Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Deuteronomy 11 is a pep talk for the people of Israel. It's a call for them to remember all that God has done.
and all that he has called them to.
so that they can move forward boldly in faith.
Now, as we look at God's message to the people of Israel, we can also be challenged. to hold tight to God's word, His self-disclosure. to see his faithfulness through the ages, Let His Word be the stable place from which we launch out in confident faith. Let's listen to this message titled, Lay Up These Words in Your Heart. Deuteronomy chapter 11.
Verses 1 to 17. My dad grew up in a culture and a generation where Telling their their children, I love you, was a hard thing to come out. I said something one time to a To a brother, but Dad never said he loved us. He said, you know. Dad was a senior chief petty officer in the Navy.
And when he got off of work, he drove an hour and a half from Newport to Boston. And worked Add a Doctor's office at night after they close doing accounting. When he got done with that, he drove back. to Newport and collected tickets at a movie theater until they closed. Got up and did the same thing.
Over and over. Don't say dad didn't love you. Moses is going to do something similar to that. I want you to watch for it. As you go through, Moses is going to point out how many ways God loves you.
God loves them. You'll see that.
Now therefore Do this. Deuteronomy 11, beginning of verse 1. You shall, therefore, love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes. His rules and his commandments always. and consider today Since I'm not speaking to your children who've not known or seen it, consider The discipline of the Lord your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm.
his signs and deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land. and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and and to their chariots. How he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you. and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day. and what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place.
and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben. How the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, their tents. and every living thing that followed them. in the midst of all Israel, for your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that He did. You shall therefore Keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong.
And go in and take possession of the land that you're going over to possess. And that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them and to their offspring. A land flowing with milk and honey. For the land that you are entering to take possession of is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come. where you sowed your seed and irrigated it like a garden of vegetables.
But the land that you're going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drink water by the rain from heaven. a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today to love the Lord your God. and to serve him with all your heart.
And with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain. That you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived. and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.
Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you. and he will shut up the heavens.
so that there will no be no rain. And the land will yield no fruit. and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you. Fathers These are such wonderful. Wonderful words of your care, your protection.
of your people. How you watched over them. and brought them out of a land of darkness. And promised them a land flowing with milk and honey that you yourself took care of. A land that they did not raised, they did not cultivate, but God, you give it to them.
out of your love and your mercy for them. And then you tell them worship me, love me, I did this because I love you. Father, may it be a reminder to us That all the good things that we have, all the blessings we have, come down from the Father of lights with whom there is no shadow or shifting. They are gifts. From you.
Blessings from your hand. May we not take them for granted. But remember that these are gifts. From our Heavenly Father, who graciously loves us. Prepare our hearts now for the message.
Open our eyes that we may see wonderful things from your word. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Good morning, church. Copy the scriptures open to Deuteronomy chapter 11 that we just read.
This is the final chapter of the second. section of our exposition of The book of Deuteronomy. This section, second section, is a call to faithfulness. The first three chapters were a history lesson. How did we get here?
Chapters 4 to 11 are a call to faithfulness. And then next time we will begin chapters 12 to 18: a people who worship. God's prescription for the worship of his people. And as we begin today, you shall therefore, let me encapsulate what's behind that. Therefore.
What's behind it is because God is like what God has done. Because God is like what God has done, you shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge. And these words. Here's the theme for today. You ready for it?
Take God at His Word. How to take God at His Word. Keep his charge, it says here. A charge is something that's. held in trust.
Did you realize that the fact that we have the word of God is a stewardship? It has been entrusted to us. How are you managing it? Contemplate that. Keep his charge, the statutes.
Statutes mean this is what God has ordained and his rules. The rules of God are those things that God calls just. God is a just God. And he calls us to be just. And his commandments.
His commandments because this is what he has commissioned.
So we are to keep that.
Now, I want to talk about how to take God. at his word. Four main points today, how to take God At his word I'm sorry, five main points today. I should review my notes, shouldn't I? All right.
Number one, consider what God has done. How to take God at His word. Number one, consider what God has done. So in other words, it's not just where I am right now and looking to the future. It's where have we been?
What has God brought us through? What has God done in history? Because God is like. what God has done. We are called to know it.
to contemplate it. Paul says very clearly in Romans chapter 15, verse 4, for whatever was written in former days was written, here it is, for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. You want to take God at His word, contemplate what He has done.
So he gives us some examples here. As Moses is talking to the people of Israel, he gives them three chief examples. In verses 3 and 4, he talks about Egypt and God's deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt, the Exodus, and then crossing over the Red Sea. And it was like an object lesson for the people of Israel. What is this object lesson?
God is worthy of trust, He's greater than any other object of worship. But also Resistance to God's purpose brings judgment. Resistance to God's purpose brings judgment. Very clear. And God is faithful in that.
Number five, uh for chapter five. Let's try this again. Verse five. All right, in the wilderness. He says, remember what God did in the wilderness, provision in ways that only a sovereign creator could.
For example, he brought water from a rock. You can't do that. I can't do that. God can. That gives us insight into Jesus doing the miracles in the New Testament.
He did things that only a God who is sovereign over the created order can do, like turn water into wine immediately. You and I can't do that, God can't.
So contemplate. What God has done. Egypt in the wilderness. And then in verse 6, he talks about Dathan and Biram. And this is referencing back to what's recorded in Numbers chapter 16.
They're in the wilderness, right? And Dathan and Abiram, sons of Korah, come to Moses and Aaron, and they say to them, you've gone too far. You have exalted yourselves above everyone else. And they exacted a coup. They attempted to exact a coup on Moses.
and Aaron. What were they doing? What was going on here? Again, this shows what can go on in the human heart. As Raymond Brown says, forgetting the agonies of Egyptian slavery, they became obsessed with the security of the past and the uncertainty of the future.
You and I don't ever do that, do we? become obsessed with the securities of the past and the uncertainties of the future. It is then that we must take God at his word. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.
The Delight in Grace mission. Is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good. and your deepest satisfaction in Him. the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
