Well, good morning. It's good to see everyone this morning. Appreciate you being here, especially if you knew who the speaker was going to be. We're thankful, especially thankful that you're here as well. It's already been a good day for us to be here. Hayden, thank you. It's, it's a little nerve wracking to get up here when you don't do it very often, but you've encouraged and actually said something that I want to kind of go a little bit further with. And part of what I have to share with you. This morning, I too, got a text from Kenny this morning. We texted back and forth. He said they just got into Jerusalem. As Rob said, Jerusalem is eight hours ahead of us, and so it's about dinner time there. And his encouragement to me was, preach the Word this morning, he said, as he had done now, about 10 hours ago, nine or 10 hours ago, near the Dead Sea. And so he says, It's been a great trip. They have four days left, and look, they look forward to sharing the good things that they have been able to see and do in their time on their trip.
Several years ago, I was at a business meeting, and there were people from all over the United States there. I'd met some of these people before. And so when you're there with a group that with people from everywhere, you kind of gravitate to people, you know. So, there were some other guys that I'd met from around the southeast United States. And so, we were standing around or sitting around talking one evening, I think, the first evening there at the meeting, and one of the guys said, hey. to me, didn't you go to Auburn? And I said, Yeah, I sure did. And he said, Well, Stuart here, who was there in the conversation, he said he's good friends with Charles Barkley. Well, immediately my eyes lit up, probably more than some of yours would. But and so I said, well, that's kind of cool. And so, I got to talk to Stuart about his friendship with Charles and hear a few stories. You can imagine they were pretty funny. Charles is quite a personality. And so, here's some of the funny stories, but also, here's some neat things about his generosity. And so, you know, that made an impact on me. I thought that was pretty neat. Since Kenny's listened this morning, I think if somebody said, Hey, so and so is a good friend with Magic Johnson, Kenny's eyes would light up. Or here on the front, on this side, if somebody said, Hey, this guy was a really good friend with Stan Musial, there's probably two guys here that would be very interested in talking to him. So, fill in the blank on who you would like there that's a friend of somebody that that has entertained you or brought you some happiness in your life. Well as fine and as memorable as that was, it's not even close when we compare this to someone who is a friend of someone I want us to talk about this morning.
This friend was having a really tough time. When I say a tough time, I mean really tough time. He's got a tough job, and it's not going well at all, and he has to leave for a while, leave his primary work, and he comes back. And not only does he come back and find that those that he leads aren't doing what they're supposed to do, he comes back and he finds those he left in charge aren't doing what they're supposed to do, either. So, he gets back, and over the next few days, he finds out that his friend sees what's going on and says to him, I'm not going to have anything to do with this anymore. You're on your own. So, just think about that. If one of, if not your best, friend said to you, I don't like what's going on, you're on your own. Well, you may be guessing who I'm talking about today, but let's turn in our Bibles to Exodus 33 as we begin this morning. In Exodus 33 Moses has come back down in the preceding chapter from the mountain, and he has seen what's going on children of Israel who had built in Idol. His brother has not done what he's supposed to do. And in anger, he throws down the tablets that have the commandments on them. And so that's preceding chapter 33 so let's begin in verse seven here. "Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting, which was outside the camp. So, it was whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses, all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped each man in his tent door. So, the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend and he would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Then Moses said to the Lord, you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me."
