Series – “Does It Matter What You Believe?”
Luke 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, KJV
“About the Sovereign”
Deuteronomy 6:4-15
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: 5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. KJV
Introduction: Today I’m starting a 6 part series that asks the question, “Does it matter what you believe?” As you can imagine in a 41 year ministry I’ve had occasion to hear all kinds of things that deal with what people believe. I’ve even heard that, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you believe.” The folks who make those kinds of statements haven’t given a great deal of thought as to the implications of such an attitude. Let’s say that you declare that you do not believe in the “law of gravity” and that you are very adamant in your belief and that you are willing to “shout it from the roof top.” There is just one small inconvenient truth; if you should slip and fall off that same roof top you will hit the ground so hard that it will “knock sparks off of you!” Another thing that must be taken into account is that the Bible makes it plain that “believing” is not enough if you are just acknowledging an intellectual assent or agreement to a group of facts. In James treatise on the relationship between faith and works he writes:
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
The point I’m making is that it does matter what you believe and that you put what you believe into practice.
The context of these verses in Deuteronomy is critically important to our understanding about God. The Israelites had been in Egypt for almost 430 years when they left headed to the promised land and they had been exposed to the polytheism of their Egyptian neighbors all of that time. This is important to remember because this exposure and the familiarity of the Israelites with these Gods had a profound influence on them so it is in this cultural and spiritual context that we have this declaration. Moses begins this teaching in Deuteronomy 1:5 when the children of Israel are on the East side of Jordan in the land of Moab and he is reminding them of who God is and what He requires. The Good News Bible translates this passage:
6:4 "Israel, remember this! The LORD ---and the LORD alone---is our God. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
In Deuteronomy 6:4 the burden of the law commences, which is not a new law added to the Ten Commandments, but simply the development and unfolding of the covenant laws and rights enclosed as a germ in the Decalogue, simply an exposition of the law, as had already been announced in Deut. 1:5. “The exposition commences with an explanation and enforcing of the first commandment.”
Keil & Delitzch Commentary on the Bible
Moses reminds them that the first command declares:
I. The Singularity of God – The Explanation
a. The uniqueness of His existence
Moses, who is the author of the Pentateuch, starts Genesis with the following statement that is the foundation for everything else we know about God “...In the beginning, God…” He is the only un-created being in the entire universe. He has always existed from eternity! He is literally the self-existent, eternal one which is a translation of the name Jehovah. It is to Him alone that the name Jehovah rightfully belongs, because He is the one absolute God.
b. The unity of His existence
The Hebrew word for “one” is a compound unity not a simple unity. The English language does not express this truth very well. There are several persons in this one God. We learn from our text is that Jehovah, this eternal self-existent God is also referred to by Moses as Elohiym or as it is pronounced el-0-heem which is a plural name that emphasizes the superlative nature of God, that he is mighty, exceeding great or the supreme God. It is often used to describe God as the creator.
Jehovah-Raah is 'the Lord my shepherd'.
Jehovah-Jireh is 'the Lord that sees and provides'.
Jehovah-Rapha is 'the Lord that heals'
Jehovah-Tsidkenu is 'the Lord our righteousness'.
Jehovah-Shalom is 'the Lord my Peace'.
Jehovah-Shammah is 'the Lord is Present'
Jehovah-Nissi is 'the Lord our Banner
We also learn this from the use of plural pronouns, particularly in the OT. For instance in:
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Genesis 11:7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.
Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
Think about what this means. God is one but He is a “triune being” and He created man in His image and likeness as “triune being” with a body, soul, and spirit. The Bible teaches the doctrine of the “Trinity,” that God is one but a compound “one” and we know Him as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
What we believe about God does matter! There are many erroneous teachings about God in the world today.
Application - Mormonism denies the most important commandment. It preaches that the Trinity is three separate gods and any male can become a god. It is a non-Christian polytheistic religion.
Application – If Jehovah is God alone then Allah cannot be God yet Pope Francis and others have declared that the God of the Bible and Allah are one and the same. There are many problems with this view not the least of which is there is no Trinity in Muslim tradition and Jesus was a prophet, but no more divine than other prophets.
Moses reminds them that the first commandment declares:
II. The Sovereignty of God - The Examination
Ill - Charles Spurgeon, the 19th century evangelist, writes this about the sovereignty of God—there is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought to more earnestly contend to than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that throne...for it is God upon the Throne whom we trust.
a. His power
When we speak of God’s attributes one of the words that we use in “omnipotence.” It’s a compound word that means all powerful. This means that God is more powerful than anything else and that nothing else even comes close to His power. God’s power is unlimited, unrestricted.
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
One of the things that Moses was explaining to them was not just the error of polytheism but also the error of syncretism, which reduces the one absolute God to a national deity, a Baal (Hos_2:18). Jehovah is omnipresent! This God is ubiquitous and acts unilaterally! In layman’s language this means that all of God is everywhere all the time and that He does not need permission or a “by your leave” from anyone or anything to act on His own.
b. His providence
There are a couple of things that we need to understand about the providence of God as it relates to His sovereignty. First, nothing just happens!
ILL - The dictionary defines ‘accident’ as “an unforeseen event or one without apparent cause.” Any Christian who understands the sovereignty of God will immediately determine from this definition that there is no such thing as an accident. It’s like the cowboy who goes to buy some life insurance. The broker asked him if he had had any accidents in the past year, to which the cowboy replied “No. But I was kicked by a horse, chased by a raging bull and bitten by a snake - that laid me up for a while.” The agent said, “Weren’t they accidents?” To which the stockman replied, “No, they did it on purpose.” You see this stockman realized that there is no such thing as accidents.
Second, we are always making judgments about the situations and circumstances that surround our lives but the truth is we are not qualified to judge whether something is good or bad.
