AFTER THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
By: Richard Kirkland
“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29).
Introduction:
A. Most of us are familiar with the record of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20. But did you know that these Ten Commandments were repeated in Deuteronomy 5? In fact, in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses begins to explain the Law in the hearing of all the people (1:1-5) and rehearses all the background to the Law in chapters 1-4. In chapter four he commands the people, “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deut. 4:1-2). And then he repeats the Ten Commandments (5:1-22).
B. Those Ten Commandments stood as the foundation upon which the Israelite nation was established and contained both commands and principles for the to govern the chosen people of God from that time until the New Covenant was established by Jesus (Galatians 3:19-26). Today we are not under those Ten Commandments or the Old Testament as a specific law and covenant (Col. 2:14), because we are under the new Covenant. However, there is still much good to be gained from a study of the Old Testament (Rom. 15:4).
C. After God had given the commandments to Moses, the people found it difficult to accept and follow the commands. But when Moses read and explained the Law, the people boldly confessed their loyalty to God. Then God says, “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29). There are some very valuable lessons and principles that we can learn from things statement as it relates to the kind of heart that is needed towards God.
I. GOD’S PEOPLE NEED A HEART DIRECTED BY HIM.
A. God is concerned about the heart of man because the heart is seat of all our emotions and decisions which effect our actions.
1. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23).
2. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matt. 12:35).
3. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulterers, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within and defile a man” (Mk. 7:21-23).
4. “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:8-9).
B. Those following God must have God’s Word in their hearts.
1. God was not just looking at the outward actions of His children, but was looking deep into their hearts. This is the reason that God would say, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5) and why Jesus repeated those words some 1,500 years later (Matt. 22:37). God looks at the outward actions which come from the heart.
2. David wrote, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psa. 119:11).
3. Remember when Saul took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering to God, which was the responsibility of the priest only (1 Samuel 13:9)? His outward action was wrong, God was displeased with his act of disobedience and Samuel, the prophet, called it a foolish act (1 Sam. 13:13). But the outward act of disobedience or foolishness was because in his heart he did not really love, respect, and fear God.
a. So Samuel says to Saul, “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you” (1 Sam. 13:14). The heart of God was looking for the heart of man, and at the heart of man,. Saul’s disobedience was visible evidence of what was really in his heart.
b. As Christians, living for Jesus daily must come from the heart (*Matt. 22:37). Serving the Lord by serving man must come from the heart (1 Cor. 13:3). Worship to the Lord must come from the heart (1 Cor. 11:28, 16:2, Eph. 5:19). Every response of worship to God found in the New Testament includes the heart. But that leads us to ask, what kind of heart did they have and do we need?
II. GOD’S PEOPLE NEED A HEART THAT FEARS HIM.
A. “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29). What kind of heart? One that would fear the Lord.
1. The word that God uses here does not mean a trembling, cowering fear, but this word means a heart that reverences God, respects God, stands in awe of God and loves God. When that attitude of heart is present one can easily obey God.
2. Solomon, the wise man, wrote, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep His commandments...” (Ecc. 12:13). Notice that Solomon, too, uses the word fear. This is a fear of God that causes us to hold Him in reverence, respect, and awe. Notice too, that respect for God comes before obedience or commandment keeping. Unless we first fear God, our obedience is empty ritual.
3. Back in Deuteronomy, God said, “Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, (and do what?)-- keep all My commandments always” (Deut. 5:29). I believe Jesus put it in that order, too, when He said, “if you love Me, you will keep My commands.” (John 14:15). Doing what God wants us to do is not hard if we love Him, if we have the sense of reverence, respect, and awe for Him in our hearts. True obedience springs from a heart that fears God.
III. HOW DO WE CULTIVATE THAT KIND OF HEART?
A. By laying up the right kind of treasures in our hearts.
1. Entertaining and intriguing stories abound about people who have set out in search of elusive treasures of gold and silver and beautiful gems. They had the treasure in their hearts long before they set out on their journey to look for it. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matt. 12:35). What do we treasure in our hearts — the things of God or things of men?
2. If we will seek the good things of God, heavenly treasures, our hearts will surely follow. Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).
3. Whatever we allow to occupy our time and energies and resources will eventually become the desire of our hearts. If we occupy our time with worldly matters, we will never develop a heart that will have time for God. If we expend all our energy acquiring material things, we will never have any energy to do God’s work. If we spend all of our resources in pursuit of this vain world’s pleasures, we will never have it in our hearts to give sacrificially to our God.
4. We will never have a heart that fears God and keeps all His commandments always, until we have cultivated in our hearts a love for the things of God — a love for God’s Word, God’s people, God’s ways, God’s Book and God’s home.
B. We must be taught from God.
1. God told Moses, “But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess” (Deut. 5:31).
2. No one automatically or naturally has the right heart — they must be taught! “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
3. The heart must be taught and that is why Jesus gave the Great Commission (Mk 16:15-16; Matt. 28:19-20).
CONCLUSION: A. What is in your heart? Have you allowed the Word of God a place to reside therein?
B. If you believe with “all your heart” (Acts 8:37), it time to be baptized into Christ.