WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:07.440 Hello everyone. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.960 This is Pastor Benjamin. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.000 You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.439 At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.079 For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com. 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:24.000 Please stand for our prayer of illumination and scripture reading. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:32.479 Give us understanding that we may keep your law and observe it with our whole hearts. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:37.439 Lead us in the path of your commandments, for we delight in it. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:45.840 Turn our eyes from looking at worthless things, and give us life in your ways through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:46.640 Amen. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:50.960 Now please remain standing for the reading of Scripture. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:56.960 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:12.319 But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:18.560 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:27.040 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:40.560 Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn, for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:47.200 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:52.000 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.640 You shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:05.359 He is your praise, he is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:12.960 Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:14.639 This is God's word. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.120 You may be seated. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.280 Good morning. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.800 So I wonder, have you ever been driving somewhere? 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:36.639 You've driven probably a hundred times, maybe uh driving home from work, and you you're going about, uh, you start pulling into the driveway and you realize, wait a minute, for the last 20 minutes, my brain was somewhere totally different. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.840 I have no clue how I just got into the driveway. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:40.240 Right? 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:42.240 You knew the route, you knew where you were going. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:49.039 You could probably explain to somebody, hey, this is where you turn here, this is where you go there, but you weren't consciously thinking about every turn. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:58.240 You know, that's one of the strangest things about I think being human is we can know one thing and we can repeatedly do another. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:02:59.360 Right? 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:09.520 We can we can uh not it's not just true with driving, but we can know that we should be patient, and then someone pushes the exact buttons that they have pushed a thousand times. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:10.800 Parents? 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:12.319 Right? 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:13.759 Yeah, that happens. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:18.479 You knew exactly what patience looked like five seconds before you lost yours. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:26.080 Or we know we should pray and we reach for our phone, or we know we should forgive, but we rehearse the offense again and again and again. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:32.000 We know God is enough, but then we'll spend the day trying to prove, hey, we are enough. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:41.599 We know exactly what scripture says about generosity, about purity, about humility, about anger, anxiety, marriage, or even parenting. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:45.759 But we all know more than we actually live out. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:47.199 Right? 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.520 The Bible has a word for that. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.919 Stubbornness. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.759 And here's the question: why? 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:02.080 Why is it that I can know what is right and still want what is wrong? 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:06.800 Why can I know what God says and still resist what God says? 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:12.639 Why can I know that something is destroying me yet I still reach for it? 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:17.759 Maybe our greatest problem isn't that we don't know enough. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:22.879 Maybe the problem is that knowing hasn't changed what we love. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:28.480 Because our hearts have learned a different route, a different pathway. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:39.040 And when life gets hard, when we're tired or when we're anxious, when we're angry, we're rejected, or we feel disappointed, we don't always travel the route that we know in our heads. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:42.879 We travel the route that we have learned in our hearts. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:53.839 You know, our fallen hearts stubbornly resist God because we don't merely struggle to know what is right, but we struggle to love what is right. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:58.480 Todd Hall puts it this way in his book called The Connected Life. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:08.240 Patterns of interactions with our attachment figures get stored in our memories as gut-level expectations of how close relationships work. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:13.519 Those expectations can shape even the way that we experience God. 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:23.439 This is one of the reasons that the entire book of Deuteronomy is so concerned with our heart, or in Hall's language, with our gut, you know, with all of who we are. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:27.759 Because the problem isn't simply that Israel doesn't know what God wants. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:36.160 You know, they've they've heard it, they've been taught it, they've watched God demonstrate his faithfulness again and again and again. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:42.319 The problem is deeper than information, the problem is the heart. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:50.560 And that's why Moses says in verse 16, circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:54.959 See, we don't need God just to tell us which road to take. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:00.079 We need God to change the heart that keeps taking us down the wrong road. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.120 And that's what we're gonna see in this passage here this morning. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:09.439 God doesn't just want to change what we know, He wants to change what you and I love. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:12.560 We're gonna see that in three movements this morning. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:14.399 First, God's heart towards us. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:20.879 Second, we'll see that our hearts towards God, and third, and finally, God's heart through us. