[0:00] If you've got your Bibles, we're going to turn to Deuteronomy chapter 31. Deuteronomy chapter 31. And this Thursday, if you missed it, it was an excellent message by Pastor Gardner.
[0:10] And he was talking about leaders training on and training on the next generation and how in this story in Deuteronomy chapter 31, Moses was passing on the baton to Joshua. And in this part, this sermon, we're going to be going from Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 19 clear down to the end of Deuteronomy chapter 32.
[0:27] We're going to learn a stern warning that God gives Israel. And he tells Moses. You see, sometimes in our lives, we're prone or we have this fault in our life that we seem like that we forget God.
[0:43] I know in my own personal life, I could go through a day, a couple days, and I look back and I'm like, I don't think I really even thought of God. I don't really think I even much thought about him.
[0:54] And those days sometimes even happen for weeks. I mean, I'm ashamed to say it, but sometimes I go by weeks and I'm like, did I even think about him? Did I forget him? I know I go through and I do the motions, you know what I mean?
[1:07] I pray for my meal when I'm supposed to, and I come to the church, and I work in the church, and I teach in the training center. But sometimes you just totally forget God. And in Deuteronomy chapter 31, Moses and God's going to teach the children of Israel, he's going to teach them not to forget their God.
[1:24] Not to forget their God. Because God knew something. God knew something about his people. He knew his people were prone to forget him. You see, in Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 20, the Bible says this.
[1:35] In Deuteronomy 31 verse 20, he says this. For when I should have brought them into the land, which I swear unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves in wax and fat.
[1:47] Oh, I like that. They're fat too. Then, then will they turn unto other gods and serve them. And the Bible says, and provoke me and break my covenant.
[1:59] You realize all it takes is for them to live the good life, and all of a sudden it seems like they forget God. They start living the good life, and they seem to forget God.
[2:11] See, once they, what God was saying, as soon as they come across and say, Jordan, the land that I promised them, as soon as they have their houses, their vineyards, their, their, their, their, their, their stuff that they need, that I promised to them, and they're no longer wandering in the wilderness, and they no longer need a cloud by day and fire by night to lead them, no longer they need manna from heaven, but they all have everything taken care of.
[2:29] Whenever they're wax and fat, and they got everything they got going for them, they'll forget me. And that's true in my life. I'm pretty sure if you'll be honest today, that's true in your life too.
[2:41] There was a time when we really did hunger, and we, we sought after God, but it seems like when everything goes right, or you just get in that rut, you know what I'm saying? Maybe everything's not right, but everything just seems like you're, you're on cruise control.
[2:53] When we forget God, once, we are no longer hungry, we forget to seek God. We getting fat on his blessings, forget that he made us fat.
[3:04] And that's what God's telling the Israelites. He's saying, don't forget me. Once they forget God, you know what happens after that? They totally corrupt themselves. In Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 29, he says this, for I know, this is Moses speaking, that after my death, you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I've commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days.
[3:29] Because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through your works of your hands. You see, Moses knew as soon as he died that they would turn away from God.
[3:41] He knew that them forgetting what God had done in their life and them forgetting who God was, that they would cease to be children of God. They'd become corrupt. And that they wouldn't just know the goodness of God, but now they would know the judgment of God.
[3:55] And they would see evil, and they would see what could happen in their lives if they just forgot who God was. God's people just didn't forget. They even rebelled. In Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 27, Moses says, for I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck.
[4:13] I know that you guys have been rebellious people and hard-headed and stiff-necked. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death?
[4:23] We can't forget God. We can't forget God. It's in the times of plenty. It's the times when we have everything going right, that we cease to forget God, we cease to ask Him for things.
[4:40] And this was true in the children of Israel's life. And Moses was standing up there, and he was talking to the congregation, and God was talking to Moses, and he says, as soon as you die, Moses, as soon as they go in there, and as soon as they get everything they need, when everything's going well, then they're going to forget me.