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
ILL - There is a Chinese proverb about a Chinaman who had one horse and one son. One day the horse, out of control, wandered away with the boy on its back and they were both lost. The man’s neighbors came to console him the next day and they said, “We are so sorry you lost your horse and your son. It is so bad.” But the man said, “How do you know that it is bad?” The next day the horse and the boy wandered back home. Trailing behind the horse were 13 wild horses that came right into the corral. The neighbors came to congratulate the man for having his horse and boy back and 13 new wild horses. They said, “That’s so good!” The man replied, “How do you know that it is good?” The next day when the boy was trying to break one of the wild horses he was bucked off and broke his leg. His neighbors came and said, “We’re so sorry. It is so bad.” The man said, “How do you know it’s bad?” The next day a warlord came to confiscate all the able-bodied young men for his war but the man’s son could not go because of his leg and it was good.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
“Simply put, providence encompasses every aspect of the created order. From beginning to end, from heaven to earth, from animate to inanimate, from individuals to nations, from hours to ages, from weeds to wheat, from birth to death, from catastrophe to calm, everything is within the loving presence and involvement of the heavenly Father. In His wisdom, power, righteousness, and love He is hastening slowly to work out His own eternal purposes for His own glory and for our eternal good.”
Finally, Moses reminds them of what God deserves:
III. The Service to God – The Exhortation
a. Sincerity
The demand “with all the heart” excludes all half-heartedness and any and all division of the heart in its love. The heart is mentioned first, as the seat of the emotions generally and of love in particular. He loves God with all his heart, who loves nothing in comparison of him, and nothing but in reference to him: - who is ready to give up, do, or suffer any thing in order to please and glorify him: - who has in his heart neither love nor hatred, hope nor fear, inclination, nor aversion, desire, nor delight, but as they relate to God, and are regulated by him. Clarke’s Commentary of the Bible
ILL - $3.00 WORTH OF GOD, PLEASE
Tim Hansel in his book "When I Relax I feel Guilty," writes some insights of what most people want from God. "I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a homeless man or serves in a soup kitchen or visits the elderly and disabled in a nursing home. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please." If we would be totally honest, the idea of transformation really scares us. That is because we know that such a radical change would be quite uncomfortable. We realize that with transformation comes a major overhaul of our lives and priorities.
(From a sermon by Scott Chambers, The Mission if You Accept it: Transformation, 2/15/2011)
b. Sacrifice
Then follows the soul (Hebrew nephesh) as the center of personality in man, to depict the love as pervading the entire self-consciousness. He loves God with all his soul, or rather, åí ïëç ôç øõ÷ç, with all his life, who is ready to give up life for his sake - to endure all sorts of torments, and to be deprived of all kinds of comforts, rather than dishonor God: - who employs life with all its comforts, and conveniences, to glorify God in, by, and through all: - to whom life and death are nothing, but as they come from and lead to God, From this Divine principle sprang the blood of the martyrs, which became the seed of the Church. They overcame through the blood of the Lamb, and loved not their lives unto the death. See Rev_12:11. Clarke’s Commentary of the Bible
Ill - John Piper summed up our problem well with his statement, ‘The weakness of our hunger for God is not because he is unsavory, but because we keep ourselves stuffed with other things”’
c. Selflessness
He loves God with all his strength (Mar_12:30; Luk_10:27) who exerts all the powers of his body and soul in the service of God: - who, for the glory of his Maker, spares neither labor nor cost - who sacrifices his time, body, health, ease, for the honor of God his Divine Master: - who employs in his service all his goods, his talents, his power, credit, authority, and influence. Clarke’s Commentary of the Bible
d. Surrender
Our Lord quotes from this same passage and provides an additional qualifier in Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” So that man who loves God, …loves God with all his mind (intellect - äéáíïéá) who applies himself only to know God, and his holy will: - who receives with submission, gratitude, and pleasure, the sacred truths which God has revealed to man: - who studies no art nor science but as far as it is necessary for the service of God, and uses it at all times to promote his glory - who forms no projects nor designs but in reference to God and the interests of mankind: - who banishes from his understanding and memory every useless, foolish, and dangerous thought, together with every idea which has any tendency to defile his soul, or turn it for a moment from the center of eternal repose. In a word, he who sees God in all things - thinks of him at all times - having his mind continually fixed upon God, acknowledging him in all his ways - who begins, continues, and ends all his thoughts, words, and works, to the glory of his name: - this is the person who loves God with all his heart, life, strength, and intellect. He is crucified to the world, and the world to him: he lives, yet not he, but Christ lives in him. He beholds as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and is changed into the same image from glory to glory. Simply and constantly looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of his faith, he receives continual supplies of enlightening and sanctifying grace, and is thus fitted for every good word and work. O glorious state, far, far, beyond this description; which comprises an ineffable communion between the ever-blessed Trinity and the soul of man! Clarke’s Commentary of the Bible
Conclusion: My friend, it does matter what you believe about God for what you believe about Him will determine how you worship and serve Him. Some of you will hold to the popular idea that it doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you believe while others will say “I believe in god” but unfortunately it is an incorrect or incomplete concept of the God of the Bible. Only when we know the God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ in the free pardon of sin can we truly say that we “know” God.
R. David Reynolds writes: “Live in total dependence, absolute surrender, and complete obedience to God, in service to Him and others because Christ has truly set you free. You are not “free to do what you want any old time,” but God’s Spirit sets you free from slavery to Satan and to sin in order to love and serve Jesus and to please only Him.”
There is an excerpt from Dorothea Day’s poem “My Captain”:
“…Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with Him! And His aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear, though strait the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.”
[SOURCE: http://www.pilgrim.demon.co.uk/alex/invictus.htm]