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:30.959 So if you have your Bibles or your device, turn with me to Deuteronomy 10 and let's look at this first movement: God's heart towards us, verses 12 through 15. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:35.120 In verse 12, Moses starts out, and now Israel. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:46.240 And these words matter because Moses has just spent chapter 9 and the beginning of chapter 10 reminding Israel of their rebellion and their stubbornness. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:51.519 The golden calf, God's judgment, Moses' intercession, God's covenant mercy. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:59.759 And now, in light of all that God has done, Moses says to them, Hey, what does the Lord your God require of you? 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:08.079 And Moses gives them five very strong verbs fear, walk, love, serve, and keep. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:16.399 Fear the Lord your God, walk in his ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and your soul, and keep his commandments. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:20.240 In other words, God wants the whole person. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:27.680 He wants our worship, he wants our desires, he wants our daily walk, he wants our work, he wants our obedience. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:34.160 God isn't asking for part of our life, but he's asking for our whole life. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:39.519 And then in verse 13, he lands on, hey, here's the reason. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.680 It is for your good. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:49.759 See, God's commands aren't these arbitrary restrictions designed to keep us from the good life. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:50.319 Right? 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:59.199 They are the wisdom of a very good and loving Father directing his people towards real life and flourishing. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:02.079 But notice what Moses does next. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:04.480 He lifts their eyes in verse 14. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:05.519 Look at verse 14. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:13.279 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heavens of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:17.759 Everything belongs to the Lord. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:18.480 Right? 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:22.800 Heaven belongs to God, earth belongs to him, everything belongs to him. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:25.120 He doesn't need Israel. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.839 And then notice verse 15. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.800 He he brings out to me one of the most astonishing words. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:43.279 Yet, in light of all that, God owns it all, yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:50.480 The God who owns everything set his heart upon Israel. 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:52.799 He wasn't compelled to choose them. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:53.679 They didn't earn it. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:56.320 They weren't impressive enough to deserve it. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:00.639 The God who didn't need Israel chose Israel. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:03.840 God's love came first. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:09.279 And that really changes everything that God is asking of Israel in verse 12. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:16.399 Parents, have you ever heard your kids say, maybe in some form or fashion, hey, hey, watch this. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.519 My kids will often to me, hey dad, watch this. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:25.360 And usually I'll probably look over to my wife and say, hey, one of two things are about to happen. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:29.279 One, we may have to go to the emergency room, so let's be ready. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:32.879 My house, this is often, we were just there this week. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:39.840 Two, uh, my kids are asking something underneath, hey dad, watch this. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.000 It's often another question. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.639 Dad, hey, are you are you proud of me? 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:46.240 Hey, dad, did you see that? 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.120 Am I enough? 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.080 Do you love me? 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.639 Do I have what it takes, Dad? 00:09:50.639 --> 00:10:01.279 Now imagine if the father gets down on his knees and he says to his child, hey, you don't you don't have to accomplish anything to make you my child. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:01.919 I love you. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:03.600 I I delight in you. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:11.200 And imagine if, just saying those words, that that it would deep go deep into the heart of that child. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:16.320 That they they say, Hey, wait a minute, whoa, like my father delights in me. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.399 He he loves me completely. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.440 Something will begin to change in him. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:26.720 He'll no longer have to perform for love, but he'll actually do things out of love. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:32.320 And I would argue he probably wouldn't stop doing wild and fun things where we end up in the ER. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:36.159 He might even do more of those things, but it's from a very different perspective. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.759 It's the difference between legalism and obedience. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:45.360 So the first question this morning probably isn't, hey, how well am I obeying God? 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:56.080 Perhaps the first question this morning we should ask ourselves, do I actually believe that God has set his heart upon me in Christ? 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:01.679 Because if you don't know you're loved, everything becomes performance. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:02.559 Right? 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:09.759 Prayer becomes performance, Bible reading will become performance, holiness will become performance, church attendance becomes performance. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:19.039 And performance eventually produces one of two things: either pride, hey, look at how well I'm doing, or despair, I'll never be good enough. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:23.279 But the gospel says, hey, you are loved in Christ. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:26.399 Now live from that love. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:31.279 You are delighted in, like God delights in you because of Christ. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.919 And so now live from that place of delight. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:38.159 Christian growth does not begin with try harder. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:44.000 It begins with learning to live from the love of a loving Father. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.639 Grace doesn't eliminate obedience. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.639 Remember, grace transforms our obedience. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.600 So first, receive the love of God. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:59.200 And then Moses moves from God's heart towards Israel to Israel's heart towards God. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:00.720 So our hearts towards God. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:02.320 Look at verse 16. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.840 And this is kind of the central theme of the whole passage. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:10.320 Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:13.360 This is a pretty shocking command in the passage, right? 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.840 Israel carried the sign of the covenant. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:25.759 They had been circumcised on their bodies, but Moses says, hey, listen, the sign that God ultimately wants is on your heart. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.159 And notice what happens. 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:32.480 Moses connects this with, and he says, and be no longer stubborn. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:36.559 See, the problem isn't that Israel doesn't know enough. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:42.080 They've heard God's word, they've seen his faithfulness, they've even experienced his mercy. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:46.000 The problem is they resist the God that they already know. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.960 Information matters, but information cannot transform the heart. 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:52.559 And that's true for us. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.080 Our hearts don't just choose randomly. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.879 We tend to reach for whatever we believe will give us what we most want. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:12.480 We want control more than trust, approval more than faithfulness, comfort more than obedience, security more than God, recognition more than service. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:18.399 At the root of sin is a heart that gives God's place to something else. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:23.039 And that's why simply telling someone, hey, just stop it. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:25.440 It doesn't transform them. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:26.720 Right? 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:32.639 Have you ever tried that with a two-year-old in the aisle at Walmart when you're trying to check out, like just stop it? 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.879 It tends to not work real well. 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:38.320 Because the heart says, But I want it. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.399 You know, I I want that. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.639 And that's the deeper problem. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:58.639 Then notice in verse 17, one of the most beautiful parts of the passage here, for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who is not partial and takes no bribe. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:04.480 The God who is infinitely greater than everything else cannot be manipulated. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:10.240 You can't negotiate with him, you can't impress him, you can't perform your way into his favor. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.799 God sees the heart. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.919 Remember our drive from earlier. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.399 We we know the destination, we know the road. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:22.879 Our hands simply just followed the road, and our mind was totally somewhere else. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:25.519 And spiritually, that that can tend to happen for us. 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:29.919 Someone criticizes us and we can tend to take the road of defensiveness. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:34.720 Someone maybe disappoints us and we take the road of resentment. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.919 Someone, we start to feel insecure and we take the road of control. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.360 We feel insignificant and we take the road of achievement. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.320 We feel lonely and we take the road of escape. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:48.320 We get afraid and we take the road of anxiety. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:52.960 Our hearts have learned these different pathways, these different routes. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.480 And Moses says, hey, don't memorize another route. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:59.919 He says, hey, circumcise your heart. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:03.679 But here's the theological problem, then. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.399 Can Israel actually do this? 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:11.840 Like, can you, can I, can we circumcise our own heart? 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:15.600 This is where I believe Deuteronomy itself gives us the answer. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:19.919 Later in chapter 30, verse 6, listen to these words. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:31.120 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:35.840 Now listen, that's a massive redemptive historical development. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:36.639 Right? 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:37.679 Do you see what happens? 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:40.799 Verse in chapter 10, we get the command. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:43.759 In chapter 30, we are given the promise. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:48.399 The command reveals the need, but the promise reveals the solution. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:52.480 What God commands here, he promises later to accomplish. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:00.559 Israel, now hear this: Israel can circumcise their hearts because God has promised He will do it. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:03.759 Like slow down for a minute in that. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:08.879 Israel can do it because God has promised He will do it. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:11.519 And that's what the gospel gives us. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:15.519 Christ doesn't merely give us more information about how to live. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:25.759 Through Christ, through our union with Christ, God gives us his spirit and transforms us from the inside out so that we can actually walk out the things of Christ. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:31.120 This is why discipleship cannot be just information transfer. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:39.120 We need more people, we need people more than people to know what Jesus taught. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:40.879 We need more than to know what Jesus taught. 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:47.519 We need people whose hearts increasingly become transformed to love what Jesus loves. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:48.879 Hear that. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:54.559 Through the power of the Spirit, you can love what Jesus loves. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:17:01.039 Moses is saying, hey Israel, you can do this because God has promised He will do it. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:07.599 And then he reminds Israel in verse 20, he says, What God has uh about what God has already done. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.599 He says, You shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:12.480 Why? 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:18.480 Because he is your praise, he is your God, he has done great things for you. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:24.400 The God who brought 70 people down to Egypt multiplied them like the stars of heaven. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:29.200 In other words, the God who has been faithful to you can be trusted with your heart. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:34.559 So don't merely give God your behavior, but give God your heart. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:41.440 And I don't want you to miss there in verse 20 uh the beautiful picture of, and hold fast to him. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:47.279 This is what one does when they give their whole heart. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.119 Our youngest uh Benjamin, he's he's one and a half-ish. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:52.720 Somebody does the months still. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:55.039 I just once we hit one, we're one. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:18:01.039 Uh he loves his mom like more than every anybody on the planet. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:01.920 He loves mom. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.319 Uh and mom's always wanted one that loved her the most, and this one does very much. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:18.240 So, and the minute she tries to put him down, like literally, that boy will cling to her like he's hanging on with toes, like he's trying to wrap his legs around her, he is holding on, clinging as much as he can. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.960 And there is no doubt that he loves mom. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:22.640 Like, like there's zero doubt. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:28.079 And that's a picture of a heart that holds fast, clinging to a father. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:36.400 And listen, we can do that because God says he will do that, he will hold fast, right? 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:42.640 And if God changes our heart, then the question that we should ask is what's a new heart look like? 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:46.880 We begin to love what God loves. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:49.279 God's heart through us. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:51.680 So, what does a circumcised heart look like? 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:54.559 Moses doesn't say, hey, you'll become more religious. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:58.720 He says, you'll begin to love what God loves. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:01.440 Look at verse 18. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:11.519 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, gives him food and clothing. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.960 Now, this is remarkable with the verses around this. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:22.640 Moses has just described God as the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great and mighty, the awesome God who cannot be manipulated. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:32.880 Now he says, this great transcendent God, this great and magnificent God, he cares for the fatherless, the widow, and the sojourner. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:36.880 God's greatness doesn't make him distant from people in need. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.519 His greatness is part of what makes his compassion so remarkable. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:48.000 He is high above us, yet he bends down to care for those who are the most vulnerable. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:56.799 Then in verse 19, he says, Hey, therefore, love the sojourner, therefore, you, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:58.400 And do you see the movement? 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:01.119 God has set his heart upon Israel. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:10.640 God loves the sojourner, God cares about people who are vulnerable and dependent and without the normal protections of family and status. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:14.400 Now Israel is to love the same. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.640 God loves us. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.400 We love God. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.359 And then we love what God loves. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:24.240 See, that's what a changed heart does. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.119 Think about it this way: a family. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:30.480 Children can pick up things from their parents without realizing it, right? 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:39.359 I mean, parents in the room, you probably sometimes say some things and your kids repeat phases, and you're like, oh, uh, I wonder where they got that. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:48.240 Or when you're frustrated and you can react this way, and then you watch your two-year-old do the very thing that you do, and you're like, oh, I wonder where she got that. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:52.400 And you realize, wait a minute, that that comes from me. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:55.759 That's a family resemblance, right? 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:57.920 And the same thing is true spiritually. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.960 God creates family resemblance. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:05.119 Grace creates family resemblance. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.079 God loves you, so so we love. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:10.559 God has welcomed you, so we welcome. 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:13.519 God has shown us mercy, so we show mercy. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:16.400 God has forgiven us, so we forgive. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:22.880 God has care for us when we are helpless, so we learn to care for those who are hurting and who are vulnerable. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:29.519 And notice what Moses says, Israel's supposed to remember, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.880 In other words, don't forget who you were. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:35.039 You were dependent. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.319 You were vulnerable. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.039 You needed someone to rescue you. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.319 You received grace that you could not provide yourself. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.680 Now extend the grace that you have received. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:50.160 This is actually a beautiful picture of discipleship. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:59.519 The goal isn't merely that we know more about Jesus, the goal is that over time the character of Jesus increasingly becomes recognizable in us. 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:05.200 You know, many people can know the Bible and still be harsh. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:09.039 You can know theology and be self-centered. