(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen so Deuteronomy chapter 6 getting right into it says there in verse 1 now These are the commandments the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God to keep all His statutes and his commandments, which I command thee thou and thy son and thy son sons all days of thy life So, you know this chapter really what it's dealing with is the next generation I mean there he's bringing them into land, but we'll see here in the beginning in the end You know God is really putting a lot of emphasis on this current generation Teaching the next these important statutes these judgments that they would continue to do them and to keep them and which you know The ones that he is commanding them now look there in verse 3 It says here therefore Israel and observe to do it that it may be well with thee That you might increase mightily as Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee again, you know, just reminding us again, you know Deuteronomy We're hearing the statutes and judgments do them obey the Lord your God hero Israel. It's coming up over and over again and It's not because God is just trying to bind a heavy burden on people, you know God doesn't just have a bunch of rules because he just wants to make life difficult or something and we'll talk a little bit here At the end, but he's he's giving them these things Why that it may be well with thee that ye may be increased mightily as the Lord God of thy father's have promised thee You know God has our best interest in mind with all of these commandments That's what he's trying to get across here for our own good Now look there in verse 4, of course, that's a very famous verse where it says here Oh Israel the Lord Our God is one Lord. Now. This is a verse that's often corrupted. It's a verse that you find often Twisted into means to take to mean something else and a lot of false Bible versions You know the Jews they they they teach false teaching about this and basically what they all do is they drop off the Lord at The end there and so the verse in many these Bible versions reads hero Lord hero Israel the Lord our God is one and if you pay attention that you can see how that completely changes the meaning by just dropping off the Lord at the end there and You know, that's what a lot of these false Bible versions do and it changes major doctrine That should be a lesson to us. You know, why are we King James only? Because even something as simple as just dropping one word one name just changing one little thing can completely change the meaning of a verse You know the NIV quotes it like this the Lord our God it the Lord is one Okay, that sounds completely different than what the King James is trying to say here And the new King James even hero Israel, right the new King James the one that that's approved right wrong the Lord our God The Lord is one so that's that's a very different meaning than what the King James Bible has now There are some translations they get the meaning of the verse right, but they're still you know We could probably find multiple errors with them. The New Living Translation says listen Oh Israel The Lord is our God the Lord alone now They have at least got the meaning right, you know that that that's what the King James is trying to express here The Lord our God is one Lord meaning there's no other God besides him The ESV hero Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one The the the HCS be I don't know what that is. Listen Israel The Lord our God the Lord is one the New American Standard the NASB hero Israel the Lord our God The Lord is one so this has been corrupted in a lot of them now the message which is probably one of the worst Translations you could ever pick up actually has the meaning right it says attention Israel God our God the God the one and only so they at least they got the meaning behind it when he's trying to say there's Only one God, but when I was writing that I looked that up I thought you know, it just shows you how stupid these versions are they read so terribly I mean the message reads like this attention Israel. I mean, it sounds like it's like you hear that's like in a PA system in an Airport, you know, you know like someone's trying to tell you your headlights on you know Whoever has the license plate attention attention, you know, you've left your lights on and the and the white Corolla, you know Whatever it's just it sounds bad and you know, it just goes to show you even if you get the meeting, right? You know that they botched it everywhere else attention Israel, so You know and then we could really go on and on about this We'll touch on this here This could be a whole sermon in and of itself like many other things that we preach out in these Verse by verse what Thursday nights and there's been a lot of sermons about this, you know preaching against this oneness heresy that's out there preaching, you know in defense of the Trinity, but What this verse is saying here in verse 4 where it says hero Israel the Lord our God is one Lord is What it's trying to get across is the sense that there is no other God That there's no other God to turn to he is the one Lord He's yet to remember the word God is just a name that everyone uses for God, you know You know the Allah, you know, it just means God, you know, so God is you know, if you believe in God God is just a name you're gonna use for God But what he's saying here is the Lord our God is one Lord There's only one Lord and that's what he's trying to get across you for recall I'll quote for you from Deuteronomy 4 where we were for you a few weeks ago It says know therefore this day and consider it thine heart that the Lord he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath There is none else. That's what's trying to be expressed here. Is that there is only one God not that God is just one person But that's what these you know These new translations would have you to think that there is only that God is one person Now God is singular in the sense of being exclusive. Okay, that's what you could say that yeah There's only God is one in the sense that there's only one God that would be correct He said in Isaiah of chapter 42. I am the Lord that is my name and my glory Will I not give to another neither my praise to graven images, you know, and it's kind of interesting You know there in Isaiah and also here in Deuteronomy where he's just drilling You know this this issue of idolatry and not making graven images, you know He emphasizes the fact that he is the Lord he alone is God You know both as Isaiah do it on me They invoke, you know God's unshared claim as God in the context, you know as opposed to idolatry So God is singular in terms of being exclusive. That's the singularity of God. He is the only Lord God There is none else besides him But God make no mistake about it is plural in his nature Right. We all know Genesis. Let us make man in our image. Let