[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:13] All right, take your Bibles and go with me, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 29 and 30. Lord willing, both chapters. Chapter Deuteronomy chapter 29 and 30. Getting close to the end of Deuteronomy.
[0:26] And we'll get there one of these days and jump on up. But let's read this one. Blessings and great promises are offered to the nation of Israel. They're in a second reading of the law.
[0:38] They will soon cross over the Jordan River and enter into the promised land. And they will begin taking over the land that God has given them. And so Moses is speaking words that God tells him to say before they get there.
[0:51] So read with me, if you would, chapter 29 and verse 1. The Bible said, So he's coming out.
[1:07] He's going to give them a renewing of the covenant. If you've got your Bible open in verse 1, underline the word covenant or circle the word covenant. Notice that these are the words that the Lord commanded Moses to make.
[1:18] So as Moses begins to talk to us, you remember this isn't Moses talking. This is the Lord talking through his man. Father, I pray now that you'd help me to clearly say what you say.
[1:31] And let the verses here speak. And I pray, dear God, that your people could learn something from your word tonight. Be motivated and encouraged to serve you more. And I'll give you praise and honor and glory for all.
[1:42] In Jesus' name, amen. Now, you do remember before I start here that we're talking about Israel. We're talking about a time that they're still in the wilderness. They're wandering around. They're about to enter into the promised land.
[1:54] This is a nation that's going in. And he's going to speak to this nation and tell them what he's expecting. And so the first thing he starts off with is, I want you to remember.
[2:06] You should write that down somewhere. Verse 2. Verse 2, he wants them to remember. Remember what God has done. And that's a good lesson for me. I want to remember what God's done in my life.
[2:17] Chapter 29 and verse 2. Moses called unto all Israel and said unto them, You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, unto all his servants, and unto all the land.
[2:30] So the next few verses, he's going to remind them. Do you know you serve a big God? Do you know you serve a God that hears and answers prayer? Do you know you serve a God that meets your needs? Have you seen that happen in all this time?
[2:42] So in verse 3, he says, in verse 3, he says, God brought you through great testings and great trials and brought you to where you are. We're about to go into the promised land.
[2:53] And before I go forward, I ought to think back and realize what God's done. So I'll be ready to go forward. So in verse 3, he said, the great temptations which thine eyes have seen are the great testings, the signs and the miracles.
[3:06] And they should realize, boy, God has been at work. But these people have been just a little on the slow side. No matter all the things God's done and all the power he's shown them, they just don't get it.
[3:19] They're kind of like living life like, okay, God's doing big stuff, but I don't get it. I don't know if they thought it was an everyday occurrence. You say, how do you know they didn't get it? Look at verse 4. Look at verse 4.
[3:29] Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, eyes to see and ears to hear unto this day. He said, boy, God's been good. I want y'all to remember it. I'm going to tell you what he's done. But you dingbats aren't getting it. You dingbats aren't getting it.
[3:42] You just don't catch it on to how good God is and what God's been doing you haven't caught on. So in verse 5, he said, for 40 years, you've been wandering around and your clothes haven't gotten old and your shoe hasn't worn out on your foot.
[3:55] God's taken care of you. He's met your needs. He's taken care of your clothing and he's taken care of your shoes. In verse 6, he says, he wants them to know that he's their God and he was doing great and mighty things.
[4:09] He's saying, I want you to realize that I'm doing stuff. You see, sometimes good things are happening in your life and sometimes God's answering your prayers and sometimes things are going along well.
[4:20] And you kind of get the idea when you prosper, you kind of somehow figure, I must be doing things right. You kind of figure, hey, I'm doing pretty good. You see how God's blessing me?
[4:31] My house is doing good. My kids are doing good. My car is doing good. My health is doing good. Everything around, I'm doing pretty good. And he said, I want you, look if you would at verse 6. He said, I want you to know I've done it.
[4:41] You've not eaten bread or drunk wine or strong drink that you might know that I am the Lord your God. You don't know what I'm doing? Underline that in verse 6. I want you to know I am the Lord your God.
[4:54] I defeated your enemies in verse 7. I'm the one that defeated your enemies in verse 7. In verse 8, I'm the one that's giving you your inheritance. So here's what he wanted them to know.
[5:04] As he gets them started out, in chapters 29 and 30, God says, Moses, go out there and talk to him. We're about to finish this book up. Let's get some things straight. First thing, they ought to remember. They ought to think back to all I've been doing in their lives.
[5:18] They should see God for who he is. They should think of his greatness and his goodness. He's a great God. He got them out of Egypt. He worked 10 plagues in Egypt.
