A People On Purpose

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (KJV) 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, {13} To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

I know many of you do not use so called “Social Media” such as Facebook or Twitter or Linked In. I do, and use the services to preach and hopefully reach others for Christ. Frequently I find things on my newsfeeds that I question. One of those things was a picture with a woman looking up with the caption:

Don’t Go To Church – Be The Church!

The reason I question this is because many today believe that they alone are the Church. That’s not true.

The Church – like God’s Old Testament Israel – is never one person. The Lord Jesus Christ ministered on this earth for 3 ½ years and He Himself never ministered alone.

After His baptism and His trial in the wilderness Jesus called twelve men to follow Him. Jesus then built those twelve into a network of people who believed that Jesus alone is …

Matthew 16:16 (KJV) … the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Every Christian should live for Christ whether in Church or out of Church. That is true. But the Church is never just one person – it is a group of people, however large or small, that work together for the glory of God. When we are in the Old Testament we see God reaching out and changing the world not through singular people but through Israel, His Old Testament Church. Now God has not cast away Israel (see Romans 11:1-5). Jesus entered humanity from eternity to reach out to Israel first (see Romans 1:16; John 1:11). Christ came for the Jew first, but also for the Gentile. Jesus Christ came unto His own people, but His own people would not receive Him. So Jesus formed a New Testament people governed by Him that He called the Church or literally (ἐκκλησία ekklēsia) “The Called Out Ones”. In the Church …

Galatians 3:28-29 (KJV) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Both Israel (Old Testament) or the Church (New Testament) are the people of God, a people with purpose. What is the purpose of God’s people?

What Does God Require Of The Believer Of Any Age?

God does not save a people to Himself and then ignore them. God saved the Jew and Israel from Egypt in the Old Testament, and saves the Christian and the Church from the world in the New Testament. What does God require of His people?

Deuteronomy 10:12 (KJV) … 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 …

God requires His people do four things.

To FEAR the LORD thy God
To WALK in His ways
To LOVE Him And To SERVE Him

Let’s discuss these four basic requirements for the believer of every age.

Believers Are To FEAR The LORD

Deuteronomy 10:12 (KJV) … what doth the LORD thy God REQUIRE OF THEE, but to FEAR the LORD thy God

We do not hear much of “fearing the Lord our God” in modern pulpits. We hear a lot of the love of God – and God does love you. The Scripture speaks of this many times. But the Scripture also speaks of FEARING the LORD. For instance the phrase

“Fear The LORD” Is Found Nine Times
In Deuteronomy Alone.

It is found twice in this chapter – in the above verse and in:

Deuteronomy 10:20 (KJV) Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

The word “fear” is the Hebrew יָרֵא yare’ (pronounced YAH-RRAY) which can mean to be in dread of or to make afraid. This phrase is found throughout the Old Testament. As well known place where it is found is in the final address that the great man of God Joshua made before stepping down as Israel’s leader. Joshua told the people:

Joshua 24:14-15 (KJV) Now therefore FEAR the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. [15] And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Decide which you will follow. Commit to follow the one True God of Scripture or follow the false. Make a choice, then be ALL IN in that choice. God does not like the lukewarm behavior of wishy-washy people. Jesus told the Church at Laodicea:

Revelation 3:15-16 (KJV) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. [16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

The Lord does not care for lukewarm! Be all in. The Prophet Samuel told God’s Israel:

1 Samuel 12:14-15 (KJV) If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice … But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, THEN SHALL THE HAND OF THE LORD BE AGAINST YOU, as it was against your fathers.

When those who should be light become like the darkness God will not condone it. We are commanded to ..

Psalm 22:23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him…

Psalm 34:9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for THERE IS NO WANT TO THEM THAT FEAR HIM.

Psalm 115:11 Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: HE IS THEIR HELP AND THEIR SHIELD.

In all of these texts the Bible uses the Hebrew יָרֵא yare’ which can mean to be in dread of or to make afraid. The wisest man who ever lived – King Solomon – went even farther. He wrote:

Proverbs 9:10 (KJV) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Here the word “fear” in Proverbs is the Hebrew יראה yir’âh which is stronger than yare’. How can we describe fearing God?

The unbeliever should fear God because they have no personal relationship with Him. The unbeliever should fear the judgment of God and eternal separation from God. Our Lord Jesus said to whosoever would listen:

Luke 12:1, 3-5 (KJV) … Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy…. [3] Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. [4] And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. [5] But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: FEAR HIM, WHICH AFTER HE HATH KILLED HATH POWER TO CAST INTO HELL; YEA, I SAY UNTO YOU, FEAR HIM.

Jesus warned those who would listen to “fear Him” (φοβέω phobeō, to have a fear or phobia of) who has “power to kill, then to cast into hell”. There is a place of eternal punishment, a place where those without God in this life go to in the next life. Those who have no knowledge of God through Christ should fear God. And those who have knowledge of God but who are disrespectful and disobedient of Him should also fear Him. The Lord tells us in:

Hebrews 10:30-31 (KJV) For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. [31] It is a FEARFUL THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD.

Believers in Christ should fear God in the sense that we respect Him, knowing that He will discipline the wayward believer. The Apostle told the Church at Corinth that they were mishandling the Lord’s Table. He told them:

1 Corinthians 11:21 (KJV) For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

1 Corinthians 11:29-30 (KJV) For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. [30] For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

God can shorten your life.

To the believer acting as an unbeliever we too should have respect for God. Too often we minimize sin and maximize a sickly sweet love of God. God is to be respected. We are to stand in awe of Him. We are not to minimize His commands, nor to to neutralize them so as to satisfy a sin sick world. God tells us that He shall judge His people. God tells us that:

Hebrews 12:5-8 (KJV) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [6] For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. [7] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? [8] But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The great theologian J.I. Packer noted “Some redefine the fear of God for believers to “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin — even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing.”

