The sermon, 'God's Faithfulness and Man's Duty,' delivered by Scott Brown, focuses on Deuteronomy chapter 10, particularly verses 12 to the end. It highlights the interplay between God's faithfulness and the duties He requires of His people. The chapter begins with God providing a second set of tablets after Moses broke the first, symbolizing His unwavering commitment. The narrative recounts Israel's journey, the death of Aaron, and the establishment of the Levites as spiritual caretakers. God requires His people to fear Him, walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him with all their heart and soul, and keep His commandments for their good. The sermon underscores the significance of circumcision of the heart, representing a spiritual transformation that aligns believers' hearts with God's will. The comprehensive nature of Deuteronomy is discussed, highlighting its historical, didactic, and eschatological elements. Brown emphasizes the necessity of internalizing God's laws and living a life reflective of His love and mercy, warning against superficial adherence without genuine conversion.

Please open your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 10 and we'll be covering the entire chapter focusing mainly though on verses 12 to the end. So Deuteronomy 10 verse 1. At that time the Lord said to me, hew out for yourselves two tablets of stone like the first and Come up to me on the mountain and make yourself an arc of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. And you shall put them in the arc.

So I made an arc of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up to the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. And he wrote on the tablets concerning the first writing, the Ten Commandments which the Lord had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made. And there they are, just as the Lord commanded me.

Now the children of Israel journeyed from the wells of Bene-Jachim to Maserah, where Aaron died and where he was buried. And Eliezer his son ministered as priest in his stead. From there they journeyed to Gugedoth, and from Gugedoth to Japhath, a land of rivers of water. At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brethren.

The Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him. As at the first time I stayed in the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, the Lord also heard me at that time, and the Lord chose not to destroy you. Then the Lord said to me, arise, begin your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them." So after having told this story, then Moses says, and now Israel. There's a very important transition here in these two words, and now. What does the Lord your God require of you?

But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and all and his statues, which I command you today for your good. Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, And he chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger giving food and clothing. Therefore, love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him. And to him you shall hold fast and take oaths in his name.

He is your praise and he is your God who has done for you these great and awesome things, which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude." So here we find ourselves in Deuteronomy chapter 10. And It's a marvelous text that gives us so much to think about regarding the faithfulness of God and also the duty of man. They're both intermingled in this text here. And so as we go through the text, I'm going to identify 10 things in the text which illustrate the faithfulness of God and the duty of man.

And I also though want to try to help us understand why chapter 10 is here. Because chapter 10 exists in the midst of a long sermon. And so what I want to do is hopefully you can get your pens and pencils out here and understand the broader picture of the book of Deuteronomy because I'm going to tell you some things here that we haven't said all of them quite yet in our study. I want us to understand that what these three sermons are all about. I'd like us to see that and then we're going to funnel back in to chapter 10 to see where This chapter fits in the whole context of the book.

And so I first of all like to speak about the context of the book of Deuteronomy. Of course, the first thing that always comes to my mind is that Deuteronomy is the book that Jesus loved. He quoted from this book more than any other Old Testament book. But Deuteronomy demonstrates what your life would look like, what your culture would look like if you would hear and obey the word of God. And so Deuteronomy, in order to communicate this, is composed of three separate sermons and then a final conclusion of the book.

And these sermons were all given at the east side of the Jordan River in the last month of Moses' life. And when he finishes the sermon, he's going to die. And Moses is just now completing the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. In Genesis, he wrote about creation and the story of his ancestors, the patriarchs. And in Exodus, he documented the bondage and the jaws of the devil upon the people of God and how God delivers people out of bondage.

And then in Leviticus, He outlines how his people would worship him. And there's all the testimony about the tabernacle. And what do you do about your sins? We're a sinful people, what do we do? Well, the images of the cross are all there in the tabernacle.

And then in the book of Numbers, he documents God's faithfulness to his people in the time of the wilderness wanderings and his presence with his people throughout that whole time. And now Moses is at the end of his life, and he's recounting those days at the base of Mount Sinai and all the happenings that took place there. And he's appealing to the people of Israel with tremendous arguments that they would obey the Word of God with all their hearts. And 529, I think, summarizes the whole book. Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they might fear me and always keep all my commandments that it may be well with them and with their children forever.

