Sermon Tone Analysis

Don’t Forget Me!

 

9~/22~/2001 and 9~/23~/2001

 

 

*Deuteronomy 8* \\ (New Living Translation) \\ \\ /A Call to Remember and Obey/ \\ \\ 1"Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today.

Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.

2Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his commands.

3Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors.

He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD.

4For all these forty years your clothes didn't wear out, and your feet didn't blister or swell.

5So you should realize that just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you to help you.

\\ 6"So obey the commands of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.

7For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with springs that gush forth in the valleys and hills.

8It is a land of wheat and barley, of grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, olives, and honey.

9It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking.

It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.

10When you have eaten your fill, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

\\ 11"But that is the time to be careful!

Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and laws.

12For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, 14that is the time to be careful.

Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

15Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry.

He gave you water from the rock!

16He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors.

He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.

17He did it so you would never think that it was your own strength and energy that made you wealthy.

18Always remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you power to become rich, and he does it to fulfill the covenant he made with your ancestors.

\\ 19"But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.”

Example:

A man went into a fast food place with his little boy and bought some food.

He ordered French fries for his son but not for himself.

The smell of the fries got to be too much for him so he asked his son for some.

The son said no.

The father said “my son doesn’t realize that I bought him those fries or that I have the money to buy enough fries to bury us both in them.”

What is the point of that story?

-You know don’t you?

We are sometimes that little boy.

-The Israelites in this story are being warned about what could happen to them in the future if they don’t take certain steps and make certain attitude adjustments.

1.

THE BLESSING OF PROSPERITY

 

-We are a very blessed people.

Our country is very blessed.

-We have a level of prosperity in America that is astounding.

-Very few people in America have to go without eating in this country.

-We drove here in cars from nice houses in clothes that fit us etc.

 

-That is a good thing.

*/12For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else,/*

*/ /*

-These guys were headed for multiplication, fine homes, and prosperity.

-I might add that it is at the bidding and will of God.

 

-The Jewish perspective on money didn’t come from the middle ages where monks were responding to the extreme abuse of the popes living way above the level of everyone else.

 

-Their idea about money is Biblical.

-It is reflected in their other writings:

 

The Mishna-“Where there is no flour, there is no Bible.”

Hasidic folk saying- “Poverty causes transgression.”

The Talmud- “Poverty in a man’s house is worse than fifty plagues.”

-They weren’t confused as we often are about whether or not God wants us to be blessed.

3 John (NKJV)

2”Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Margaret Thatcher- “No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he only had good intentions.

He had money as well.”

-We have to see that money isn’t bad for good people.

Titus 1:15 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.

In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.”

2.

THE DANGER OF PROSPERITY

 

-God was warning the Israelites to remember the source of their blessing.

-He told them that if they took credit for it, they would lose it.

*/11"But that is the time to be careful!

Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and laws.

12For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, 14that is the time to be careful.

Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

15Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry.

He gave you water from the rock!

16He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors.

He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.

17He did it so you would never think that it was your own strength and energy that made you wealthy.

18Always remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you power to become rich, and he does it to fulfill the covenant he made with your ancestors.

\\ \\ /*

*/ /*

-America is in that place right now.

We are at a place of humbling ourselves before God to admit that only He and His blessing can be our hope.

-Every good gift comes from God.

 

Calvin Coolidge- “Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.”

! WESLEY ARTICLES X 2

 

 

-There was an */outreach in California/* and they noticed a direct connection between how close they were to the water and the response.

Those closest to the water lived in the nicest houses and were less responsive to the gospel.

-*/Charles Barkley/* was being interviewed and he said he had 50 million and he wanted 100 million.

He said that the ability to play basketball was a gift from God but he wanted to make money to show that he did it himself.

Haggai 1 (New Living Translation)

.

2"This is what the LORD Almighty says: The people are saying, `The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD's house--the Temple.' " \\ 3So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4"Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?

5This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 6You have planted much but harvested little.

You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up.

You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst.

You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm.

Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

\\ 7"This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 8Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house.

Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD.

9You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor.

And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away.

Why?

Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses.

10That is why the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its crops.

*/ /*

 

-God wasn’t against their money and homes, He was against their priorities and selfishness.

-They were stuck on themselves and they missed the real point in life.

3.

THE REASON FOR PROSPERITY

 

Deuteronomy 8 (NRSV)