1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,520 So grateful to be here with you. Bring a scripture to your to 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,480 your memory. Psalm 11 reminds us this. 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,680 The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. 4 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:16,480 His eyes see his eyelids. Test the children of man. 5 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:21,040 The Lord tests. The righteous, the Lord tests 6 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:22,920 the righteous. We've seen his pattern of 7 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,320 testing over and over again. There's a there's a ton of times 8 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:28,360 we see this throughout the Exodus, throughout the book of 9 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:32,159 Deuteronomy in the wilderness. We saw it first in Israel's 10 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,640 bondage in Egypt. And they cry out and they say, 11 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:37,720 Lord, they're in an impossible situation. 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,760 If you do not intervene, if you don't save us, if you don't 13 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:43,960 redeem us, we are going to perish. 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,520 We're going to suffer and we're going to die in Egypt. 15 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,080 We have no deliverer. And he moves abundantly, asked 16 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,560 abundantly, more than they could have asked or imagined. 17 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,200 He leaves them not only out with the blessing of Egypt, but with 18 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:00,440 their money. He sends them out with their 19 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,960 gold and with their silver. And that's how they depart 20 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:04,400 Egypt. Who would have imagined? 21 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,840 And they go straight from that into another impossible 22 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,800 situation where they leave and now they they get blocked in. 23 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,840 Pharaoh says that nature has trapped them in. 24 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:18,200 They find their way to a wall of water, a deep ocean and a 25 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,920 pursuing army of Chariots behind them. 26 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,320 And here we have again. God has put them in this 27 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,080 situation nature has trapped them in, but we know God has 28 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:27,560 trapped them in. And it's a test. 29 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,080 And the faithless people panic. And they say to Moses 30 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,200 sarcastically, cleverly, was it because there are no graves in 31 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,400 Egypt that you've brought us to die in the wilderness? 32 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,600 It's a test. God opens up the waters, he 33 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,200 makes a way, and he drowns the Egyptians in a way that they 34 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,880 would have never asked or imagined into another impossible 35 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,000 situation. Then they're brought into the 36 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,400 wilderness and they run out of food and they get hungry. 37 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:56,480 And this isn't they started to get a little hungry. 38 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:58,680 Their stomachs are empty and there is no food. 39 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,080 And so they begin again to grumble and detest God. 40 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,600 And they say in Exodus 16 would that we had died by the hand of 41 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,960 the Lord in Egypt, where we sat by the meat pots and ate bread 42 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:10,919 to the full. For you've brought us into the 43 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,040 wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger. 44 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:16,720 And again God demonstrates himself. 45 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,840 He brings manna from heaven. Literally. 46 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:20,160 What is it? No one knew. 47 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:21,760 They didn't know. Their fathers didn't know. 48 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:23,560 They're never seen anything like this before. 49 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,240 God provides for them miraculously every day so that 50 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,480 they do not go hungry. And then finally another 51 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,560 impossible situation is given. They're taken to a place in the 52 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,120 wilderness where there is no water. 53 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,680 And the name of that place is NASA, which means literally 54 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,160 testing. So God brings them to this place 55 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,480 to test them. They begin to grumble again, and 56 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,960 they panic, Exodus 17, saying, why did you bring us out of 57 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,240 Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with 58 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,640 thirst. And again, if they hadn't 59 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:56,960 learned by now, and they haven't and we don't either. 60 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:01,760 He strikes a rock. Moses brings water from the rock 61 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,000 to feed a river of water to feed the livestock and the people. 62 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:07,680 He brings man. And from heaven, they never 63 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,480 hunger or thirst. So we look back and, you know, 64 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,920 hindsight's always 2020. What should they have done? 65 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,320 We should have all gathered together when the trial started 66 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:21,760 and just sang together, saying, all my life you have been 67 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,760 faithful. All my life you have been so, so 68 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,440 good. As long as I am able, I will 69 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,360 sing of the goodness of God. That's the right response. 70 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,440 The right response is to to quote Psalm 18 two to one 71 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,560 another. The Lord is my rock, my fortress 72 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,120 and my deliverer, my God, my rock and whom I take refuge, my 73 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,160 shield in the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 74 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,400 I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised. 75 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,200 That's how you respond to a trial. 