[5:30] He got them across the Red Sea. He brought them out into the wilderness. He met their needs every day. For 40 years, they've had clothes. For 40 years, they've had food. For 40 years, their shoes haven't worn out.
[5:41] For 40 years, God's been doing great stuff. Is he a great God? Is he a good God? He wants them to think that. They should recognize that God has been at work in their lives.
[5:52] They are about to get more from God, and he simply wants to be recognized as the God who's doing such great things in their lives. I want you to know this is about Israel.
[6:04] It's about Israel, but it applies to us. It is so easy for me to look back over the last 42 years that Betty and I have been married and to see how good God's been.
[6:15] And I've kind of lived a charmed life. Maybe it's because I'm smarter than you. Maybe it's because I married the right person. Maybe it's because I'm an American or whatever. And I could come up with any number of excuses.
[6:26] And God in heaven would be going, excuse me? That's been me, buddy. That's been me. I'm the one that took care of you. I'm the one that met your needs. And you might not have noticed it.
[6:36] Maybe you're too dumb to see it. Maybe you're too dumb to hear it. I'm the God who's doing it. He said, I'm fixing to put you in a promised land. You're really going to get some good stuff. So can we just get an amen right here?
[6:49] You're God's good. That's what he's saying. Before he ever starts into it, he says, you don't realize what I'm about to do as soon as you cross the next river. Because when you get over, I am really going to do some big stuff.
[7:00] But would you mind recognizing what I've done up until now? It's amazing. The only time you recognize what good stuff somebody else has done is when they die. You ever notice how people die at the funeral?
[7:11] Everybody's like, he's a great guy. Nobody ever told him why he was alive. But when he was dead, everybody had a chance to tell him. Of course, he wasn't listening. Amen? So here's the way it is with God. When's the only time you ever talk to God and say thank you?
[7:22] When you lose it all. When everything's going wrong, when you're griping and you're complaining. So God says, I'm fixing to start really pouring some blessings on you. Would you take the time to think back about it?
[7:34] There to get more from God. He just wants to be recognized. How often do you think about how it is God that is at work in your life? How many times do you think about that? How often are you grateful for his goodness to you?
[7:47] How do you take time now to remember and count your blessings? The old song we sang was, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
[7:59] Where were you when he saved you? Where were you when he saved you? Do you remember where your life was? Can you look around at other people that were where you were when you got saved and see where they got when they didn't get saved and what God saved you from?
[8:15] He didn't just save you from hell, but let's just look back and be honest. God's been good to you. What kind of blessings has he given you? Have you thanked him for your life, your family, your job, and the foods you eat?
[8:26] You know, we all say blessings before we eat, but I'm pretty sure Austin does it often out of rote habit. It's just, well, thank you for this food, Lord. I was supposed to say that. Don't really thank you, but if you're hungry enough, you might say thank you if you got something.
[8:40] But sometimes we do it out of habit, and God said, would you all just take time? Look back over the years and tell your story of God's blessings to your family. It'd be good if your kids are never now and then just here.
[8:50] Let me tell you how good God is. Let me tell you how good God's been to us. It'd be good if you told yourself that story, because right now you're kind of discouraged and depressed and complaining and whining because things aren't going exactly like you want them to, and you kind of feel like God's dumped you when God might simply say to you, remember, let's go back over what I've done.
[9:11] You say, well, Austin, come on, we need to thank you for what he did today. He's reminding them of what he did 40 years ago, and he got them out of Egypt. He's reminding them of what he did over a 40-year period as he fed them and he clothed them and as he carried them through the wilderness.
[9:24] He said, I want you to look back and think. Think of what you deserve and how good and merciful he has been. I'm going to leave this one. I hope you wrote down remember. I just want you to remember this.
[9:35] He's a good God. And we ought to stop every now and then and just say, thank you, God. I don't deserve the wife I've got. I don't deserve the family I've got.
[9:47] I don't deserve the health I've got. I don't deserve any of this. You've been so good to me. I often think in my own personal life, when I was about six years old, my sister, who's four, all four of us got sick.
[9:58] We all got the measles. And my sister was a normal little four-year-old girl. But when the fever was over, she went into a 10-day coma. And her fever went up to about 108 degrees.
[10:11] And by the time it was over, she would be mentally retarded the rest of her life. That could have easily been me. She never married. She never left home. She never had a normal life like anybody else.
[10:23] But God could have let that happen. But boy, God's been good to me. He let me get married. When I got married, she was upset. She thought I should have married her. She thought we were going to get married someday because she didn't understand.
[10:34] She had a very young mind. God let good stuff. Do you ever think about that? Do you ever realize what God's done for you? If you did that right now, we could just stop. But we'll have Thanksgiving here in a few days, and most of y'all won't even say thank you.