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:14.400 You can know the gospel and still refuse to forgive. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:19.599 But when the gospel gets a hold of the heart, it begins to show up in the life. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:24.000 And a changed heart by God begins to love what God loves. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:32.160 So Moses gives us this beautiful movement in the passage: God's heart towards us, our heart towards God, and God's heart through us. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.799 Loved by God, loving God, loving what God loves. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:39.759 So where does that leave us this morning? 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:47.680 We've heard the things that God requires: fear him, walk in his ways, love him, serve him, keep the commands, circumcise your heart. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:53.920 And then we look at our own hearts and we realize wait a minute, I can't do this on my own. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:55.599 Right? 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.799 That's the point. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:02.880 Deuteronomy 10 gives us the command, but later, again, Deuteronomy 30, God gives us the promise. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:07.279 The Lord your God will circumcise your heart. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:14.480 The heart God commands us to give is the heart only God can give us. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:18.960 And that really leads us real quickly to Jesus. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:24.160 You know, Jesus is the whole-hearted Israelite who could never who Israel could never be. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:25.599 He perfectly feared God. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:26.799 He walked in his ways. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:27.680 He loved the Father. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:29.119 He served others. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:33.200 He obeyed completely and loved what God loves. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:37.920 And Jesus didn't just say, hey, here, let me give you an example of wholehearted love. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:41.839 But he gives us what our stubborn hearts cannot produce. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:44.640 He gave himself for our stubborn hearts. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:49.039 He died for our rebellion and rose again to give us new life. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:54.319 And through his spirit, God begins to the work of changing us from the inside out. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:24:04.240 Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3, one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture, the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:16.000 And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:18.720 Notice the movement there. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:23.440 We behold Christ, and Christ transforms us. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:27.279 Again, that's not just simply knowing more. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:41.440 That's not simply trying harder, but learning to behold Christ, learning to receive his grace, learning to walk by his spirit, increasingly, we increasingly become like the one who is doing the work that we're beholding. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:46.559 That's why what you believe about God matters. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:53.279 If I believe I have to earn God's love, I live and work really hard for his approval. 00:24:53.279 --> 00:25:02.880 But if I believe that God has already set his heart upon me in Christ, I can live from his approval rather than for his approval. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:07.599 And when grace gets a hold of the heart, it begins to then change the life. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:18.720 And so again, we we see that movement that as we realize how much we are loved by God, then it's just natural for us to love God and then to begin to love what God loves. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.519 That's what the gospel does. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.799 Jesus doesn't just say, here's a new road to follow. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:27.279 He says, here, let me give you a new heart. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:34.000 And then by his spirit, he teaches you a new way to walk in his spirit. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:46.240 And so as we behold, as we look to, as we see his glory, then our lives are transformed into that same glory one degree at a time. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:54.240 So the question to think about this morning, the question I would encourage you to think about is what am I believing about God right now? 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:59.440 And how is that belief shaping the way that I am living? 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.960 What do I believe about God? 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:07.839 And how is that belief shaping the way that I'm living this morning? 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:11.200 Pray with me. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.119 Father, we come before you humbled by your love. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:19.759 You are the God of gods, the Lord of Lords. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:25.119 You have set your heart upon your people in Christ. 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:27.279 You have loved us. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:28.640 You have pursued us. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.000 You have welcomed us. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:35.599 Not because we've earned it, but because of your grace. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:40.640 So, Father, this morning, circumcise our hearts. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:46.640 Lord, cut away our pride, our stubbornness. 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:50.799 Lord, take away the loves that compete with you. 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:57.680 Give us hearts that not only know your word, but delight in you. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:05.200 Holy Spirit, as we behold Christ, transform us into his image. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:10.559 Let what we believe about your grace change the way that we live. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:18.000 Teach us to fear you, to walk in your ways, to love you, to serve you, to hold fast to you. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:30.799 And because we have received your love, Lord, make us into people who reflect your love to others, especially those who are hurting, those who are vulnerable, those who feel like outsiders. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:35.920 Lord, help us to live from the love that you have already given us. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:39.119 Help us to love you with our whole hearts. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:42.000 Help us to love what you love. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:48.240 Lord, may the heart of Jesus become more and more recognizable in me. 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:54.480 And may our lives become a living testimony of your grace. 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:59.839 We ask this in the name of Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:01.039 Amen.