“HEAR…THE LORD…LOVE THE LORD” (Outline)
June 26, 2011 -
Pentecost 2 -
DEUTERONOMY 6:4-18
INTRO: The believer knows well these words of the Lord: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (verse 5). Why would any of us love the Lord? We are conceived and born in sin. We begin this life as the enemies of God. Enemies usually never come to love one another. By grace God changes us. "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" (1 JOHN 4:16). Today we learn the “what” and the “why” of loving the Lord God Almighty. “HEAR…THE LORD…TO LOVE THE LORD”. I. Our Lord guides our lives. II. Our Lord blesses our lives. III. Our Lord deserves our love.
I. OUR LORD GUIDES OUR LIVES
A. Verse 4. Israeli children still know and recite this verse to this very day. “Hear…The LORD is one.”
1. Verse 6. The Lord wanted his people to have his commands (words) on and in their hearts.
2. Verse 7. God’s word was to be a part of their daily lives. It was for them and their children.
B. Israel “took to heart” these next two verses very literally. Jesus warned about this during his day.
1. Verse 8. Little boxes tied to their hands and foreheads are still seen today, phylacteries.
2. Verse 9. Small cylinders are still attached to doorframes of Jewish houses today, mezuzah.
C. God’s law for the believer is a guide. Scripture describes three uses of the law. God’s law is a curb. A curb checks or hinders the rash outbreak of sin. God’s law is a mirror. The mirror of God’s law reflects back our sin whenever we look into it. God’s law as a curb and a mirror are designed for all people of all times. The use of God’s law as a guide applies alone to believers. By grace believers value the laws of God for guidance in life. "I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (PSALM 119:104, 105). We can hate evil.
E. God’s law is written upon our hearts. This is called our conscience. God also gave his law a second time on Mt. Sinai. Moses brought down God’s law written on tablets of stone. Now, mankind is without excuse. We no longer trust only our conscience to know what is right and wrong. God has made it very clear for each of us in his word. It is of the utmost importance that we make daily use of God’s word in our daily lives. "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’" (ROMANS 10:10, 11). God has planted his word into our hearts that it may guide us as we go bear fruit.
WE HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD TO LOVE THE LORD. Our Lord guides our lives.
II. OUR LORD BLESSES OUR LIVES
A. Verse 10a. The Lord promised great blessings to the forefathers of Israel. They would receive them.
1. Verses 10b, 11. Cities, houses, crops they did not earn, deserve, or buy would be theirs: Grace!
2. Verse 12a. Satan could and would use such great blessings to distract believers from worship.
B. Verse 12b. Israel was free from the power of Pharaoh. Remember the freedom the Lord gave them.
C. Believers, we have been set free from the greatest powers and authorities that can come against us. The Lord God Almighty has set us free from the slavery of sin, Satan, and even death itself. Our Lord God Almighty blesses us day in and day out with more than we can ask or imagine. We have nothing to worry about. Satan still sneaks into our lives and tries to rob us of the joy that our loving Father would want us to have. Our society pushes us to have more. In order to have more we work and struggle to get more and more things. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it" (1 TIMOTHY 6:6, 7). God blesses our lives always.
D. Our nation is a nation blessed with an abundance of things. The fact is we have an overabundance of what we truly need. Thankfully we have a loving Lord who knows that our lives do not exist simply in the abundance of our possessions. It is by the grace of God that our heavenly Father blesses our souls. Yes, our Lord takes care of our daily needs. God is far more concerned with our eternal welfare than all of our earthly possessions. "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare"(ISA. 55:2).
WE HEAR GOD’S WORD TO LOVE THE LORD. The Lord blesses our lives here and forever.
III. OUR LORD DESERVES OUR LOVE
A. Verses 13, 14. Israel has learned of God’s great love for them. Now Israel can willingly respond.
1. Verse 15. The Lord God Almighty was jealous for all of their love all of the time.
2. When unfaithfulness came so did Israel’s enemies. They were conquered and exiled
3. Verse 16. Massah means testing. Israel complained of thirst. God gave water from a rock.
B. Verse 17. Israel kept the commands, in little boxes and metal or wood cylinders, not in their hearts.
1. Verse 18. As believers they knew what was right in God’s sight. They could obey God’s love.
2. Verse 5. This is the simple truth of God that can be so difficult for believers to truly follow.
C. At times we can easily become so wrapped up in this world that we forget the simple, loving truth of the word of the Lord. We have access to information every hour of every day from the ends of the earth. It can almost be overwhelming. God wants us to understand, know, and believe that the joy of salvation is his gift of love to us each and every day. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (MATTHEW 6:33, 34). This is the great difficulty we face. We get so busy looking ahead that we do not always appreciate the present, God’s gift to us.
D. We readily admit and confess God loves us with an everlasting love. God wants each of us to enjoy eternity with him in heaven. We certainly also come to realize that such a loving Lord deserves only our best in return. Yet a lifetime of love still falls short. We have our time of grace to live in God’s love and to share God’s great love. "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 CORINTHIANS 5:14, 15). In our self-centered and very selfish society the loving believer stands out as the shining light of God’s love in this dark world.
CONC: Christian do not let this world distract you from hearing the word of the Lord. Do not let your sinful flesh stop you from reading God’s word. Do not allow Satan to delay your study of God’s word. Faith comes from hearing the message of the word of God. Thus our text today started with the simple yet powerful word: “Hear”. There are many false prophets (read Matthew 715ff) who try to steal God’s glory for themselves. “HEAR…THE LORD…TO LOVE THE LORD”. The Lord God Almighty who is our Lord God Almighty guides our lives right into eternity. The Lord God Almighty, our Lord God Almighty, blesses our lives every day and finally forever. This Lord God Almighty truly deserves our love every day and also forever. "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life" (JUDE 20, 21). Reflect God’s great love to those who still dwell in darkness.
This happens when we “HEAR… THE LORD…LOVE THE LORD” . Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
PENTECOST 2 rdgs: DEUT. 11:18-21, 26-28; ROM. 3:21-28; MATTHEW 7:15-29; (PSALM 78)
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