The Lord's Requirements

"THE LORD'S REQUIREMENTS"

DEUTERONOMY 10:1-22

INTRO: A "requirement" according to Webster's dictionary is "something

demanded or needed; a necessity." In this life, we all face

requirements that we must meet. If we are to drive an automobile we

must meet the requirements. If we are going to graduate from school

we must meet the requirements. If we are going to secure a job and

keep it, we must meet the requirements.

In Deuteronomy 10:12 God asked Israel, "What doth the LORD thy

God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his

ways, and to love him and serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart

and with all thy soul...". That requirement of Israel applies to every

believer in Christ! In fact, where the LORD asks, "And now Israel…”

we could, as believers, put our own name there!

I want us to think tonight about, "The LORD'S Requirements!"

Some seem to think, or so you would gather from their lifestyle, that

God makes no requirements on His people at all! But God makes

many demands on us His children! Jesus said, "whosoever he be of

you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

(Luke 14:33). We must be willing to forsake all, if He asks for it!

That sacrifice seems to be too great for many! So they live

discouraged, defeated Christian lives seeing little growth or blessing!

The requirements that the LORD asks of us should be expressed of us

as an act of love for our LORD, NOT FROM A SENSE OF DUTY! Jesus

said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15). Love is

the greatest motive for service at all! Someone has said, "Service is

love made visible." (Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-

Contemporary & Classical. p. 184).

THE LORD'S REQUIREMENTS. Let us note:

(1) THE LORD'S RIGHT TO REQUIRE

DEUTERONOMY 10:12a—“…what doth the LORD thy God require of

thee…”

*Why does the LORD have the right to require? Because:

A. HE IS OUR CREATOR. Deuteronomy 10:14 says—“Behold, the heaven

and the heaven of heavens is the LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all

that therein is.” God created all things so thus He has the right to all

things! The psalmist David tells us in Psalm 24:1—“The earth is the

LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”

Paul said in Acts 17:28—“For in him we live, and move, and have our

being...for we are also his offspring"

Has man received anything which God has not provided? NO, everything

we see was made of something God created! For this we should praise and

fear Him! Psalm 33:6-8 tells us—“By the word of the LORD were the

heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He

gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap: he layeth up the depth in

storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the

world stand in awe of him.” The LORD has a right to require because HE IS

OUR CREATOR and…

B. HE IS OUR REDEEMER. Deuteronomy 10:21-22 tells us—“He is thy

praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible

things, which thine eyes have seen. Thy fathers went down into Egypt with

threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as

the stars of heaven for multitude.” God delivered Israel out of bondage in

Egypt. He had led them to the Promised land. Now He asked them for

their obedience and worship!

God has delivered us from the pit of sin, set our feet upon the Rock, Christ

Jesus, established our goings, and has put a new song in our mouths!

Now we belong to Him and should serve Him out of love! (1 Corinthians

6:19-20). There's a chorus which says, "He brought me in from the fields of

sin, with His arms of Mercy, He brought me in. Just look out yonder, where I

have been. Oh, Praise the LORD He brought me in!"

Because of His blood we are redeemed! Because of that redemption WE

NOW BELONG TO HIM! We OWE HIM EVERYTHING! David said in

Psalm 116:12-14, 16-17—“What shall I render unto the LORD for all his

benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name

of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all

his people… O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son

of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the

sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.”

Seeing what the LORD has done for us; He isn't asking TOO MUCH, is He?

We have seen THE LORD’S RIGHT TO REQUIRE but let us also consider…

(2) THE LORD'S REQUIREMENTS

DEUTERONOMY 10:12-13—“... what doth the LORD thy God require of

thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to

love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with

all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his

statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"

*This claim is based upon His saving grace! (Ephesians 2:8-10). He requires:

A. A REVERENTIAL FEAR. Deuteronomy 10:12a—“…Fear the LORD thy

God…". What does it mean to fear the LORD? It is according to THE NEW

BIBLE DICTIONARY, "A Holy fear which is God-given, enabling men to

reverence God's authority, obey His commandments, hate and shun all

forms of evil; it is the beginning of wisdom, the secret of uprightness; a

feature of the people in whom God delights, and the WHOLE DUTY OF

MAN." (J. D. Douglas. The New Bible Dictionary. p. 419).

We should be as Isaiah, after seeing the vision of the LORD in Isaiah 6,

saying, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips,

and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen

the King, the LORD of hosts." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

B. AN OBEDIENT WALK. Deuteronomy 10:12b—“to walk in all his ways…”.

This is a:

Ø Walk of Faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Ø Walk of Humility (Micah 6:8).