76 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,640 It's easier to say now, harder when you're in it. 77 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:53,720 You come into the New Testament. There's there's more impossible 78 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,080 situations. There's the most impossible 79 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,880 situation where we realize as God's people that we are trapped 80 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:02,440 in our sins and we're destined for hell. 81 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,640 And we say, as blind Bartimaeus said, have mercy on me or the 82 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,280 tax collector, have mercy on me, a Sinner. 83 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,080 And God made a way where there was no way. 84 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,080 He sends his only begotten Son to take our sins and to die for 85 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:16,920 our sins. He sends the bread of life, the 86 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,600 manna from heaven, and he brings rivers of living water in a way 87 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,680 that we would have never asked or imagined. 88 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,200 And this Son, when he comes, he sends Jesus Christ, whose 89 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,320 message in Matthew 6, you've already heard from David 90 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,600 Houghton. The message is, why are you 91 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,760 worrying? What are you anxious for? 92 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,520 Do you not have not demonstrated to you my faithfulness? 93 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,560 Do not know that I know what your needs are, that you need 94 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,240 food and clothing. Don't be anxious about your 95 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:45,960 life. He says what you're eat and what 96 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,800 you're going to drink is it is, is life not more than food and 97 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,920 the body more than clothing? Don't be anxious saying what 98 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,680 shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? 99 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,360 For this is what unbelievers seek after. 100 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:02,880 But you, O Christian, you seek first the Kingdom of God and his 101 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,840 righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 102 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:09,720 God knows what you need. You seek first His Kingdom, and 103 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,840 He'll take care of the rest. You worry about pleasing God and 104 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:14,640 loving him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all 105 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:15,640 your mind, with all your strength. 106 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,400 You love your neighbor as yourself. 107 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,840 God will see to the rest of it. That's Jesus's message and God 108 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:24,680 is going to test you and has tested you. 109 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,000 You know this with impossible situations, just like Israel, 110 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,800 just like Abraham, his physical descendants, his spiritual 111 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,160 descendants, and these impossible situations, you, you 112 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,160 have to cry out to him and say, God, if you don't intervene, I'm 113 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,120 going to die. If you don't heal me, I'm going 114 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,520 to die. If you don't provide for me, I'm 115 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:45,880 not going to have enough finances. 116 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,440 I will lose my house, I will lose my apartment, I will lose 117 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,680 my kids. If you don't come Lord and 118 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,880 intervene, then my marriage is going to fail. 119 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,320 And we are as Christians and God's people, no strangers to to 120 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,400 trying times and God continually points back to people. 121 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,560 It's going to be the verb of this text. 122 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,600 He says remember, remember my faithfulness. 123 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:10,560 Remember when I demonstrated myself to you. 124 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,120 We can go on our own recent history, even to less than five 125 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:16,400 years ago at First Baptist Church. 126 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,080 There's a group of women, Deanne and Mary and Pat and Nancy. 127 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,200 They're in the the children's area where there are no 128 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:22,800 children. And they're praying, saying, 129 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,160 Lord, would you bring us children that we can minister to 130 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:30,600 and love on and serve, not knowing that within a few years 131 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,280 the renovated kids area with its eight classrooms would not be 132 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:37,800 near enough to host all of the children that God was going to 133 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,960 bring in this church? I don't think we knew as the 134 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,080 parents of those children how many children God was going to 135 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:44,760 bring in this church. It's abundantly more than we 136 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,320 could ask or imagine. And the same is true within the 137 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,560 last 15 years at Heritage Church. 138 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,400 We were relying on the weekly gifts of the people to keep the 139 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,960 lights on. We would pay Jay and say, here 140 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,440 is your check, but please don't cash it until the end of the 141 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,440 week right with it. That was what's a it's a weekly 142 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,240 relying on the gifts of our people. 143 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,520 That's in our history. And we had no idea that God 144 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,720 would within a few years have three full time pastors at this 145 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,760 church where we're doing his work and a savings account. 146 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:21,400 And we went this year above our budget, $21,000. 147 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:22,920 We were in the black as a church. 148 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,320 And so we remember and we say, praise God, and that history and 149 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,520 that perspective reminds us of where we were. 150 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,200 So more than in Israel and that congregation, more than in our 151 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,800 church, God brings impossible situations to you and to your 152 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,400 family. And these trials exist. 