Now I will have you turn back
to Deuteronomy. You want to have a verse-by-verse
study through chapter 8, but I want you to turn to chapter
4 to begin with. Deuteronomy chapter 4. I sure hope the Lord will bring
this out, the presentation of this, as He did in the study
of it. For your sake, I sure hope He will. The name Deuteronomy, the word
Deuteronomy means second law, second law. What Deuteronomy? The book of Deuteronomy is a
rehearsal. It's a rehearsal by Moses of
the things that God had said to them and done for them before. Second law. It's a reminder.
He reminisces. This is what Moses does through
the book of Deuteronomy. He reminisces with the people
of Israel about the great things that God has said and done for
them. And it's such a relevant. Book to us today, if you read
it with spiritual eyes and understanding. It will. It's so applicable,
so relevant, so contemporary for us, for the church today,
and it's such a marvelous. I hope the Lord will bring this
out. It's such a marvelous picture of our Lord Jesus Christ here
as well, and it contains many sobering exhortations to faith
and to obedience. Now, chapter 4, chapters 1 through
3, Moses rehearses the Lord's deliverance from Egypt, how he
brought them out with a strong hand. and his leadings over the
past 40 years. Now look at chapter 4, beginning
with verse 1. He says, Therefore hearken, O
Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments. In other
words, in light of and in remembrance of the great things that God
has done for us, then we ought to be obedient to what he says
to us, right? That's the motive for obedience,
isn't it, Terry? His grace, his mercy to us, his providence to
us. motive. We ought to do these
things just because God says them, but we've got a double
reason to serve him and to be obedient is because he's been
so great to us, so good to us. Hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes
and unto the judgments, the judgments which I teach you for to do them,
that you may live. Scripture says, Hear the word,
the gospel with the heart. Believe in thine heart, be obedient
to the faith, and your soul shall live. Hear, and thy soul shall
live, that you may live and go in and possess the land, the
promised land. That's eternal life. This is
a picture of eternal life. If we hear the word, if we hear
Christ's voice, the shepherd's voice, believe, trust, look to
him, we'll live and we'll go in to the promised land. with
him. You shall not add unto the word
which I command you, verse 2, not add unto the word which I
command you, neither shall you diminish aught from it. Now this
is the word to me, the preacher, which says, now you declare the
whole counsel of God. Don't add to or take away from
it. And it's also a word to you to believe the whole counsel
of God and obey it. Believe it Don't add to it or
take away from it that you may keep the commandment of the Lord
your God, which I command you." And as Paul, I remind you, Paul
said, be not spoiled through man's philosophy and vain deceit
after the tradition of men, the rudiments of the world, not after
Christ, not after Christ. And remember, verse 4, you that
did cleave under the Lord your God are alive, every one of you
this day. You see that in verse 4? You
that did cleave unto the Lord your God, Paul exhorted us in
one place to continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you
have heard. Cling to Christ is what Paul
tells us, and this is what Moses is saying here. Cling to Christ
and thank God that you're alive today. that you have to be quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sin. You have great reason to
thank God that you're alive unto God, that you have spiritual
enlightenment and you're alive. You've been quickened, as Paul
said in Ephesians 2, you've been quickened together with Christ
by grace. By grace you're saved. Thanks
be unto God you're alive, every one of you, this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes
and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that you
should go do so in the land whither you go to possess it. Keep therefore
and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding
in the sight of the nations." What he's telling us here is
that we are to be a witness to all men of the great things that
God has done for us. This is your wisdom. and your
understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear
all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a
wise and understanding people." Now, I love these verses. I remember
underscoring these years ago, verses 7 through 10. For what
nation, and apply this to the church, what nation, what people
is there so great who has been so greatly blessed, who hath
God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things
that we call upon him for. And what nation is there so great
that has statutes and judgment, that has a gospel like this,
so righteous as all his law, which I set before you this day?
Only take heed to yourself, and keep thy soul diligently, That
sounds familiar. Give diligence. Make your calling
and election sure, lest you forget the things that you've seen.
That's what we looked at this morning, wasn't it, in Hebrews
6? Lest you forget the things you've seen, that eyes have seen,
and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life.
Teach them, thy sons and thy sons' sons, especially the day
that you stood before the Lord thy God in Horeb. For when the
Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will
make them hear the gospel. Don't ever forget that God revealed
the gospel to you. Make them, and I will make them
hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days
that they shall live upon the earth, that they may teach their
children. Now look down at verse 23. Take
heed unto yourselves. lest you forget the covenant
of the Lord your God. Don't ever leave the gospel. This covenant which God made
with you in Christ, take heed that you don't forget it and
make you a graven image or go after another gospel, another
Jesus whom I've not preached or the likeness of any such thing.