So, let's stop there this morning as we begin. God, Jehovah, the Lord, spoke to Moses as a man speaks to his friend. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine God talking to you as a friend talks to you? I'll just be candid with you, it's hard for me. It's hard for my mind to get wrapped around that. I think about conversations I have with friends and good friends, but I can't imagine talking to God that way, but that's what Moses did. I mean, how wonderful must that have been for Moses to have that type of relationship with God. And as I said, as neat as it was for me to hear some stories about somebody famous. The best part about knowing that God spoke to Moses as a friend is that we get to hear about that. You know, good friends are such a blessing to us. And what I mean by good friends is I don't mean necessarily that they are your closest friends. What I mean by good is that they are good in the sense that God is good. They encourage us and they help us in the right way. And so when the scripture says that God spoke to Moses, as a man speaks to his friend, what does that mean? Well, let's just let the word of God tell us what that means. God, through the inspiration of the spirit and through the men that recorded this, he tells us what good friends say to to their friends. We don't have to guess, thankfully, what that is. I'm going to read a few verses here from Proverbs from the wise man. You're welcome to turn there. We'll start in Proverbs 17, if you would like. Proverbs 17:17 says that "a friend loves at all times." You know, Moses was having a really tough time, and it wasn't his fault. But God, I am confident, showed Moses that he loved him. Then a few chapters over, in Proverbs 27 and in verse six, we read there that "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." You know, sometimes what we need to hear hurts, but we need to hear it, and good friends have the courage to tell us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear. And a few verses later in that same chapter, Proverbs, 27:17, probably one of my favorite verses about friendship, says that "as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." So, we need to get better. We need to be better. And good friends help us be better. They help us get better.
So, when you have a good friend, good in the truest sense. What you can know is that they will love you even when you're not lovable. They will say things sometimes that hurt you, because that's what we need to get back on the right track, and they will make us better when we come in contact with them as iron sharpens iron. So, I'm confident that, as Moses and the Lord spoke together in that tent, that Moses knew that he was loved, he also was probably corrected, and I am absolutely confident that he was sharpened, that he was better because of those conversations. So, that's what we know about Moses being spoken to by God as a friend.
So, now I want you to fast forward with me. I want you to fast forward with me, where they have left Exodus, they have the commandments. We're going to fast forward about 40 years. That's the time of the wandering. And so, this man that God spoke to as a friend is now going to be speaking to those he leads. The 40 years, as I said, represents the wondering. And what we know is that that 40 year period is about the time that Moses had left on earth because he was not going to get to go in the land. And so, Moses is about to die. He's about to die. And so, I think about what I would say if I knew I was about to die to those that I loved and those that I had led. A few times through life, I've had that experience of hearing men that knew their time was short, and those words are so impactful because, you know it's coming from their heart, and it's what really, really matters. So, that's what Moses is doing as he speaks to the children of Israel. Those tablets that he had thrown down and broken, God remade, and as we look 40 years later, in these last words, you know what one of the things he does? He recites those words that were on the tablets to those people. That's in Deuteronomy, chapter five.
So, turn to Deuteronomy chapter six, please. We're going to be there almost all the rest of our time. I'll make reference to some other verses, but keep your finger in Deuteronomy six. This is what Moses has to say years later, 40 years later, after speaking to God in the tent, before they go into the Promised Land and before Moses dies. Let's look at this Deuteronomy, chapter six, verse one, "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all the statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Therefore, Hear O Israel and be careful to observe it, then it may be well with you that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you. A land flowing with milk and honey. Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and these words, which I command you today, shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. Shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand. They shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates." There's so much here in these first nine verses of this chapter that we could spend a lot of time thinking about these. And we should be thinking about these. Jesus certainly did think about these. You remember in Matthew chapter 22 when the lawyer questions Jesus about what's the greatest commandment? What Jesus says? Jesus quotes Moses. Jesus quotes Moses here. The greatest commandment is Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength. So, I want us to focus in this section. And we're going to have three points from the different sections of chapter six, and I'll make a few comments about that.