153 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:45,840 Moses explains in Deuteronomy 8. To humble you and to expose you 154 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,240 and your self-sufficiency and to form you into the image of 155 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,240 Christ. And so there's a, a sweetness 156 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,160 that comes from depending on God like that. 157 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:57,680 But there's also a stress that comes from training your mind 158 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,280 and training your heart and training your soul to rely on 159 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,080 him when you have no sufficiency in yourself. 160 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,000 I know some of you, Maris Goss has struggled with headaches 161 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,480 forever. I've struggled with headaches 162 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,920 since I was a little kid. That's one of the ways that my 163 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,440 prayer life when I'm in those moments is, is the, the best, 164 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,040 right? There's a, a sweetness to the 165 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,000 communion that comes when you're truly depending on God. 166 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,160 I can't heal this on my own. And God, I need you. 167 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,120 I'm dependent on you. And so we, we discuss trials and 168 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:30,800 and tribulations a lot as a church. 169 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,320 They come on us. They're all over the scriptures. 170 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,480 But we asked this morning, what if God delivers us from those 171 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,919 trials and tribulations? Then what? 172 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,960 What if you're desperately sick and the Lord makes you well? 173 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:50,520 Or what if you're poor and God brings you into sufficiency or 174 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:54,640 even abundance? Moses says in Deuteronomy 8, if 175 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,600 you want to open there, this opens up a whole new set of 176 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,960 problems. And the the issue of Deuteronomy 177 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:03,080 8 is the tension that Moses brings of this is there are two 178 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,160 things that are true at once. The 1st is that God delights to 179 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,800 bless his people in every way. And the second is that those 180 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:14,320 blessings have the ability to draw our heart away from God, 181 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,160 and our focus then is on the gift rather than the giver of 182 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:19,560 those gifts who is blessed forever. 183 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:21,840 Amen. And So what do we do if God 184 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,880 blesses us? To use the language of 816, what 185 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:30,000 if God does you good? And this is where we turn to 186 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,160 Deuteronomy 8. Read with me verses 1 to 20. 187 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:36,000 And Moses gives us wisdom on how to live with nothing and how to 188 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,720 live with everything. Verse 1, he says, the whole 189 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:41,880 commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to 190 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,880 do, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess 191 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,120 the land that the Lord swore to give to your Father's. 192 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:49,840 Verse 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your 193 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,400 God has LED you these 40 years in the wilderness, that He might 194 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,120 humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether 195 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:56,960 you would keep His commandments or not. 196 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:00,360 And He, he humbled you and let you hunger, and fed you with 197 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,160 manna, which you did not know, nor did your Father's know, that 198 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,320 He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, 199 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:08,760 but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the 200 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:10,720 Lord. Your clothing did not wear out 201 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,120 on you and your foot did not swell these 40 years. 202 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,520 Know then in your heart that is a man disciplines his Son, the 203 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,280 Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the 204 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,800 commandments of the Lord your God by walking in His ways and 205 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,920 by fearing Him. For the Lord your God is 206 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,760 bringing you into a good land. The land of brooks, of water, of 207 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,800 fountains and springs flowing out in valleys and hills. 208 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,520 A land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and 209 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:34,840 pomegranates. A land of olive trees and honey. 210 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,520 A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which 211 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,360 you will lack nothing. A land whose stones are iron and 212 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,480 out of whose hills you can dig copper. 213 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,080 And you shall eat and be full. And you shall bless the Lord 214 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:46,880 your God for the good land that He's given you. 215 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,760 Take care lest you forget the Lord your God and his statutes 216 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,120 which I command you today. Lest when you have eaten and are 217 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:55,720 full, and have built good houses and live in them, and when your 218 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,000 herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold is 219 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,040 multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then your 220 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:02,840 heart be lifted up. And you forget the Lord your 221 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,640 God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the House 222 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,320 of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying 223 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:10,840 wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and 224 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:12,840 thirsty ground where there was no water? 