Subject – WHEN IT COMES TO WORSHIPPING THE LORD!
Text – Deuteronomy 12:4-6 (read vv. 1-12)
“These Are The Decrees And Laws You Must Be Careful To Follow In The Land That The Lord, The God Of Your Ancestors, Has Given You To Possess—As Long As You Live In The Land. 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
4 YOU MUST NOT WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD IN THEIR WAY. 5 BUT YOU ARE TO SEEK THE PLACE THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL CHOOSE FROM AMONG ALL YOUR TRIBES TO PUT HIS NAME THERE FOR HIS DWELLING. TO THAT PLACE YOU MUST GO; 6 THERE BRING YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES, YOUR TITHES AND SPECIAL GIFTS, WHAT YOU HAVE VOWED TO GIVE AND YOUR FREEWILL OFFERINGS, AND THE FIRSTBORN OF YOUR HERDS AND FLOCKS.
7 There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you. 8 You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, 9 since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 11 Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord. 12 And there rejoice before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance of their own.” Deuteronomy 12:1-12 (NIV)
INTRODUCTION –
So many Believers are saying that the Lord has not given them a land to dwell in today, so when they see scriptures instructing Believers on how they are conduct themselves in the land that the Lord has given them, those Believers who do not own any land can disregard those verses; how sure are you about that?
How many Believers have prayed to the Lord for a place to stay? How many Believers have prayed for a place to call their own? How many Believers have been blessed with a house, an apartment, or maybe some other type of dwelling place? And then how many Believers then turned around and moved or sold it without first consulted the Lord before making that decision?
Do you not realize that you just moved from the place you prayed to the Lord about, He answered your prayer, and then you turned around and left from the place He blessed you with without His blessing? (Expound). The LORD is still blessing us with land; it may not be the acres of land that we want or expect, but if the Lord has blessed us with a house, room, apartment, etc. We are to consider it as the place the Lord has blessed us with, and we should not be anxious to move from their without the Lord’s blessing; because only then can we be assured that the Lord will bless our next dwelling (expound).
When a Believer on the Lord Jesus Christ moves to dwelling place, one of the first things he or she should do is locate a place to worship (expound). This is vital to a Believer; especially if they have moved a distance from where they originally dwelled and they need to change their place of worship (expound).
I know that none of what I am saying is important to a lot of people. But to the Believer who is serious about how they worship the Lord, this is very important. In the passage of scripture we are looking at today, there are no less than ten (10) instructions that Believers should take heed to “WHEN IT COMES TO WORSHIPPING THE LORD!”
POINTS –
- Verse One – How broad are the parameters for this command?
- Verse Two – Could this not pertain to those of us who acquire property that has remnants of ungodly paraphernalia left by those who dwelt there before you? (Expound).
- Verse Three – God is letting us know to what extreme He wants us to go to eradicate all remnants of anything the former residents left that is ungodly (expound).
- Verse Four – Believers are instructed not to worship the LORRD in the way they worshipped their gods. This is a very sticky area today and has been for years because when it comes to worshipping God, some people believe that is up to the individual (expound).
- Verse Five – This is where a number of Believers make a mistake. Too often we find families where members are splitting up and attending different places of worship. When there are young children involved, this should not be (refer to verse seven and expound).
- Verse Six – We see the importance of the place Believers choose to worship (expound).
- Verse Seven – We see the importance of having God involved in all of our family undertakings (expound).
CONCLUSION –
My sisters and my brothers, in this eighth verse I am going to conclude with this final thought:
“You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, 9 since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.”
Is this not a warning that believers should take heed to today?