Reverencing God — Chuck Smith

Welcome to the Word for Today, broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse study through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of the Word for Today, we'll be continuing with more encouragement on reverencing God, as we pick up in Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 14. And now, with today's lesson, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

God's Ownership of Heaven and Earth

Now indeed, he declares, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. God has everything. He owns the universe. The whole universe belongs to Him.

Israel's Election and the Promise of the Messiah

And the Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all the peoples as it is this day. Now, they were chosen by God to bring the Messiah into the world.

God wanted to send His Son into the earth. He chose Abraham, that through His seed, all of the nations of the earth should be blessed. Later on, He reiterated the promise to David that from His seed, there would never cease to be one sitting upon the throne.

And David interpreted that as the Messiah would come through him, correctly interpreted it that way. There are those who misinterpret it today and say, you know, that the Queen of England is a direct descendant of David.

It's ridiculous. But they, you know, they say, well, the word ish in Hebrew is man. And so you have the Danish people, you see, ish. And you have the British people. And so it all goes back to Israel, you see.

And so the tribe of Dan become the Danish people, Dan's man. And the Swede-ish. And so your Anglo-Saxon nations, you see, are all related to Israel because of the ish on the end. You also have fool-ish.

Chosen in Christ and the Royal Priesthood

Now, God chose you because of your father Abraham to be the nation. However, since the Messiah has come, Paul, as he thanks God for all of the glorious blessings that he has in Christ in heavenly places, places at the top of the list that we were chosen in him before the foundation of the earth.

So God has chosen you. Jesus said, you didn't choose me, I chose you. And ordained that you should be my disciples, that you should bring forth fruit, your fruit should remain. So you are the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, that we should bring forth praise unto God.

And so we have now the privileges of being God's chosen people. They fulfilled the purpose of God. They brought the Messiah into the world. And through him, the door was opened that we, because through thy seed, all of the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

And so through Abraham's seed, Jesus Christ, the blessings has come also now upon we Gentiles. And we have been chosen now in Christ before the foundations of the world. And so Moses is addressing them.

Circumcision of the Heart

Yes, they were God's chosen, God's elect. And they fulfilled their purpose, bringing the Messiah into the world. Therefore, he said, circumcise the foreskin of your heart and don't be stiff necked anymore.

Circumcision was the badge of the nation. It was given to Abraham by God to be the special mark of these people, which was the symbol that they were to be people who had cut off the flesh, the life of the flesh to live and to walk after the spirit.

But the ordinance did not do it. This true circumcision is not of the flesh. It's of the heart. And so Moses is saying, let your heart be circumcised. Cut off the fleshly desires in your heart. Don't desire in your heart the things of the flesh.

That's where the true circumcision is. Paul picks this up in Romans chapter two and and uses this figure in chapter two, showing and proving from their own scriptures that it wasn't the physical circumcision that made one righteous before God, but it was the heart being circumcised.

That's what God looked upon and God desired. Don't be stiff necked any longer. For the Lord, your God is a God of gods, and he is the Lord of lords. He is the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality, nor will he take a bribe.

God's Justice and Care for the Vulnerable

What do you have that he needs? You know, nothing. You can't bribe him. He is the God of gods, the Lord of lords. Now, the Bible does acknowledge that there are many gods. There's only one true and living God.

But the heathen all worship gods. Men are trying to make gods of themselves these days. And there are many gods, but there's only one true and living God. He is the God of gods. He is the Lord of lords.

He is the great God, mighty and awesome. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow. And he loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. God takes care of those who are outcast, or those who are down and out, are a concern to him.

He administers the justice for the fatherless and the widow. Therefore, love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. And you shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him, and to him you shall hold fast.

So this is what God requires. Fear him, serve him, hold fast. And take oaths in his name. When you take an oath, you're to take the oath by his name. Now, Jesus in the New Testament said, you've heard that you should swear, you know, by the Lord.

You should take your vows. He said, but really don't swear at all. Neither by heaven, God's throne, nor the earth, his footstool. But let your yes be a yes, let your no be a no. In other words, be a man of your word.

The only reason why a person has to take an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is because he's usually a liar. You know, and so I swear I'm telling the truth. Well, if you always tell the truth, people won't say, well, swear to me, you know.

Is that true? Swear to me it's true, you know. I swear to you, man, I'm a mother's honor, you know. And it's something that a person would only have to do because they weren't really a person of their word.

