Living before the Living God
Notes
Transcript
Order of Service
Order of Service
Welcome
Welcome
Prayer
Prayer
Hymn - HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, YOU SAINTS OF THE LORD (877)
Hymn - HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, YOU SAINTS OF THE LORD (877)
Notices
Notices
Prayer Meeting - 7:30pm
Friday 7pm - Online
Sunday Morning 11am & 6pm
Tithes & Offerings - £
Main Prayer
Main Prayer
Hymn - SOVEREIGN LORD, WE SING YOUR GLORY (543) - Peter Ninnis
Hymn - SOVEREIGN LORD, WE SING YOUR GLORY (543) - Peter Ninnis
Reading
Reading
“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
Sermon
Sermon
Moses warns the people against making any image for themselves
They have seen that the Lord who delivered them is unique in his power & greateness, so they must keep his commands
God has NOT provided his image
Idolatry puts the image as all important
The god or goddess can only see through the idol
The focus is on making eye contact with their deity
God provided his Word for the centre of our attention
Salvation is provided through The Word
God communicates with His people through His Word
Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
Do not try to make the invisible visible
Do not try to make the invisible visible
“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Nothing in Creation can represent God
Because he is the Creator of it all
He is greater (above all he has made)
Unlike the surrounding nations their beliefs and worship were unique
They had one God, the true and living Lord, who being above all cannot be seen, but who can be worshipped according to His Word
God created all things and allotted to all peoples for their benefit.
So many seek to worship animals, nature, and the earth. Others look up and worship the sun, moon and stars.
They are our servants, but to worship them makes us their servants
Those who follow astrology can only act when the stars tell them to do so.
They are in bondage to the right forecast.
Israel’s God had brought them out of Egypt
Not only brought out of an iron fernace of suffering endured
But also out of a pagan environment
Now become “a people of His own inheritance”
Life in Egpyt with its many gods and images of those gods was over
Everything was now different
Their worship had to reflect the reality of what their God is like
They owed their deliverance to him
Building them into His People
Providing a new land for them to dwell
For this reason they had to listen to him and faithfully worship him
So too should we
we have been saved from a greater bondage
brought into an even more privildged position
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Return...
Do not try to make the invisible visible
Do not try to make the invisible visible
Moses reminds the people that God is not to be trifled with
He recounts from his own experience that God requires obedience
They will face the consequences of their actions
So take care.
Moses was not permitted to enter the promised land and they too can easily forfeit blessings from their God
Don’t be arogant and complacent, nor take God’s Blessings for granted
Israel is now in covenant with the Lord (v23)
They accepted its terms ...
All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
You can sense Moses’ sorrow
For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land.
If they forget the covenant and breaks its terms, God will Punish them
“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
God revealed his relationship with his people was akin the the picture of marriage ...
“If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.
The idea of outraged love at unfaithfulness is implicity in the term “Jealous” ...
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Christians take heed ...
for our God is a consuming fire.
It is because God is love that disobedience and sin are so serious
From idolatry to idolatry
From idolatry to idolatry
“When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
Moses looks to the future and warns the people of what they can expect if they turn to idolatry
He looks to a time when they have grown old, that they may forget the goodness of God in the past and His commands
The implication is they must warn their children seriously, doing all they can to ensure that future generations remain faithful
The duty rests on parents and church leaders to teach and warn the rising generation
Moses makes sure they understand he is serious ...
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
Although they will enter God’s land at this time, if a future generation turns to making a carved image or doing evil in God’s eyes they will not continue in the land
A disobedient people will be turned out and destroyed
They will be scattered with very few of them left
They will be dispersed among pagan nations, they will learn what it is really like to serve gods of wood and stone (gods that cannot see, hear or smell)
They will be caught in all the desperate ways that people use to try and get such gods on their side
But the Lord God is a mercifuul God ...
For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
If the remnant of Israel calls upon God, he will hear
But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
All the tribulation that the people will endure will impel them to turn back to the Lord and obey his voice
If God punished them for their convenant-breaking he will still not forget the covenant
Chastisement itself will bring them to seek after him again
Truely God is a merciful God
One who sent his own Son for sinners
The promise of God throughout the centuries:
Those who search after him with all their heart and sould will find him
It stands true even for those who have abandoned the faith and gone off, like the prodigal son, into a far country with all its attractions and apparent pleasures (Luke 15:11-24)
They can return to the Lord, and they will receive the same heart-thrilling welcome that the prodigal found
No other God
No other God
“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
In the last section of Moses’ first address to the people he asks the to reflect on what God has done and consider that no other god who has ever been heard to act in such a way.
The Lord is God — there is no other --- and his mighty acts show what a God he is
Moses reminds them that their God spoke out of the fire
He took them for himself and delivered them by his might hand and outstretched arm
We would do well to ask ourselves...
Is there any other God who is even spoken of as giving his own beloved Son to redeem sinful people for himself by death on a cross?
The idea is breathtaking and full of mystery and grace
In the cross we see both the justice of God that needed to be satified
And the overwhelming love of God himself, in the person of the Son, paying the price that secures forgiveness and salvation for all who believe.
There is no other God than this one.
God did not bring Israel out of Egypt to leave them in the wilderness, but rather give them the land which he had designated as their inheritance
There is a sense in which God’s people are always on the march, always going forward
Is this true of us?
Moses final application ...
Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
God’s commands are to be obeyed and their relationship with Him is reliant on that obedience
They are for their good
They would be able to stand together against their enemies
Children would grow up well
Family life would flourish
Poor and needy would be provided for
Work would be satisfying
life would have the Lord at its centre
Things would go well in the land
Non-Christians often seem to feel progress, freedom nad joy comes from breaking God’s commands rather than keeping them
Christians seem to take a view that God’s commands are a burden, but obeying them is worth it because God rewards those who keep them
Rather the truth is...
God’s commands are good for us all and lead to a happy life and a wholesome society
It is true we find it difficult to keep them, but that is because of our sinfulness
The ways of God are pleasantness and peace
Cities of Refuge
Cities of Refuge
Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
Appointing of these cities was a strong signal to the people to fo across the Jordon in faith to take up their inheritance
He was setting the Israelites an example of obedience; The Lord had commanded him to do this (Numbers 35:14)
The emphasis on the cities may seem rather strange to us
Here is the provision of both justice and mercy
The command given was…
then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules.
The avenger of blood was a relative of the murdered who was responsible for executing justice on the murderer
Where though there was an unintentional killing, the person reasonible could got to the nearest city of refuge and find sanctuary there
The case would be considered there and if no murder had been committed then person would remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest
Justice would be done, and the avenger of blood would be kept from becoming a murderer
Time would also have passed to allow for the whole incident to be seen in proportion
This act of setting apart cities of refyuge shows the importance of justice, and thread that runs through the book of Deuteronomy
Hymn - HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY (159) - REGINALD HEBER 1783-1826
Hymn - HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY (159) - REGINALD HEBER 1783-1826
Q&A
Q&A
Hymn - MY WORTH IS NOT IN WHAT I OWN (1261) - Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty & Graham Kendrick
Hymn - MY WORTH IS NOT IN WHAT I OWN (1261) - Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty & Graham Kendrick
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Doxology
Doxology