DEUTERONOMY 6:1-12
LOVING GOD
In a moment we will turn to Deuteronomy 6:1-12.
But first, please turn to Acts 11:23-24.
These verses refer to a man named Barnabas. Barnabas was a nickname given to this man by the early church. It meant “son of consolation”, or “son or encouragement.”
Barnabas was sent to check out the first church that was not made up of Jewish Christians. It was the first church of Gentile Christians and was located in Antioch.
Acts 11:23-24 - Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. [24] For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
Barnabas encouraged these new believers to cling to the Lord!
Every Christian has at least one Spiritual gift, a supernatural ability that God has given us in order to serve Him. I have been told by some that, like Barnabas, I have the gift of encouragement. Therefore, this morning I want to encourage you. And what I what I want to encourage you to do may seem trite, but after coming to know Jesus Christ as your Savior, it is the most important thing that you can do.
I want to encourage you to love God.
You know that God loves you.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
1 John 4:10 - Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Romans 8:38-39 - For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now, if you are saved and know that you are going to Heaven, what is the logical response to God's love?
YOU ARE TO LOVE GOD IN RETURN!
1 John 4:19 - We love him, because he first loved us.
As we take a brief break from our study on the Life of Christ this morning, I want to remind you to love God and how to go about doing so.
How can we go about loving God? Deuteronomy 6:1-12 shows us how.
Vss. 4-5 give us the central theme of the passage preached by Moses before the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land. (Read)
Vs. 4 reminds us that there is but one God.
The gods that the Israelites encountered in Egypt were not true gods at all.
The gods that Israel would encounter in the Land of Canaan were not true gods at all.
And let me remind you that the gods found in America today are not true God's at all.
The gods of materialism, sex, sports, self, money, popularity, and other people, are not true gods at all!
There is only one true God. This verse does not leave out the Trinity. There is one God, and three members of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are in total agreement with each other, and all three have the same qualities or attributes. They act in harmony with each other.
What does the existence of one true God mean to you and me as Christians?
He alone is to be worshipped in our lives.
He is to be considered first when we make a decision.
Pleasing Him should be the most important thing in the world.
After all, he is God! What does it matter what anyone else thinks?
Anyone else is just human like you!
Vs. 5 - Love for God is to be a total commitment. All that is inside of me, the real me, heart and soul is to love God. All my strength is to go into loving God.
Our problem is, too many times we try to love God and something or somebody else. You cannot please the one true God and a false god at the same time.
Ezekiel 14:3 - Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Ezekiel 14:6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
By the way, you can tell what or who you love simply by the amount of time you spend with that person or object.
If you love sports, your thoughts will center on sports.
If you love yourself, your thoughts will center on you.
If you love money, your thoughts will center on money.
If you love God, your thoughts will center on God!
If you love God, He will be the principle part of your decision making process. You will want to please Him, want to talk to Him, want to talk about Him, and want to spend time with Him. You will want to read His love letters, the Bible. You will want to understand His word. You will want to listen to music about Him, and music dedicated to Him. You want others to experience the same love relationship that you have experienced.
This kind of love for God is impossible without God's help.
It is the Holy Spirit who will assist us. When the Spirit of God fills us, we will be successful in loving God the way He wants to be loved.
Galatians 5:22-25 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. [24] And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. [25] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Our daily desire and prayer to God should be that He would control us with His Holy Spirit. On a daily basis we should examine our hearts for any sin, and any idols, confessing and forsaking them. Then we should ask God to fill us with His Spirit.
Now back to our text. When we love God as Verse 5 tells us to, with all our heart, soul and might, certain things will be true of us.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD, FEARS GOD - Vs. 2
If I love God with all my heart, soul, and strength, I will reverence Him. I will respect Him. I will be afraid to displease Him.
If I love Him, He will have the reverence of my praise.
If I love Him, He will have the reverence of respectful approach to Him in Jesus' name.
If I love Him, He will have the reverence of my speaking well of Him. Nobody can take the Lord's name in vain and truly claim to love Him.
If I love Him, His Word will be respected.
If I love Him, I will realize that disobedience hurts Him, and is a show of disrespect.
If I love Him, I will realize that I am accountable to Him, that He is my judge, and disobedience breaks his Heart.
If I love Him, there is only one sentence necessary from the mouth of my master, "WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT."
