Remember God in Seasons of Prosperity (3)
Remember God in Seasons of Prosperity • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Today we are going to be in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8, but before we begin, let’s go back in time a little bit so you can understand the contexts of this book. First, the book of Deuteronomy was written over 3400 years ago. During this time, it was common for nations to draw up agreements called Ancient Near Eastern vassal treaties. The purpose of these treaties was to create a contractual relationship between the two nations. One nation was referred to as the Suzerain, who acted as an overlord to the other nation, the vassal state. The Suzerain would offer promised blessings for loyalty and obedience and curses for rebellion. This is essentially what all of the commandments and laws of the OT represent. The Suzerain is Yahweh and the vassal nation is Israel.
If you think about it, this is how many of us discipline our children today. If your son or daughter has been disobedient to your authority as a mother or father, you’re not likely to take that child to the movies later that day. Instead, your response might look something like this, “Im sorry son, you didn’t obey me, therefore you may not go to the movies. However, next time if you listen I will take you.” Hopefully, this conversation would lead to repentance and reconciliation between parent and child. This is especially true when we explain that as our children listen to us as parents, God’s providential protection surrounds them. Furthermore, God works through the obedience of his children, so obeying God’s will for your life through obedience gives you purpose and meaning. This illustration represents the covenant between Israel and Yahweh. All of the commandments and stipulations of the Pentateuch were not set in place as a dictatorship between Yahweh and Israel. This was a contractual agreement that allowed two parties to function together in a relationship. I love John Piper’s statement that says that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. We are most satisfied in a relationship with God. So when we read the Old Testament, remember this: the covenant given to Abraham, Isacc and Jacob, and then restored to the second generation of God’s people, the Israelites, was a covenant drawn up out of love and God’s desire to be in a relationship with his people.
Further, there are over 600 laws and stipulations in the Pentateuch, which is just a fancy way of referring to the first five books of the bible. This is also important to know, because when the New Testament says that Jesus fulfilled the law for us, what that means, is that Jesus obeyed all 600 of these laws during his lifetime, so he could be the perfect lamb offering for you.
Let jump into Deuteronomy, chapter 8. Moses is giving a speech to the Israelites to prepare them for entering the Promised Land. In the beginning of the book, he restates the 10 commandments to Israel, which are the laws and stipulations we just mentioned. In chapter 8 verses 1-6, Moses reminds the Israelites about God’s provision in the wilderness where they wandered for 40 years, and now Moses urges the Israelites to remember God once they enter the promised land. The promised land represents prosperity and blessings for the Israelites, and a place where they can be in communion with God. While we are not in the physical promised land today, we are blessed with abundance and prosperity here in America. This brings us to the focus of our lesson, remember God in seasons of prosperity. As we read verses 7-20, there are three points, each answering the question, “Why should I remember God in seasons of prosperity?”
1. Remembering God’s grace and provision for your life leads to proper worship.
Read 7-11
Moses is reminding the Israelites about God’s grace and provision over them as they are about to enter the Promised Land. They did not earn the promised land, it was a gift. Listen to what Deut. 6:10-11 says.
“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, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full,
The Israelites were in slavery for 400 years before God sent a deliverer to free them. God not only delivered them, but now he is giving them the Promised land, a place where they could be in loving communion with God through the Tabernacle. Those who were faithful to Him, came into deeper knowledge and satisfaction with Yahweh. A land where they will lack nothing. What is the proper response to God’s gracious gift? Moses answers in verse 10, worship.
Now as New Testament believers who have been brought into the covenantal promises made to Abraham through the righteousness of Jesus, who obeyed the law and it’s stipulations to become the perfect atoning sacrifice for us, our response to God should be to worship him in gratitude and seek to follow his commands through Christ.
To illustrate God’s grace through Christ, let's look at John 4. Jesus is at the well with a Samaritan woman and he asks her for water. The woman is shocked because she is a Samaritan and Jesus is a Jew and Jews and Samaritans didn’t speak or interact with one another back then. Jesus replies in John 4 verse 10:
John 4:10 (ESV)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
📷 (g: “dorea”, meaning “free gift”
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
📷 Romans 3:24 “we are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
(adverb form of dorea,“dorean” meaning we are justified “freely” by his grace)
Normally in our society today, if I work for something, there is an obligation to be paid back, right? Or to receive a reward? And this is why this is so important because are not saved because we are righteous.
In fact society tells us that if we work really hard to get good grades, we get into college. If we are successful at our jobs, we get to provide for our families. If we work hard enough to save money, we get to buy a house. However, that’s not how Jesus works. Jesus volunteered to come and die for us while we were still sinners.
Eph 2:4-5 “ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Again, our response to God for this grace should be to properly worship Him. This is why remembering God’s grace and all that he has done for you is so important. In fact, that’s what worship is, remembering. Worship takes my eyes off of me and places them back on God who deserves all the glory. In the OT The h: “remember” is used 222x. This is not a recommendation, this is a command.