So, the first thing I want to focus on in verse three here, couple of words here in this version that I read from which is the New King James. And those words are, be careful. Therefore Hear O Israel and be careful. Be careful to observe. Be careful to do. You know when our kids are going somewhere, doing something, almost always, either Kelly or I, or both of us say, be careful. My guess is y'all do the same. We do that because we love them. We're concerned about their safety, and we want what's best for them, and that's exactly what God wants for us, and what Moses wanted for his people as well. You know, the wise man shared the same idea with his son in Proverbs four, beginning in verse 20. Listen to the idea of being careful through these verses. In Proverbs four, this is the ESV, "My son, be attentive to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight. Keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from your crooked speech and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or left. Turn your foot away from evil." Solomon saying to his son, be careful. Be careful. So, Joshua heard this. He was there, and he was at the tent door as well. In Joshua one, verse eight, he remembers these words, and passed them on. He says, Be careful. And in chapter 22, and verse five of Joshua, he also says, Be careful, to observe these things. You know, Paul shared a very similar idea of the concept with Timothy in Second Timothy chapter one, verses 13 and 14. Where he says, "Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you've heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. The good thing which is committed to you, keep it by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us." Paul's saying, Be careful with what I've passed on to you.
So, let me ask you a question, where do you keep things that are really, really valuable to you? Where do you keep those things? Do they accumulate in your nightstand drawer with all the other stuff that somehow gets there. Surely I'm not the only one that does that. Okay, got a few left. Thank you. All right. Do you leave those things that are really valuable just laying out on the kitchen counter? Is that where they are? Do you leave them laying on the seat of your car? Where do you put things that are really valuable? You know, Moses shares with Israel, where to keep the Word of God, the most valuable thing that they could have. What he says is, in verse six, these words shall be in your heart. That's where you keep things that are really, really valuable. As we just read in Proverbs four, verse 23 we're supposed to guard our heart with all vigilance. You know, when we do that, when we keep God's Word in our heart, there's a very natural outcome. When God's words, which are His commandments, his statutes, his judgments, when we keep those things in our heart, something very natural happens. You know what happens? Those words are going to come out. They're going to come out of your heart. You know when they're going to do that? When you sit down, when you walk, when you lay down, when you get up. They're on you. Those words are on you. They're on your house. They're on your doorpost, where you come and go. Those words are there. This is a very natural outcome for when God's words are in our heart.
But, you know and I know, we live in a culture that doesn't really like commandments. They don't like it. We certainly live in a culture that doesn't like judgment. We hear that very frequently. They don't like statutes either. And sometimes, if we're not careful, we can be drawn into that same thinking where we don't like those things. And so, with as much encouragement as I can this morning, let me say to you, as I say to myself, Let's not fall into that mindset, please. Let's not fall into that mindset.
You know, brothers and sisters, the commandments, the judgments, the statutes of our God. Those are not bad things. They are not bad things. I don't care what we see or hear or come in contact with. These are not bad things. They're actually wonderful things. They are the path to what God wants for us. And what does God want for us? God wants what verse three says. He wants things to be well with us. He wants to shower blessings upon us. He wants to give us the promises he's made to us. That's what God wants. And so I hope that somehow, some way, we gain the conviction that we know that David had, and the outlook and the perspective that David had about God's statutes and judgments that he has shared with us. You know, we sing about that. We sing about that here. In Psalm 19, verse seven, it's almost hard not to sing it when you read it. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, the statutes of The Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous, altogether More to be desired are they than gold? Yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them, your servant is warned, and in keeping them, there is great reward." David says, law, testimony, statutes, commandments, fear, judgments. These are things to be desired, not to be shunned. As a matter of fact, they're to be desired more than riches, and they are very sweet. They're not bitter. These things are sweet, and in them there is great reward.
Well, these first nine verses of Deuteronomy chapter six, primarily have to deal with helping prepare the people to go into the land. The next nine verses, there's a shift here. While they're not there yet, Moses shifts his instructions and encouragement for when they get to the land. So, let's read verses 10 through 19 from Deuteronomy six together. "So, it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things which you did not fill, hewn out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant. When you have eaten that are full, then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve him. Shall take oath in his name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you, for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies and his statutes which he commanded you, and you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken." You know, as we read these familiar verses to most of us, you know, I think there's a natural question that would occur from what is said in verse 12, and That is, then, beware lest you forget the Lord. You would think, how is that even possible? How would they forget? You know, we can be forgetful, though, because about three times this morning as I got here, different men said, now you do remember your preaching today, don't you? As a matter of fact, right before Rob got up here, he said, Now it is today, right? You're preaching today. So I did remember. So, we can be forgetful, for sure.
