by a powerful enemy he depended on international diplomacy instead his God. As a result, a prophet showed up one day with a message from that God. 'At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, so from now on you will have wars."' Asa did it right when he faced the Ethiopians, but he later failed and bore the consequences.

David wrote about his life after his sin with Bathsheba but before he confessed that sin and repented of it. Listen to how he described how the Spirit dealt with him. 'For when I kept silent [about his sin], my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.'

Now, let me read to you some places where fear as a motivator is actually encouraged and that by God. First there's this from Deuteronomy. 'If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, "This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard." Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.' Then there's this from Jesus when He sends the Twelve on a preaching mission. 'It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.' Did you catch Jesus' point? When people threaten to do you harm because you are preaching the Gospel, don't think about what they might do to you. What you really want to do is think about what God might do to you. Fear God and proceed with the mission. So, you see, the fear of God is a great motivator.

The goal of conversion is that we become like Jesus. We will achieve that goal by quietly submitting to the Spirit. It's good to know that failure here, failure to submit, has consequences. The Spirit holds the rod of correction in His had, and He's not afraid to use it. The fear of God is a great motivator.

There's another assumption that can trip us up here. Once someone is converted he can be tempted to think that making it to heaven is a done deal. Again, there are some things to work on, some heavy going here and there, but the end result is never in doubt. Really? Listen. 'Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest.'" Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.' Now, there's an interesting exhortation to preach to a church. Be careful how your heart responds lest God, in His anger, excludes you from heaven. And bear in mind that there is only one alternative to heaven. The fear of God is a great motivator.

Do you see why I said that the fear of the Lord is our being afraid of God? Fearing God means fearing God. And do you see how the popular god of just about no expectations isn't the God of the Bible? 'And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God?' However – and this is very important – stopping now would only replace a god who is a doting grandfather with a god who is an abusive parent. Fearing God works only if you can grasp that the God whom you are to fear is the God who loves you more than you know. The reason that He is so serious about your sin – and He is very serious about your sin – is that He really wants you to flourish. But how can that happen if sin is not dealt with? The absolute monarch really loves you. The fear of God is a great motivator to get you to deal with your sin – so that you actually would become like Jesus and flourish.

This is where the cross comes in. A little meditation here is so fruitful. Consider the cross. The cross is a revelation of God's heart. It reveals that God hates sin! On that cross Jesus suffered the Father's rage against sin. 'Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.' The Father engulfed the eternal Son with His awful rage against sin. God hates sin – and the cross is all the proof that we need. But, at the same time the cross also reveals God's startling love for you. 'For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.' 'The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me.' It is only because of the surprising love of God for terrible sinners that you aren't already damned and on your way to hell. Remember that God is an absolute monarch. He runs this universe. So, while you remember and relish God's love for you, you also need to remember that He hates sin. That isn't changed. He hates sin. And He loves you. That isn't changed either. What has changed is that you don't atone for your sins. Jesus paid it all, the entire debt. So, when it comes to your sin, He is the God whom you must fear because He loves you too much to let your sins undo you.

I am blessed with five great kids. I love each of them and they each love me. And the reason why we have such good relationships is that I spanked them. And I spanked them because I loved them. So, there was a certain kind of fear in them that has blossomed into a beautiful love. If the efforts of a sinful father like me with my terribly inconsistent love can produce such relationships with my kids, how much more will the efforts of a perfect Father who always loves perfectly produce beautiful relationships with you? The fear of God is a great motivator to get you to understand how much He loves you.

So, what are you supposed to do now? You know what I'm going to say. Repent and believe the Gospel! The Spirit puts His finger on some area of your life and says, 'You know, you're not doing so well here.' The next thing that has to happen is repentance and faith. Repent of the sin that the Spirit has pointed out. Agree with Him, 'Yes, it is sin!' Then resolve to do what is good and right instead. And if you find yourself a little slow here, if you find that you're getting a little lazy when it comes to dealing with your sin, remember that the Spirit holds the rod of correction in His hand and that He isn't afraid to use it. The fear of God is a great motivator. Then, once you've repented come again to Jesus for the grace of forgiveness and the grace to be able to keep that resolve. If you respond in this way as the Spirit does His work in you, you will be blessed more than you can imagine. But if you don't, then fear what He will do.