us thank God in our image That's speaking to the triune nature of God the plurality in God's a person, you know first John 5 7 4 There are three that bear record in heaven, you know, there are three in heaven Okay, so and again we could go on and on about this and there's a lot more in this chapter I'd like to talk about but you can't really read that verse without at least touching on it and Pointing out the fact that there's a lot of false Doctrine that's promoted By people just taking one word out of that verse and leaving it off and it just changes everything That that verse is supposed to mean, you know, but we'll move on here In verse 5 it says and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thine might and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently under thy children and They'll talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way when thou liest down and when thou risest up and when thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as the frontlets between thine eyes and thou shalt write them upon the post of the high house and on thy gate So again, God, you know is already bringing up the next generation again We already read where he's gonna command them thy son and thy son sons And now he's saying you're gonna teach them diligently under thy children So God is putting a lot of emphasis here on us instructing the next generation, you know And that's something we cannot lose sight of, you know, we got a great thing going here at faithful word Baptist Church We got a lot of you know, young younger people young families that are on our zealous. They're on fire for God But you know that could all disappear in a generation that could all be gone in one generation I mean, that's what happens very quickly. We see that over over again in the Bible, you know Another generation that rises up that doesn't know the Lord and they go after ideology. They go into sin They forget that the the God of the Bible, you know, if we're not careful We don't put the emphasis where God does and God here. I mean make no mistake about it. It's plain as day He puts emphasis on teaching the next generation the statutes and the commandments of the Bible, you know That's why it's important to have all the the young people in the main service You know where they can hear the preaching the Word of God where they can hear all the the doctrinal teaching and all the the do's And don'ts that were gone instead of just you know, sticking them off and just telling them the same old You know stories about you know, the animals getting on the ark those are great Let's teach in that but let's teach in the whole counsel of the Word of God Let's get everybody here and let's teach the next generation because that's where God puts the emphasis So the importance of teaching the next generation of the thing of the things of God that's an important thing we need to do So how are we gonna do that? How are we gonna teach the next generation? How are we gonna implore them to you know? Take heed to these things. Well for it has to start with us It has to start with the the the you know The the generation that precedes them has to start with the moms and dads and it says there, you know It really it begins in thine heart He said in verse 5 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart You know if you want your kids to follow in your footsteps, you know, you're gonna be the one that has to love God You know kids, you know They they you're the old saying goes your talk talks or your walk talks louder than your talk talks I mean we can say all the right things, but if we're not doing them, you know that that's gonna That's not gonna guarantee that you're you know, you're you're the next generation Is gonna follow in our footsteps they might say well, yeah, they said a lot of things But they weren't sincere in what they were doing. And so it starts with us It starts with thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul with all thy might And these words which I command they shall be in thine heart Right and thou shalt teach them diligently into thy children So you want to know how to get your kids to follow the Lord and live for God? Has to start with your own heart has to start within you Has to be in your heart to love the Lord thy God with all thy might has to be the words of God have to be in your heart in your mind you have to They have to see these things come from out from within in within within yourself So it starts with you, you know in thine heart and you know, this is something that's reiterated in Scripture Colossians says let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Psalm 119 wherewith shall young men cleanse his way by taking heed according to thy word with my whole heart Have I sought thee? Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments thy word Have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee, you know You can't go hide God's Word in somebody else's heart You can't just you know twist your kids arm and get them to follow the Lord and they have to be inspired They have to be moved They have to see that it's real that it's genuine that and they have to see the why behind what we're doing That there's there's a reason behind why we're have these standards we there's reasons why we believe what we believe and They can make their own decisions as they grow older But you know, we should be that good example to them and not a stumbling block So really, you know leadership is something, you know, and specifically parenting, you know, which is you know Leadership it needs to be directed from within by the Word of God It's something that has to come from within and then come back go ahead and turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 17 You know you want to lead your house you want to lead your family you want to lead your kids to follow Lord You know, I have to say it starts with you And you know with any any form of leadership someone wants to lead a church They want to you know, any in any form of leadership if you're trying to lead people to follow God You know It only makes sense that it has to be genuine with you that it has to be something that is Real with you look there in Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse 18 And it shall be when it sees and this is talking about the king when they would set up a king in Israel it shall Be when he sit at the pawn the throne of his kingdom Then he shall write him a copy of this law in a book Out of that which is before the priests and the Levites now, how would you like that? You have to sit you want to copy the Bible you got to sit down and write it by yourself You got to sit down a hand and write it, you know that maybe that would do some people some good I don't know me that would probably make us not take the Word of God for granted And we have so many Bibles just laying around, you know We clean up the church it's up there in Phoenix and like we've