Ø Walk of Reliance Upon God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

It MUST ALSO BE:

Ø Watchful Walk! (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Ø Worthy Walk! (1 Thessalonians 2:12).

Ø ALL HIS WAYS! (John 10:27).

C. AN AFFECTIONATE HEART. Deuteronomy 10:12c—“to love him...”. The

SCRIPTURE says in Romans. 5:5—“…the love of God is shed abroad in our

hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." It is by the Spirit that we

learn to love God's way! That love must increase daily for God and others!

Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-38—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with

all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first

and great commandment." Our greatest pursuit, as believers, should be to

love God!

The second great commandment according to Jesus in Matthew 22:39-40

is—“…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two

commandments hang all the law and the prophets." HOW can we name the

name of Christ and not love? "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God

is love." (1 John 4:8).

D. A WHOLE-HEARTED SERVICE. Deuteronomy 10:12d—“to serve the

LORD thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul". God wants ALL OF US!

(Romans 12:1-2). We are not saved merely to rejoice in our salvation, but

to glorify God by a life of consecrated service to Him! (James Smith.

Handfuls On Purpose. Series 4. Volume 2. p. 41).

ILLUS: A tourist recalls the impression made on him as he studied

Poynter's great picture, "Faithful unto Death," which hung in the

Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England. There stood the Roman

guard on duty while the palace was falling into ruins during the

destruction of Herculaneum. The dead were lying in the

background, others were falling to the pavement amid the red hot

eruptions of Vesuvius. Everyone who could was fleeing for their

life. The Roman guard might have made his escape, but there he

stood like a marble statue, preferring to remain at his post, faithful

unto death. Said the tourist, "The picture has haunted me ever

since. Not simply the man standing at his post of duty, but the

expression of faithfulness that showed in his countenance. I have

thought of it a hundred times and I have felt its influence as I have

felt that of a living person. (Stephen F. Olford. Committed To Christ

And His Church. p. 124).

We, as believers, have the influence of a living person, Christ Jesus! He

has left us His example, and His command, "Occupy, till I come!" Let us be

found FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH!

E. A SUBMISSIVE WILL. Deuteronomy 10:16—“Circumcise therefore the

foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked." NOW that I belong to

Him, He requires that my will be His will! We MUST FOLLOW the example

of our LORD Jesus in obedience to the Father, "Not as I will, but as thou

wilt" (Matthew 26:39). Vance Havner said, "If Christ is not Lord of all, He

is not Lord at all!" (Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary &

Classical. p. 195). As the apostle John, "He must increase, but I must

decrease!" (John 3:30).

F. A CHARITABLE SPIRIT. Deuteronomy 10:19—“Love therefore the

stranqer, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt". AlI of us, at one time,

were enemies and strangers to God, but even then He loved us! (Colossians.

1:21; Ephesians 2:4-5). Because of the love of God that is now in us, we

should love them that are yet enemies and strangers to God! Jesus said in

Luke 6:31-35—“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to

them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for

sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do

good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if

ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners

also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and

do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great,

and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful

and to the evil.”

We should, if we have the opportunity, help all men! (Galatians 6:10).

ILLUS: When Wycliffe BIBLE translator, Doug Meland and His wife moved

into a village of Brazil's Fulnio Indians, he was referred to as "the

white man," an uncomplimentary term, since other white men had

exploited them, burned their homes, and robbed them of their

lands. But after the missionaries learned their language and began

to help the people with medicine and in other ways, they began to

call Doug "the respectable white man." When the Melands began

adopting the customs of the people, the Fulnio spoke of Doug as the

"white Indian." Then one day, as Doug was washing the dirty,

blood-caked foot of an injured boy, he overheard a bystander say,

“Who ever heard of a white man washing an Indian's foot before?

Certainly this man is from God!” From that day on, whenever Doug

entered an Indian home, it would be announced, "Here comes the

man God sent us." (Stephen F. Olford. Committed To Christ And His

Church. p. 43).

That spirit of charity is the one with which we should show ourselves to this

love-sick world!

EXAMPLE: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37)

G. A TENACIOUS FAITH. Deuteronomy 10:20—“Thou shalt fear the LORD

thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by

his name" The word “tenacious” means “holding or tending to hold

strongly…tough…stubborn…obstinate.” (Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk

Dictionary. Volume 2, N-Z, p. 696). It says here, “thou shalt fear the LORD

thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by

his name.” I want you to notice the words, “to him shalt thou cleave…”.

With firm confidence, true affection, and constant obedience. (John Wesley.

be our life: "cleaving to the Living One!" The Hebrew word for "cleave"

means "to abide fast, follow close, to be joined together, and to pursue hard."

Isaiah 40:29-31 tells us—“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that

have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be

weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the

LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;

they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”