Be a person of your word, Jesus said. If you say yes, mean yes. If you say no, mean no. Let your yes be yes, let your no be no. And any more than this is really not necessary. He is your praise, He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.

Remembering God's Deliverance and Judgment

And your fathers went down to Egypt with 70 persons, and now you can't even number you because there are so many. From 70 to some 3 million or so in 400 years. Pretty good multiplication. Therefore, you shall love the Lord your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.

And know today that I do not speak with your children who have not known and who have not seen the chasing of the Lord your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm. His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all of the land.

What He did to the army of Egypt, their horses and chariots. Your kids didn't see that. You saw it, the older ones that were under 20 when they came out of Egypt. But some of them in their teens, they can still remember the Egyptian army being drowned in the Red Sea.

They can still remember these days. And He said, I'm talking to you older fellows. Still remember this. I'm not talking to your kids. They didn't see that. But what God did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and chariots.

How He made the waters of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued you. And how the Lord destroyed them even to this present day. What He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place.

What He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. You saw these guys wiped out in their sin. And the sons of Reuben when they had rebelled against Aaron being the high priest. How the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up.

And their household. You remember that awesome day when the earth just opened up. And these guys with their tents went right in. The earth closed up behind them. Your eyes have seen every great act of the Lord which He did.

Obedience and Possessing the Promised Land

Therefore, you shall keep every commandment which I command you today. That you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess. That you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers to them and their descendants.

A land that is flowing with milk and honey. For the land which you go in to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come. Where you sowed your seed and then you watered it by foot. They had the foot pumps.

And so they had irrigation canals. And the guy would sit there pumping with his feet these paddles that would take the water out of the river. And put it in these little sluices. And so the land that you're going in isn't like Egypt.

Where you've got to stand there and pump all day long to get the water for your garden. But it's a land that's watered. It's got plenty of rain. And it's got valleys and streams and water all over the place.

And so it is the land that you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys. Not the flat, deserty land of Egypt. Which drinks water from the rain of heaven. A land which the Lord your God cares for.

And the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it. That's why I like to go to Israel. God's eyes are always on that land. And so it's certainly nice to be there, you know. Realizing that the Lord's eyes are always on it from the beginning of the year to the very end of it.

The Early and Latter Rains

And it shall be that if you diligently obey my commandments. Which I command you today to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. If you will do this. Now this is what God requires.

And if today you will do this. Then I will give you, God is promising them. I will give you the rain for your land in its season. The early rain and the latter rain. That you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.

So the two seasons of rain over there. The early rain that brings out the crop. And then the latter rain that really brings it up to complete full fruition. I will give you the rain for your land in its season.

The early rain, the latter rain. And you may gather in your grain, your new wine, your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock that you may eat and be filled. Now take heed to yourselves.

Turning Away to Other Gods

And whenever God says that, listen. Lest your heart be deceived. And you turn aside to other gods and worship them. Now take heed. Now the very thing that God said take heed is the thing that they did.

When they came into the land, they began to turn to the other gods and worship them. As we get into the book of Judges, you'll see the tragic monotony of their failure. As they turned and worshipped other gods.

Lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you. He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain. And the land yield no produce. And you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

Teaching God's Words to the Next Generation

Therefore, you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. And bind them as a sign on your hand that they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.

And you shall write them on your doorposts of your house and on your gates. That your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens from above.

The Significance of the Mezuzah and Phylacteries

So bind them on your wrists. Now today you go over to Israel, the Western Wall, and you see the guys coming up the wall. And they'll go through the ritual of binding these leather pouches on their wrists.

And they'll wrap the thing in a ritual way up their arm. You'll see them as they tie the little box on their forehead. And you'll see them bobbing before the wall with the little box on their hand and the box on their forehead.

And these are the laws. The requirements of God that they've put in these boxes. On their doorposts they have these little metal mezuzahs. And inside of the mezuzah is the little scroll with the requirements of God or the law of the Lord.

And so they're doing that even to the present day as they bind them. But again, that's to be a reminder to you. But you see, just binding them on my head or on my wrist is no value if I'm not keeping them.

Hearing and Doing the Word

I mean, you can write them all over the place. You can put bumper stickers all over your car, thou shalt not steal. And yet you can go out with all these bumper stickers and all these reminders. And if you steal something, you say, well, look at my bumper sticker, man.