225 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,960 Who brought you water out of the flinty rock? 226 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,280 Who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your father's 227 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,520 did not know, that he might humble you and test you to do 228 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,160 you good in the end. Beware, lest you say in your 229 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,080 heart, My power in the might of my hand have gotten me this 230 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:27,960 wealth. You shall remember the Lord your 231 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,680 God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, that he 232 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:33,600 may confirm his covenant that he swore to your Father's, as it is 233 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,080 to this day. And if you forget the Lord your 234 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,200 God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I 235 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,360 solemnly warn you today that you will surely perish like the 236 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,080 nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall 237 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,480 perish because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your 238 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,200 God. Two tests in Deuteronomy 8 that 239 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,320 the Lord describes, Moses identifies them and he reveals 240 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,160 their purpose. The first one you can write down 241 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,920 is the test of emptiness. That's verses one to six. 242 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,920 And the question that we ask in the test of emptiness is, will 243 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:06,840 you trust God when you have nothing? 244 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,840 Will you trust God when things are impossible And it remembers 245 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,400 Israel's time in the wilderness? And for context, it looks 246 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,400 forward to the second test, which is the focus of the 247 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,840 chapter, verses 7 through 20, that it's the test of fullness, 248 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:28,200 which says, will you remember God when you have everything and 249 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:29,840 you have family and you have church members and you have 250 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,480 friends that are in both of these camps and and you are 251 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,000 likely experiencing one of these two tests, having nothing or 252 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,840 having plenty. And so you need to heed the 253 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,360 wisdom that Moses is offering. What will take them in order? 254 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:43,840 The first Test is one that will come on all of us. 255 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,280 If you're not going through it now, you will, and probably 256 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,640 soon. The test is the test of 257 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,120 emptiness. Will you trust God when you have 258 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,760 nothing and you think to to Deuteronomy? 259 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,720 This is a book that shaped and framed by three sermons. 260 00:12:57,720 --> 00:12:59,360 We've already seen the first one, we're in the middle of the 261 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:01,960 second one. This is Moses preaching to the 262 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:03,920 people as they're at the edge of the Promised Land. 263 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,920 They've been wandering the desert for 40 years, and as the 264 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,040 people are awaiting the abundance that God has for them, 265 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:15,000 he stops them for at least a month to reflect on this desert 266 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,120 wisdom. What have we learned from all 267 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,920 these years in the desert? There's wisdom to be gleaned. 268 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:22,480 And so there's there's kind of this contrast. 269 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,600 This is a, a chapter of wisdom, Chapter 8's a chapter of wisdom, 270 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,800 but it's a chapter of contrast. And so he says, if you look back 271 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,840 on all this wisdom and you glean all of God's wisdom in the 272 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:33,880 wilderness, then you'll see that the wilderness was actually a 273 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,400 place of fruitfulness. And the place that you're going 274 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,400 into, which looks like it has so much abundance and it's flowing 275 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:42,720 with milk and honey. If you don't heed God's wisdom, 276 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:46,880 it will be a place of nothing. It will be desolate. 277 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:52,040 And we look at that period in hindsight of 2 million people 278 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,920 wandering around the desert for 40 years, and we say this was a 279 00:13:55,920 --> 00:14:00,000 waste of time. What a what a waste of time that 280 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,960 was. And in many ways it was. 281 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,480 But God says in many ways, there's a hundred ways in which 282 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,200 it was also fruitful. How how can Israel know? 283 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,840 How do they know whether the last generation worth of time 284 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:17,160 was futile? And the answer is by asking what 285 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,000 they were able to learn from that experience. 286 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,440 Deuteronomy in Deuteronomy 8, Moses tells the people this was 287 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,880 our time of testing and it was not arbitrary. 288 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:30,040 It had a purpose. And you can see it in verses one 289 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,360 to six at humble that revealed that form them. 290 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,200 Look at look at verse 2. He said the experience humbled 291 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,080 them by exposing their self-sufficiency. 292 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,680 Verse 2 again that God might know and that they might know it 293 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,080 exposed their heart so that there's no question. 294 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,200 This is the state of your heart. You skip down to verse five more 295 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,200 purpose. It formed them into the image of 296 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,400 God. It made them like Jesus Christ. 297 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,880 It created virtue in them. And so Moses says this 298 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,200 experience taught them just like your trials and temptations will 299 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,440 teach you. And it tested them just like it 300 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:04,920 will test you. It goes on and it says it 301 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,680 exposed them and it formed them and it showed the grace and the 302 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:09,840 provision of God and it showed his generosity and it 303 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,720 demonstrated his Providence, his about his ability to exercise 304 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:14,760 his kingship. It showed his omnipotence that 305 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,960 he's in control of the things of this world. 