[10:46] I'll say, how about some thank you testimonies? And y'all will be like, I don't know what to thank you for. I can't even think of nothing he's ever done for me. Isn't that amazing? So God said, remember, stop and remember.
[10:57] Second thing, he says, I want you to obey. I want you to obey when you get to the promised land. Go with me to chapter 29 and verse 9. Remember, number two, obey.
[11:08] Verse 29, 9. Keep, therefore, the words of this covenant and do them that you may prosper in all that you do. Okay, so he's going to talk to them now about obeying, which we talked about in the chapters prior to this.
[11:24] And I want you to know, if you would, in verse 9, he says that you may prosper in all that you do. He said, I'm going to tell you good stuff. And I'm going to tell you this stuff so you can prosper, so your life can be blessed where you are.
[11:37] He's expressing his desire to bless them. He wants to see them. He wants them to see him as their God. But he's going to bless them. Verse 13. He said, I'm fulfilling the promise I made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[11:50] Look at verse 13. That he may establish thee today for a people unto himself, that he may be unto thee a God, as he has said unto thee, and as he has sworn unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[12:01] I need to know that the same God who saved Paul, and the same God who worked in the preachers that lived a thousand years ago, and the same God that worked in the preachers a hundred years ago can work in my life today.
[12:12] I need to know that the God who's been a blessing to others, and that's what he's doing. He said, hey, I'm not just Abraham's God. He's been going a long time. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they died way over 400 years from today where they're talking.
[12:24] He said, but I'm still your God, and I'm still going to work in your life. The promise wasn't only to your fathers, but it was also to you, and it's also to your children. Look at chapter 29 and verse 14 and 15.
[12:36] Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but with him that stands here with us this day before the Lord, and also with him that's not here with us this day. I'm giving you the promise and the ones that ain't even here yet.
[12:48] God was giving Israel some promises for their life. It was for their children that were going to come. God's promises were not just to those that had gone on before, but they were for them.
[12:59] And their parents were to teach their children. Those who know, disciple others, and make sure they learn. Can I just stop quickly and say, you know, you ought to remember and you ought to obey, but you need to stop along the way and realize, hey, I'm supposed to tell my kids about Jesus.
[13:14] Now, hang on. The average church of church members lose their kids. They don't go to church anymore. They don't love the Bible. And when you go to that church, you find this big gap.
[13:27] Adults, kids don't go to church. Maybe they'll come back when they're 30. Maybe they'll come back when they're 40, or maybe they'll never come back. And so something along, something right here, he said, hey, I'm making promises to you. I want you to obey me, and I want you to talk to your kids, and I want everybody to know about it.
[13:41] So I would challenge you tonight. Go home and say thank you and talk about how good God is. Can I just say, some of us, one of the reasons our kids don't want to serve God is we've whined way too much.
[13:53] We've acted like God hadn't been good to us. We're real quick to talk about how things aren't working out and how God isn't being good. And we're real slow to talk about how good God is being. But if you're breathing right now, he's good.
[14:06] If you're breathing right now, he's good. If you're not laying in a hospital bed with cancer dying in the next few hours, he's been good to you. And it'd be a real good thing if every now and then you just set your kids down and have Thanksgiving.
[14:18] You don't have to wait for Thanksgiving Day either. It ain't Turkey Day, and it ain't Football Day. It's Thank Him Day. But he doesn't want thank yous on one day a year. He wants it all the time. There's no reason we're not living in the light of his power and seeing him do great and wonderful things today.
[14:33] No reason. Our God wants to do great and mighty things in our lives. Do you look for God to work like you have read about from those who went on before us? As a preacher, as a missionary, as a young kid.
[14:46] I used to, when I was a kid, I'd be at my granddaddy's house. And they'd sit around. Of course, there was one long electrical cord, two wires. You know, they came down, and there was a bulb hanging at the bottom of it, and there were bugs flying around it.
[14:59] Because they had screens on there, but every time you open the door, another fly came in, another bug came in. And they all sat in that room. Air conditioner wasn't on because they didn't have one. And it was hot. And we'd sit in that room, and I was to be seen and not heard.
[15:12] And I couldn't go play because there wasn't any lights anywhere else in the house. And we'd all sit in that room, and they'd all talk about it. I heard my granddaddy talk about going to church and how the building was packed. Now, they were small buildings.
[15:22] I'll give you that. This is like four times, five times the thing he had. But he'd talk about how the people lined up outside and listened through there. And he'd talk about how God worked and how God moved. Then I went to reading biographies later, and I realized all these great men of God.