What difference does that make because you've got it on your bumper sticker if you've stolen something? You see, knowing it isn't enough. Doing it is what is necessary. The Bible tells us not to be hearers of the word only, but be doers of the word.

Because if you're a hearer and not a doer, then you're deceiving yourself. You're deluded. You're like a man who looks in a mirror and then you walk away and forget what you saw. You see, your image and your picture of yourself is really better than you really are.

You look in the mirror and you see the truth. But how quickly we forget as soon as we leave the mirror. And it's sort of a self-deception. You think, well, I'm not too heavy. Don't look too bad. Well, you forget the truth.

The mirror tells you the truth. That's like a man who hears the law, but he doesn't do it. He's deceiving himself. But if you carefully keep all these commandments, verse 22, which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all of His ways, to hold fast to Him, then the Lord will drive out all of these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourself.

Claiming Victory Over the Flesh

Every place where the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Territory, it's there. All you have to do is go in and possess it, and every place you put the sole of your foot, that's yours. And so, again, the likeness of our going in and possessing this life in the Spirit that God has promised, as we conquer over the areas of the flesh, as we bring them to the cross, every place we put our foot, God has given to it, the sole of our foot treads, I claim that in the name of Jesus.

Lord, I don't have to be ruled by that area of my flesh any longer. I take now and claim that area in Jesus' name, and every place I go in and take, God destroys the enemies, and He gives me the victory.

No man shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear upon all of the land wherever you tread, just as He has said to you, Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.

The Blessing and the Curse

The blessing is if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today. The curse is if you do not obey the commandments. That's always true. God sets before you today a blessing and a curse.

Your life can be blessed of God or cursed by God. God gives you the option. The blessing for obedience, the curse for disobedience. When you come into the land, you're to put the blessings on Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Ebal.

Now, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are the two mountains above the little city of Shechem, there in the Samaritan Valley. Valley in Samaria. And when they came into the land, Joshua put the guys up on top of the mountains to call down the blessings of God from Mount Gerizim.

And as they called down the blessings, the people said, Amen, Amen. And they would call out another law, and they'd say, Amen, Amen, you know. And we'll get to that as we go through the many blessings that God said, Blessed is He, and the people said, Yes, Amen, Amen.

Faith Demonstrated in Works

So they followed this commandment of Moses. But again, you can say, Amen, Amen. That's right. Yeah. Yay, yay for God, you know. But if you don't do it, it doesn't count. John said, Don't love in word only, but in deed and in truth.

James said, If a man comes to you hungry and he's naked, and you say, Oh, brother, bless you. Be clothed and be fed. He said, What have you advantaged him unless you actually give him some clothes and food?

Your words don't make him any warmer, nor do your words fill his stomach. So you have to put works with the faith. Say, Bless you, brother. Be clothed and give him a jacket. Be fed and give him a sandwich.

Just saying it doesn't do it. Just writing it on the walls doesn't do it. God desires the obedience from our hearts. The actual doing, be ye doers of the word, not hearers only. So Moses is preparing them to come into the land, giving them this advice, the counsel, the warnings as they're about to come into the land, and important advice.

And yet, unfortunately, they did not keep it. And just the things he said don't do are the things that they did. Tragically.

We'll return with more insightful lessons from our verse-by-verse study through the book of Deuteronomy in our next lesson as we review the instructions for worship. And we do hope you'll make plans to join us.

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That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. And now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith with today's closing prayer.

Prayer for Obedience and Life in the Spirit

Father, we thank you for your Word, and Lord, indeed it is a guide to life. Thank you, Lord, that you did not leave us to stumble and wander in the darkness, but you have given to us the light and the knowledge and the understanding of your ways.

Now, Lord, help us that we might walk in your ways, that we might do your will, that we might fear thee, that we might serve you with all of our heart and all of our soul, and that we might keep your commandments and your statutes.

As we believe in Jesus Christ, your only begotten Son as our Lord and Savior, through him may we receive the imparting of your Spirit, that enabling power to help us to be all you want us to be. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Kids, I've got some exciting news. Pastor Chuck has written a book just for you. It's called The Story of Noah. Just listen.

Noah guided two of each species of animals into the ark, and he probably carried baby dinosaurs onto the boat because grown dinosaurs would have been too big.

It's so much fun to read along with Pastor Chuck and learn about God's Word. And as a gift, each book contains an audio CD of Pastor Chuck actually reading The Story of Noah, so your kids can read along.

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