So Moses is delivering three sermons to the people of Israel. They're personal, they're historical, they're theological. You know, they're personal in the sense that they really are a face-to-face encounter. Moses is speaking directly into the eyes of real people there in all three of these sermons. They're historical in that they're giving real world illustrations of true events that happened in history.

And they're theological in the sense that They're giving the nature and the character and the laws of God in all of its practicality. So that's what's happening here. There's this tremendous wide testimony in 34 chapters, three sermons, and a conclusion. The first speech is one through four, and in that first speech, it is of a certain genre. It's historical.

It's a historical recounting of the love of God. The fiend is, I carried you. We're talking about the first speech. What's this first speech about? The first speech is about this, I carried you.

It's the gospel. It's the love of God, the sinfulness of man. This first speech in chapters one through four is, I carried you. Do you have that children? So the question is, what is the focus of the first speech of Moses?

I carried you. Please don't forget that. You need to know that. What's the historical connection? The historical connection is all about the wilderness wanderings because Moses takes the children of Israel back to recount them.

The focus of attention is on the blessings of God and the faithfulness of God. And then in the second speech, we find it running from verses 5 through 26. And the second speech has two parts. We've never said this before. The second speech has two parts.

The first part goes up to verses 1 through chapters 5 through 11. And that's where in chapter 10, we're still in this general exposition of the duties of man and the faithfulness of God. And it starts with chapter 5 and the Ten Commandments, and Then chapter 6, the Shema, the greatest commandment and the commandments for families and for education and the warnings and the temptations. In chapter 7, we find Moses is giving principles that answer the question, what are you going to do when you live in a pagan land? General principles about how you live in a pagan land.

That's chapter seven. And then in chapter eight, what do you do in times of temptation? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And then in chapter 9, the section is a historical narrative, much like in the first section. And in that historical narrative, the former failures are reminded of.

And the pride of man is humbled. Even though God is calling his people to dispossess nations greater than they, don't let them think for one moment because of their righteousness, because they're sinful. That's chapter 9. And then chapter 10, as we'll delve into it, we'll see its general principles for living. But then in chapter 12, In the second speech, Moses seems to take a turn, and he begins to become extremely detailed, and he gives lots of detailed laws.

So in the second speech, the first part of the speech, from chapter 5 to 11, casts broad principles about the faithfulness of God and the sinfulness of man and all of his prescriptions and the intentions of his heart that they are good. That's from 5 through 11. And then in 12 He gets very detailed. And what do you do specifically in worship, dealing with false prophets, tithing? You get to chapter 14, it's all about tithing.

Chapter 15, it's all about debts and canceling debts. Chapter 16 are all kinds of laws about feasts and how to deal with the Passover, and the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. In Chapter 17, How do you think about the sacrifices that you give to God? What about idolaters? How do you deal with them?

How do you treat the Levites, Chapter 18? How do you deal with cities of refuge, Chapter 19, and landmarks and witnesses? And in chapter 20, how do you conduct war? In chapter 21, how do you deal with those who are guilty of innocent blood? What about captive women, inheritance of the firstborn?

In chapter 21, what do you do about the rebellion of sons? In chapter 22, caring for your brother's property. What about androgyny and cross-dressing and men dressing like women? That's a dress there. What do you do about bird nests and new houses and plowing and mixed fabric and fringes and virginity and various rules for sexual purity.

You get into Chapter 23 and there are laws regarding sanitation and even slavery, prostitution, sodomy, lending, usury, vows, eating from the vineyard and the field of another person. In chapter 24, there are laws regarding divorce, military service for newlyweds, kidnappers, leprosy, dealing with recovering collateral from a loan. What about wages? In chapter 25, there are various laws regarding oxen and obligations for children having departed, immodesty, unjust weights, and then in chapter 26 there are various laws regarding the first fruits of the land, remembering the Levites, and finally, an exhortation to obedience. So that's the second speech.

So the first speech is all about the gospel, the goodness of the mercy of God. The second speech is didactic in the sense that it focuses on various laws, beginning with these broad principles of life in chapters 5 through 11, and then all the details, bang, bang, bang down, on to the end, in the end of the sermon. So if the first speech is historical, the second speech is didactic. It's teaching. The third speech, though, is eschatological.