got boxes of old used Bibles that people just leave behind You know, it's like when you you know, are you missing this thing? It's been sitting here for months, you know Maybe if they had to sit down actually pen those words out by hand They would probably make that a little bit more precious to him. I know a guy he didn't write it by hand But he actually he took he had he was into like fonts and making he was a graphic designer So he designed his own font and he actually copied and pasted the Word of God into his own font and then and bounded in A book he had his own handmade Bible that he printed, you know, and he that book that was precious to him I mean that thing was dog-eared had all the the you know, the the dirt marks and we were always thumbing in it You know, it had that one bend where from where the guy was always holding it. It was a real precious book to him You know, it was the same words that are in every other Bible, you know But his was he was invested in that and I remember the day he lost it He came to me at church. He's like man. I lost my Bible. I was like, oh man my heart broke a little bit for him You know, it's like I don't know what happened. I think I left it on top of the hood I've done that, you know get in the car to go to church and leave the Bible on top Look in the rearview to see you know fluttering off there Pull it over so You know, but the point being, you know, if you had to sit down and actually write up maybe, you know we wouldn't take it for granted and maybe you know, no one in here is hopefully but Hey, if that's a problem, maybe here's a solution sit down write it down, right? but the point being you know We should not take the Word of God for granted if we're gonna be the type of leadership if we're gonna be the example That we need to be the next generation. It's got to be in our heart You know, we got it. We got to love the Lord. We got to love his word He says in verse 19 it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life How are we gonna teach our children the words of God if we're not reading it every day? How are we gonna teach the commandments and the statutes and the judgments, you know All the deep things of God all the important doctrines about if we're not reading it And we need to be reading therein all the days of his life that he may learn to fear The Lord is God to keep all the words of this law and his statutes to do them that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren that he turn out aside from The commandment to the right hand or the or to the left, you know, it's gonna keep you in the way You know, it's gonna keep you walking on the straightener. What's gonna keep you right with God is if you're in the book You know, it says daily, you know reading all the days of my life You don't want to depart to the right. You don't want to part to the left You want to stay, you know, right with God you need to get in the word be reminded of who it is that you're dealing with you know, you know the Lord and reminded what he approves of and what he disapproves of And you know the importance of teaching the next generation. It's not just gonna happen. You know, it's not just gonna happen on its own We're gonna have to be you know, there's gonna be some intent behind it and some sincerity Look there in a Deuteronomy where you were You know, it's gonna take effort it's gonna take sincere effort He says there in verse 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently under their children Diligently, you know, that's that's you know saying hey, this is gonna take work. This is something you're gonna have to do Put some effort behind it. It's not to be something to be diligent about not slack on you know, we get busy as parents It's really easy to do that and just to say well, you know, they're in church three times a week and you know, we're busy with all these other things and You know and we forget to ask him. Have you written have you read your Bible today? Have you gotten to the Word of God? Or, you know taking the time to teach some things out of the Word of God That's something you have to be diligent to do. It's gonna take effort You know, it's gonna take consistency he says there and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and When thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up I mean what part did he miss of your day right there? You know, it's when you when you sit in your house When you're walking by the way when you're not in your house when you're when you're laying down and when you rise up Morning noon and night God saying hey, you're gonna teach them these things. What's that? What's he trying to get across here? You got to be consistent You know, you got to be constantly you have to be you can see why it says diligently teach them these things, right? You got to teach them diligently you have to be consistent You know walking the walk not just talking the talk. I mean nothing I've seen it. Nothing will destroy You know a young person like a hypocrite You know that I've seen guys kids that growing up in good Christian homes. Just go completely off the rails Because you know dad or mom were a hypocrite in Samaria now, does that make it right? No, it doesn't make it, right? But is that the nature of things it is that's what happens, you know So we don't want to be a hypocrite now warning to the children. Okay, your parents are sinners just like you Okay, so, you know, it's a wicked heart that would just sit back and try to pick apart their parents I try to find some you know, excuse To quit on God or to get out of the Christian life. Oh, let's say it's all fake It doesn't matter anyway, because your parent was you know, wasn't perfect in some area, you know We're parents where we're flesh and blood. We're gonna mess up. We're gonna make mistakes, you know, see some of us are first-generation Christians trying to figure this thing out as we go, you know, we didn't have a godly example for us we're trying to do the best we can and Either way whether we had that or not, you know, we're still just flesh and blood so kids, you know They should should take heat to and not just sit back and be the type of person that's just gonna say Well, you know my dad or my mom they were just wrong in this one They had one little thing wrong or they did this wrong or they they offended me in some area or they were they were Hypocrite in this area and now I'm just gonna quit on God The whole thing's fake blah blah blah and they just go off and that's their excuse That's a wicked heart that looks for that kind of thing. Now we as parents again Consistency diligence we shouldn't we should make effort to not let that be the case But can that type of thing happen? Of course it can It's gonna take effort. It's gonna take consistency. It's gonna take keeping God's Word always before you I mean, that's what he's saying here between nine eyes You know, you see it throughout the day like he