“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might,” by Louis A. Dole

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“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” – Deuteronomy 6:5

Readings

Deuteronomy 4:1-13, 39-40 · Revelation 11 · Psalm 27

Sermon

All religion is based on three essential principles: the acknowledgment of God as the object of worship, the sense of obligation to Him as evinced by a life according to His precepts, and the acceptance of a Divine revelation which makes known who and what God is and what His precepts are. These three principles are of necessity involved in every religious system. Religion cannot exist, even in name, if any of them is wanting. Each or all of them may be perverted by false doctrine and an evil life, but they must exist either in their true or in a perverted form. The savage worshiping his idol feels bound to certain duties and observances imposed upon him by oral or other tradition, which he accepts as the authoritative teaching of his deity. Even in this crude system the three essentials are to be found.

A true religion consists in the acknowledgment of the true God, a life of genuine goodness, and belief in an authentic revelation. As we look back over the history of mankind, we find that – distinct from the multitudes who worshiped idols, a court of mythical divinities, or the forces of nature – there have in every age been at least a few who worshiped one God, a God who, though invisible to bodily sight, had given them a specific revelation. In historic times, amid the spiritual darkness of the world, the Old Testament was given, which directed the thoughts of Israel to one Divine Being, the Creator and Preserver of the universe. After the coming of the Lord, the Christian Church was formed, also accepting the Hebrew Scriptures and proclaiming the worship of the same God. The Christian Gospels supplemented and confirmed the Law and the Prophets; the Old Testament was read in the light of a new interpretation, but not a word was erased. Belief in the one God, the duty of obedience to Him, and the recognition of the Bible as the express declaration of His will and law were still the three essentials of the church.

“Make thee two trumpets of silver… that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps,” by Louis A. Dole

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“Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.” – Numbers 10:2

Readings

Numbers 10:1-13 · Revelation 4 · Psalms 98, 99, 100

Sermon

This is one of many laws given through Moses at Sinai which were abrogated as to their literal observance when the Lord came into the world. But being a part of the Word they have a meaning for today and for all future ages.

When the commandments were given at Sinai, there was the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, signifying that a revelation from the Lord was being given.

Our text speaks of two trumpets made of silver. If both were blown at the same time the people were to assemble before the tabernacle. If but one trumpet was blown, the princes and heads of Israel were to assemble. When an alarm was sounded, the camps on the east were to take up their journey, and at the second sounding the camps on the south. Before going to war they were to blow an alarm on the trumpets, and also on the days of their rejoicings, on their solemn days, and in the beginning of their months.