When Privileges Become Peril (A New Year's Message)

Our biblical text presents to us today, something old and something new. Israel was now about ready to turn its back on its old way of life. The days of bondage, persecution, suffering in Egypt, wanderings in the wilderness, all of this has ended.

Now Israel was ready to cross the Jordan and move into Canaan, the land that was capable to meet all their needs. This was the land that had been promised by God to Abraham and all of his descendants. It was a new beginning for them, with new opportunities and new privileges.

They now had the Law of God, the presence of God, and the leadership of Joshua. It was the end of the old and the beginning of the new.

SLIDE 2

"The Lord has said unto you, You shall henceforth return no more that way...for you have not passed this way before." Joshua 3:4

Now, in much the same way, we stand as Israel on the threshold of something new. There is the untrodden way before us with new privileges and new opportunities. And just like God went before the Jewish nation of Israel, so will He go before us. Let us make good use of the privileges which will come our way during the coming year. Not to do so only invites peril into our lives.

SLIDE 3

I. PRIVILEGES BECOME PERIL WHEN WE REFUSE TO RESPOND

As we look at the experiences of Israel, we find that privileges become peril when we refuse to RESPOND to them.

Listen to the final warning Moses gave to Israel: I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, laws, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. Deuteronomy 30:16, NLT

From these words we find two privileges given to Israel.

SLIDE 4

For one thing, they had the privilege of an UNDIVIDED DEVOTION: "to love the Lord your God" Deuteronomy 30:6, also chapter 6:5.

According to Deuteronomy 30:6 notice what they were to do: "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul."

No less than ten different occasions in Deuteronomy does God repeat this high and holy privilege.

Here God was asking for an undivided love from Israel. He realized that the coming experiences that they were to go through demanded it. Once and for all their love for Egypt must end. But now the tragedy. David the Psalmist declares it in these words: "Nevertheless, they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him" (Psalms 78:36, 37).

Now it is here, my friend, we had better stop and ask ourselves the question: Do we love God with all of our hearts? As we enter this New Year we are in need of divine strength to get us through it. And such strength will only come from a heart that loves God. God is now asking that we love Him with all our hearts.

SLIDE 5

Then, also, Israel had the privilege of an UNDYING DUTY.

We read again in Deuteronomy these words: "to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances" (30:16).

Oh the privilege that was given to Israel - to know His Word and to keep His Word.

When Israel reached the Jordan River they were told not to cross it immediately. Listen to the words of Joshua: "And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you" (Joshua 3:5). Here they were commanded to set themselves apart to do the work of God and read the Word of God. But listen again as David declares what happened to them: "neither were they steadfast in his covenant" (Psalms 78:36).

As we stand on the threshold of 2002, God is saying to us, "Don't forget my Word." Now listen, if you are fortunate to live out this New Year, God will have given you 365 days broken into 8,760 hours. Of these hours 2,920 will have been spent in sleep, and about the same number at work. An equal number has been given to us by God to spend in reverent preparation of the soul in reading His Word and doing His work.

Now dear friends, let me tell you that there are going to be times in this coming new year when we will be tempted to neglect the reading of God's Word and the doing of God's will. No doubt there will be seasons of the soul when prayer will become difficult and Bible reading will lose its fragrance. There will even be times when you will be tempted like Israel of old to return to your old way of living. If and when this happens, I beg of you, not to give up, but all the more determine to advance in your Christian growth.

Many of us know the name, Elizabeth Elliot. In her book “Shadow of the Almighty,” she quotes her late husband, Jim Elliot, about his Bible reading. He stated: "Even when I have a coldness of spirit I must ever be in the place of reading God's precious Book. If I approach it with a cold spirit, even then the Bible will send me away with a warmness inside."

May God help us to respond to these two privileges of loving Him will all our hearts and obeying His Word as it is given to us by the Holy Spirit. This should be our number one priority as we cross the threshold of a new year. For if we don't respond to these privileges, it will be our undoing.

SLIDE 6

II. PRIVILEGES BECOME PERIL WHEN WE REFUSE TO REJOICE IN THEM

This brings me to my second point. Privileges will always become peril when we refuse to REJOICE in them.

Listen now to those words of Moses to Israel: “So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house,” Deuteronomy 26:11.

Seven times throughout Deuteronomy Israel is instructed to rejoice in the privileges that God has given to them. Let me mention two of them.

SLIDE 7

1. For one thing, Israel is instructed to rejoice in the privilege of WORSHIP.

Moses declared: “and worship before the Lord your God" Deuteronomy 26:10.

