How to Read the Bible Part 3

You can not know if you do not read; You can not be happy if you do not do

The little book that has provided the outline for these five messages is Matt Smethurst’s “Before You Open Your Bible: Nine Heart Postures for Approaching God’s Word.”

I know at least 3 of us have gotten copies of the book and I pray it makes as much difference to you as it does to me.

My goal in preaching this short series is to help us to fall in love with the Lord’s voice.

Just like a mom’s voice in the dark stills the cries of her child

I know the voice of the Lord in our darkness will still our cries even better.

So far we’ve said when you pick up your Bible to read it, you should prepare you heart by

Approaching it prayerfully and humbly.

By approaching it Desperately and Studiously.

And today’s lesson - by approaching our Bible reading obediently and joyfully.

And as we’ve seen from the first two messages, this is going to mean more than simply do what you read and then be happy.

Our text is from the fifth book of the Bible - it’s part of the Jewish Torah - the 5 books of the law.

Book five is Deuteronomy, we’ll be in chapter 10 verses 12-16.

I had a whole bunch of introductory words to build a case for Obediently and Joyfully - but I erased them all and started over.

I got to thinking Moses’ words here filled me with joy.

Maybe it would be best to let him do the same thing for all of us.

We have several people who watch us regularly on live stream and listen to our podcast.

I want to welcome you to this message and my prayer for you is the same as the prayer for us.

May the Lord leave us today so full of joy that we can’t put it into words.

And children, our three words today are love, good, and path.

Work hard to pay attention so you can hear the words and maybe you can talk to mom and dad about them.

I’ll be reading today from the New Living Translation.

Hear now the Word of the Lord from the book of Deuteronomy 10:12-16

Deuteronomy 10:12–16 NLT

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.

This is the very word of the Lord.

Praise be to God.

Picture in your mind the scene.

God delivered the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.

They’ve seen multiple proofs that God has chosen them.

He parted the Red Sea, he fed them manna in the wilderness

He provided them with water and meat.

He even made it so their shoes and garments didn’t wear out.

He let the unfaithful die in the wilderness - that’s why He let them wander for 40 years - so that generation would pass away

And a new generation would come along that didn’t know slavery but understood freedom.

In Deuteronomy, Moses is giving final instructions before they cross the Jordan.

Now, here’s the deal.

Yes, the Lord is bringing them to a land of milk and honey but the people that live there aren’t just going to pack up and leave.

They are godless, idol worshipping, baby sacrificing men and women.

Israel is going to be the hand of God’s wrath on these pagans.

That means they’ll be battles - war - life for God’s chosen people will be a challenge.

Different from now only in the battles we face.

The struggle for us is the same - what does it mean to follow God when times are really, really hard?

This is where we learn to read our Bibles

Obediently

Deuteronomy 10:12 ““And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?

The word require falls funny on my ears.

I don’t like people telling me what to do and neither do you.

We aren’t raised to be that way.

So what about saying this verse this way: “What does the Lord your God ask with the expectation that you will do it?”

That’s what require means here.

It means that the Lord asks these things of us expecting that we will do them.

That’s better, right?

When we see it as an ask, we understand that we have a choice in this - and we do.

We can either do it or not - and the Lord allows us to choose - we know that.

But the rest of this verse gives us four reasons why we would choose to do what the Lords asks.

Number 1, Fear God

We tend to water this down - for lots of reasons - but mainly because of one verse:

1 John 4:18 NLT

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

You heard it - perfect love expels all fear.

So if God loves us, then we should not be afraid of him.

But - now listen carefully - you can’t get to tenderness without going through terror.

And we’re going to let the great theologian Alice Cooper explain.

I was concerned that folks younger than me might not know Alice Cooper, but he released an album this year.

It didn’t do so great in America but it hit number 2 in Germany, 3 in Austria and 8 in Great Britain.

So maybe you do know him.

He was a typical drugged out, alcohol fueled rocker of the 70’s and 80’s.

He was deemed “The Godfather of Shock Rock.”

His shows included guillotines, fake blood, reptiles and he got in trouble once when a chicken lost its life onstage.

But - here’s hope parents and grandparents - he was raised in a Christian home as was his wife.

And one day the Lord used that raising to save him.

Pastor Greg Laurie interviewed Alice and asked him “What about Jesus?”

“We are not here without him.”

That’s kind of funny - we often talk about where we would be if we didn’t have Jesus - but Alice nailed it.

John 1:3 NLT

God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.

So yeah, “We are not here without him.”

“He’s the most written about character in all of history.

“People go out of their way to not believe in Him.

“They don’t want to give up their godship.

“They believe ‘I do more good than bad.’

“Never thinking about ‘I am the way...”

He said that he came to Jesus through the fear of God.

“I realized that hell is not going to be getting high with Jim Morrison.”

“It was going to be the worst place ever.

“In fear, I came back to the Lord.

Alice Cooper did exactly what Jesus said Matthew 10:28

Matthew 10:28 NLT

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

There is terror there.

I truly am a worm.

I truly deserve to die because I truly am an awful person, I AM a sinner and there is one who can “destroy both [my] soul and [my] body in hell.”

Middle school, high school, all adults of all ages.

If you have not made up your mind to follow Jesus regardless the cost, then you are destined to hell.

You can make every argument under the sun about a good God wouldn’t send anyone to hell, but you are arguing the wrong point.

The good God is trying desperately to save you from hell - you are the stubborn donkey of a person determined to go to hell.

And be stubborn long enough and God will give you what you desire.

Everyone who denies Jesus and refuses to follow him will suffer an eternity of all-embracing punishment.

And it will be positively terrifying - your worst horror flick will be comedy beside what you are going to experience.

But what about the love of God?

You can’t get to the tenderness of God without the terror.