306 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,760 So you look at all this, you say, actually it's fruitful in 307 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:21,880 every way. It would set up the very words 308 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,000 that Jesus would rehearse when he's in the wilderness. 309 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,480 You see, all of the lessons that Israel was supposed to learn in 310 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,800 the wilderness, Jesus uses to combat Satan in the wilderness. 311 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,520 And so look, look at all this. It's a fruitful time of 312 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:36,040 learning. It's fruitful in every way. 313 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,400 It's why Christopher Wright says while the circumstances resulted 314 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,840 from human sinfulness, it still had divine purpose. 315 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,120 Or we could say it this way. God works all things for good 316 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,720 for those who love him, for those who are called according 317 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:55,560 to his purpose. And so God is a testing God and 318 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:57,960 James when we went to the book of James, we saw that he he 319 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,520 brings trials and tribulations of every kind of various kinds. 320 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,400 That means multi colored. He brings trials in every way. 321 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,960 And you can think through some of these categories that the 322 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:12,080 Lord tests you. Your mental and physical health 323 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,840 could be times of trial. Your finances, your children, 324 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:23,480 your marriage, your extended family, your education and your 325 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:29,640 school, your career, your friendships, your neighbors, and 326 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,480 even your church can be blessing. 327 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,080 And seemingly all of these come at the same time. 328 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,080 And we say why all of these tests? 329 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,040 Deuteronomy 8/3 is 1 that you should commit to memory. 330 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,760 It's the point that he might make you understand that man 331 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:51,240 does not live by bread alone. You might learn to trust God 332 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,400 when you have nothing. We might say that you would 333 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,720 learn to trust God especially when you have nothing. 334 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:59,680 So Moses says he, he first brings you these trials to 335 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:01,720 remove your pride, to humble you. 336 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,760 When Israel was standing with that army approaching in the the 337 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,720 ocean behind them, they realized in that moment, I am not God. 338 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:11,640 And that was the point. And they realized in that 339 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,839 moment, every individual person realized, I have no capacity. 340 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:18,280 I am no Messiah, I am no deliverer. 341 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:19,960 And actually I'm dependent on one. 342 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,520 And that's the point. And so Scripture gives the same 343 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,160 opportunity when they run out of food and water, when they're 344 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,200 hungry, when they're thirsty in the desert and all around them 345 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:33,760 is just scorpions and sand, they recognize I am not a deliverer. 346 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:38,360 I am not God. And when your child comes, you 347 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:40,720 have to remember is it brings you to the same point. 348 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,240 The trial comes, the simple temptation comes and you say, I 349 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,640 am not Jesus Christ. And I say, praise God for that. 350 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,200 You are not Jesus Christ. You cannot deliver yourself. 351 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:53,320 Trials come and then you understand, oh, I'm dependent on 352 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,080 another. If he doesn't intervene, I will 353 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,440 not be delivered. So people come to the church all 354 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:00,720 the time. They come and talk to John and 355 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:01,760 I. They come and talk to the elders 356 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,400 and they say things like my marriage is in shambles and 357 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,440 there's no fixing this. And they'll use language like 358 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:11,800 this is beyond fixing. We are beyond help. 359 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,440 And in one sense, when they say that we're like, then this is 360 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:17,400 where God works, right? Then settle down. 361 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,640 Now we put our hand to the plow. This is where God wants you to 362 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:21,560 be When you're at the point where you're beyond 363 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,240 self-sufficiency, That's where God works because at the end of 364 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,280 it, when you're delivered, he wants you to say to God be the 365 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,640 glory. He has done this. 366 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:33,080 I've done nothing. You are not Jesus, and you have 367 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,120 to also remember you are not Christ. 368 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:38,280 You're dependent on Him. But he also does this to teach 369 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:46,320 you that you don't live by bread alone, that you are dependent on 370 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,480 another. It humbles you, it exposes you, 371 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,720 and it forms you into His image, verses 2 and 5. 372 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,720 And so he does this to create in his people the sort of virtue 373 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,000 that's consistent with the high calling that you've been given 374 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,160 Israel, just like Abraham, just like every individual in this 375 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:02,640 room, we have different callings, we've been given 376 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,080 different blessings. We live in different 377 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,440 circumstances, but we're all being conformed to the same 378 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:08,960 person. It's all the same virtue. 