told the king you shall have it with him Always it will always be with him, you know, we should make an effort to always have the Word of God with us You know and again, we're living in a day where we have a multitude of Bibles They come in all shapes and sizes. You can get the little New Testament slip them in your pocket You could write them on three by five cards Best thing you could probably do is memorize it and put it in your heart like we read earlier Hide it in your heart and you'll always have the Word of God with you between nine eyes Always meditating always thinking about the Word of God throughout the day You have to you're gonna you know Why are you doing that so that you can help teach these things to the next generation to be that godly example? You know upon he says you shall write it upon the post of thy house and on thy gates, you know It's gonna be hard to leave your house and not see it if it's on the post You know we in and you know, if you try this by the way, here's a recommendation change the verse every so often You know, we put one up on our door and it's been there so long It's just like part of scenery, you know, you know after a while you forget it's even there, you know It's good to kind of switch it out Just maybe put a verse on your door that you look at When you go reach for that that doorknob to walk let yourself out you see a Bible verse So when you're walking out of your house, you're walking out of the gates of your house You know, you're thinking on the Word of God on your way down the driveway on thy gates You know when you're coming and going you're gonna be seeing the Word of God You come back home, you know, you're you're gonna be thinking about the Word of God. It's always going to be before you That's the important thing. So what's he saying here? Look if you're gonna teach the next generation these things It's not gonna happen on its own. You're gonna have to be diligent. You're gonna have to be consistent You're gonna have to have the Word of God dwelling in your heart He's telling you this is how you're gonna get the Word of God in your heart by having it before your eyes on the gates Of thy house and the post of thy house. It's it's just gonna be a part of your life It's it's it's the fabric of your being you know, you are just a you know interwoven with the Word of God And look there in verse 10 He says and it shall be when the Lord thy God shall brought thee into the land which you swear to thy followers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob to Give thee goodly cities which thou buildest not and house is full of all good things Which thou fillest not and wells dig which thou diggest not Vineyards and olive trees which thou plantest not when thou shall have eaten and be eaten and be full Then beware lest thou forget the Lord God of the Lord which brought thee forth out of land of Egypt From the house of bondage. So remember they're going into a land that's already inhabited and it's not just a it's not a you know Scorched earth policy. It's not slash-and-burn It's it's remove the people and then we're gonna dwell in their houses. We're gonna we're gonna eat of their vineyards God's giving them all these things, you know, they're they're gonna be sitting in somebody else's furniture You know, it's it's like it makes me think of you know, Goldilocks except, you know, the three bears aren't coming home You know, they get to try all the porridge They're gonna get to sleep in all the beds and sleep in whatever chair suits them best It's there there, you know, they're gonna get all these things and God's warning and saying look I'm giving you all these great things and here's the danger you're gonna take them for granted and you know, this is really and this is something Bible talks a lot about is the danger of Prosperity and it keeps on there and turn over to Proverbs chapter 1 Proverbs chapter 1 When you get the Proverbs keep something there because we're gonna look a lot of verses Because this is a this is a strong warning and you know We that live in a prosperous country would do well to take heed to this I mean, I know that we didn't end up here because God, you know brought us into this land and we we chased out the heathen You know, it's there was probably some Providence and our forefathers coming here and things like that So it's not that kind of a case but the fact is, you know, we in this generation, you know We have what we have today because of the generations that went before us because of our forefathers because of the generations that you know Carved out this country and gave us, you know Our freedoms and our liberties and it's really easy for us in this generation to sit back and take that for granted Because we have a lot of prosperity You know and I could I mean do we really have to be convinced of our prosperity night? I mean, do we really think we have it that bad here? I mean everyone in here has probably got a computer in their pocket, you know what I mean? It's it's crazy the country that we're living the things that we just take it for granted You know, we get in our air-conditioned cars and we drive down here with a Bluetooth on listening to some story and you know And then we go and we on the way we just stop and get delicious food. I mean chick-fil-a Hello, that's that's that we're in prosperity my friend Vanilla milkshakes just and whenever we want it, you know eg's is down the corner We just we're there's food everywhere entertainment everywhere Just we're spottos. Amen to that, you know Sonoran delights only if you live in Tucson though, right? You can't get it. You can't get a raspado anywhere else besides this place. I've tried it man I've been LA tried to get one. It doesn't work right? Not all raspados are created equal You know, but hey, let's not take that's not take Sonoran delights for granted You know, let's not get fat and sassy and think that you know, we can just do whatever we want now Because here we are in the in the land that flow with raspados and eg's You know, we got it. We got a guard our hearts seriously though, you know what I'm saying? And that's what God's warning here the danger of prosperity living in a country where everything's just at your fingertips Especially in this generation where it's just everywhere. We are so at ease in this country and You know, I and I and and I was just thinking about last night I was I was out soloing in a very well-to-do neighborhood, you know Someone's back in their their boat into their two-car garage and every you know And that's great. I'm not against people having nice things But I tell you what it affects people's hearts and it makes them harden towards the things of God They get comfortable. They think oh we don't need God, you know This country could stand a good economic recession to shake some people out of their safe little worlds and remind them that you know It's God that giveth the power to get wealth You know that