It really speaks of how things will end up if you do this or that. And of course, now the third speech is absolutely terrifying. Every time I read it, I'm just stunned at the severe judgment of God for those who would disobey. And it tells you what will happen if you reject the laws of God. And it is absolutely terrifying to read it.

I'll never forget when we read the whole book of Deuteronomy here before we started this study. Remember, we read it out loud from start to finish, right here in this place. And when we got to these last three chapters, I was just absolutely amazed at the terrifying nature of these judgments. Well, it's eschatological. It tells you about how things are going to end up if you don't obey, and if you do obey.

So that's the landscape. And then Deuteronomy ends up with a final conclusion, and Moses' death, and the transfer of leadership to Joshua. So do you see this here? The first speech, I carried you. The second speech, I taught you.

The third speech, I warned you. And I promised you certain results for obedience and disobedience. So that's where we are. We're in the second speech where Moses is teaching. And in the first part of this speech, he's giving broad principles for life.

So I hope that helps to see how all of this fits together. Don't ever forget that Deuteronomy is composed of three speeches. And they all have a very special and distinct character. And if you think about them, Don't they tell the story of the whole gospel, the love and the mercy of God, and then he's giving his people good laws to live by to show them how they might conduct themselves during their time on earth. And then he gives them wonderful and terrifying promises.

He promises heaven and hell to his people, and whether they will repent and believe in the gospel or not. OK, so now I'd like us to zero down into this slice in chapter 10. And here, chapter 10 is a wondrous chapter, as we would be tempted to say about every chapter of scripture we've ever been in, in this church. It's the most blessed chapter in the whole universe of theological writing. That's what chapter 10 is.

And when we get to chapter 11, we'll probably say the same thing. But here we are in chapter 10. And I've entitled this The Faithfulness of God and the Duty of Man, because that's what you find here. Again, you'll find general principles of life here in this text. Now, Let me frame this for you for a moment before we dive into the individual propositions of the text.

One of the songs that I've been singing at night to my children before they go to bed in the last couple of weeks is a song that's titled Only You. And I love this song and I've been singing it for many years, but it's been a long time since I've sung it to my children. And the song is beautiful because it really does capture the doctrine of God. And The song says, only you can heal my deepest longing. Only you can breathe in me new life.

Only you can fill my heart with laughter. Only you can answer my heart's cry. And it's a song that speaks of the tenderness of God, the sufficiency of God for all of what we need in this life. It exalts God Almighty. And really, the reason I love the song is because when I sing it, it makes me want to be submissive to God.

It makes me want to abandon all of my own thoughts for His. And I really think that the heartbeat of this text mirrors that. And I was actually singing it. I was singing it to my daughter last night. And I thought that this is the message of this text.

It's the sufficiency of God in all things. And so let's begin here. There are a number of things in this text that breathe of the faithfulness of God for the duty of man. First, his faithfulness. Do you see it on your outline?

Please follow along so you can see how this breaks out. Here we find God providing a second pair of tablets. Out of anger and disobedience and frustration, Moses breaks the first set. But God is not finished with Moses and God is not finished with his people. And so he is so kind to carve out a second set.

And it just reminds me of the faithfulness of God, how many times I've broken his commandments And yet he comes back and he hands me his law again and says, Scott, I love you. Let's keep going. And so his faithfulness is seen in the provision of these second tablets. And he commands Moses to put them in the tabernacle this time. Don't throw them, put them in the tabernacle.

We find, you know, and these tablets are found, you know, in the days of the kings in 1 Kings chapter 8. They are still there in the tabernacle, you know, hundreds of years later. What happened? What happened to the ark and the tablets? Well isn't that an interesting question which we will not pursue this morning, but there is scripture that does give us some inkling of where it is, because we do find the tablets in the book of Revelation.

Well, then we see God's leadership in the journey in verses 6 and 7. Now the children of Israel journeyed from the wells of Ben Ejechen to Miserah, where Aaron died. So God gives tablets and faithfulness, and then he continues journeying with his people. You know, one of the great images that John Calvin loved to speak about regarding the Christian life was that it was a journey. There was a beginning of the journey, and there were all kinds of ups and downs in the journey.

