Sermon Tone Analysis

There are 6 things the LORD wants his saints to do:

Walk after the LORD

Fear the LORD

Keep His commandments

Obey His voice

Serve Him

Cling to Him

It takes humility to be able to accomplish these 6 things.

We are going to have to die to self, we are going to have to yield and surrender ourselves to God in order for these to happen.

Walk after the LORD.

In context, this means for the God’s people to remain with Him.

They were entering a land in which the inhabitants served other gods and idols.

The LORD instructs his people to walk after Him and not another.

We as a people of God are to remain with the LORD!!!

We cannot go after another god and I know in these modern times that we don’t see people worshipping Baal, Astrothe, Diana, Jupiter, and the like.

But anything you put before The LORD becomes an idol.

An idol can be your house, it can be your car, it can be your job, it can be your husband, wife, or children, it can even be you!!!

We need to stick with the LORD!!!

There are so many false doctrines that are out there, there are many that are being influenced by new doctrines......but we need to remain with the LORD!!!

We need to stick with Jesus!!!

Fear Him.

Fear in this instance refers not to the fear that causes one to shrink away or causes one to retreat.

Fear here is respect and awe.

The LORD throughout scripture would perform signs and wonders that would leave the Israelites in awe of His power.

This fear caused people to worship God.

I learned something interesting in my studies last night.

In the Hebrew Bible (original language) the word “worship” is not found in the Old Testament.

PASTOR ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?

Yes very, I was readying the original language (Hebrew) and I was taken back of the fact that I searched and searched and couldn’t find the word “worship” no where in the Old Testament.

But what I did find, is that for every instance of worship that is written in english I found “bow down” in Hebrew.

So the english version of worship means to bow ones self.

It was, it is posturing, it is a position in which one bows themself down before a deity.

In other-words, when God did some miraculous, or did something that was mind blowing, the result is that it caused the people of God to bow down and show reverence to God.

We must understand that true worship of God is more than a physical posturing of ones self.

True worship is the bowing down of our will, the surrendering of ones self, paying homage, appreciation, and showing respect to God!!!

Jesus said “not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

Not what I want, not what I desire, but what you want, thy will be done!!!

Fear produces worship in a persons life.

You don’t believe me?

When God works a miracle in your life, when God does something that is mind blowing.......it will make you WORSHIP HIM!!!

When you truly FEAR GOD, worship becomes an involuntary reflex!!!

No one will have to tell you to worship God, it becomes automatic, it becomes a part of your nature.

When God defies logic, when God makes a way out of no way, when God performs a miracle in your life, it will make your hands go up, it will make tears come out of your eyes, it will make your tongue glad, and you won’t be concerned with who is looking at you, or what anyone thinks, it becomes involuntary, it becomes automatic!!!

God is the God of miracles, signs, and wonders, he can do things that defy human logic, he can make the impossible possible!!!

This is why we fear HIM!!! Let me tell you something else fear of the LORD does for you.

If you want to be smart, if you want to be full of wisdom, if you want to be full of knowledge, the Bible declares that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalms 111:10) “a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”

Then Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Keep his commandments.

To keep his commandments means to guard.

Right now there is a military installation that is located in Kentucky called Fort Knox.

At this military base, and actually at any military base, you have soldiers that are placed on guard duty.

At Fort Knox, the soldiers there are responsible for guarding the U.S. gold reserves.

On any military base, soldiers are responsible for guarding planes, ships, weapons, even other soldiers themselves.

Why?

Because they are valuable!!!

God’s commandments are VALUABLE!!! HIS WORD......IS VALUABLE!!!

When you have something valuable, you just don’t receive it and leave it anywhere, you just don’t receive it and then not do anything with it!!!

When you have something valuable, you store it away in a safe, you store it away in a vault, you store it in a bank account, or some investment fund!!! God’s word is valuable!!!

That’s why the Psalmist wrote:

God’s word is so valuable!!!!

I can’t just leave it in the air, I can’t just leave it on a piece of paper!!!! I’VE GOT TO GET IT IN MY HEART!!!

I got to guard it!!! That’s why the devil tries to distract you so much when the word goes forth!!!

Because if you get it in your heart......you’ll do it!!!

If you get it in your heart, you’ll obey it!!! That’s why Satan will work on you to try to get you to forget it!!! He’ll throw distractions your way, to keep that word from getting in your heart!!!

When you have something valuable, your not just gonna throw it in some place and then forget it is there.

You’re going to keep on checking on it......to make sure it is still there.

You’re going to keep your eye on it!!!

The LORD was telling Israel, “you shall keep/guard His commandments.”

Every year, the Israelites would renew themselves and re-familiarize themselves with the Law.

We need to constantly re-familiarize ourselves with the word of God.

We need to do it until we get that word deep down in our heart!!!

We need to get it down in heart so much that even when we don’t have a Bible, the Holy Ghost will bring it back to our remembrance.

We need to get it in our hearts, so that when the adversary tries to deceive us, we’ll know what God’s words says for ourselves.

We need to get it down in our heart, so that when trouble comes and our flesh wants to give up, we can encourage ourselves in the word of God!!!

It’s time-out for being shallow saints, it is time-out for us not knowing God’s word for ourselves.....if you are determined you ought to testify to someone and tell them......I’m going to guard the word in my heart!!!

Obey his voice.

To obey his voice means for more than to hear his voice.

It means to listen to his voice.

When we listen to the voice of the LORD it is with the intent to understand it, to listen intently with the intention of not only understanding it but to embrace and do what the voice says.

Listening engages the mind.

Hearing acknowledged the sound but doesn’t understand the sound.

God wants us to do more than just hear.....he wants us to listen, because when we listen then we will understand, and when we understand than we will do it.

Serve Him.

What does it truly mean to serve the LORD?

Does it simply mean to live for the LORD?

Does serving the LORD mean to attend church on a regular basis?

To serve the LORD means simply “to work” for the LORD.

To do the LORD’s bidding.

To be a servant of the LORD.

Truth:

You cannot be a servant of the LORD if you don’t do any work for Him.

Truth 2:

To serve the LORD also means much more than just doing things inside these for walls.

We need to work for the LORD, we need to live a life of obedience to Him, but also, we embody what the Solomon records in Ecclesiastes 9:10

Paul echoes the same sentiments as he writes:

Why does the Lord want us to serve Him?

It is recorded throughout all of the Pentateuch (the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible) especially in Deuteronomy how the LORD continually instructed the Israelites to worship The LORD their God.

Why?

Because he didn’t want his people to bow to worship other gods.

But most importantly, because He was the one that brought them out of Egypt!