I don't care how close it is. any likeness of anything which
the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is
a consuming fire." Don't fall from the gospel of grace. That
is, don't leave grace because God is holy. It's all of grace. It's not of works. If we dare
to bring any of our works before God, God is holy. He's a consuming
fire. And don't serve self or mammon. God is jealous. See that? God
is a consuming fire, and he's a jealous God, too. You cannot
serve God in mammon. You can serve only him. He's
a jealous God. He will not share his glory or
his—he will not share it with another. He demands our full
service. But, listen to this, in mercy
and compassion and understanding, And remembering our frame, he
remembers our frame, that we're just dust. He remembers that
we will forget. There will be times when we will
forget the Lord. Could be right now, under the
sound of my voice right now, somebody is a thousand miles
away. Thank God it's by grace. Thank
God he remembers this. Look at verse 25. When you shall
forget children, and children's children, when you have children,
when you have grandchildren, and you shall remain long in
the land, you old, getting up in years, and everything settled
in, and you fat and sassy, and shall corrupt yourselves. Thank God he knows our frame,
and we do, we have, we will corrupt ourselves. To make a graven image
or the likeness of anything shall do evil in the sight of the Lord
thy God, to provoke him to anger. Well, if we corrupt ourselves,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. All manner of sin
shall be forgiven. Blasphemy shall be forgiven of
men. But look over at verse 29. Verse 29. But if from thence
thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, If any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. If
from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, you are going to
find him, if you seek him with your whole heart and with all
your soul. And when you are in tribulation
and all these things have come upon you, even in the latter
days, if you turn to the Lord thy God and be obedient unto
his voice, The Lord thy God is a merciful
God. He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget
the covenant, the covenant of thy fathers, a covenant with
Christ, which you swear unto him. Think about that. Think about it. Remember God's
past mercy. Look at verse 32. Ask now of
the days that are past. which were before thee since
the day that God created man upon the earth, and asked from
one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such
thing as this great thing is, or who has heard such a thing." The angels didn't hear anything
about mercy. The heathen nations didn't hear anything about mercy.
Israel knew a little bit about mercy. And bless God, we know
a little bit about mercy, don't we? Unto thee, people, unto you it
was showed that thou mightest know the Lord. He is God. There's a lot of people out there
who claim to know Him, but are worshiping a God of their imagination.
But you have had the true and living God revealed to your heart.
Unto you. Why me? Unto you. Yes, you. It was showed who God
is, that there's none else beside Him. You didn't come up with
it on your own, did you? God revealed it to you by His
grace. Verse 39, Now know therefore this day, and consider it in
thine heart, and remember it well, that the Lord, He is God
in heaven above and upon the earth, and beneath there is none
else. There is no other God. Then in chapter 5, Moses reminds
the people of God's law and His commandments. And he goes through
the Ten Commandments there in Deuteronomy 5. And I remind you
and me, like Paul said, it's not as we're without law to God
that we're under law to Christ. It's even more binding. He that
keepeth Christ's commandments, his words, his teachings, his
precepts, followeth him. That's Christ's disciples. And
we're bound to give thanks, Paul said, beloved of the Lord, for
you brethren, beloved of the Lord, for God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. Chosen you of all people. Now
look over chapter 7 with me. Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy 7
verse 7. Why? Why did the Lord choose
me, choose you? Why? Because you're something
special? Verse 7, the Lord didn't set
his love upon you, nor choose you because you were more in
number than any people, for you were the fewest, less than least,
the chief of sinners. That's you, that's me, that's
why. Whom he did foreknow. Why did
God love us? Even so, Lord, it seemed good
in your sight. And whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate,
and so forth. But because the Lord loved you,
verse 8, and because he would keep the oath which he has sworn
unto your fathers, this is Christ, because he'd keep that covenant
of grace which he made with Christ from the beginning, the Lord
hath brought you out with a mighty hand. He's sworn, and Paul said
in one place, when he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. He's sworn unto Christ, made
this covenant with Christ. And he brought you out with a
mighty hand, the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly." Christ,
the son of the right hand, the right arm of the Lord. It brought
you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house
of bondmen. That is, he had those, the handwriting,
he nullified, he's taken away the handwriting of ordinances
that were against you. The bondage of the law, free
from the law, bondmen. And from the hand of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, the god of this world, he's brought you out from
the dominion and the power of sin and Satan. Do you remember
that? Isn't this motive enough to praise
and serve our God, all this, his goodness? Well, now over
to chapter 8. Now it really gets good. Now,
dig in here. Roll your sleeves up. I've got
mine rolled up. And it really gets good here. What do they say? Grab ahold
of your pants, we're going to jump a creek or something like
that? Look at chapter 8, verse 1. Now, all the commandments
which I give thee this day shall you observe to do, that you may
live and multiply and go in. What did Christ say? If a man
loved me, He'll keep my words, my commandments, right? All the
commandments which I command me thee this day shall you observe
to do that you may live, live. If you hear his voice, if you
believe Christ, this is his commandment, that you believe on the Son.