"Remember," says God to Israel, "the minute you cross Jordan and dwell in the land, don't forget to build your altars and worship me."

It was to the place of worship Israel was to bring their heavy hearts and tired souls. They were to bring their burnt offerings, their sacrifices, and there pay their vows to God. Oh, my Christian friend, what a privilege it is to worship God and express our adoration to Him. May God help us pledge anew this New Year that we give to Him the worship and devotion He alone deserves.

SLIDE 8

Then, secondly, Israel is instructed to rejoice in the privilege of WITNESSING.

Again Moses stated to Israel: "And then all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 28:10).

God selected Israel above all other people to be a witness to the surrounding heathen nations. But instead of rejoicing in this glorious privilege, they squandered it away. They failed in it miserably. The privilege that God gave to them was lost. He temporarily took it away from them. And may I say that the Church of today has just about lost the privilege of Acts 1:8 that Christ gave to us long ago. Witnessing has become a lost cord in the lives of so many Christians.

As pastor of this church, one thing that causes me to rejoice often is the strong witness many of our members give for Christ.

One of the ways our members are learning to share their faith is by participating in our FAITH witness training and outreach. This past year our church had eight faithful teams of men and women who consistently shared their faith in Christ, twenty-four altogether. I have asked two of them to come this morning and share for a few moments what being a part of faith has meant to them. (Ask Penny and Debbie to come share)

Thank you ladies. This New Year God is asking us to do the same. Let us rejoice in this privilege of witnessing. For as the Apostle Paul wrote: "God…has given to us the ministry of reconciliation" (II Corinthians 5:18). Who of you will be a part of our next FAITH training semester?

SLIDE 9

Today, I’m going to ask those of you who believe God would have you step out in faith and accept a tremendous challenge by being a part of our F.A.I.T.H. ministry to indicate your willingness on the back of your FBI Communication Card. Just write the word “FAITH” on the back of your communication card and come to our FAITH Banquet on Monday night, the 14th.

SLIDE 10

III. PRIVILEGES BECOME PERIL WHEN WE TRY TO REVISE THEM

Finally, privileges become peril when we try to REVISE them. Remember what Moses told Israel: “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ (Deuteronomy 17:14).

God has given Israel the privilege of being governed by Him alone. He was their King and Samuel was their priest. But Israel decided to revise this. They wanted to change it. So they rejected the form of government that God had set over them, and in doing this, they rejected God. We read about it in these words: "the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay, but we will have a king over us" (I Samuel 8:19).

Now get this and don't ever forget it: Israel did have kings reign over them. And it was these kings who corrupted them until eventually the kingdom was divided. We read these words in the Bible: "The kings did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all these of the heathen lands."

Let us as Christians not try to revise or change those privileges and responsibilities which God has given to us. But with a fresh dedication of ourselves to God, with a responsive spirit, and with a conviction that God has gone ahead of us, let us face the new year in His strength and fulfill all of those duties which He has graciously given to us. Let us begin today.

SLIDE 11

FBI Sermon Notes

TEXT: Deuteronomy 17:14-20; Joshua 3:4

TOPIC: When Privileges Become Peril (A New Year’s Message)

BIBLE SURVIVORS SERIES, Message 17

Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Icard, January 6, 2002

"The Lord has said unto you, You shall henceforth return no more that way...for you have not passed this way before."

I. PRIVILEGES BECOME PERIL WHEN WE REFUSE TO __________________

I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, laws, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. Deuteronomy 30:16, NLT

1. The Privilege of an UNDIVIDED ______________ "to love the Lord thy God" (v. 6).

"Nevertheless, they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him" Psalms 78:36, 37

2. The Privilege of an UNDYING ________________ "to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances" (v. 16).

"And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you" (Joshua 3:5). "neither were they steadfast in his covenant" Psalms 78:36

II. PRIVILEGES BECOME PERIL WHEN WE REFUSE TO ________ IN THEM

“So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house,” Deuteronomy 26:11, NKJV

1. We Should Rejoice in the Privilege of ____________. “and worship before the Lord your God" Deuteronomy 26:10

2. We Should Rejoice in the Privilege of ____________. "And then all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord" Deuteronomy 28:10

III. PRIVILEGES BECOME PERIL WHEN WE TRY TO _____________ THEM

“When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ Deuteronomy 17:14

BIBLE SURVIVORS READING ASSIGNMENT

DEUTERONOMY 21 - 30

Related Media

Related Sermons