THE BEST CHOICE;
COMMITMENT TO GOD
Deuteronomy 10:12-20,
16:18 -20
GOD REQUIRES TOTAL COMMITMENT
V:12. "And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God
require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to
love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul."
A. The Lord requires
reverence in our attitude.
1. Fear the Lord.
a. Be
motivated to follow the Lord.
b. Learn of
Him and know His ways.
c. Honor Him
with praise and worship.
2. Walk in the
Lord's way.
a. We were
created in the image and the likeness of the Lord.
b. God expects
us to imitate Him in our daily living.
c. We are to
walk in His way of righteousness.
d. We are to
walk in his way of truth.
e. We are to
walk in His way of peace.
3. We are to love
the Lord.
a. We are to
develop an emotional attachment to the Lord.
b. Believers
should be in awe of the Lord.
c. We should
love the Lord enough to trust His Words.
4. We are commanded
to serve the Lord.
a. We serve the
Lord by being compassionate to others.
b. We serve the
Lord by promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
c. We serve the
Lord by helping those in need.
B. Our devotion must be from the heart.
1. Our enter most
thoughts must be occupied by the Lord.
a. All the
issues of life flow from the heart.
2. The soul is
thought to be the seat of our emotions.
a. All of our
emotions are to be centered around our love for God.
V:13. "To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his
statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"
A. Some theologians
believe that in the first 5 books of the Bible call the Torah or Law,
there are 613
commands.
1. The commands
of God covered every area of life for the nation of Israel
2. The commands
covered their relationship with God and their relationship with man.
B. The statutes of
God may be the rites of purification, the observant of Holy days and
tithes and offerings.
C. Every command that
God has given is for the "good" of man.
1. Man was given
the will to obey or disobey God's commands.
2. God establish
rules to guide man in the way of righteousness.
3. Obedience to
God's commands leads to success in life.
A. The Apostle Paul
said "He was called up to the third heaven".
1. Some believe that the sky which
contains all the stars and all planets of the
the universe
is the first heaven.
2. Some believe
the abode of the angels is the second heaven.
3. Some believe
that the heavenly throne of God is the third heaven.
B. God is the owner
and the creator of all the heavens and the earth.
1. God has the
authority to command his creation, including man to
follow in
His ways.
2. His grace and
mercy covers His creation.
V:15. "Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to
love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it
is this day."
A. God takes delight
in that which pleases Him.
1. He chose Israel
2. In His mercy
was the nation of Israel Egypt
to be His
people.
3. In His Grace
was the nation of Israel
to all
mankind.
B. God's grace and
mercy was not conditional upon the goodness of Israel
solely upon His
love for His creation.
1. God's choice of
Israel
2. Thank God for
the Nation of Israel because through Israel
Jesus Christ.
3. God's choice of
us to part of the Body of Christ is not conditional upon us, but His
love.
V:16. "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart,
and be no more stiffnecked.
A. Israel was
commanded to purify themselves and set them apart for God's glory.
(stiffnecked=
orep= rebellious, turn his back)
1. Israel
commands.
a. God expects
us to live according to His ways and not our ways.
2. True love of
God cannot take place without purification of the heart.
3. True love of
God can only take place with unselfish motives.
4. True love of
God cannot take place in disobedience.
THE SUPREME GOD
V:17. "For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord
of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons,
nor taketh reward."
A. The LORD your God
is God of gods.
1. The Lord is
supreme and sovereign. There is no greater God.
a. Lord=Yahweh, Jehovah= existing one
b. God=
Elohiym=the word is plural, rulers, judges, divine one
i. The
Holy Trinity may be indicated here; God the Father, God the Son
and
God the Holy Spirit.
ii. There is but one God in three
persons.
iii.
Ungodly men create gods in their minds that don't exist in reality.
B. The Lord is over
everybody and everything
1. Lord of lords
a. Lord = Adonay=my lord
b. lords=
Adown= superintendent of households or of affairs
C. "A great God."
1. Great =
gadowl= large in magnitude and extent
2. There is no
match for God.