everything they have is given from God instead of just you know Denying the Lord not wanting to hear the Bible hating on those that would preach it You know because because why because they have everything they need and they know not that they are rich Naked and miserable and wretched and poor and blind, you know, spiritually speaking So you're there in Proverbs look at verse chapter 1 verse 32 Proverbs chapter 1 verse 32. He says For the turning the way of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them So it's prosperity and it's in and of itself an evil thing. No, I mean that God gave him all these good things He said look, I'm gonna give you all these things but don't forget me He says you can have all these nice things just don't forget who it is that gave them to you And who is and who is it that gets destroyed the what is it that destroys these people? They're prosperous. Yes. Is that what destroys it? No, it's because they're fools and what is the fool the fool? I said in his heart there is no God It's the fool that says hey, you know, I buy my own power have I gotten all this wealth, you know We don't need God that's gonna destroy you that's gonna bring you into judgment and We should you know, be careful about prosperity the danger of it, you know, we should be grateful for wealth We should be grateful for the fact that we live in a country where you know, we have more than heart could wish You know, we should we you know We probably do well to go visit some third-world country where people are literally sleeping on dirt floors You know where people are living in actual squalor where indoor plumbing is you know You know you say all the Wi-Fi went out, you know There's some people they can't even they have to walk miles to get water. There's you know, the a lot of the world lives like that So, you know again not against prosperity I'm not teaching us that you know, we should just try to go and You know all live like, you know some austere life But just understand that God is the source of it and that's what he's saying here Look, you're gonna come into all this land. You're gonna have houses. You're gonna have all of yards. You're gonna vineyards You're gonna have more than you need and he's saying beware. Let's thou forget the Lord. That's the warning here Look there Proverbs chapter 30 verse 7, you know, this should be our prayer in life Proverbs chapter 30 verse 7 two things. I have I required of thee deny me them not before I die Remove far from me vanity and lies giver me neither poverty nor riches You know, that's a good prayer to pray right there. You know, I don't want to be poor, but I don't want to have riches either He goes on and says Feed me with food convenient for me, you know food that's appropriate food that you know, it is what I need It's convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee And see that's the danger prosperity, you know get you just get all You know fat and sassy and get your toothpick out and who's the Lord anyway? You know That's what happens to people and nations Lest I be full and deny they'd say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God In vain look, we don't want to have to live in poverty either where we're going around, you know committing sin Having to start, you know breaking into cars and stealing and selling things and just to try and survive We're just saying look we just we just want to we just want what we need to survive You know and to and to raise a family, you know, how much more do we really need and you know, if you let the Lord You know if you acknowledge him, you know, he's gonna give you contentment in life. That's what's gonna make you content You know, everyone's always there. Everybody's chasing after this, you know, the next greatest thing They all want the biggest and the best and the most of everything they can get their hands on It's usually it's because they know that's people that don't even know God They don't they don't they don't care about the things of God But when we start to care about the things of God understand what really matters in this life, you know serving God winning souls Raising godly family, you know, then all these material things start to kind of you know, they vanish away You know when I set our affections upon things above or neither rust no moth doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal You know then what you know, our treasures aren't upon this earth They're in heaven, you know true riches when we start to desire those things You know that then we're gonna be satisfied with what God gives us here on earth Well say hey, you know what? I've got enough And it could oh, here's the thing if you ever find yourself becoming discontent Just remember it could always be way worse than it is in this country. Oh, I'm so poor You know this suit coats ten years old and it is just kidding, it's 11, but You know, but hey, it's still it still fits but you know It's a little shabby or in some areas, you know, but hey, I Didn't hear it. I didn't get any dirty looks, you know, at least not for the the coat's sake, you know I could say oh, where's my three-piece, you know, where's my new suit, you know, whatever it might be Oh my cars at 13 years old, you know, it doesn't have a it doesn't have USB charger in it You know, there's no GPS display You know, everybody else has got a GPS display in their car Whoo Well, does it run does it go down the road? Does it get where you need to go? Well, praise God You know keeps you safe get you there. So, you know, we shouldn't sit around and just and you know if we let God be You know our true riches be in Christ, you know, then we're not going to desire all these other things We're gonna be satisfied if we don't forget the Lord, you know and get caught up in just seeking more than we need You know we shouldn't and if you would Again keep something in Proverbs, but turn over to Psalm 73. I want to go there Just be I know sake of time. We're kind of going along but 70 Psalm 73 is just one of these great Psalms I remember reading this early on in my Christian life This was just you know, something that's spoken to me over the years and it's just a great Psalm here I want to read this with a together He says there in Psalm 73 verse 1 truly a God is good to Israel even as such or as of a clean heart But as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had well nice slip Why verse 3 for I was envious at the foolish and again who were the foolish? Those that say there is no God The fool said it's hard. There is no God. He's envying these people that deny God the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked You know, you start just lusting after the things of this world. That's gonna vex your righteous spirit. That's gonna vex you as a Christian Especially if you sit start to set back and start comparing yourself with the wicked Because let's face it the wicked have more than heart could wish don't