Don't Forget the Lord Your God (Deuteronomy 8:11-20)
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 26 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
A couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. So during a check-up, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember.
Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. 'Want anything while I'm in the kitchen ?' he asks.
'Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?'
'Sure.'
'Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?' she asks.
'No, I can remember it.'
'Well, I'd like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so as not to forget it?'
He says, 'I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.'
'I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget that, write it down?', she asks.
Irritated, he says, 'I don't need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream - I got it, for goodness sake!'
Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, the old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment.
'Where's my toast?'
The moral of that joke is that without being intentional it is easy to forget. Human frailty can cause you to forget.
Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land the Lord is giving you.
“Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads.
Read Deut 8:11-20
Read Deut 8:11-20
Background:
Background:
God, Moses and Israel
2nd Repeating of the Law
“Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today.
“Be Careful” Look!
“Forget” Not found
How do you forget the Lord?
By Forgetting what He has said
Jesus said to Satan “Man should not live alone but by every word that comes out the mouth of God”- Matt 4:4
When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
What can cause us to forget God?
Prosperity and comfort.
Pride
Aseop Defeated By Pride
Two roosters fought for supremacy in the farmyard. Finally, one was vanquished and he went and hid himself in a corner of the hen-house.
The victor flew up to the roof of the barn and begin to crow, “I’ve won, I’ve won!"
An eagle swooped down and carried him away and the rooster that had been defeated suddenly found himself unchallenged master of the farmyard.
Moral: The enemy is often defeated by his own pride.
He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you. He fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper.
What has God done for me?
God has delivered us from much
God has humbled us (Shown us we have no power)
God has tested us (Given us experience)
Prosperity (To Do Good!)
God delights to Honor humble people.
A truly humble man is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people. Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, was an outstanding example of this truth. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town when he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her. Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested. When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady.
The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely. "It's perfectly all right, Madam," he replied. "Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it's always a delight to do something for a friend." She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart. Not long afterward she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join her in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute.
You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
Don’t forget the Lord cause he has not forgotten you!
God gives you what you need because of his promise!
If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish.
Have a willingness to wait!
Don’t settle for Substitutes (Idols)
When I was in School we use to love the Substitute Teacher
Subtitue was a break from the commands, and Statuetes of the Teacher
The Student imposed his will and subverted the will of the Substitute
The Substitute gave you your way.
Idols are speechless and without power
They let you have your way
Isa 45:20 “Gather together and come; assemble you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.”
Psalm 135:15-18 “15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 17 They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”
Like the nations the Lord is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the Lord your God.
“Perish”- To be lost
“Obey” - To Hear
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.
The Remedy for Forgetting is Remembering!!