If you hear and believe, you're going to live, you're going to
live, eternally live. And you'll multiply, you'll bear
fruit. You'll multiply. And you'll go
in. In where? In Christ. And into
the promised land. Possess the land. Possess the
land which the Lord sware unto Christ. Possess the land. Verse 2, And thou shalt remember.
Now you ought to remember all the way which the Lord thy God
led thee. What's the way? Christ. Remember me. Christ said, This
do in remembrance of me. Remember Christ the Way. Remember
all the way, all the way my Savior leads me. Remember Christ the
Way, the Lord thy God, who led thee these forty years in the
wilderness. Some of you have been around
that long, and been some, in this wilderness, the wilderness
of this world. Remember his past mercies. Don't
forget them. God's sovereign providence in
your life. Don't forget it. And he did these
things, everything he did, everything works together for good. What
is the good purpose of God in the life of a believer? Right
here. To humble you. To humble thee and prove thee.
It's a trial of your faith, Violet. It's a fiery trial, Louis. To
prove you. To prove you. To know what was
in your heart. Whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no,
whether or not you trust Christ or not. And he humbled thee,
verse 3, and suffered you to hunger. God does all these things to
wean us from the world and make us hunger and thirst for the
Lord our righteousness, for Christ and his righteousness. To hunger
and thirst. And he fed you. After you became
hungry and thirsty, he fed you with manna, which you didn't
know anything about to begin with. He fed you with manna that
thou knewest not. He didn't know Christ. You didn't
come to Christ. Christ came to you. You didn't
come to the table. The table was already prepared,
and he said, and he drew you to it. Fed you with manna, and
your fathers didn't know it. And some of you all, your fathers
didn't know it, didn't they? That he might make you to know,
though. Why you, Joe Parks? That he might make you to know
that man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word he lived
by Christ. That there's more to this life
than just eating, drinking, and being married. Christ is life. That he might make you to know
that man lives by the word that proceeds out of the mouth. of
the Lord. That's how man lived, to make
you to know Christ the living bread, which came down from the
Father. And verse 4, And all these years
your raiment waxed not old. What is your raiment? What is
your covering? What is your robe that you wear?
It doesn't wax old, does it? It's new. It's good news. It's
a good garment and it stays new. It'll last all the way through. It'll keep you till hoary hairs. And neither did your foot swell.
You shod with the gospel of preparation of the gospel of peace. And the
gospel is still running mighty well, isn't it? After all these
years, still running mighty well. And it just fits. Still fits
right, doesn't it? Perfect 9c. 9c. And thou shalt also consider,
verse 5, Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that as a man
chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." Paul
said, don't despise the chastening of the Lord. For whom the Lord
loves, he chastens. And you think of these trials
as being blessings from God. Can you? They are. He makes the world fat and sussy,
gives them everything they want, leaves them alone, makes them
rich and increased with goods, have need of nothing. He makes
you needy, poor and needy, and through many trials so that you'll
look to Him and gives you that everlasting portion. Abraham,
Abraham was all down to mouth, you know, because Lot got the
best of well-watered plains and all that. Lot was going to have
big old beefsteak tomatoes, you know, and he was going to have
to hold rocks up in the mountains. And he was all fussing and mumbling
and groaning, and God said, Abraham, I'm your portion. You got me. I'm going to have to go out there
and down there and dig a lot right out of hell itself. This world is not, this is not
your dwelling place, Abraham. And child of God, this is not
your dwelling place. Therefore thou shalt keep, verse
6, the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways
and to fear him. Think of trials, like I said,
as blessings. The illustration I gave you of
Walter Gruber's little adopted Mexican girl. Remember how I
told you how that Walter and Betty, she was such an obedient
little girl, so sweet, and how that Walter and Betty had natural
children and they were typical American kids, you know, had
to beat the daylights out of them. Well, the little girl, she was sad because she wasn't
being chastened like the rest of She didn't think that they
loved her like they did their own natural children. So one
day she did some fish to feed, you know. And after Walter got
through wearing, spanking her, through tears running down her
face, she had a big smile on her, a big smile. And she told
Walter, now I know you love me. And as Psalm 73 and Psalm 37
says, and we just said it, God doesn't withhold these things
from the world, but gives them to them. That's their portion.
And the world is going to reap what they've sown. You reap to
this earth, reap to the flesh, you'll sow corruption, right? Sow to the Spirit. If you set
your affection on things above, where Christ is, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things will be added
to you. Well, you've got everything you need here, but you're going
to have a hundredfold in heaven. Ah, boy. And fear the Lord. Walk
in His ways to fear Him. The Scripture says, Oh, fear
the Lord, ye His saints. Fear the Lord. Verse 7, The Lord
thy God brings thee into a good land. Oh, my dear people. The Lord thy God bringeth thee.