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD, FEARS GOD
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD, OBEYS GOD - Vs. 2
We do not keep commands in order to earn our way into Heaven or to stay saved.
Hebrews 10:14 - For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
We keep his commands because we love Him.
Much of the Old Testament Law is no longer necessary for us to keep, such as the sacrifices and keeping of holy days. This is because Christ has fulfilled these things.
But Jesus did say, If you love me keep my commandments.
And Jesus did say, Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.
1 John 5:3 says, For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
What are some of the commands that we should be keeping today? There is part of the Old Testament Law that should be obeyed.
Turn please to Exodus 20:1-17 – Read portions
Now remember, we do not strive to keep these commandments in order to be saved!
WE SHOULD STRIVE TO KEEP THESE COMMANDS BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM!
We can’t keep them perfectly, but with the empowering of God’s Holy Spirit, we can obey!
Romans 8:3-4 - For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD OBEYS GOD
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD REMEMBERS GOD'S WORD - Vs. 6
The words that Moses was giving the Israelites were the Words of God.
These were words worth remembering.
These were valuable words.
We try to remember important things, like dates, instructions, appointments, and valuable sayings.
What could be more valuable than remembering the Word of God?
Hiding God's Word in your heart is very valuable, not only because God tells us we should, but because of what it will do for you.
Hidings God's Word in your heart will:
· Keep you from sin. Psalm 119:11 - Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
· Lead you to obey. - Josh 1:8 - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
· Help you to pray. - John 15:7 - If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
I want to challenge you to work on memorizing the Word. By using 3x5 cards, and constant practice you can learn 52 verses this year. Learn each week's memory verse.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD REMEMBERS GOD'S WORD
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD TEACHES HIS CHILDREN VS. 7
Your goal should be to train you children and grandchildren in the things of God!
Your God is the true God. Your children and grandchildren need to know that!
They will see God as you live the Christian life before them.
They will learn of God, as you talk about the Word of God at the table, and at appropriate places in your travels.
When God answers your prayers tell your children.
When God shows you something special in his Word, show them.
When God gives you a special blessing, tell them.
When God takes care of you during a trial, share it.
And be sure to read the Bible together as a family!
And be sure to apply God's word to the problems and successes that your child is experiencing.
You teach your children to brush their teeth.
You teach your children personal hygiene.
You teach your children to study and go to school.
You teach your children sportsmanship.
You teach your children to hunt.
You teach your children how to make money.
MAKE SURE YOU TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT GOD!
If you do, they will learn to love Him too!
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD TEACHES HIS CHILDREN
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD KEEPS GOD'S WORD IN VIEW Vss. 8-9
God's Word is not something to be forgotten,
It is something that should be in our view, and the view of our families.
We can literally place it in front of our eyes with plaques.
We can literally put it into our hands and read it!
We can literally put it before our minds eye through memorization.
We put non-Christian programming in front of our eyes.
We put non-Christian literature in our hands.
We put non-Christian slogans and signs all over.
By putting the Word of God constantly in front of us will help keep us on the straight and narrow.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD KEEPS GOD'S WORD IN VIEW Vss. 8-9
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD TAKES PRECAUTIONS TO REMEMBER GOD Vss. 10-12
The Israelites were warned that God's goodness would lead to their complacency. They had to be careful not to get so comfortable in their new land, that they forget the Lord and slip into idolatry.
In Verse 12, the Israelites are not to forget Egypt.
They were not to forget the bondage.
They were not to forget the slavery.
They were not to forget that God had delivered them!
We are to do the same. Egypt reminds me of the bondage of sin.
We are to never forget what God has delivered us out of.
We must never forget the slavery that sin causes, and the great victory that Jesus gave us.
We must continually remember that it was the grace of God that delivered us.
One of the things God has done to help us remember what He did for us as Calvary is to celebrate the Lord's Table. The bread and cup are symbols of the great love God has shown towards us.
As we meditate on His love at the table this morning, let's strive to love Him in return.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD FEARS GOD
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD OBEYS GOD
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD REMEMBERS GOD'S WORD
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD TEACHES HIS CHILDREN
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD KEEPS GOD’S WORD IN VIEW
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD TAKES PRECAUTIONS TO REMEMBER GOD.
I EXHORT YOU THIS MORNING – LOVE GOD!