[4:53] We're prone to forget. Don't you realize that? We have it almost like inside of us. We forget what God does. They quit acting like the children of God.
[5:05] In Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 5, the Bible says this, they have corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of His children, but this, this is what they are.
[5:16] They are a perverse and a crooked generation. They are a perverse and crooked generation. What happened, children of Israel? After all God did for them, they forgot Him.
[5:30] After all God did for them, they forgot Him. Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 15, this is what God says. This is the song that they make. But Jeshurun was whack fat and kicked.
[5:42] Thou art waxing fat. Thou art grown thick. He doesn't like fat people. Thou art covered with fatness. He's just telling them, you guys are fat, you've grown thick, and you're covered with fatness. Then what happened? Then he forsook God, which made Him.
[5:58] And he lightly esteemed the rock of His salvation. Israel is just going to walk away. They don't think God's important anymore. They don't need Him.
[6:09] They don't need Him. They have everything at their hands. They have all this good, all the wealth of the land, and they totally forget God. They totally forget God, and they walk away.
[6:22] Look what he says in verse 15. He says, they forsook the God which made them, and they esteemed the rock of His, they lightly esteemed the rock of His salvation. And they left God.
[6:34] They forgot Him. And we're prone to that if we don't understand that. So Moses was commanded to write a song. He was commanded to teach them a song. That they would learn and sing.
[6:46] This song would remind them of their sin and bring back to them and bring them back to God. You see, in Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 19, God knows His children and He foresees what's going to happen and He tries to help put some things in there to help us bring us back.
[6:59] In verse 19, He says this, Now therefore, Moses, I want you to do something. Write ye this song for you. And I want you to teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths.
[7:11] Why? Why do you want it in their mouths? That this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. When the children of Israel has forsaken me and they've provoked me and they've done their evil ways, I want them to come back here and I want them to remember this song because they're prone to forget who I am.
[7:29] Tonight, there's one point that needs to be learned. One point that needs to be made is this, don't forget your God. Don't forget your God. This song will be a constant reminder of God's truth.
[7:44] When things fall apart, this song would cry out for them to get it right. In Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 21, this verse says this, he says, And it shall come to pass when many evils, many evils and troubles are befalling them.
[7:59] Israel, when you get in a whole bunch of trouble and a whole bunch of evil comes on you, that this song, it's this song, it's going to testify against you. It's going to show you you're wrong and it will be as a witness for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seeds.
[8:16] For I know their imaginations which they go about even now before I have brought them into the land which I swore. God knew his people were prone to forget so he got them a song.
[8:28] He got them a song so they wouldn't forget what God has done. A song that would be a testimony, a witness against them to show them the evil and the wickedness they've committed. A song that would be reminded from their children and children, their children's generation.
[8:42] And to bring them back to God because that's what God wants. He doesn't want his children to walk away from him. He wants them to come back. So Moses wrote the song and taught it to Israel. And in Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 22, the Bible says, Moses therefore wrote this song the same day and he taught it to the children of Israel.
[9:01] And he just didn't teach them a song. God did something else. God gave them a copy of the law. Why would God give them a copy of the law? He wants them to remind, he wants to remind them that they are prone to forget that there's a God in heaven that's done miracles in their life.
[9:19] And I think many times, many times when you talk with Christians that slowly walked away from God and they have ceased to do something for God and even Christians, the Bible says, and Peter says, that they have even forgotten that they were purged out of their own sins.
[9:34] Why is that? Why is that? Why do I think it comes back to this? They've stopped getting in this book and they've stopped realizing what God's done and they've walked away. They forgot who their God was. So the Lord gives them the law.
[9:47] He gives them the law. Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 24 says this, And it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book until they were finished, verse 25, that Moses commanded the Levites which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord saying, Take this book of the law and put it inside the ark of the covenant of the Lord, your God, that there might be, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
[10:20] You see, Moses called on heaven and earth to hear that they were being taught the truth. Deuteronomy 31, verse 28, God said, Gather unto me all the elders and the tribes of your tribes and your officers that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to record against them.