And he is right to say that the Christian life is like a journey. That's why Pilgrim's Progress is so helpful to us, because it shows the journey in all of its color and difficulty. But he provides leadership for this journey. And then he provides spiritual caretakers, number three. He provides the Levites.

In verse eight, we read that he separates the Levites to bear the ark and to stand before the Lord to minister and to bless in His name to this day." So he established the Levites to bring spiritual help to the people. And so we find that the Levites are set apart, God is preserving a priesthood. And then through the mouth of the apostles, he calls us a kingdom of priests. We are like these priests in many ways. God makes all of his children priests.

So he expresses his faithfulness in the giving of the law. Again, he brings leadership for the journey and then he provides spiritual caretakers in the form of the priests. So you see all these acts of mercy and kindness of God toward his people. He sets people aside to provide spiritual leadership. He still does that today.

And it's a tremendous blessing to the people of God. And then he makes provision for mankind by giving them requirements that would sustain them. This is verses 12 through 13. 12 says, and now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Now this is a really important statement here in Deuteronomy.

What does the Lord your God require of you? This statement is repeated other times in scripture. It's a repeat of the Shema, and there's a five-fold charge. What does the Lord require of you? And then there are five things that are required of mankind.

And you know, when we speak of free grace, it can never mean that salvation means freedom from obligation. It does not mean that. It never did, and we should not pretend that it does. There are obligations that God places upon his people and it's a tremendous disfigurement to say that grace equals no obligations. That is absolutely ridiculous.

If you just read the Bible from cover to cover you know how absolutely discordant that is from the message of Scripture. Here we find God saying, what does the Lord your God require of you? And then he begins to answer the question. And the first is to fear the Lord your God. And the word can't often means terror.

But it has to do with our reverence in every moment of life toward the commands of God. You know, I was speaking with someone recently and they were telling me really how lost they seem to be in this world, how they didn't know what God would have them do, how discouraging it was that they did not know what God had called them to do. And I quoted this passage, I said, brother, brother, you need to realize that every single day has divine commands upon it. And if you, if you would obey the commands of God, he will see to it that you don't live in vain. He'll show you what to do.

But just commit your heart to God, and he will carry you in the direction that you should go. And I quoted this text because I think it's absolutely critical for anyone who thinks I'm lost. I don't know what I'm doing in this life. Is anybody having this thought? This particularly happens to people when they're under age 25, by the way.

That's my experience. So you're particularly vulnerable to this malady of listlessness and not knowing what you're supposed to do. Well, let me tell you something. This is for you right here. Fear the Lord your God.

Let everything that you do in every moment of your life be under the fear of God, asking, oh, God, Are these things that I'm thinking and doing right now consistent with what you've called me to do? That would be a tremendous amount of direction. It would direct the thoughts of your mind and all kinds of things. To ever be mindful of his laws in all that you were doing. I had an interesting experience this week.

I was speaking to a gentleman, and he was saying some things that were displeasing to me. And they were upsetting to me, because I believed that they were very wrong. And this verse came to my mind that I would fear the Lord my God, that whatever I said would be said under this influence of the fear of God. That means every moment of my life can be lived for the glory of God as long as it's lived in fear of God because God will inform all the situations that I'm in the midst of and then to walk in his ways. This has to do with the way that we live life out.

We're back to the principle of the journey, the pilgrimage, with these burdens on your backs and these destinations that are out there and all the obstacles that are on the way, but that you would walk in his ways. In other words, apply the word of God daily. And then to love him, this has to do with affection. If anyone is lost in this world, then they should ask, oh, God, help me to love you. It would be enough to love God.

And then to worship Him or to serve Him. In verse 4, service here has to do with worship, with all your heart and with all your soul. Here we find the doctrine of the heart all over the book of Deuteronomy. Love and the heart are often connected in the book of Deuteronomy. And those who would say that the Old Testament is about the law and the New Testament is about love of the heart is that's not true.

You can't read Deuteronomy and come to that conclusion. The law and love are in are inextricably connected in the book of Deuteronomy. The heart that is circumcised, as we'll get to later, is interconnected with the keeping of the law. So here we find these five things. And then the fifth is to keep his commandments and the statutes which I command you today.