[15:36] And I thought to myself, man, I want God to do something now for me. And that's what he tells them in this passage right here. Obey. What I did with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, I'll do with you. What I've done in the past, I want to do with you.
[15:48] The promises weren't just for them. The promises are for you. Are you looking for God to do something? How much does God cross your thoughts during the day and in your work week?
[16:00] Do you think of him and what pleases him? Are you seeking his kingdom? Do you live in light of who you are in Christ? God wants to bless your family and pour out his riches and grace on your family.
[16:13] Are you looking to him for that? Third thing. The warning. Chapter 29 and verse 16. The warning. He gives them a warning in chapter 29 and verse 16.
[16:23] For you know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt and how we came through the nations which you passed by. He said, I want to warn you that you've seen a whole lot of worldly junk. I want to warn you you've seen a whole lot of wicked junk.
[16:36] I want to warn you that you've seen a whole lot of things that I don't like. And so I want you to be warned about being careful about that. Verse 17. You have seen their abominations.
[16:46] Their things I hate. Their idols and wood and stone and silver and gold which are among them. You've seen all that. And I don't want your heart to turn from me. Can I just say for you, you know, I'm afraid you're an American.
[17:02] You've never been to these places. And so you hear idols of wood and stone and silver and gold and you're like, well, what dang bat would want to worship a piece of wood? Man, if you go to these places, you'll find out they know how to make them really fancy.
[17:16] And they know how to make it like a really appealing place. And they know how to put the right smells in there. And if you were in Thailand, you go to these prayer places or you'd see this gigantically enormous Buddha laying down and sitting everywhere.
[17:30] And if you were to go to a Catholic church, you'd just see all this stuff. It could be so appealing to your senses. He said, y'all have seen it all. You've seen the big gods that they had in Egypt.
[17:42] You've seen all the stuff and all the cities and places we've gone. I don't want that to mess you up. Verse 18. God didn't want his people to allow their hearts to turn away from him.
[17:53] Verse 18. He said, lest there be among you man or woman or family or tribe whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve these gods of these nations.
[18:04] Lest there be among you a root of bitterness and so on. Just look here a second. There's false gods all around you. Let me just tell you what I think can easily happen in America.
[18:16] In America, you read about the God of the Bible. Then you go home and you watch TV. And they start bringing up all this junk going all around the world. They start explaining to you Harry a Christian. Or they start explaining to you Buddhism.
[18:28] National Geographic puts on an article and you see all this stuff. And it's pretty easy for you to start thinking, well, I'm not so sure God's all the, I mean, you know, they got their God and we got our God. And it's just not, you know, I don't know.
[18:38] Maybe Christianity is not the only thing. You've got to be careful. You see it all around you. Don't fall into the trap. Don't let it turn your heart from God. And he told them in verse 19 they were going to be so foolish that they would think they could live in sin and still be at peace.
[18:53] He said that's a vain imagination of your heart. If you think you're going to not do what I want and be blessed, you're crazy. That's not going to happen. He said if you do wrong, you'll suffer consequences.
[19:06] Look at chapter 29 and verse 20. The Lord will not spare him. But then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man. And all the curses written in his book shall lie upon him.
[19:17] The Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. You'll be dead, buddy. You want to do these things wrong? You're going to die. You want to do the things you ought not do? God's going to put bad stuff on you.
[19:30] You will lose your life. God's going to die. God's going to die. God's going to die. God's going to die. God wanted them to see that there are consequences to sin and rebellion. There are consequences to sin and rebellion.
[19:42] Now listen to this. You're saved by grace. But you ought to never, ever, ever think that being saved by grace removes me from consequences. You ought to never, ever think I'm saved by grace.
[19:55] And so if I do something wrong, it'll all work out okay. Well, you can go to heaven. But you're going to get all the punishment, all the consequences, all this junk's going to happen.
[20:05] That's what he's warning them about. He says, I'm going to come down on your children, verse 22, and I'm going to lay this junk on you. I'm going to destroy your land. You see, he was talking to a nation.
[20:17] We're not talking about salvation here. They were going into a promised land. Everything was going to be beautiful. He said, but you do what I say, I'll bless you. Your crops will grow real good. You'll have bigger potatoes than everybody else in you.
[20:27] Your ears of corn are going to be big. You'll have the best loaves of bread ever made. And everything's going to go great. You do wrong, watch me. I'm a big God, and I can take care of that. The fact is, it'll get so bad if you push me, 29, 24, that even the world will say, what in the world happened here?
[20:45] Look at verse 24. Even all nations shall say, wherefore hath the Lord done this unto this land? What means the great heat, the heat of this great anger?