Think about this Scripture. I thought about this over in
Hebrews 2.10. It became him, for whom are all things, and
by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory. The Lord
thy God bringeth thee, bringeth thee into a good land, a promised
land, a promised land, a land of brooks of waters, fountains,
depths, spring out of valleys of hills, water, Christ, Fountains
springing up, he says, the well of water, this water that I give
to you will be like a well spring, springing up, ever fresh, fresh
water out of your belly will flow rivers of living water and
a good land. You know, we're just like, right
now, the children of God are experiencing a little bit of
what the children of Israel did when they came right to the Jordan,
as they were just about to enter into the promised land. And remember,
they sent spies into, into, and that's when they ran into Rahab.
They spent, sent spies into the land, and they came back carrying
grapes, bigger than they could get home. Remember that? The
grapes of Eschol, Eschol grapes, and all these things, fruits,
and said, oh, it's a good land. Spies would come back, Joshua
and Caleb, you know, and so on. It's a good land. It's a wonderful
place. And we're kind of like Those
children, we're getting in on a little of that. What we're
doing right here is like sampling what's to come. It's going to
be a good place now. You know, every now and then
you get a little taste of what it's going to be like to really
worship God, to really rejoice in the Lord, and really enter
into His fellowship, the fellowship of the saints. Can you imagine
what it's going to be like unbridled? Unbridled. Nancy, some of you
say sometimes, boy, I felt like shouting. And I always say, well,
do it. Well, up there, we's a gonna,
too. We're gonna. Nobody's going to say, what are
you doing? Because everybody's going to be. I'm not getting
charismatic. I'm just, it's a little taste
of Christ, a little taste of glory. Verse 8, a land of wheat
and barley. You know, I don't like white
bread. I don't like light bread. I like
whole wheat bread. They pasteurize and homogenize
and sanfordize and crystallize that bread, get it white like
that. Little children like it. I don't. I like whole wheat bread. And buddy, I like a whole wheat
gospel too. Full of Christ. full, a whole
Christ. And you people here are served
a sovereign, saving Christ. Not a sweet little Jesus, but
a whole gospel, right? A gospel that will save your
soul. A gospel that will keep you all the way to the end. Call
it high on the hog preaching. You know where that saying came
from, don't you? Poor folks used to always eat pig feet and stuff. The scraps, pig feet, they eat
fat back. This gospel is fat back preaching,
Joe. Howling hog preaching. Ham and
pork chops preaching, what a black man would call it. Howling hog,
whole wheat gospel. Vines, he said, a land of wheat
and barley. And vines, that's Christ the
vine, isn't it? Vines and fig trees, Christ the
tree of the life. Pomegranates, the fruit of the
Holy Spirit, oil, land of oil, of olive, that's the anointing
of the Holy Spirit, gospel oil. Are you looking at it? Verse
8, honey, David said, your word's sweeter to my mouth than honey.
Sweet honey, honey out of the rock. Verse 9, a land wherein
thou shalt eat bread without scarceness. Y'all can come in
here any old time and get a good meal, can't you? Oh boy, any old time, pure gospel,
without scarceness, and thou shalt not lack anything in it,
not lacking anything. We are complete in Him. This gospel is a complete gospel,
complete salvation in it. Of God are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
He is all I need, everything. You don't lack anything, right?
The Lord is my shepherd. I will not, I shall not want
for anything needful. A land whose stones are iron,
Christ's a solid rock. Let's see here. Stones are iron,
out of whose hills do you dig brass? We've been digging brass
on Wednesday nights, haven't we? Huh? Labor of brass, altar
of brass, right? Brazen altar, been digging brass,
digging for Christ. And we've dug Him up and worshiped. And when you eat, look at verse
10, when you eat, when you've eaten and are full, then thou
shalt bless the Lord thy God. I was sitting down in a study
the other day. Preparing this message, I can
hardly contain myself. I was sitting there, sitting
there and enjoying the study of the Word. The Lord was speaking
to my heart, and the rain was falling outside, and the grass
was so green, the flowers were blooming, the trees were in full
bloom. doing the thing that I love to do, and Vicki was over here
playing the piano up there, and she was playing, just had me
playing when I came to this verse. She was playing the song, Why
Should He Love Me So? And I thought about this song,
Bless the Lord, O My Soul, and all that is within me, bless
His Holy Name. Oh, bless the Lord, O My Soul,
and forget not all His benefits. who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases, who redeems thy life from destruction,
who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercy, who satisfies
your mouth with good things. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all those within me. Bless his holy name. When you've eaten and are full,
bless God. Bless the Lord thy God for the
good land he's given you. this unspeakable gift.