[10:39] You see, God wants people to remember Him. God wants people to remember Him. He wants you to teach your family to remember Him. And He gave, in this passage of Scripture, two tools.
[10:50] He gave them music and He gave them the law. You realize, if we're going to pick songs, we need to pick songs that are super rich in doctrine. We don't pick songs because of the melody, but we pick songs, we choose songs, we teach songs to our children because of the words.
[11:06] Why is that? To remind them who God is, to bring them back to what God's done in our lives. And not only that, not only music, the Bible says, in Deuteronomy chapter 31, He gave the law.
[11:18] You realize, the Bible should be in our hearts. We should teach it to our children. That's why we have Bible preaching, I mean, we have verse by verse, text by text. Why is that?
[11:29] Because we want you guys to realize what your God's done for you. We want to teach your kids that this book is God's Word. And there is a true living God and He has done some great and incredible things. And you better not forget Him.
[11:41] You better not forget Him. In this song in Deuteronomy chapter 32, He talks about some things, what happens if you forget Him. We want to remember when trouble hits that we knew better and we better get back to where we belong.
[11:53] And this is what this verse is about. This is what these chapters are about. And we're prone to forget. We're prone to forget, but we cannot forget our Lord. So, point one, things that we learned from this passage.
[12:06] Remember the truth through the song and the law. In Deuteronomy chapter 32, if you've got your Bibles, turn over there real quick. Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 7, the Bible says this, remember, remember, this is what the song, this song is all from like verse 1, clear down to 40 something.
[12:22] But He says, this song, He says this, He says, remember the days of old and consider the years of many generations. Ask thy fathers, He will show thee, thy elders, and they will tell thee.
[12:34] What God's asking them to remember is this, God wants Israel to remember that they were nothing before He came. They weren't a nation before God called them out.
[12:45] You see, it was God that found Israel. It was God that made them a nation. In Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 2, He says this, and He found them. They weren't looking for Him.
[12:56] He found them. And God's calling remembrance because I don't want you to forget who I am. I am God. I'm the Jehovah God. I'm the one that created you. I'm the one that made you a nation. In verse 10, He lays it out there pretty, pretty plain.
[13:08] He says this, I found you in a desert land and in the waste of the howling of the wilderness. He led Him about and instructed Him. He kept them as the apple of their eyes.
[13:20] You see, God says in this song, whenever you guys have forgotten me and you guys have left me and you've forsaken me and you're out doing your own thing, that this song is going to come back in your mouth and you're going to remember what I've done.
[13:31] And I want you to know this first thing is, I want you to remember this truth, that you were nothing when I found you and I created you and I made you into something. It was God's blessing that made them. It was God.
[13:42] It was only God that had done such good things for them. It was only God that did something. And that's the same in the truth in our lives. Don't you realize you didn't come searching for Him? You didn't come looking for Him, but He found you in the desert land.
[13:53] He found you when you were unlovable. He loved you when you were just a sinner and an enemy against Him. He died for you and showed His love on the cross. And you didn't come searching for Him.
[14:04] Remember that today. And anything you have today, any blessing you have in your life, anything that's good in your life, is not because of what you've done, but it's all because of what He's done. Don't forget your Lord God.
[14:15] Remember Him. And that's what this song's about. In verse 11, He says this. Verse 11, down through verse 14. Or 14, He goes like this. He says, As an eagle stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her young and spread broad her wings and taketh them and beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead Him.
[14:37] There was no strange God with Him. It was just Him and Him alone. He made Him to ride on the high places of the earth that He might eat the increases of the field.
[14:50] And He made Him to suck honey out of a rock and oil out of a flitty rock butter of kine and milk and sheep and fatted lambs and rams of the breed of Bashan and goats and the fat of the kidneys of wheat.