So this would cause us to ask, Am I breaking any of the commandments? So if anyone is lost in this world, these five things are so helpful to know what you should do every day, whatever you're doing, whether you're a housewife or whether you're working. These things work no matter where you walk on the face of the earth, these five wonderful things. Fear, walk, love, serve, and keep. And then he tells us why.

Parents don't always tell their children why, but our parent in this case tells us why. He says, here's the reason, because they're for your good. Because they're really good for you. That's why you should do them. Why?

Why? Because they're good. And that's the answer. So we've seen his faithfulness in the first five verses. In verses six and seven, his leadership for the journey.

In verses eight through 11, his provision of spiritual caretakers. In verses 12 and 13, his requirements to sustain mankind in these five requirements that are given for their good. And then his delight in verses 14 and 15. The delight that is behind all of his requirements is here. Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth and all that is in it.

The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them and he chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples as it is this day." This is the delight of God toward those whom he has elected. This is the doctrine of election that is also connected with the delight of God toward his people. If you have you've repented of your sins the delight of God is upon you and it says here that his not only is his delight upon those that he elects, but also that everything belongs to him. The one who delights in you owns everything. The one who loves you has access to every resource on the planet.

He owns it and he pushes it around any way he wishes. It would be an unbelieving heart that would be discouraged with the provision that God Almighty has given. So his delight, and then we see his circumcision, another evidence of his glory and his goodness. This is the first time the word circumcision appears in Deuteronomy. It appears four other times, at least in Scripture.

And circumcision is a rite that was performed as a sign of being set apart. And it's interesting that circumcision is an act done to the male reproductive organ. And it's the setting apart of the whole life for the glory of God. And what does it mean to be circumcised? And there are a number of places that we read about this.

In Leviticus we learn that circumcision of the heart is linked to repentance and humility regarding sin. Leviticus 26, 40 says, but if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their unfaithfulness, which they've been unfaithful to me, and that they have also walked contrary to me, and that I have also walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies. If their circumcised hearts are humbled and they accept their guilt, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, I will remember. So this word circumcision is linked with repentance and humility regarding sin. In Deuteronomy chapter 30, we learn that it's God alone and not man who does the circumcision.

And God says that He is the one who does the circumcising. And then in Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 3 and 4, Jeremiah identifies the uncircumcised heart with a hard heart. He says, break up the fallow ground and circumcise yourselves to the Lord. Take away the foreskins of your hearts. And then in Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 through 15, Paul says that true circumcision is not done with hands, but it happens by a work that's accomplished at the cross.

And then in Romans chapter 2 verses 28 to 30, Paul ends up attacking the outward sheen that some people present to the world while their hearts are hardened. They look like believers, they act like believers, they dress like believers, but their hearts are hard as rock. And Paul says, he actually quotes Deuteronomy. He says, there's no partiality with God. He quotes this text.

And he says, for as many as have sinned without the law will perish without the law. And as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. And then he goes on and talks about how there were many in Judaism in that day who, even though they rested in the law, they boasted in the law, even though they were counselors of good things regarding the law, but God was going to judge the secrets of their hearts. And he says, circumcision is profitable if you keep the law, but if you're the breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?

And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you even with your written code and circumcision? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. So the Apostle Paul makes it clear that there's a circumcision of the heart and circumcision is conversion.

Circumcision of the heart is salvation And a person can know the law, can boast in it, can live by it, but not have a circumcised converted heart. Now this is a particular challenge, especially to children. Children who grow up in homes where the Word of God is honored and their lives have some level of order. And they can even quote to you scripture. But their hearts have not been circumcised.

And they have not truly come in repentance to God. Their lips might have the law of God on them, but their hearts have not been circumcised. Let me just ask you, if you're a young person, you've grown up in one of our dear families here in this church, is your heart circumcised? Are you converted? Have you repented of your sins?

You can't circumcise your own heart. But if your heart is saying, oh Lord, circumcise my heart, it's a sign that God is converting you or that you have been converted. If your heart says, oh Lord, not my ways, but your ways, It's a sign that God has converted you. But the Bible says that there are those with circumcised hearts and those without. And I would just appeal to you children, Know whether you are saved or not.