they? It says verse 4 for there is no bands in their death, but their strength is firm They are not in trouble as other men neither. They plagued like other men Therefore pride compassed them about as a chain violence covered them as a garment their eyes stand out with fatness They have more than heart could wish I mean, it'd be really easy to sit back and just start to envy these people They just have all the world's luxuries. They've got all the money. They got all the bling. They got all the great toys You know, they're they're in need of nothing. They have more than heart could wish What does it say in verse 8 they are corrupt they speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth Therefore his people return hither and waters of a full cup are rung out to him and they say how doth God know and there? Is not where and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches You know who's real prosperous today, you know, who's increasing your riches today wicked people that are doing the devil's bidding, you know, go look at the wealthiest people go look at the richest men and Ask him about if they believe the Bible ask them what they think about the commandments and the judgments and the statutes of God You know, I'm sure you might find one and you know, I'm not saying they're all I'm sure you can Probably find one out there. Maybe that that you know loves the Lord and and you know uses his wealth To further keep the King of God. I know that's out there but by and large for honest You know people that are just all about money and making riches. They're wicked people because it corrupts people and money corrupts people power corrupts people and Prosperity if we're not careful, we don't guard against it. We don't forget that it comes from God. It'll even corrupt us I mean, why is God warning his own people about this if that wasn't a possibility of being corrupted by prosperity? Why does God have to even warn Israel about it? Say, oh, hey, you're gonna come into all these nice houses and all these nice vineyards and everything like that And don't worry about it. I know you won't forget me It's I know you guys are gonna stay right with me all the way through and nothing. No, I don't have to talk to you About it. No God says look you're gonna inherit all these things things you didn't even have to hardly do any work for and You know the dangerous beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God That's the warning here. And really what we see if you would turn back to Proverbs chapter 16 Is that you know, if God lets us go a little lean in life, that's okay If we don't have the best of everything and everything everybody else has So what? you know if we have the Lord, you know, we have all that we'll ever need and They're really there is a kind of a virtue and a lack of abundance I'm not saying if you know we have to You know give up all our nice things and walk around a burlap the rest of our lives But you know, there is a virtue and and not having all these nice things You know, he's you know a virtue and having a less, you know It teaches us to appreciate what we do have. I mean the Bible says that I'll read to you from Proverbs 15 It says better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble wherewith Isn't that the truth? Anything about these people that that who win the lottery they get great treasure You know what comes with that a lot of trouble a lot of people just start coming out of the woodwork Just saying oh I heard you won the lottery People get taken they get held for ransom people get killed I mean that's like one of the worst things that could happen in life winning the lottery Like oh, I just a million, you know, that's all I need Just to take the edge off You know, that's all I want You know, well, you know, you'd be surprised what a million dollars could do to somebody He says better is a dinner of herbs where love is Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. It'd be better to sit around and eat your kale and spinach You know with someone that you love and someone that you know, isn't gonna do you dirty Then to sit around and eat the t-bone and the the sirloin and and you know The filet mignon and the pork roast and All that good stuff right then with somebody that you know Yeah, they're gonna be cutting their steak one minute and then stabbing you in the back the next Look at their Proverbs 16, I mean better is a little there's a great there's a great sermon title right there I mean better is a little with the fear of the Lord better is a little with righteousness Than great revenues without right verse 16 how much better it is to get wisdom than gold and to get understanding Rather to and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver verse 19 better It is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud That's saying look it's better to have less Less is more with God kind of like we preach Sunday night less is more You know, it's better to have little and have the Lord little and have you know Those that love the Lord in your life than having this abundance this prosperity Proverbs 19 says the desire of a man is his kindness and a poor man is better than a liar you know what I we might only drive one car and we might only we might live in a two-bedroom apartment and You know this jacket might be 11 years old, you know I might not be some fat cat senator getting driven around a limousine, but I'm not a liar You know, at least I still have a good name At least I'm not corrupt, you know and speak lawfully of oppression Better is a better as a poor man than a liar the fear of the Lord tend to the life and he that half it shall abide Satisfied you want to be satisfied in life learn to fear the Lord Learn to fear God and be thankful for what you have and we're coming up on the Thanksgiving season, right? So here's we're getting a little you know The primer for the Thanksgiving sermon be thankful for what you have fear God and you'll be satisfied You shall not be visited with evil The Bible says in 1st Timothy 6 godliness with contentment is great gain For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out You know these guys that are just heaping up treasures themselves. It's all staying And they're gonna get to the other side. They're gonna die and wake up and have nothing, you know And if they're not saved they're gonna end up in hell you know or what about the saved guy who just made his life all about money all about chasing riches and Then he dies he carries nothing out and he gets to heaven and it's like that illustration I had the other night. He gets to heaven all his works are burned up. All he's got is a pile of ash He's got nothing for eternity. No riches. Yeah, he's saved But is that really is that really all you want out of life to just be saved? I got my fire escape You know, I'm good to go got my ticket punched Or do you want to get to heaven to have something waiting there for you? I