[15:05] And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grapes. What this song's reminding Israel is this. You were nothing before me and everything you have that's good was because of me and I took care of you and I alone.
[15:19] There was no other gods. Remember that. Remember who I am. Remember the Lord. They were taught the law. Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 1 He says Give ear O ye heavens and I will speak and hear O earth the words of my mouth.
[15:36] Notice this. He says in verse 2 My doctrine shall drop as rain My speech shall distill as the dew and the small rain upon the tender herbs and the showers upon the grass.
[15:48] Israel got to see some great things. They got to see God's greatness. God chose them to be a special nation to publish His name throughout all the world. Verse 3 He says Because I will publish my name through the Lord and ascribe ye greatness.
[16:02] They were to realize that He was their strength and their foundation. Verse 4 He says He is the rock. His work is perfect. For all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity just and right is He.
[16:16] They were to realize how good He was. There was a song that called them back to remember their God to remember what He's done in their life to remember who He is and they were to learn truth.
[16:29] Verse 46 of Deuteronomy chapter 32 They were to learn truth. He said unto them Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day which ye shall command your children to observe to do all the words of this law.
[16:45] God taught them. God gave them truth and they were to take that truth and teach another generation teach their children to do this. You teach by your words but more by your example.
[16:56] It's more caught than taught is what we say around here. They learned the truth and they were to live it out. These teachings wouldn't be a waste of time. Verse 32 chapter 32 verse 47 He says this For it is not a vain thing for you what these things that I testify unto you it's not a vain thing for you because it is your life and through this you shall prolong your days in the land whether you go over Jordan to possess it.
[17:23] So a question for you guys what tools are you using in your life and your family to get the truth into them? Are you using music that teaches doctrine?
[17:34] Are you teaching the Bible and getting it in their heart? Are you getting them to church so they're saturated with the gospel? Are you putting them under sound Bible teaching? This is no joke.
[17:47] Don't you realize we're prone to wander? Don't you realize we're prone to forget our God? Don't you realize that it's not Israel's problem it's every man's problem out there.
[17:59] We all forget what God's done in our life. We all go through the motions and do the things that we're supposed to do and check off the list and we forget how good He's been. We forget where He's taken us from and what He's made in our life.
[18:12] We forget the love that He's showed us. Remember. Not only does He want them to remember but in this song He says this Is this how you would treat your God after all He's done for you?
[18:24] You have that saying Is this how you repay me? I'll never forget that. My dad used to like to say that all the stinking time. I'll go out and do something stupid and he looks up and he goes Is this how you repay me? I give you a house I take care of you I give you clothes I give you food I give you a lot of food Is this how you repay me?
[18:41] Doing stuff and that's what it says in Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 6 the Lord says this Do ye thus requit the Lord? Is this how you repay the Lord? O foolish people and unwise is not He thy Father that hath brought thee?
[18:56] Hath He not made thee and established them? You see what Israel was doing what God was warning them of is they were going to make Him jealous with false gods they were going to provoke Him Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 16 He says this They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods with abominations provoked they Him to anger They were sacrificing to demons instead of their God Verse 17 He says They sacrificed unto devils not to God to gods whom they knew not to new gods that came newly up whom your fathers feared not Don't you see what happens when you forget your God?
[19:37] It's not just that you corrupt yourselves and you forget about all the blessings but it leads you down a path that you don't even want to be down Israel He says You've provoked me to jealousy You've gone out and you've served other gods You've sacrificed to gods that you didn't even know of before These new gods And isn't that how isn't that what happens in our life?
[19:56] We get something going on in our life and everything seems like it's going smooth sailing We no longer have to trust God There's no longer need for faith in our life But yet everything's taken care of And we slowly forget God And God goes to the side And it's not that He just goes to the side but other things start taking His place The time that you would try to spend time and ask Him and cry out to Him and talk to Him and work on that relationship has now been filled up with something else Has it not?