[20:56] God said, you don't just do wrong. You don't just do wrong. You know, if I have children, they're my children, good or bad. But I can light a fire under their backside.
[21:08] It'll make them wish they'd have thought twice about it. And he said, you want to do wrong, children of Israel, children of the promise. You're getting all I'm giving you. But don't think that you're going to walk in there and just forget me.
[21:20] If you do, you're going to be disciplined. You do not realize that you live in a very wicked world. You're not to practice what those around you are doing.
[21:30] You're to see the sin and hate it and love God and his truth. There's a trap set for you and for your family right now. And you're deciding how you'll react to it.
[21:41] I found it interesting. Our son David posted about how he heard the chants. And you can read it on Facebook, the chants and the singing.
[21:52] And the people as they shuffled by and walked on their way to an idol they thought would bless them. And they're on their way. And he talked about how it broke his heart and how that hurts.
[22:02] That's exactly what he's going over here. Don't you look at that and don't you come up with another way and think there's something else. Even the lost world was going to realize that God had been at work among his people.
[22:15] And that they had not kept their promise. Look at chapter 29 and verse 25. Then men shall say, because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of Egypt.
[22:28] You messed up. Verse 26. You served other gods and you worshiped them. And God's judgment came on them. God's people wouldn't live out their faith and their profession.
[22:40] Their rebellion would lead them to serve false gods and idols. And their rebellion would eventually cause them to be scattered from their promised land. Chapter 29, 27, and 28 he ends up saying this.
[22:51] You guys keep doing wrong. I'll just take you away from this land. Now what? Get the story. We're not talking about salvation here. We're talking about the blessings. They would still be his people. He said, you'll go into this promised land I've got prepared for you.
[23:03] And if you'll do what I say, I'm going to send you so many blessings. You guys ain't even going to know what to do. I mean, you're going to be harvesting potatoes. And while you're pulling up the potatoes, I've got corn coming up you've got to get. You're going to have so many big. It's going to be great, man.
[23:14] I've been giving you houses you didn't build and vineyards you didn't plant. I'm working big stuff. But if you forget me, I will come down and whip your backside.
[23:26] I will come down and bring chastisement on you. And I will come down and let you know it's me. To the point that if I need to, I'll throw you out of the land. I'm sure you know that he did throw them out of the land.
[23:38] I'm sure you know if you've studied your Bible, they lost the promised land. They were taken off into captivity. I'm sure you know that they weren't even a country until 1948 and they weren't there. Even the world watching would know that God is real.
[23:51] They're astonished at how we do not live out our faith. In many ways, our rebellion causes many to doubt the reality of serving God and his benefit. Can I just say this?
[24:02] Did you know your positive thinking and your building up yourself and thinking about you could easily make a guy think it's not God? You don't give God praise.
[24:14] You don't give God thanks. You don't consider what God's doing. And people might say, I don't know what the big deal is about God. He said, you make sure and remember it was me. And you obey me and the blessings will come.
[24:25] Now go with me to chapter 29, 29. This is a verse you need to mark. And remember, 29, 29. We're to do what we know to do and not worry about what we don't understand. We're to do what we know to do and not worry about what we don't understand.
[24:39] The secret things belong unto the Lord, our God. But those things which are revealed belong unto us, unto our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
[24:50] I want you to listen carefully. Here's what happens. There are many things about God that we do not understand. He intended it that way. He intended it that way.
[25:01] God never said, I'm going to tell you everything about me and you guys are going to understand me. He even says in another book, he said, my thoughts are high above the stars, high above the sky while you're down here. And my ways, you don't understand them.
[25:13] Our responsibility is to worry about what we do understand and do it. No need to try and figure out what he hasn't revealed. No need. Now, that verse, I just want you to mark it because whole doctrines have been built on what people call the secret will of God.
[25:28] If he didn't reveal it, how can they? You know, there'll be whole books written about this is God's secret will. If it's secret, that means nobody knows it. If I told you I got a secret and you said I know what it is, I'd say, well, maybe you do and maybe you don't.
[25:43] But God said he had a secret. They don't know. When will we just admit that he is God and we're human and just accept that God knows what he's doing? Instead of sitting around and theorizing, why don't you get about obeying and practicing what you do understand?
[25:58] Now, here's the big deal. Too many Christians sit around figuring out everything about the Bible, but they don't do what they know to do. He told Israel, y'all go over there and you obey me.
[26:10] And there's some stuff you don't understand, but don't worry about it. I'm God. I'll take care of stuff you don't understand. I'm giving you clear instructions. Just go do what I said. And you'll understand that more as you get into this next chapter. So, obey.