379 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,960 It's why the spiritual gifts are for everyone or the the fruit of 380 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:14,440 the spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 381 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,280 gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. 382 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,840 Moses adds humility. This is what we will all look 383 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:25,520 like because of these trials. And so as a father disciplines 384 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,920 and shapes the virtue of his sons, verse 5, Moses, so says 385 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,840 God disciplines and shapes the virtues of his children. 386 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,680 Will you trust God when you have nothing? 387 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,680 And has he ever, has he ever proven faithless to you? 388 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:42,600 I see people in the room that are 20 years old, 30 years old, 389 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:46,560 80 years old, you're still here and you're dressed with every 390 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,280 good thing. Has God ever not been faithful 391 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,680 to you? Will you trust God when you have 392 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:53,840 nothing? We sang the lyrics. 393 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,800 Your promise still stands. Great is your faithfulness. 394 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,240 I'm still in your hands. This is my confidence. 395 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,840 You've never failed me yet. And so if you're being tested, 396 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,560 then trust in Him. And if you're not being tested, 397 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,360 remember that the Crucible is coming and you can resolve ahead 398 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:13,120 of time that when that day comes. 399 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,560 I'm going to trust in Jesus Christ when the disaster comes, 400 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:18,840 the various trials come. I will trust in Him. 401 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,960 And remember that the test doesn't come when things begin 402 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,400 to get hard. The true test is there. 403 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,960 Remember Israel when their stomachs were empty and there 404 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,720 was no food, When they were at that absolute most hopeless 405 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,080 moment? That's the real test, right? 406 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,160 When it's not when you're getting sick, it's when you're 407 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,520 at your deathbed, right? That is when God reveals 408 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,960 himself. That's when the true test comes. 409 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,920 And so it's a small example with all the trials that you've gone 410 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:45,280 through, the trials that I've gone through. 411 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,200 This is just something that the Lord has taught me lately. 412 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,280 We felt as the New York City party, as we tried to go to New 413 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,400 York, we didn't get to go like our college students did. 414 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,160 We kind of had our own wilderness wandering. 415 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,360 The closest we got to New York City was when we stepped on a 416 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:03,880 plane from Oklahoma City. So we flew to Dallas. 417 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,960 We tried to avoid the snow by going South and we ran into the 418 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,360 wind, unforecasted winds. The Lord knows when the wind is 419 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:12,080 going to come. We did not. 420 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,960 Neither did the plane agencies, Southwest and American Airlines, 421 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,440 but we went to Dallas. As we're about to land the wind, 422 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:22,480 there's a gust of wind. We can't land, so we get 423 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:24,960 diverted. We are already in a situation 424 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:26,000 that we would have called hopeless. 425 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:27,920 We've already said if we get on this plane, we've already missed 426 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,080 our connecting flight. And so we said we're going to 427 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,160 trust God and try to get on this plane. 428 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:34,920 As we're landing, the wind blows, we get diverted to 429 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,040 Austin. At this point, we've completely 430 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,000 missed our flight and it is completely hopeless. 431 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,760 And we all sit down and we just resolved we've missed it. 432 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,000 This is it and trying to figure out a way to get back home. 433 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,040 It was as we were being diverted to Austin. 434 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,080 I checked my phone after I've given up hope, I'm faithless. 435 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,760 I checked my phone and the flight that we're on is now the 436 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,080 flight that's going to be terminating in LaGuardia. 437 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:01,480 I'm not even going to have God's showing me. 438 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,280 You're not even going to have to get out of your seat, right? 439 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:04,760 You're not even have to get out of your plane. 440 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:06,640 If I want to get you to New York, you're going to be in New 441 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,480 York. And ultimately it changed again. 442 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,480 We did not get to go. The flights were booked. 443 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,880 But God showed me in that moment, out of that small 444 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,160 exercise, you're in my hand. It's not hopeless. 445 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,240 He flashed the hope in a way that you can never ask or 446 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,000 imagine. I will get you to New York if 447 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:22,680 you're supposed to be in New York. 448 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:27,920 So we, we trust him, especially when things are hopeless because 449 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:29,320 he's the guy. He's the guy who makes a way 450 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,520 Deuteronomy 8. They're looking back at the 451 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,000 testing of the past and actually God is looking toward the 452 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:38,840 testing that's going to come in the future. 