[20:24] And that's what's happening in Israel's life God says You're going to go to a place where I promised you and I want to give it to you and it's going to be good for you But during that time because you have become fat and wanting nothing you'll stop seeking after me You'll forget me and I'll be replaced with some stinking piece of wood I'll be replaced with some rock and you'll start sacrificing to that rock which you didn't know that didn't do anything for you and not me Is that how you would pay me?
[20:55] They didn't even think about the God of their salvation It got so bad that Israel wasn't even going to think about their God their salvation Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 18 He says this Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful thou hast forgotten the God that formed thee They pushed Him until He was angry They provoked Him They forgot Him They served other gods In verse 19 it says this They pushed Him until He was angry And when the Lord saw it He abhorred them because of the provoking of His sons and His daughters because they forgot the Lord and forgot all His wonderful blessings they went out and served other gods and they went out and they offered other gods and they provoked the Lord they provoked the Lord to become angry Guys, we don't want to make the Lord angry That's not what the children of Israel want They chose empty worthless things over the God of heaven
[21:56] Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 21 He says They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God They have provoked me to anger with what?
[22:09] Their vanities Their worthlessness And I will move them to jealousy with those things with those which are not a people I will provoke them to anger with the foolish nation Do you ever consider that your sin is a slap in the face of a God that loves you?
[22:34] He saved you but you don't have time for Him He answers your prayers but you forget to pray He loves you unconditionally but you think you can take advantage of that Do you realize that He takes your sin and rebellion personally?
[22:50] That's what God's telling Israel right here He provoked me to do You provoked me to make you angry You provoked me to I'm going to use another nation and I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to chastise you a little bit How can we keep sinning when we know He has made us new creatures He's given us new life and He's done so many great and wonderful things in our life This song is a great song He's calling His people to come back He's calling His people to remember what He's done He's calling His people to say Hey you've sinned You've done me wrong but not only this He wants them to know that He will respond to His children's rebellion He will respond to His children's rebellion Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 20 He said this and He said I will hide my face from thee I will see what their end shall be for they are a very froward nation children in whom is no faith He hides their face from them
[23:51] God's going to bring a nation that doesn't love them and are fools and He's going to use that nation or those nations to wake His people up verse 21 He says this they have moved me to jealousy that which is not of God that which is not God they have provoked me to anger with their vanities and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation you see God's going to pour out His anger in Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 22 on Israel for a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell and shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains trouble is coming because they have provoked God they have provoked God they're forgetting God and leading them to follow after other gods them forgetting God and not caring not even caring and them putting other gods before Him and them worshiping other gods has provoked
[24:55] Him to anger and He's going to discipline them He's going to discipline them trouble will come in groups verse 23 He says this I will heap mischiefs upon them I will spend my arrows upon them they shall be burnt with hunger and devoured with burning heat and with bitter destruction I will send the teeth of the beast upon them with the poison of serpents they won't be able to escape it they won't be able to escape from the fear that comes from walking away from God Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 25 he keeps on going he says the sword without and terror within shall destroy both the young man and the virgin the suckling also with the man of gray hairs there is no help for anyone because they provoke God with their rebellion they provoke God with them forgetting their God and because of that God is going to scatter Israel from their promised land verse 26 he says
[25:58] I said I would scatter them into the corners and I would make them a remembrance and make the remembrance of them to cease from among all men hear what God says about his special people understand what happens when you forget God seems something small doesn't it go through your life don't even really need them don't even think about them don't spend time in prayer with them don't spend time in your bible reading don't teach your kids about them man I'm convicted by that and it starts with you just forgetting who your God is and just running through the motions you're replacing that God with other gods and false gods and at the end of it Israel is being scattered all around and God says hey I would make you a remembrance no more but guess listen to what he says God would have destroyed them if it wouldn't have looked like he failed verse 27 were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely unless they should say our hand is high and the
