Drastic Measures
Deuteronomy 13
Pastor Mark
October 10, 2021

Dr. John Piper commented, “I believe one of the reasons why there is such thin Christian discipleship of Jesus today is because we have ripped the vision of Him in the Old Testament out of the Bible. We think the OT is just too ‘tough’. We need some fiber today in our love for Christ. The whole OT vibrates with a kind of strength and depth and weight and solidity without which you cannot know how to follow Jesus…Let yourself be shaped by these massive categories in the OT… Then when Jesus shows up saying things that knock your socks off, you say, ‘That’s my king. I recognize that… What a God, this Jesus!’”

God requires and deserves total commitment (Ex. 20:3-4, Dt. 6:4-5). Living in covenant with this God requires utter obedience (Dt. 12:32). Jesus Himself spoke of drastic measures in dealing with our sin (Mt. 5:29-30). In Israel, under the Old Covenant, sins of idolatry called for capital punishment. From those drastic measures, we learn to do whatever it takes to deal with our own wayward hearts in our commitment to Christ.


I. TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES AGAINST

TEACHERS (Dt. 13:1-5).

A. Be

(1-2).
B. Take Action (3-5).

  1. Reject false teaching (3a).
  2. Reaffirm your allegiance (3b-4).
  3. Remove the teacher (5).

II. TAKE

MEASURES WITH THOSE CLOSE TO YOU (Dt. 13:6-11).

A. Keep your guard up (6-7).
B. Take

(8-11).

  1. Avoid sinful influence (8)
  2. Capital Punishment (9-11)

C. Jesus’ Teaching (Luke 14:26)

III. TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES IN THE COVENANT COMMUNITY (Dt. 13:12-18).

A. Be Aware (12-13)

  1. The Responsibility for (12)
  2. The Danger of Evil Influences (13)

B. Take Action (14-17a)

  1. Investigation (14)
  2. Complete Destruction (15-16)

C. Receive God’s Blessings (17b-18)

IMPLICATIONS/APPLICATIONS

  1. The Church is not Israel. We are not living in the theocracy that they were.
  2. Deal strongly with sin in our lives.
  3. Care enough to lovingly confront .
  4. Loving God means hating .
  5. As sinners, we are more broken than we know, but more than we can imagine.

TO DISCUSS WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS:

  1. Why is the Old Testament important to our understanding of Jesus?
  2. Read Matthew 10:28. Why is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom?

FOR NEXT TIME—Read Deuteronomy 14-15, Everyday Holiness