[26:23] Obey and be warned. Verse 4. Excuse me. Chapter 30, verse 1. Hope and grace are still awaiting Israel. In chapter 29, he starts off saying, y'all remember what I've done and you obey me and let me warn you.
[26:39] And he gets really rough in his warnings. Basically, he's like, cross me and watch what I do. Cross me and watch what I do. And disobey me and see if there aren't severe consequences.
[26:52] Every Christian ought to know that's true, by the way. If I go out and commit adultery, there are going to be massively severe consequences. If I get hung up in pornography, there are going to be massively severe consequences.
[27:05] If I get hung up in lying or pride or arrogance or covetousness, there will be severe consequences. You need to understand, serving God, he wants obedience.
[27:17] He wants us to serve him and honor him. But in chapter 30, verse 1, he says, but I'm going to be graceful. Watch this if you would. Chapter 30, verse 1. And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, thou shalt call them to mind among all nations, whether the Lord thy God hath driven you.
[27:38] One day, as they suffer the consequences, they'll remember what they've been taught. Look at chapter 30, verse 1. Here's what's going to happen. They're going to get scattered. And instead of living in Israel, in the promised land, they're going to be living in Germany.
[27:52] They're going to be living in the United States. They're going to be living all around the world. And when they get over there, one day they're going to wake up and go, ha, this is what God was talking about. Hmm. I'm starting to grab a hold of it.
[28:04] I'm starting to see what it says. He said, when you get to the places where I've sent you, where I've scattered you, where I've driven you, verse 1, you'll remember, you'll call to mind, you'll say, I think I got that now.
[28:18] If you're living in sin and see that you are suffering those consequences, come back. Realize that he's waiting with open arms to restore you with blessings.
[28:30] Can I just say this? When you step away from God and all the junk starts happening, it's time to stop and say, what's God doing? I've been disobeying him.
[28:42] We're not talking about a little petty junk. You're not supposed to be worried about stuff. But you know when you step out and start disobeying God, this isn't a legalistic message. This isn't a... But you know, they've put up false gods.
[28:54] They've started worshiping other gods. They've put up idols. They've started doing what the world did. And God said, you do it and I'm coming after you. So be careful. Whenever you get far away from God, remember, and return.
[29:06] Chapter 30, verse 2. Repent and return. Thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shall obey. Underline, shall return and shall obey. When do they repent and turn back?
[29:20] He will bless them. Whenever they do repent and do return, he'll bless. Look at verse 3. Then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity and have compassion on you and return and gather you from all the nations where the Lord thy God has scattered you.
[29:38] So here's what he said. He said, you guys are... You keep disobeying, Israel. You're a special people. I got all these special promises for you. But if you don't realize that I'm doing this, I'm going to spread you out all over the world.
[29:50] I'm going to take you out of Israel. They're going to take you to the Babylonian captivity. They're going to end up taking you to Germany and 6 million of you are going to end up getting killed. I'm going to spread you all around the world. Someday, out there, somewhere, you're going to start thinking, he's God.
[30:05] And now I know what the Old Testament said. And I'm going to go back and I'm going to believe the God who scattered me. In fact, as he said, I'll bring you back even if they put you on another planet. Chapter 30 and verse 4.
[30:16] If any of thine be driven out into the outmost parts of heaven, I'll get you back. I'll be bringing you guys home someday. I'll be bringing you guys home. When you repent and return, his blessings will be even greater than before.
[30:29] Chapter 30 and verse 5. The Lord thy God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and he will do thee good and multiply thee above your fathers. Out there in the future, part of what we're going over in Matthew, he's going to set up his kingdom again.
[30:45] Ever since back in these days, under Saul and then David and then Solomon and then the split kingdom and all the prophets and all the fussing at them and telling them y'all are God's people and do right, they've suffered and they've paid the consequences.
[31:00] And by the time we get the New Testament, they're just totally away from God. And he sends a heaviness to them, the heaviness to their eyes and the heaviness to their ears where they can't see and they can't hear and they can't understand and they're spread out and they're scattered all over the place and it looks like God's not going to do it, but he's going to bring them back.
[31:16] That's what's going to happen in that kingdom and in that tribulation period that we talked about in Matthew chapter 24 and 25. And when that happens, God will change their hearts. Look at verse 6. And the Lord thy God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your children, the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, that you may live.
[31:37] And Israel will once again win against her enemies and all that have mistreated her in verse 7. And the obedience will bring great blessings on the whole country. Chapter 30 and verse 8.
[31:48] And obedience is a heart thing. Chapter 30 and verse 10. Look at it. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in the book of law and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul, they could come back.