[27:05] Lord hath not done all this God said I would make your remembrance no more but I don't want other people getting the credit I don't want them to think that I failed at something God wanted it clear that he was the rock he was the rock their rock wasn't like him their gods wasn't like them God wants remembrance he wants he's jealous over himself he wants people to know who he is and it's pretty hard for me it's pretty easy to know that God wants his name known all around the world coming to this church you get a sense of it you see all the flags you see all the people on the back wall you see the maps everywhere you see the world always constantly been put in front of you all the missionaries coming up here we need to get the gospel to the world we need to show people we need to make sure people know who God is but I'm afraid in my own life and my struggle to get the gospel to the world and help out and be a part of that I want the world to know who he is and in my struggle I forget who he is he doesn't want that he doesn't want that
[28:12] Moses I'm giving you this song I'm going to testify it's going to be a witness against the people it's going to bring them back I'm going to bring them back in their mouth so they remember who I am and what I've done for them so they remember that their sin cost them this relationship so they can remember that this relationship is going to cause problems in their life he wants to be known as the savior he wants to be known as the rock verse 30 he said this how should one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight except their rock sold them and the Lord shut them up for their rock is not as our rock even as our enemies being judges God's people were just being foolish deuteronomy 32 verse 28 says they are a nation void of counsel neither is there any understanding oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider the latter end
[29:15] Israel would just forget who God was and become fools they become void of counsel there's no understanding there's none that's wise they don't consider the end God's going to punish them God's going to punish them 34 he says is not this laid up in store with me and sealed among thy treasures to me belongeth vengeance and recompense their foot shall slide in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things shall come upon them make haste for the Lord shall judge his people he's waiting on the day he will punish he hasn't forgotten only will forget their rebellion this is a warning to a nation they will realize their mistakes and come back to him remember the context he's talking to a nation God will show up their false gods he'll show up their false gods isn't that what he does in our lives too we sit down at the altar of the almighty dollar whatever you want to put in there and God just takes it away sometimes just to show that he is
[30:24] God and he doesn't want anyone before him you can't serve two masters you can't think about two gods either you'll love one and hate the other and in this chapter he's saying I don't want you to forget who I am verse 37 he says he shall say where are their gods their rock in whom they trusted so where are your false gods now you worship them you honor them with sacrifices so let's see what they do for you now verse 38 he says which did eat the fat of their sacrifices and drink the wine of their drink offerings let them rise up and help you and be your protection God declares that he is the only God Deuteronomy 39 or 32 39 he says this see now that I even I am he and there is no God with me I kill I make alive I wound
[31:25] I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand no one's going to stop God when he decides to move he's going to give vengeance 41 and 42 he's going to render vengeance to his enemies verse 43 he says he will avenge the blood of his servants and he will be merciful unto his people he will avenge his enemies his destruction will come he will always have mercy and grace for his people your salvation tonight is secure in Christ Jesus security of salvation is never excuse to sin grace is not a license to sin but it's a liberty to serve if you sin if you sin and when you sin there will be consequences God will not allow you to live in open rebellion without consequences so know that if you are his son and you sin you will be chastised that's what the
[32:28] Lord is saying through this passage that's what the Lord is saying I want to close with this tonight have you forgotten your God have you forgotten your God he came to you when you were in the desert so sweet when you weren't a people when you weren't a nation when Abraham was a nothing a nobody he came to him and he made him a great nation and he caused him to drink honey from a rock and oil from a flinty rock and he he took care of him and he gave him the butter fat of the kind he took care of his people but so many times when we wax in fat on all the blessing that God has done in our life it's then when we're prone to forget we forget what he's done and we set him aside and other things fill his place we begin to worship at their altar and he says
[33:39] I want you guys to know that if you forsake me and serve others there will be punishment tonight it's simple don't forget your God he's great he's mighty full he's merciful he's kind everything that you have you didn't get in your own strength you got it because of the goodness of your God don't forget You