mean, I want something waiting. I want to see what that mansion is gonna look like Literal mansion I go to prepare a place for you and my father's house There are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I Mean it's a literal mansion up there. I mean it gives us the dimensions in the New Jerusalem It's huge. It's filled with mansions. That's where I'm gonna live You know, I want I want to get that mansion up there. I'd rather have the mansion up there Then you know the mansion down here because I've been in some mansions down here and they're weak They're lame there was no Jasper there was no pearl there was no gold there were no precious stones It was just all the same stuff. Every other house is built out of Stucco, you know wood drywall. It's just bigger and painted different. There's just more of it You know He can keep that mansion, you know, I don't care if it's backed up to some fairway or something like that You know I'll take the one in heaven That's the great gain in life So those living in a prosperous society, you know, we would do well to consider this chapter, you know We have a lot of abundance today we have a lot of ability to get wealth and there's nothing wrong with getting wealth if you do about the right way and For the right reasons, you know if God prospers you and you do well in life and in and you're able to have you know Some wealth great. Just don't forget the Lord in the process and the danger is that's what happens So maybe if God keeps us lean if God maybe doesn't allow that to happen our lives instead of getting bitter and angry about it And being the wicked we should actually thank God and say hey, at least he's keeping me on the right path Let me see he's keeping me from turning into a terrible person Because you know what despite the stern warning here in Deuteronomy and And elsewhere, you know, God is warning this over and over again. That's exactly what happens to children of Israel, isn't it? It's not long and they get in that land that flows with milk and honey They get all those vineyards to get all those things that they didn't dig or build There were somebody else's that they just walked into and it's not long before they're worshipping heathen gods They forget the Lord God and God has to start chasing them and reminding them who it is Go back to Deuteronomy there. Well, we'll pick it up back in verse 13 Deuteronomy verse 13 here it says Excuse me Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his name He shall not go after other gods for the for the god of the gods of the people which are round about you For the Lord thy God is a jealous God and we talked about this earlier In other chapters where God talks about the fact that God is jealous, you know, jealousy is not a bad thing And God he says the Lord God he says my name is jealous. You know, that's got one of God's names. He's a jealous God And he goes on lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee and destroy thee God's not mad at you. You know, that's a false in this false this stupid philosophy that God's never angry Well that God would never get upset with anybody Well, the guy would never even get upset with a child of his, you know believer in Christ That's exactly what happens the angler of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee You know you go cheat you go wandering after these other gods you get caught up in this this false way You'd say well that's you know, they're the ones that are promoting the false God will get angry with them No, he gets angry with with you. He gets angry with Israel for doing it. I Mean God is angry with the wicked every day we know that but God will get mad at even at its own people if they if they they cast them off if they forget him and Destroy thee from off the face of the earth, you know, God hasn't changed. God is still the same today You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him in Massa You shall you shall diligently and it will always be Massa from now on by then I don't care how anybody else says it after the Massa conference BAM Massa, right? I know it's spelled a little differently, but it all comes out the same Massa Make America straight again He shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his testimonies and his statutes which he hath commanded Again Diligently keep them like this is something you have to make a point of in your life You know just showing up to church three times a week or one time a week, whatever it is. That's great I'm all for that that's gonna help but you know, this is something that you have to do on the daily When thou risest up when thou liest and when thou liest down well now, you know When you go out of your house when you walk by the way When you come in when you go out, this is a daily thing that you have to do That's why you have to do it diligently to keep his commandments In verse 18 and thou shalt do that which is right and goodness sight Lord that God that it may be well with thee Oh all the do's and don'ts Well, it's for your own sake the rules are there for our benefit That thou mayest go in and possess the good lamb which the Lord swear unto thy fathers So really when you read this here in verse 18, that's a win-win scenario That's a win-win scenario friend thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord I mean, isn't it doesn't it just feel good to do right doesn't it? Just feel good to do that which is good and right then I have to live your life doing this Just always looking over your shoulder Wondering if you're gonna get caught Wonder if it's gonna catch up with you down the road You know or if you're gonna have to pay the piper someday for you know what I mean? It's something's gonna catch up on you You're not gonna you know not losing sleep at night over something you did You know, that's it feels good to just do that which is right in the sight of Lord thy God To have a clear conscience and to be right with God that's a win Mark that day up as a win And the sight of the Lord and then it goes on and it's a win-win because he says if you do that That it may be well with thee. God will bless you for doing the right thing You know doing the right thing is its own reward, but then God just you know, he adds blessing on top of it He looks down says hey, this guy's doing right? He's trying to live right? He's got integrity He's trying to be a blessing. He's keeping the commandments the judgments and statutes he's following the Lord thy God with all his heart and He's you know that in and of itself, you know, it's for your own benefit It's gonna help you and then God looks down and blesses it too. It's a win-win The Bible says in 1st John 5 for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. Oh Loving God is so hard. You got to keep his commandments and goes on and says and his commandments are not grievous His commandments are not grievous You know his commandments make life good They make life easier not harder