If you are not saved, cry out to God for your salvation. You do not want to face the judgment of God. You do not want to face the fires of hell. You do not want to face the terrors that Moses speaks of in the last speech in Deuteronomy. It's devastating.

And not only is the end devastating, but the whole of life is marred. The whole of life is disappointing and heartless without Christ working in your heart. If you're a child here, please know whether you're saved today. Are you saved? And if you're not, cry out to God.

Today is the day of salvation. And so he speaks of the circumcision of the heart here. I really felt like a clear understanding of this was communicated in the theological workbook, word book of the Old Testament. I have this book in my library. And I just want to read to you how the author explains this word circumcision of the heart.

He says, by far, the majority of the usages of circumcision refer to the inner or immaterial nature in general, or to one of the three traditional personality functions of man, Emotion, thought, or will. What God was after here was a change in the whole complex of their inner self. Not the organ, but the inner man. That part from which flow the springs of life Proverbs 423, mainly it is a change in their affections, in other words that you love him from the heart, You know that you're converted with the love that you have in your heart toward him. Conversion isn't an impersonal transaction of belief in certain propositions.

Conversion is something of the heart that says, oh, I love God. With my heart, I love Him." He continues in this dictionary, this is what is needed to be circumcised. It's stoniness needed to be taken away, and the foreskin of sin needed to be removed. It's the hardness of heart caused by sin that makes man steel himself in rebellion against God. This is what they needed to overcome.

Once this is accomplished, the natural enmity which man has for God is taken away, although not fully, and love is in its place. We come into this world wholly bent away from God, but this change inclines us holy towards Him, with the exception of the sins still remaining in us that produces inclinations to the contrary. And with this new inclination comes a full specter of changes within our thoughts, intentions, words, and actions. The poisoned waters of our hearts now become clean. What issues forth from them takes on a new and righteous character.

We used to love sin, but now we love righteousness. Now we want to be holy. We call these resulting changes, quote, the marks of saving grace. For they are different from what our heart produced before and we're capable of doing. But they begin with this change at the very center of our being and of our affections.

Finally we need to be reminded that this circumcision is only something God can give. God requires it, but it's something fallen man cannot do. By nature, we come into this world dead in trespasses and sins as a result of Adam's sin. Because of this, we are completely unable to obey God's commands. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there's any who understand or seek after God.

They have all turned aside. Together they become corrupt. And there's no one who does good, not even one. Psalm 14, two and three. We might have been able to keep the commandments outwardly to some extent, like the Pharisees.

But we were wholly unable to keep them inwardly with a true love for God and a desire for his glory. What God required from his people here was more than they were able to do. If this wasn't the case, then it would have been possible for every man to bring salvation to himself. And so this is what he means by circumcised heart. I'm reminded of the story that is told of the home of Jonathan Edwards.

One of the reasons we know a lot about the home life of Jonathan Edwards is because of a young man by the name of Samuel Hopkins went to the Edwards home the first time when Jonathan was not there. And He was a young man in his early 20s. And he went to the home of Jonathan Edwards. And he was a religious person, but he was not converted. And even though he wrote wonderfully about what was happening in that home.

He was not converted when he came there, but he was converted after a period of time when he left there. I think he's just one of those examples of how often it is that good-hearted young men find themselves in a church or a household. And they seem to be converted, but they're not. And let me just say, I've known a number of young boys in whom this has happened, where they've been in the church all their life long, and then they become converted. I'll never forget a young man that was here visiting from a wonderful Christian family, And he was here for a week last year.

And the whole world had thought he was converted. And while he was here, he realized that he had never truly repented of his sins. And he went home, a new young man. And everybody in the Christian community thought he was converted, but he wasn't. And he knew it.

Are you that boy? Are you that girl here this morning? If you are, Let this be the day of salvation. Let this be the day where you say, I have been a fool all my life long. I've been hard.

I've gone through the motions. I've been a good boy. But I am bound for hell. Let this be the morning where you say, oh God, save me from my sins. Take me from this terrible fake life that I've been living.