But how are they going to forget the Lord? Are they not going to remember that he exists? Are they not going to remember his name? Will they not remember the plagues, the miracles, the victories that God gave them and where those came from? Are they not going to remember that? I don't think that it's that Moses is saying you're going to forget God's name or that he exists. Let's look at it a little bit closer here. He says in verses 10 and 11, when you get in the land and you have all that you want, and more when you get there and you have peace and you have prosperity, when you get there and life becomes really easy do not forget God and the work that you still have to do. Don't forget that you still have some responsibilities. You know, we live in a land that, generally speaking, life's pretty easy. When we look around the rest of the world, life's pretty easy. We've got more than we need. And I've never built a city. Really, I didn't build the house we live in. Some of you may have built the house you live in, but my guess is you didn't cut down the trees, saw the logs, make the bricks. You didn't do that. We live in relative comfort and ease. And so, the message to Moses, to the children of Israel, should resound in our ears, our ears today. When life is easy, when you got more than you need, don't forget you still have responsibilities. Those responsibilities are in verse 13, "fear the Lord and serve him." That's our responsibility. You know, that's not a passive thing, fearing God and serving him. It's not passive. You know, it's more than just showing up on a Sunday morning. We should be here on Sunday mornings, but it's more than that. I think we all know that. We need to be serving Him, and we need to be serving others because of Him.
The next thing, warning, that I want to point out here about forgetting God is a very simple principle that's stated in verse 14. It's one that any of us can fall into. There's a warning here that any of us could succumb to young or old, and that is, don't pursue the gods of those people around you. You might say that's not an issue. There aren't foreign Gods that we may pursue. Well, I think you know where I'm going here. What are some of those gods that are around us, gods with a little "g" that people are pursuing? You think there's people in our society that pursue wealth? Ease? Success of the World? Sports? Not just watching or going to games. What about sports and your kids? Think anybody's pursuing that? What about our stuff? What about our houses, our cars, our boats? And maybe the thing that we have to be most careful of is something Hayden said in his comments today. In our culture, it's a pursuit of self. Always trying, or most of the time, doing what I want to do, what's best for me. You know, not all of these things, in and of themselves are wrong. Houses and cars, those things aren't necessarily wrong, just in and of themselves, but when we put anything ahead of God, no matter what it is, it becomes wrong. Anything. And God's going to demand that we pay a price if we do that. In verse 15, he's a jealous God. He's going to be angry. And the result of that, we're told there, when you put something in front of God, is going to be your destruction. So, it's a little scary, but that's Moses warning as he's about to die, and he's leaving Israel.
One last warning about forgetting Him is in verse 16. He says, when things are not going to, are not going great, and you're going to have times where, where things aren't going great. You may be right now. You're going to have those times. So, when things aren't going great, don't tempt or test the Lord. That's the warning Moses gives. He references, as you tempted him in Massah, you know, the children of Israel were thirsty. They were thirsty, and they said, Is God not here? You know, in the in the context of not being covetous and being content in Hebrews chapter 13, the Hebrew writer says, God will never leave you or forsake you. You know who else said that? Joshua said that. Moses said that later in Deuteronomy, also in Chapter 31 and verse six. And we're going to have trials, James says at the very beginning of his his letter in verse two, he says, trials, when you encounter those trials, count it all joy. How do you do that? When you have trials, how do you count that all joy? That's not natural, but that's what we are called to do. And we're called to do that because those trials produce perseverance, and perseverance is what we need to serve God. That's what we need.