To demonstrate what proper worship looks like, turn to Isa 6:5.
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Seraphim “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory,” (v 3)
Isaiah, after seeing the glory of God says, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” John Calvin in his commentary on Isaiah says that: “Our life, therefore, until our minds earnestly draw near to God, is a vain delusion; we walk in darkness, and can with difficulty distinguish truth from falsehood; but when we come into the light it is easy to perceive the difference. So, when God draws near to us, he brings light with him, that we may perceive our worthlessness, which we could not formerly see, while we entertained a false opinion of ourselves.”
Application: If you are a believer, worship must be a part of your spiritual discipline because it takes the focus off yourself and puts it back onto God. Worship recalls all that God has done for you. For the Israelites, God was about to bring them into the Promised Land where they would lack nothing, and they did not earn their right to be there. For us as New Testament believers, Jesus offers us life with God eternally. Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die,” (John 11:15). Heaven is a gift; it is not earned. The law demonstrated our need for Jesus, and when Jesus came, he fulfilled the requirements of the law for us. Because of this, the proper response to what God has done for us is to give him all the glory that he deserves through worship.
and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
So, we must remember God in seasons of prosperity, because remembering God’s grace and provisions for us leads to proper worship.
Let’s continue reading, beginning in verse 11.
This brings us to point #2: A false sense of self-sufficiency leads to disobedience and pride.
Prosperity >false sense of self-sufficiency> Forgetfulness> Pride> Disobedience
Illustration:
Steve Gallagher in his book, I the root of sin exposed writes, “With the proud self securely on the throne of their heart, they see no need to relinquish control and yield to the Greater One. Thus, self reigns as dictator, approving or denying any requirements the Word of God or the Holy Spirit might make of them. They are broken, unrepentant, and unsurrendered.”
Jesus said in John 12:23-24 “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
What Jesus means is that in order for us to bear fruit, we must die to our own wills and live through Christ’s. Therefore making God the authority of our lives.
To keep pride out of our hearts we must never forget what God has done for us, and what he is doing in us now, lest we turn from him and begin to worship ourselves. We must recognize and be on guard against pride that so easily entices. The apostle Paul said, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,” (Romans 8:6). As God’s temple, we need to be careful that we don’t place an altar worshiping ourselves beside an altar for the Lord in our hearts. James 4 warns us that this is committing spiritual adultery against the one who reigns in us.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
While God fed the Israelites manna in the wilderness, for NT believers, God sent Jesus, “the true bread from Heaven,” (John 6:33). Jesus says, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, “ (John 6:51). Jesus made a new covenant or promise with us, that “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16). For those who believe in Christ, “we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance,” Eph 1:13-14. This is why God deserves all of our glory and worship.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Ok, this leads us to our third point:
III. God commands that “You shall have no other gods before me,” (Deut. 5:7)
Lets read the last 3 verses, beginning in 18.
Going back to Deut. 8:18, we see that God’s grace is the source of all wealth. At the end of that verse it says, “and so he confirms his covenant.” That means that God is keeping the promise that he made with Abraham in Genesis 13:16. A promise to give his ancestors that land forever. We must remember this covenant today when we are tempted to turn our back on Israel because of the way that they are acting. We stand behind Israel, not because they are righteous, but because God made a covenant with them. The Israelites did not receive the Promised Land because of their righteousness, but because of God’s promise. This is great news for us, because God has made a promise to all of you as well, and that’s eternal life for everyone who believes. And you can be sure that when God makes a promise, he will keep it.
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.
One of my favorite verses is 2 Tim. 2:13 which says “Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful, for God cannot deny himself.”
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
In Moses’ final warning, he warned the Israelites that if they forgot God and worshiped pagan gods in his place they would be destroyed. And in 605 BC, Babylon took over Jerusalem because the Israelites worshiped other gods. Satan wants us to worship ourselves guys so we need to take Moses’ warning seriously.
F.B. Meyer gives us a great illustration of what happens when we worship ourselves:
“Take heaven from its center in God, and try to center it in self, and you transform heaven into hell. I know little or nothing about the fire, or the darkness, or the worm of hell. But I know this: hell is selfishness, and selfishness is hell.”
We are to worship God and God alone. When we become believers by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, Jesus’ sacrifice is enough to justify us before God. But if we do not believe in Christ, there is no justification for our sins. Our only path is death apart from Christ. Because God is holy, sin must be paid. If we do not remember God during seasons of prosperity, we will be tempted to worship someone or something else. Whether it’s ourselves and the things we’ve earned and worked really, really hard to get, or our status, or our appearance. The truth is, we all worship something, even atheists worship something; and where your heart is, there your treasure will be as well.
To sum all this up, we are called to remember God in seasons of prosperity. Why? Because remembering God’s grace and provision leads to proper worship, forgetfulness leads to disobedience and pride, and God commands that you shall have no other God before him, including yourself.
Let’s go to God in worship now as we remember who he is and what he has done for us.