D. "Mighty and
terrible"
1.
Mighty=gibbowr= a strong man, a brave man
a. God has all power.
2.
Terrible=Yare= to fear, to be awed
a. God
should be honored and respected.
E. "Regardeth
not persons"
1. God sees
everybody as the same.
a. Position,
title and status means nothing to God.
F. "Nor taketh
reward"
1. God can't be
brought. God can't be bribed.
V:18. "He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless
and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment."
A. God is a father to
the fatherless and a husband to the widow.
1. God looks
after those who have no one to take care of them.
B. God loves the
stranger
1. Stranger=
geer= temporary inhabitant.
2. We are all
temporary inhabitants.
a. This is
not our home, we are just passing through.
b. The Lord loves us and wants us to
have the frame of mind that is heavenly
bound.
c. The Lord
does not want us to get attached to what's here on earth, but what's
in
heaven.
LOVE BECAUSE GOD LOVED YOU FIRST
V:19. " Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt
A. Remember where you came from.
1. Remember that
you were not always part of the body of Christ.
2. Don't look down
on someone because they are strange to
you.
a. A stranger is your opportunity to let
your light shine.
b. A stranger
is your opportunity to let someone see the Jesus in you.
c. A stranger
is your opportunity to return God's kindness.
B. We show our love by how we treat others.
1. Strangers should
be treated with kindness and compassion.
V:20. " Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt
thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name."
A. "Thou shalt
Fear the Lord thy God."
1. We are
commanded to honor God.
a. He is our
creator
b. He is our
provider and protector.
B. "Him shalt thou serve"
1. We are
commanded to follow God's commands.
2. Following
God's commands leads to fellowship with the Father.
C. "And to Him
shalt thou cleave."
1. We should put
all our trust in the Lord.
a. The Lord
will do what He said.
b. The Lord
should have first priority in out lives.
c. Trust in
anything or person will lead to problems
down the road.
D. "Swear by His
name"
1. It is only the
Lord we can trust.
2. The Lord never
changes.
3. The Lord is
compassionate towards His people.
4. His grace and
mercy flows fresh daily.
5. The Lord's
love for us is a sure thing.
PRAISE THE LORD, HE IS GOOD
V:21. " He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath
done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen."
A. We should praise
God continuously for His goodness never ceases.
1. We should
reflect on what God has done in our lives.
a. When we
look back, we can clearly see the great
works of God in
our
lives.
b. No man
can do what God has done for us.
B. We should be
forever grateful to God for saving us out of our sins.
V:22. " Thy fathers went down into Egypt
A. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in
the sky.
1. This was a promise
God made to Abraham before he had any children.
2. Abraham
believed God even though he had no son.
B. When it comes to God's promises, we have to believe what
we can't conceive
of being done.
1. God can do
exceedingly more than we can think.
2. It is our
faith in God that makes us blessed among men.
GOD IS JUST
V.16:18. "Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in
all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and
they shall judge the people with just judgment."
A. It is God who gave
man laws to govern him
1. It is God who
gives judges to judge His people according to the His laws.
2. God's laws
were given for the good of man.
B. God knows that
without laws man would corrupt himself.
1. God does not
trust man to himself.
2. The law was
given to point to the righteousness of God.
3. Without the
law, man would not know his sins.
C. God appoints judges to be just in administering the law.
1. In dealing
with himself and others, man is selfish.
a. Therefore, man
needs an impartial judge to administer justice.
V.16:19. "Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not
respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the
wise, and pervert the words of the righteous."
A. Judges are
commanded to administer justice according to the Law.
1. Judges should
not be influenced by a persons status, position or popularity.
2. Justice
should be blind to power or success.
B. Justice cannot be
brought.
1. A bribe corrupts
a judge and perverts justice.
V.16:20. That which
is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
A. The righteousness
of God is vivid to man in the commands of God.
1. Man cannot
know his corruption without God's laws.
2. Following
God's commands leads to peace and joy.
3. The quality of
our life can be determined by how well we follows God's commands.
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