So, back to our passage in Deuteronomy. What do we do when things aren't going great? Verse 17 and 18, you keep God's commandments, you keep his statutes, you keep his testimonies, and you do what is right and good in His sight, not in our sight. You do what is right in God's sight, not the world's. In the last six verses, five or six verses here of Deuteronomy, chapter six Moses tells us something that I find very, very interesting. He says, When you are careful to do what God has said, when you keep these things in your heart, when in comfort you serve the Lord, when we don't act like the people around us, and when times get tough, you serve God, when we follow the words of this man who God spoke to as a friend, you know what happens? Here's what happens in verse 20, "When your son asks you in time to come, saying. What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes and judgments which the Lord, our God, has commanded you, then you shall say to your son, we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe against Egypt Pharaoh and all his household. Then he brought us out there that he might bring us in to give us a land of which he swore to our fathers and the Lord commanded us to observe all His statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good, always, that he might preserve us alive as it is to this day. Then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord, our God as He has commanded us." You know what's going to happen when you do what Moses encouraged the children of Israel to do? Your son, your daughter, your grandson, your granddaughter, your niece, your nephew, your coworker, your friend at school, you know what they're going to do? They're going to ask you, why are you different, and what is this you're doing? What is this? That's what's going to happen.
A few years ago, Kevin Maxey was here and talked to us about Deuteronomy, you know what he said you get to do here? He said you get to now tell your story of what the Lord has done for you. Isn't that what Moses said? Tell your story. Look what God did when somebody asks you. And I know many of you well enough you know what, you've got a story. I've seen it. I've heard some of you tell it. You've got a story of what the Lord has done for you. And so when asked, Why are you different? You know, we've talked about evangelism a good bit in the lectures. You know what we have to do? We have to tell our story. Tell what God has done for you. You know God has done great things for us. You know why he's done it? Verse 24 the last half of that. You know why we have commandments, judgments and statutes? "For our good always." That's why we have those. So we can have life. And it says here, there will be righteousness for us in verse 25. That's what Moses had to say 40 years after wondering as he's about to die.
You know, I hope that this morning that the focus on commandments, judgments and statutes haven't caused you to discount some of the things that I've said today. Multiple times Moses talks about this in this chapter. But none of us, none of us, Moses included, can keep all of the commandments, judgments and statutes of the Lord perfectly. We can't do it. We cannot do that. However, even though Moses couldn't do it back in Exodus 33 he says, God, please go with me. Please go with me. And he knew God, and then knew he had found something in his sight. Back in Exodus, Exodus 33 we stopped in the middle of verse 12. "Moses said to the Lord, see you say to me, bring up this people. But you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found grace in my sight." Moses found grace in God's sight. Commandments, judgments and statutes and Grace are not separate. Those things are together. If you don't think they're together, read Psalm 119 and hear what David has to say about those things. They are together. They are. They work together to get us to where God wants us to be. So, we can find grace with God, and thanks be to him that we can, because we can't do those things perfectly. But we gotta do what Moses did. We gotta keep trying. When we fall down, we gotta get back up. We gotta keep trying.
Well, you've been very patient this morning. Thank you. You know something just marvelous is that we can be friends of God too. We can be friends of his too. As Jason read this morning from John chapter 15, Jesus invites you to be his friend. In John 15, he says in verse 14, Jesus says, "You are my friends. If you do whatever I command you." So, this morning, we would say, be a friend of Jesus. If you're ready to be a friend of Jesus, we would love to help you this morning. We're going to sing a song about Jesus here just a minute, that would encourage you. If you're ready to come and say, Jesus is the Son of God, and you're ready to change and repent and live for Him first, not for self or all those other things, then we want to help you. We'll be glad to baptize you, washing away your sins, and you can live for something greater than yourself. So, if we can help you this morning become a friend of Jesus or to reestablish that relationship with Him, we would love to do that this morning.