[32:04] Now listen, it's not that you can't obey. It's that you won't obey. It's not that you can't do what God wants Israel. You could. Chapter 30 and verse 11 says, This commandment, which I commanded this day, it's not hidden from you, neither is it far off.
[32:20] Now I want you to go back to 29 and 29 right quick in your mind. You remember what it said in 29? I said there's some things hidden from you. I want you to know God's made things really clear. The book of Deuteronomy is like frankly, bluntly clear.
[32:31] Obey me or else as a nation, you're going to be judged. You could talk about the secrets of God all you want, but he says it pretty clear. It is within their power to do it.
[32:41] It isn't even hard to understand. Everybody's like, Bible's real hard to understand. Not really. Chapter 30 verse 12, he said, It's not in heaven that you should say, Who'll go to heaven and get it for us and bring it to us so we can hear it and do it?
[32:54] And it's not beyond the sea in verse 13, so who'll go over the sea and get it and bring it to us? Quit making excuses. Israel, especially we don't need to blame God about not being clear in what he says.
[33:05] In chapter 30 verse 14, he said, The word is very nigh you. It's in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. The choice is clear and you decide.
[33:17] Verse 15, I have set before thee this day life and good, death and evil. And I want you, in verse 16, I command you this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, that thou mayest live and multiply and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land, wherever you go.
[33:37] They choose if they want God to bless them or to curse them. They choose. Chapter 30 verse 17. Verse 30, 18, he said, I denounce you. If you try to act like I didn't do it, I didn't tell you, I denounce unto you this day that you shall surely perish and you shall not prolong your days.
[33:53] And Moses says, in verse 19, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that you've been told and you've been told clearly. God made it clear so they would know that he's God.
[34:06] Look at chapter 30 and verse 20. You may love the Lord your God and obey his voice that you may cleave unto him. Here's 29 and 30. Let me sum it up to you.
[34:16] Remember what I've done. Obey me. I warn you. I'm giving you these choices and you're going to get scattered and all this junk is going to come on you. He's talking to a nation here. He's not talking to individuals.
[34:27] He's talking to the nation. They're going to get scattered and spent all over the world. And so he's saying, I want you to remember who I am. We're not talking about us. We're not talking, this is about Israel. But I think here's some truths that you might glean from the passage of Scripture tonight.
[34:42] Number one, God repeatedly tells his people what he wants and expects. I hate to say this, but too many people have acted like this book is too hard to understand. And really it's not hard to understand if you ever open it and start reading it.
[34:53] The real problem is you don't open it and don't read it and don't try to understand it. That doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of hard stuff in here. That doesn't mean there are things that you won't understand. But the truth is, as a Christian, God's made it pretty abundantly clear and he talks in his Bible.
[35:07] Don't forget that they would never be able to obey everything, but if they would love and listen, he provided a way for their sin to be forgiven. And he fixed that through a substitutionary death of a sacrifice.
[35:18] I just want you to understand, you do understand why the law was given. You do understand that law was a schoolmaster to take us to Jesus. You do understand when he says, you obey me, you obey me.
[35:29] If they didn't obey me, he provided a sacrifice. You're going to mess up and you're not going to be able to do it either, but God provided a sacrifice to take your sin for you. The substitutionary death of Christ.
[35:42] Jesus died as your substitute. Jesus died to take your sin. Jesus died to take what you deserve to happen to you. People needed to hear what God said over and over. In the book of Deuteronomy, it's like repeated.
[35:56] One of the problems with preaching Deuteronomy is every, it's like, I want to get you. You're like, come on, Lord. You done said that. He's like, I know, but they need to hear it a bunch.
[36:09] They didn't have a copy of the Bible. And so God repeated it. It was orally transmitted to them. By the way, most of your family probably doesn't read the Bible either. So you have to communicate to them.
[36:23] God's word should become a regular part of your life. God kept saying, Moses, go tell him this. I know I already said it. I'm saying it again. Actually, Deuteronomy means the second given of the law. He'd already given the law.
[36:33] Now Deuteronomy, it's like a commentary on the law and he makes it even bigger. You set the example in your family. You set the example about following Jesus. What I do has an effect on my children and my grandchildren.
[36:46] That's what the chapters are about. I hope you listen to this. I got two minutes. I hope you listen to this. I won't lose my kids. I don't want to lose my grandkids.
[36:57] I want them serving Jesus. And I will tell you this. I need to go through the Bible and say, look, I'm going to share the truth of them. I'm going to show them what to do and I'm going to live it out so they'll learn it.
[37:08] I'm going to share the gospel with them. What you do has an effect on your children and grandchildren. I'm going to ask you, please be careful. They're watching everything you do. They know. It was always a big question to me as a young guy growing up and I decided to say in church, you know what you say at church, your family knows if that's really you.
