WHAT NATION IS THERE SO GREAT?
DEUTERONOMY 4:1-8
Introduction:
What nation is there so great as America today? We are the defenders of liberty and democracy. We have been blessed above many other nations.
Israel was in such a position hundreds of years ago. They were on the brink of entering the Promised Land and the man of God, Moses, was giving them instruction from the very mouth of God. Here he explains that the statutes of God are everything that concern morals and the rites and ceremonies of religion. Judgments are all matters of civil right and wrong. God gave His people instruction as to how they were to live and honor Him each day.
I. HEARKEN TO THE STATUTES…
A. Statutes that contain the GREAT COMMANDSMENTS OF GOD:
1. To LOVE the Lord God, Deuteronomy 6:5, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
a) These words MUST BE IN your heart, Deuteronomy 6:6, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:”
b) These words are THE HOPE of the NEXT GENERATION, Deuteronomy 6:7, “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
2. To love thy NEIGHBOR as yourself, Matthew 22:39, “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
a. CONSIDER your BROTHER in the Lord, Romans 12:9-10, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10- Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;”
1) Let it be manifested in acts of kindness AS TAUGHT in the Word, 1 John 3:18, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
2) Love one another with a pure heart FERVENTLY [INTENSELY], 1 Peter 1:22, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”
b. We are to love our neighbor AS MUCH AS we love ourselves, Leviticus 19:18, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
1) Let us PLEASE our neighbor, Romans 15:2, “Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.”
2) Even Christ pleased NOT Himself, Romans 15:3, “For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.”
B. Statutes that CONTAIN the GREAT CONCERNS of OUR OWN SOULS:
1. To “HEARKEN” – “To give CAREFUL ATTENTION” to the Word of God, Ezekiel 11:20, “That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
2. To MAINTAIN the DIVINE LAW PURE and ENTIRE among them, v. 2.
a. That you REMEMBER to be OBEDIENT and HOLY, Numbers 15:40, “That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.”
b. That you shall NOT DO WHAT IS RIGHT in your OWN EYES, Deuteronomy 12:8, “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.”
c. That you TURN NOT the right hand or the left to leave the Lord, Joshua 1:7, “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.”
c. That you TURN NOT the right hand or the left to leave the Lord, Joshua 1:7, “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.”
II. WHAT NATION IS THERE SO GREAT, WHO HAS GOD SO CLOSE TO THEM?
A. God blesses those that KEEP His ways, Proverbs 8:32, “Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.”
B. God’s people need to LOOK UNTO THE ROCK from whence they were hewn, Isaiah 51:1, “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.”
C. God has prospered us and NOT WE OURSELVES 2 Chronicles 26:5, “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.”
1. He has been GOOD TO US, Psalms 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
2. He has CHOSEN us to be His people, Psalms 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”
3. He has CAUSED us to SIT in heavenly places, Ephesians 2:6, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
4. He has blessed us with ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS, Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
CONCLUSION
God has been very good to our nation and to each of us as His people. The future is blessed for those who know Him as Savior.