Help me, Lord. Help me, Lord. Let this be the day of your salvation if you're one of these boys or girls. And so we see his kindness in his circumcision in verse 16. What a wonderful God, that he would come and circumcise our hearts for us.

We are so sinful, but all that's necessary is that we turn and repent. And we say, oh God, save me from my sins. And then His greatness, verse 17. We see His beauty and His greatness, the greatness of His glory. For the Lord our God is God of gods and Lord of lords.

You're familiar with the term king of kings and lord of lords. It's a lot like that here. The great God, mighty and awesome. And then his integrity, verse 18. He shows no partiality, nor takes a bride.

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow. He loves the stranger giving him food and clothing. This is God's integrity. He shows no partiality, and he administers justice. He doesn't look upon any person for their appearance, but he looks upon the heart and he judges without partiality.

And he judges with love. He gives the stranger food and clothing and he loves them. In his lack of partiality, the ground of it is love. What a wonderful thing. And then his influence, number nine, verses 20 through 22.

Therefore, love the stranger, for you are strangers in the land of Egypt. His influence on mankind is a beautiful influence. He makes them love strangers. You know, the term hospitality really means lover of strangers. You know, how much do you love strangers?

Do you let strangers into your house? Do you bring them in? When was the last time you had a stranger? Not somebody from the church, a stranger who had nothing of what you have in this world before God. But God loves the stranger, and he influences his people to love strangers.

This is why the inscription on the Statue of Liberty says what it says. Give me your tired and your poor, your muddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Well that reflects this principle of loving strangers and caring for them with a tender heart. It has to do with the heart of generosity.

It has to do with doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. So there's this command, therefore love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." This command is really just a command to reflect the glory of God in the world, to love the stranger in the same way that God loves strangers. And then he says in this section, he says, love the stranger, fear the Lord your God, verse 20, serve him. He seems to be reiterating these things that he said, has said before at the very beginning. What does the Lord require of you?

Take O's in his name, he is your praise. Verse 21, just camp on that for a second. Look at verse 21. For he is your praise. He is the one that you praise.

The term that he uses here is the term that we use for him or song. He is your song. He is your hymn. Notice the tenderness of this. Notice the heartfelt love that's injected into these terms here to help us to love God, to praise Him.

He says, He is your praise and He is your God who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. And then finally, his reliability. Your fathers went down to Egypt with 70 persons. And now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of the heavens in multitude. So here we find these 10 ways of seeing the faithfulness of God and the duty of man.

They're all found in this great speech, the great didactic speech that gives the laws of God and the reasons you should obey them. And it's a beautiful picture of God's faithfulness, his leadership, his provision, His delight, His circumcision, His greatness, His integrity, His influence, and His reliability. What a great God that we serve. In the springtime, I've noticed that something happens here. In the morning, when I take a walk up to the end of our driveway, At this time of the year, I notice that there are hundreds of worms that are on the road, all in different conditions.

Some of them are crispy. And those that are closest to the edge are very lively, and they're stretching out, and they're moving, and they crawl up on the asphalt and they begin their journey. And what happens to them is that some of them crawl up onto that asphalt and they lose their way And they can't make their way back. And some, very few, make their way back. But most of them, They make it about a third of the way out and then they dry up and they die and they get crispy because you know because they were not made they were not made to live on asphalt.

They were made to live in the ground where there's food and moisture, but yet they want something different. They don't want the place that God gave them and so they venture out and there they are hundreds, maybe thousands of them crispy on the ground. Because somehow they did not stay in the place that God had for them. And the place that he had for them was glorious. But They went off to find something else.

I think what happens to those worms tells the whole story of the book of Deuteronomy. We are people who often so lightly set aside the law of God, because we think there's a better way. But there is no better way, and our way leads in death. But there is life, there is beauty, there is nourishment in the law of God. And I think that's what is here before us, is a great appeal to love the law of God, that it might be well with us and with our children forever.

Let's pray. Oh, Lord, we thank you for this chapter, which is so beautiful, which speaks of your glory, your kindness toward us in continuing to provide your commandments and then helping us along in the journey, and then providing your laws, your own strength, and all of your promises for your people. Oh Lord, I thank you. Lord, I pray that you would help us as a church to trust you. Oh help us to trust you Lord In Jesus name.

Amen