[37:27] They know if you're living out your faith or if you just run in your mouth about your faith. They know if it's genuine in your heart or isn't genuine in your heart. You can't blame it all on you but I will say this. You want to be clear, man.
[37:38] You really mean it. Let them see that in you. How about this one? You need not worry about the secret things of God but about what you do understand. Leave God deal with what He hadn't revealed.
[37:50] Too many people are sitting around and saying, well, I don't understand why God did this. If He wants you to understand it, He'd have written it down for you. You know, it's like when your mom and daddy say, you're going to the dentist. The kid says, why?
[38:01] Because I said so. And if that ain't enough, I can whoop your little rear so you'll figure it out. Get in the car. We're going to the dentist. God doesn't always explain things so just leave Him to say what He wants to say.
[38:13] Learn about Israel as a nation. You might be one of the people that don't understand this. Israel is scattered throughout the world today but God's going to bless His people. He's going to regather into their land and bless them.
[38:26] That's what chapter 30 is all about. He will do spiritual surgery on them and circumcise their hearts. Some people want to turn everything about Israel into the church today. And so that's why they do baby baptizing.
[38:39] And that's why they have covenant theology like the church was Israel and they can't figure out the difference between the two of them. They misunderstand even the doctrine of salvation. Take the Bible like it reads.
[38:50] There's a nation of Israel and there's a church. God's going to do some things with the nation of Israel. God's going to do some things with the church. Read the Bible. I expect God to come set up a kingdom on earth. You say why? Because He says it.
[39:01] It's just about that simple. You say well I don't think that makes sense. Me neither. What's He going to do about the Dome of the Rock? I don't know. He's God. He made a world in six days. He'll figure that one out too. Amen.
[39:12] He's a big God. God will someday do great things with the country of Israel again. That may blow your mind. But Deuteronomy 29 and 30 He said guys I promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
[39:24] And now I'm promising you. And not just you. The ones that ain't even here yet I'm promising you. Last thing I've got to say. If you don't believe God keeps His word to Israel what makes you think He keeps His word to you? So when you read the Old Testament and you read about Israel and you say well I've heard plenty of people say that God doesn't He's not going to do anything with Israel.
[39:43] It all has to do with the church. Well the church ain't set up to live in Jerusalem. And we're not set up with a border from here to border to there. That's not the way it works. That's them. Believe God. Here's your wild one.
[39:53] I was going to say it this morning I never got to. Did you realize that he was detailed about the first coming of Jesus? He said where he'd be born he told all kinds of stuff about it. And it all came true.
[40:04] The fact is every time it happened the Bible says just like he said it would. Just like he said it would. Now there's a whole bunch of promises about him coming again and doing some other stuff and ain't none of it happened. Let me give you a hint. It's going to happen.
[40:16] Just like he said it would. Let's believe God. What do I take home from this? I know that I have the word of God in my heart in my Bible. I can read it.
[40:27] I can study it. I can learn it. I can put it into practice. This is not a game. This isn't a religious endeavor that you culturally accept. That's why our church is weird.
[40:37] Do you realize I mean I just did something really crazy. I basically read to you two chapters of the Bible. I basically read two chapters of the Bible to you. You said that's not good preaching.
[40:48] It's good Bible reading. And God said it pretty good. And so you can know this. Remember. Obey. Be warned.
[40:59] You can remember that. He sets before you blessings and curses. You choose whether or not to have his blessings. You can say well my children didn't always do right. Oh believe me.
[41:09] I raised four. I fully know that. But I will give you a hint. It's not God's fault. Not necessarily my fault. It's their fault. But I'll give you a hint. I'm supposed to teach my family the truth.
[41:23] Daddy it's a big serious deal to be a daddy. I don't want to make you too mad at me. You don't understand. I get nearly ulcers I think people are mad at me and I just have that problem.
[41:36] But dad I don't think you're taking this very serious that you've got children. I don't know that you're taking it very serious to sit down and say son listen to me let me teach you what the word of God says. It's not Austin's job to teach your family.
[41:49] It's your job. It's not Austin's job to pray for your family. That's your job. God gave you those kids. And all this stuff Abraham, Isaac and Jacob got the promises now you got the promises.
[42:02] I'm repeating it all to you now tell your children about it. Go to the book of Psalms over and over and it'll say tell your kids about it. Please take it seriously. Please understand that God expects you that are born again to live out your faith.
[42:17] To live out your faith. This isn't just a religious exercise. Let's live out our faith. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[42:30] For more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information and more audio and video recordings.
[42:41] Thanks.