I mean, I know sometimes we have to take stands and we have to suffer persecution and things like that for the Word of God But by and large just you know living by God's commandments and keeping his commandments. They just make life better in and of themselves You know We're not gonna have the problems the world has that's what just dumb founds me sometimes about people who? We just don't get it They just mock the things of God then you look at their life and they're just have all I'm not saying the Christian life is perfect But we don't have a lot of the problems the world has We don't have a lot of the problems. They have if we're doing right if we're living by the Word of God We don't have problems with All the problems they have I mean we could go down the list The drugs the alcohol the crime the violence. It just it goes on and on And you know and again we could and I want to spend a lot of time on it But this is just a quick point. His commandments are not grievous Because they actually bless us You know God's not out there just trying to rob you from a good time You know saying oh, you can't do this. You can't do that like God's just you know trying to make sure you know You just don't have any fun Right. Is that what God's about? No God's trying to keep you out of a bad time out of a bad one Because what a world calls a good time Often adds ends very badly. There's a lot of repercussions that come with that. You know, you start out at the party You know, whoo, the bottles are getting passed around everyone's having a good time You know, God says you should even look at that stuff the alcohol You know, everyone's getting drunk. It's a good time. It's a good time until somebody gets behind the wheel and Then crashes into a tree And you know, I had friend growing up in high school And I went to his funeral when I was 18 and 19 years old and he was at a party having a good time Quote-unquote and he got into a car and smashed into a tree or telephone pole I can't remember which was and his car ignited and was a closed casket Now do you think that's what they thought? Oh, that's that's a good time You think that's what they were planning on happening? But do we have that problem if we keep the commandments of Lord God we say hey I'm not even gonna look at it. Let alone put a bottle to my lips. I'm gonna look at it You know what? You just brought your chances of getting drunk behind a wheel to zero By obeying the commandments and it's not God just trying to rob you have a good time It's God trying to keep you safe It's God trying to keep you from being you know, some preachers illustration years away from down the road I remember this one guy, you know So, you know don't his commandments are not grievous God's not just trying to rob you a good time He's trying to keep you out of a bad situation We'll go on here verse 19 He says to cast out all thine enemies from before thee as the Lord hath spoken and when thy son asketh thee in time To come saying what mean the testimonies and the statutes and this judgments with the Lord's I got a command again Bringing up the next generation. That's what this chapter is about teaching the next generation He says verse 21 then thou shalt say unto thy son We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt and the Lord brought us out of Egypt With a mighty hand and the Lord showed signs and wonders great and sore upon Egypt upon Pharaoh and upon all his household before our eyes And he brought us out from thence that he may bring us in to give us the land which he swore into our fathers and the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes to fear the Lord our God and our good for our good always that he might preserve us alive as it is this day and it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us So really when you look at this this last passage, I just want to point out a few things here Is that you know, this is there are some elements in here of being a good witness or being a good testimony, right? That's what he's saying here He says look I want you to be a testimony to the next generation I want you to be a good witness to them to tell them of the things that I've done for you so that they don't Forget who I am now. What are some of these elements here look there in verse 21? He says then thou shalt say unto the son. We were Pharaoh's bondmen You know, it's it's good to always remember that God of God's deliverance, you know Don't ever forget the fact that if you're saved what God saved you out of you know, hell, you know The wages of sin is death You know that right there is something to rejoice about and to be to remind the next generation Look hell is real. You need to be delivered from sin So not only does God deliver them, you know the God's deliverance But look at verse 23 says and he brought us out from thence then he may bring us in Why did God deliver them just so they could wander around in the in the land? No, God wanted to immediately bring them into the promised land. God wanted to bless them So that's the other part of it look, you know, God God delivered us God saved us from our sins and now he's blessing us, you know When we keep God's commandments and we do these things and God's blessings. This is all a good testimony You know, our the next generation should be able to look at our lives and see that and say hey There's a people that got saved and God's blessing them. It should be evident. These are the elements that are there and You know another element that we can't forget about is obedience Look at verse 24 and the Lord commanded us to do these statutes to fear the Lord You know, we want to me that good testimony. We want to be a good make a good impression on the next generation It's gonna require obedience the Word of God so Here's the thing, you know this this This chapter should remind us that God cares not only for this generation, but the one that's gonna follow God has his eye not only on on this generation, but the next one that's coming up behind it He cares for both. I mean it's throughout this chapter it bookends it, right? he says in verse 7 thou shalt teach them unto thy children and in verse 20 and When thy son ask at thee in the time to come look he's bringing this up over and over again the importance of teaching the next Generation and it's up to us this current generation that's at the helm To teach the things which we have been commanded and not just teach them but live them do them not just talk them but actually walk in it and do these things and you know the It's just let me just close by saying that the best way is to live a consistent life That gives glory to God for his blessings You want to you want to make an impression on the next generation and help them? To walk in the ways of the Lord and to keep his statutes. They don't just fade away live a consistent life Don't be a hypocrite and give God the glory for the blessings that he gives you. Let's go ahead pray