God punishes His errant children. He scourges us when we are disobedient. We are not to make a truce with sin nor with sinners, but we are to rapidly and with dispatch confess our sins to God. We are not to regard His directives as suggestions, but commandments. God loves you, but He will not tolerate evil among His children. We are to respect and love Him.

God despises sin for what it has done to His creation. God despises sin for how it harms us and our families.

Look what God did to Jesus for us. He covered our sins with the Blood of the Cross. See Him, beaten and bruised. See Him with crown of thorns and throne of nails. See Him, bleeding and despised. We dare not make light of sin in the light of the Cross. If you have received the Son as Lord and Savior then you know better than to make light of sin. We are in His Kingdom because of His Cross.

Hebrews 12:28-29 (KJV) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (εὐλάβεια eulabeia): [29] For our God is a consuming fire.

Let us revere and respect our Lord and King. He will be respected!

Believers Are To Follow The Lord

Deuteronomy 10:12 (KJV) … what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways …

The Bible uses the term to walk to describe how a person lives their life. Before a person meets God in Christ they walk according to their own desires. To the unbeliever who has no fear of God, they walk in their own desires, following their own path.

One day a group of lost but religious people interrupted our Lord and cast a woman taken in adultery – in the very act before Him. They taunted Jesus:

John 8:5 (KJV) Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

Jesus ignored them for a bit. Then He said:

John 8:7 (KJV) … He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

The men left the square that day, leaving Jesus with His Bible class and this now disgraced woman. Jesus asked “Woman, where are your accusers”? She relied “No one condemns me, Lord”. Jesus tells her “Neither do I condemn thee – go, and SIN NO MORE”. Jesus forgave her upon her respectfully receiving Him as Lord. But then Jesus says something that many forget at the end of this episode. He says:

John 8:12 (KJV) … I am the light of the world:

he that followeth me shall NOT walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.

Those who belong to God are to follow God daily. You see, walking is your way of life. You walked into this Church house today. You will leave shortly, walk to your car, go home, and walk into your houses. You’ll get up tomorrow and walk to your car, go to work, and then you will walk. You walk in the marketplace. You walk! God uses walking to describe your mode of life. If you belong to the Lord, you walk in the light. You daily and hourly follow God. He is with you, always watching, always caring. You do not walk in darkness nor make light of sin. You follow Jesus. God said:

WALK in ALL his ways

God wants His Children to walk in ALL His ways. This phrase is repeated in Deuteronomy 5:33; 8:6; 11:22; 26:17; 30:16 – five times in this Book alone. If we are His and He is ours we are to imitate Him as we live our lives. We no longer belong to this world, but to the present and eternal Kingdom of God. The Child of God does not live as he did before salvation as he does after salvation.

The person who says “I am saved BUT I will follow my own path” should heed Christ’s Word.

John 11:9-10 (KJV) … If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. [10] But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

A fish cannot live in two worlds,
and neither can the Christian.

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God

Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Those born by the power of faith and by the operation of God’s Spirit are born to walk imitating God in Christ. We walk in the Spirit, in love, in truth, and in wisdom. We respond to Christ’s command and follow Him, children redeemed from the darkness!

Believers Are To Love And Serve The Lord

Deuteronomy 10:12 (KJV) … 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,

Our God gave His all for us, and wants us to give our all to Him. He does not want us to serve Him because we MUST, but wants us to serve Him because we love Him. God told Israel:

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (KJV) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: {5} And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.“

God wants our all, our full heart. Our Lord Jesus brought this command in the New Testament when He said:

Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV) … Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. {38} This is the first and great commandment. {39} And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. {40} On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

There is an inherent blessing in loving God with your all. When you love God with all you have He lifts you up. The Lord told Israel:

Deuteronomy 10:22 (KJV) Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

When Israel entered Egypt there were only seventy people in that family. Now seventy is a pretty good sized family! But when Israel left Egypt there were an estimated 6 million people. The family of 70 became 6,000,000! That is tremendous growth, especially considering that Pharaoh instituted a policy of enforced murder on all male children. Yet God grew His people. Listen Beloved:

What has corrupted our nation?
It is the uncommitted Christian!
We must commit to love God with our all.

We are to put Him first in our day, first in our lives, first in our families. We are to share Him with our children. To turn off the television, and teach our children to love God. We are to read His Word daily, and speak to Him in prayer frequently. We are to commit to assembling together to worship Him frequently. A one day a week or one day a month Christian is of no more use than a light that is only turned on one day a week or one day a month. Oh, that our hearts would be fully focused on Him!

The most important thing in your spiritual life is to love God wholeheartedly. You may understand all the Bible Doctrine you want, but if you do not love Him Who loves you, of what use is it? The Scripture cannot be interpreted and applied apart from Love! You must love! You must love God absolutely, with all your heart …. and then God will compel you to love your neighbor as yourself.

Deuteronomy 10:17-20 (KJV) 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: [18] He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. [19] Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. [20] Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

If you belong to Him, serve Him in your daily walk.
How do you serve God?
Love the stranger.
Do good toward others.
As you have received, so give to those around you.

Loving God is more than giving a tithe to the Church. It is to make others center stage. To do good. To let Christ shine through you.

If you do not belong to Him then He bids you come. Come to Christ. Come and find rest in Him. Be not half hearted, but fully sold out to the One Who loves you! And if you do belong to Him, let Him use you to show His love toward others.

May God the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts and move you this very day!