Alice Cooper said, “I went to another church and that pastor preached the love of Christ

“And now you put the two together and it was exactly right.”

When the Lord opens your eyes to the fact that you are a sinner destined for hell he won’t leave you there.

That’s when He introduces Jesus and offers you the choice of redemption and a new life.

Your part is to ask the Lord to save you and commit yourself to following Him for the rest of your life.

And the words to follow are in the Bible - and that’s why we have to read it with the expectation of hearing God’s voice so we can do it.

Once we know, we are liable for it - once we know, we should do it.

Number 2 - Use What You Learn

Deuteronomy 10:12 ““And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him...

I keep reminding us that the Hebrew mind talks in pictures.

Our western minds talk logic - eastern minds talk pictures - so see this picture.

Each of these words translates a picture that is easy to understand.

Live means to go or travel - it’s the same as the Great Commission - remember?

Go ye therefore, means as you go - as you live your life.

Nothing fancy - no grand commitment or requirement to change your life

Simply, as you go down the path - that’s the word way.

As you go down the path, now here’s the fun part, get ready - the words “that pleases him...”

Literally as you go down the path He has put you one, stay on the path until you finish.

You are reading the Bible to learn the path.

Once you learn the path, stay on it - that is what makes your Father in heaven happy.

Number 3 - Love What You Hear

Western idea - love is an emotion

Eastern idea - love is an action that expresses the emotion

Listen and try to follow what I’m saying, God knows we love Him when we choose Him like He chose us.

The evidence of His choosing us is what He’s done for us.

And the evidence of our choosing Him is in our following.

He’s speaking through the Bible - those are the only words of God we can stand - He speaks to us just as we need.

So we can know the safe path and can follow it.

It’s only hard to follow Jesus because of the influence of the devil.

He has convinced us we are abnormal - but are we?

What is more normal than a boy and a girl or a mom and a dad?

What is more normal than committing to love your spouse until death do you part?

What is more normal than not killing someone, or lying, or stealing?

What is more normal than loving your parents - or loving your neighbors?

What is more normal than going to church and singing about our Creator?

What is more normal than being in this place today?

And we know it’s normal how?

Because the Lord told us that in the Bible that THIS is normal.

Number 4 - Work For Him

Serve is the word work.

Heart and soul is their way of saying mind and body.

So, work for the Lord with your mind and body.

It’s really a summary statement of everything we’ve said.

He put you on a path and His word tells you how to stay on that path.

so, follow the path until you cross the finish line.

All of that is the “read obediently” part

Read to know so you can know what to do because doing is choosing and choosing shows love.

Question 6 of the New City Catechism that our 4th and 5th graders are learning - How can we glorify God?

“We glorify God by enjoying Him, loving Him, trusting Him, and by obeying His will, commands and law.”

When you approach the Bible, approach it obediently.

And approach it

Joyfully

Deuteronomy 10:13 “And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.”

When I was little, when I heard, “I’m doing this for your own good,” well, that was usually accompanied by some type of painful experience that involved leather and my back side.

And that’s the lens I read this scripture through - and there is a hint of that in here.

Jesus says, “Revelation 3:19

Revelation 3:19 NLT

I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

But is more of a carrot in this than a stick.

To make it easier to swallow, use the word “keep” instead of “obey” - they mean the same thing.

“And you must always keep the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today...

As I walk the path, keeping the commands sounds somewhat doable - right.

But here is the sweet spot - you have to get through the terror to get to the tenderness.

Here is the tenderness - “for your own good.”

Good is the best we can do to translate this word - but good means more than good.

Here is the “good” we can expect

These are all the nuances of the word good - get ready.

For your own good.

For your own pleasure.

For your own beauty.

For your own delight.

For your own gladness.

For your own joy.

For you to know you are precious

For you to know you are correct

For you to know you are right with God

For your own wealth

For your own victory

For your own food

For your own hospitality

For your own friendship

For your ability to give good counsel

For your ability to receive good counsel

For your ability to enjoy the feeling you get when you do a hard day’s

For you to have a good name

For you to be known as loyal

For you to be known as truthful

For you to be known as wise

For you to have physical beauty

For you to be sensually alluring

For you to be happy

For you to be of noble character

For you to have moral goodness

For you to live your best life.

That’s what good means.

And listen to me - that’s what the Father is trying to give to us.

That’s why we read the Bible with a mind to do what we hear because the benefits are staggering.

I will learn what to do to please my Father in heaven

And He will lavish goodness in all of the depths of His goodness on me.

Why would would you not do that?

Deuteronomy 10:16 “Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.”

Remember what we said - when they say heart, we say mind - our minds are what control us.

Change your mind - and stop being stubborn.

The phrase is literally stiff necked - it’s a picture word.

You’ve seen it if you’ve ever dealt with an animal didn’t want to do what you wanted it to do.

If you are walking your dog and it decides it wants to go somewhere you don’t, what does it do?

It stiffens its neck to fight against its collar and then it hunkers down and pulls.

And that’s you and me fighting against the Lord.

He’s trying to give us all of that good - and we’d rather choose something else.

Doesn’t make sense, does it?

I don’t know of one person who has not got themselves in a mess trying to get one of the good things that the Lord promises us when we keep His commands and decrees.

Every last one of us - no exceptions.

Does that make any kind of sense at all?

Why would you not follow the Lord?

“Change your hearts and stop being stubborn.”

Listen, I don’t want you to stubborn yourself to hell.

And I don’t want you to stubborn yourself to a hard life.

When we trust Jesus as Savior.

As we commit ourselves to follow His path until we drop.

When we listen to His words hungering to do them

We’re going to find what we’ve been looking for all of our lives.

It’s been right there all along.

Quit being stubborn - change your heart.

Let us pray.