Victory In Jesus

Pray

Well as we get started this morning, I’m going to take you back to your 3rd grade English class as we read a famous poem by Robert Frost.

This poem is called the road not taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

This poem was first published in 1915 and written by Famous poet Robert Frost. And as a child in elementary school, one of the many things that you learn is the work of Robert frost and his legacy as a renowned New Hampshire poet.

In this poem Robert frost writes about the Road not taken. Which stems from his time in England from the years 1912 to 1915. While there Robert Frost and his Edward Thomas would take many walks together. Now, one day, as they were walking together, they came across two roads. Thomas was indecisive about which road to take, and in retrospect often lamented that they should have taken the other one… After Frost returned to New Hampshire in 1915, he sent Thomas an advance copy of "The Road Not Taken". Thomas took the poem seriously and personally, and it may have been significant in Thomas' decision to enlist in World War I and faithfully serve his country where he would go on to give us life just 2 years later in the line of duty.

You see friends, life gives us roads to travel. Some roads seem like the best path, but end up as dead ends… Other roads seem more difficult but are the very ones we need to take in life.

This morning will be our final week in this series, and our message this morning is the path to victory. We’re going to examine lessons learned from Moses as God used him to lead the Israelites through the wilderness… and our Goal is to see how to live a life of victory in Jesus.

Now next week, we’re going to look at victory in marriage, and go from there look at victory in our relationship with others… but, we have to make sure, we get our priorities straight. You see, it all starts with Jesus.

This morning, if you have your bibles, turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy 10. And as your turning there this morning there are 2 points that we’ll unpack together. We can choose A lifestyle of Victory as we 1. Fear and serve the Lord 2. Love and Obey the Lord

1. A Lifestyle of Victory comes as we fear and serve the Lord

As your turning to Deuteronomy 10, I just want to take a moment to catch us up to speed with where we are this morning. The book of Deuteronomy is written during Moses last 2 weeks on earth. And much of what we read is based on the Israelites past 40 years and mistakes. Now he shifts his attention towards the next generation and gives them instruction for how to move forward. You see, Moses is concerned about the next generation. He realizes that they can’t go back, and so their only way they can go is forward.

He explains to them in Deuteronomy 10 how he met with God on Mt. Sinai, and how the Lord gave him the 10 commandments. Then he writes in verses 12-13 summary of what’s been learned.

12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

You see friends, here in this scripture. Moses summarizes his meeting with God on Mt. Sinai. And he comes to the conclusion of what God wants from this next generation of Israelites. He tells them to Fear the Lord, to walk in obedience, to love the Lord, to serve the Lord and finally to Observe the Lords commands and decrees.

But friends, as we see the Israelites this morning, we understand that the first generation had a problem with being faithful to God. Therefore, God would use Moses to address this next generation and to show them how to live for the lord.

But let’s take a second and just observe the error that was committed by the Israelites. In Exodus 32, after God had met the Israelites, we see that despite this meeting, and despite the many miracles he had performed for them… they take their eyes of Christ.

Exod. 32:1-4 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

What’s crazy to me too is this… where did the gold come from? if we recall back to Exodus 12, the bible tells us 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so, they plundered the Egyptians. Exodus 12:35-36

You see, God, had given them this gold. The Egyptians are being favorable towards the Israelites… they’re giving them their gold and what do the Israelites do with it? They take the gift of God and put it into an idol to serve and worship it.

Friends, here’s the point… the gold wasn’t bad… it’s what they did with the gold that made it bad. In fact… Genesis 1 tells everything God made was what very good. And yet… the Israelites are taking the good things of God… and they’re using them for evil.

You see, Moses is meeting with God, and in these moments… The Israelites are being unfaithful down below… they think they’re celebrating victory. They have this cheap, temporary emotional high… but ultimately, they wasted God’s blessing and ended up urinating it out in the wilderness.

You see friends… we don’t like the valley in life…. We like to be on top… we like to stay high, we like to feel good… And if God doesn’t make us feel good, or if our circumstances don’t feel good… we’ll turn to things that will give us the quick fix…

I’m reading into this a little bit but after 40 days of being at the base of the Mountain, these Isrealites said hey, enough is enough… Let’s go back to the old us… let’s feel good. Moses, that old mans taking too long to come down that mountain… let’s go back to our old ways…

Friends, we must come to a point… where we walk away from the old… and walk to the new… Like I said last week, we must find that place in life that is our mountain, where we meet God… we must ascend to the mountain… All the Isrealites are sinning… yet Moses is free of sin… cause he’s meeting with God..

Exodus 32: 15-20 says : 15 Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16 The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

19 Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.” 19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

Friends, do we want to know the first step to living a life of victory? We have to put away anything that gets in the way of Christ. You see, the Israelites aren’t celebrating victory in these movements… instead, they’re worshipping these idols.

