100 Fold - Oct 29, 2023
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CALL TO WORSHIP
Please raise your hands with me.
Psalm 100:1–3 “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” - And all God’s people said AMEN
Let us pray:
Father we commit our hearts and lives to you, we ask that you would help us to remember your provision and your gifts that you have given us, and that we would be faithful to thank you in response. Let us worship you now as the triune creator and sustainer of all things, the savior of the world, and let us boldly enter into your throneroom with thanksgiving and joy as your people, delighting in you.
WORSHIP SONGS x2
SERMON
“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Promises - promises on promises - everywhere promises.
Deuteronomy 1:11 “May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!”
Deuteronomy 2:7 “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands...
Deuteronomy 8:18 “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
Deuteronomy 28:11 “And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.”
Deuteronomy 28:12 “The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.”
Deuteronomy 29:9 “Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.”
Deuteronomy 6:10 ““And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build,”
Deuteronomy 28:2 “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
Promises on promisees - everywhere.
NOW - these aren’t automatic or unconditional, they have some requirements as you’ve seen
“therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them.. THAT YOU MAY PROSPER” Deut 29:9 - and others
What’s our biggest problem here? - well I think it’s three things.
ONE - we don’t believe it
TWO - we dont’ do it
THREE - we aren’t patient.
FIRST - We don’t believe it.
Isn’t that interesting? We proclaim a profound miraculous Gospel, one that requires God to save us by grace alone. That he would send his son, the Word made flesh, to die in our place, and we by faith trust him for salvation, and not just salvation but also to be adopted as sons into his kingdom as coheirs to rule and reign over all of creation, heaven and earth, with him forever.
but when he says he will prosper us on earth, we get skeptical.
Or we get pragmatic or experiential “Well, I don’t know that I’ve seen this in my personal experience.”
now we bring up personal experience? I’ve seen God heal diseases miraculously, and you have too. I’ve seen God draw someone out of the ditches and bushes on IV drugs or worse, into his people and redeem their entire life, and you have too.
No, it can’t be that we don’t believe God can prosper his people according to his promises because of personal experience. We’ve seen way more miraculous things than that.
SECOND - maybe it’s because we just don’t do it.
You want to reap a harvest? You’ve gotta sow.
want a strong marriage? love you spouse more than you love yourself.
want Godly kids? raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
build a family culture, start traditions, holidays, routines, family liturgies, all around the Lord and his promises.
want a good job? work hard, don’t steal.
want a strong financial position? tithe, be generous, care for the poor, and keep the Lord’s day.
It’s not complicated. All of those statements are based on promises from the scriptures.
it’s our lack of faith that makes it complicated. - because that’s what not trusting in God’s promises is ultimately - it’s a lack of faith.
So - how do we get faith? Repent, and believe, go to the Lord, and ask for it.
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Read his promises - and believe them and if you have trouble, ask God to help you.
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
Luke 11:13 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!””
God is a gift giver - we are his children - if you don’t believe him just ask him to change you.
SO WHY DON”T WE BELIEVE THE PROMISES
we don’t do it - we don’t believe it - and we aren’t patient.
THIRD - we aren’t patient
this is the thing about harvesting - there is time involved - a space between sowing and reaping.
SO BELIEVE THE PROMISES ALL THE WAY - AND BE PATIENT
and if you believe… you will - obey -
Deuteronomy 8:1 ““The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.”
and if you obey … say it with me.
God promises to not just provide for you, but grow you. Over generations.
I’m not saying billionaires in this lifetime, although possible - sure.
but God will, across generations, grow you and your lineage.
What’s that mean exactly? Got a late start? Don’t despair.
Paul got saved late in life. Did that stop him from fruitfulness? Not a chance.
Philippians 3:13 “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,”
God’s promises determine your future - not your past.
maybe you’ve got some terrible mistakes - ok - confess, repent, and trust the Lord.
but believe the PROMISES. They’re true.
Karma isn’t true. Disney isn’t true. God’s PROMISES are true.
but isn’t sowing and reaping basically Karma?
…no… Karma is “if you do bad things bad things happen to you”
The Gospel says, repent and believe and you will be blessed.
AND GET READY - MATURITY IS A BIG PART OF THIS
Deuteronomy 8:2 “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”
God kept them - preserved them - tested them - why?
to mature them.
and he won’t give to us more than we can handle - he will give us what our maturity can handle - why?
because he’s #1 growing you - #2 preserving you.
You’re his - feel stretched? Good - that means he’s growing you. Stretching you. Maturing you. Testing you.
Prove faithful.
the point is to be conformed - and so - be conformed.
he won’t give you anything you can’t handle.
you get it?
And that maturity leads to...
faith and dominion.
Deuteronomy 8:7–9 “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.”
what do you have to do to get the fruit? the wheat? the water? the iron? the copper?
you gotta work for it.
The are walking into freedom, but freedom means work.
when they were in the wilderness - everything was provided to them, when they were in egypt, everything provided.
now - true freedom, means work.
which means - time to cultivate the faith of believing God’s promises.
God has sent us out for true freedom - so what if we believe his promises and get to work.
You want a healthy marriage? - work for it - confess your sins to one another.
trust God - believe his promises
You may look at yourself and think - it ain’t great.
but God knows where the resources are. He’s in charge. He made promises.
lost souls found
broken families healed
adversity, suffering, trials - making his people stronger
sand turned into computer churches
a sad and dying church - an outpost of strength for Jesus.
SO - you look around your life and see failure?
disaster even?
look with eyes of repentance and faith. God can do a lot with a willing vessel.
Water out of rocks.
Gold from the hills.
Maybe you’re stuck in your sinful unbelief.
Repent - trust his ways - and watch what he does.