In your life… sin might make you feel like your winning… until you realizes there’s consequences for your sin… You see a pastor friend of mine always used to say… you can sure pick any sin you want… you just can’t pick the consequences…

These Isrealites, they sinned… and God punished them with their sin… That same gold that God gave them… guess what… they wasted the blessing and it turned into a curse… Moses made the gold into a powder and forced everyone to eat it. Then 3,000 people were killed for by the sword for their sin, then the people were struck by a plague. And ultimalty… in time… this generation due to their unfaithfulness would wonder aimlessly in the wilderness.

Friends, this morning… God calls us to victory in Jesus… and we’re not talking about salvation… but instead… we’re talking about a life where God’s blessing is all over us.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us

Friend, can I ask you something this morning? Are there things that are getting in the way of your relationship with Christ?

And maybe it’s not the golden earrings that God has given us, but every good and perfect gift is from above… and so while there’s nothing wrong with Gold for instance, in fact, Gold is beautiful, it has value and use, and God created it… there is a problem with using the Gold for evil.

For others, we put our attention on our cell phones, on music, and on our own American Idols… which, if we’re not careful, can take the place with God. Friends, here’s the point, it’s not wrong to have a cell phone, it’s what you do with it that matters, it’s not wrong to listen to music, it’s the type of music that you listen to that matters, it’s not wrong to watch tv, it’s what you watch that matters.

Even on wall street… and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with stocks, I actually think it’s wise to invest… but if you know anything about stocks… there is a bear market and what? A bull market? Friends, if we take our Gold… or our treasure… we must be careful that it’s not becoming an idol for us and getting in the way of our relationship with God. He’s the only one perfectly faithful and true.

Friends, a life of victory is a life of freedom. My question for all of us this morning (myself included) is what areas in life are we holding on to? Are there idols in our lives that we have given room to?

You see, Deuteronomy 6:5 says that You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. But friends, it’s awfully tough to love God with all of us if we’re giving part of ourselves to something else.

2. A lifestyle of victory comes as we Love and Obey the Lord

Deuteronomy 11 Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws, and his commands always. 2 Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm; 3 the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; 4 what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea[a] as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. 5 It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, 6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. 7 But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.

There’s a few things about this passage that stick out to me… first, we notice that as Moses is instructing the Israelites, he tells them to Love the Lord your God… but then the next words are and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. We then go on to see the necessity of making sure that the next generation receives the same message…

You see, the bible here does not separate the idea of love from the idea of obedience, instead the two go hand in hand.

Jesus said the same thing in 7 simple words in - John 14 he says: 15 “If you love me, keep my commands.”

You see friends, there is this idea when you are committed to Christ. That you obey him.

I’ll never forget stating the enlistment oath while at the Military Entrance Processing location in Portland Maine.

Here all who enlist in the military have an oath that they state and are committed to following. You state: I then you state your name do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So, help me God.”

Now although these are just words… must be backed up by the supported actions that show your allegiance to your country. Failure to follow the commands and the orders given to you could result in serious consequence or punishment. In fact, I read this week that More soldiers were executed during the American Civil War ( from 1861–1865) than in all other American wars combined. Approximately 500 men, representing both North and South, were shot or hanged during the four-year conflict, two-thirds of them for desertion.

John 1:16 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.

Here’s the point… When you commit yourself to the cause, your expected to obey the orders given to you. Even the Marines motto Sempre fi means always faithful… my question for us this morning is are we always faithful to God? You see, the Israelites were not faithful… but this morning, God calls us to live for him and if we love him to keep his commandments.

You see, God calls us to love and obey him and ultimately friends. Its for his glory and our good.

You see, in the following verse, we see a promise of God’s blessing… combined with a premise.

we continue reading in Deuteronomy 11 13-21 God promises good things for those who love and obey him. We read… Deut 11: 13-21 13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Friends this morning, God calls out to us… He calls out to us from heaven and gives us this same opportunity in life… he sets before us two paths to follow and unlike the military which forces down the path it wants us to take… God is a gentleman. He doesn’t force… instead he invites us to take up our cross and follow after him…

You see, just like the poem that we began this message this morning… as we conclude this sermon series, we see that Moses has offered the Israelites the opportunity of both life and death… of goodness, or of grief…

Deut 11 26-28 26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

Friends, the question for us this morning is who will we serve? Who will we bow down to? Who will we worship? Who will we give our time, our talent, and our treasure to?

Friends, we’re going to close out of service in just a brief moment… but here’s where I would like us to conclude… In the book of Joshua… Joshua, passes along this same sort of challenge to the next generation of Israelites… and he gives them a choice as to who they will follow… he states:

Joshua 24:15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Friends, that call is the same call to us this morning… the path before us… we decide the one that we take…

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Here’s what we’re going to do. At this time, I’m going to call the elders forward as we prepare to take communion together… and as they’re coming forward… here’s what I would ask you this morning… what path are you on? what areas in your life (and I’m speaking to myself as part of this to…) do we struggle to give up to God? Do we have things in our lives that are stealing our time from God? What is God asking us to give up to him this morning?

In a few moments, the elements will come by. And if you’ve accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life… grab the bread as it comes by, and then the cup… and we will take the elements together…