453 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:40,240 This is the focus of the chapter. 454 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,440 Moses goes beyond our normal discussion of trials and 455 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:46,280 tribulations and he looks ahead and says, what if God delivers 456 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,560 you and you see that there's a new set of problems. 457 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,760 We call this the second point, the test of fullness and the 458 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,840 question if you are, if God has prospered you, if he has given 459 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,200 you fullness and sufficiency, The question for you is will you 460 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,040 remember God when you have everything? 461 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:08,280 What if God delivers you from sickness and restores to you to 462 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,840 a place of health in your blessing of health, will you 463 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,840 remember God? The odds are not for you if you 464 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,640 remember. 10 Lepers come to Jesus Christ and he heals all of 465 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,400 them. How many return to worship? 466 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,360 One comes back to worship him. And I can tell you, the pastors 467 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:26,720 of the church people come all the time. 468 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,280 We have vulnerable men and women who come up the streets and we 469 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,960 we can help them so far as we're able, set them on solid ground 470 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:35,640 and give them jobs and give them food. 471 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,880 And when they reach this place of stability, they no longer 472 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,160 need the church. They no longer need God. 473 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,200 We never see them again. This is the pattern we see over 474 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,960 and over. Very few stay and continue 475 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,520 acknowledging God. The second scenario, and what 476 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,640 if, what if God delivers you from your poverty and what if he 477 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,760 takes you from being poor and now he makes you rich and he 478 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,640 gives you an abundance like he's doing here with Israel and your 479 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,400 abundance. Will you remember God? 480 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,280 We look at the statistics in America and we say it happens to 481 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,200 so many Christians that it's, it's we could say virtually 482 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,040 every Christian when God multiplies their house, they do 483 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,960 not give in proportion to what God has given them. 484 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,040 They forget God and they take those gifts and they focus on 485 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,440 the gifts rather than the giver of those gifts. 486 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,120 They don't give to the church or to missions or to charities or 487 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:29,400 to the poor. God's gifts draw your attention 488 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,440 away from the giver and you forget. 489 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,080 And this is what Moses is speaking to when he says in 490 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:39,600 verse 19, the solemn warning. I solemnly warn you today that 491 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,320 you will surely perish if you would not obey the voice of your 492 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,960 God. Sobering as well that Jesus in 493 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,040 Matthew 25 doesn't condemn. He takes these Christian Christ, 494 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:53,800 professing Christian men and women and he he condemns them. 495 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,200 These, these Christ, I guess not Christian, but those who profess 496 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,840 Christ, you call him Lord. And he condemns them not for 497 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,640 what they don't do, but for what or for what they do, but for 498 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,120 what they don't do. He says I've given you these 499 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:05,840 resources. It's not that you're actively 500 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,080 oppressing people that said, I've given you this treasure and 501 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,840 you've squandered it. That's what you haven't done. 502 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:16,360 And so God's telling Israel here, the time of your testing 503 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:18,600 is over and the time of your abundance is upon you. 504 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,160 And generously and graciously he, he tells them what's coming 505 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,120 in the future ahead of time. He says, I'm giving you many, 506 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:27,160 many good things. We could say You'll see the 507 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,440 description in a moment. I'm giving you every good thing. 508 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,400 And on the prosperity of your Kingdom, don't forget your king 509 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,800 as you look at verse 7. There there's a transition from 510 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,920 the past to the inevitable future. 511 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,240 And you see this land that they haven't taken hold of, but 512 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,680 that's legendary and its abundance and its prosperity. 513 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,440 Read verses 7 to 10 with me and you'll you'll get a glimpse of 514 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,040 this. He tells Israel, For the Lord 515 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,800 your God is bringing you into a good land, A land of brooks, of 516 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,600 water, of fountains and springs flowing out in the valleys and 517 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,400 hills, A land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees 518 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,800 and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey. 519 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,920 The land which you will eat bread without scarcity, you will 520 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,520 lack nothing. The land whose stones are iron 521 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,200 and out of whose hills you can dig copper and you will eat and 522 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,320 be full and you shall bless the Lord for the good land that he 523 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,640 has given you. This reminds me some of you are 524 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,880 familiar with. There's an early American art 525 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:21,480 fraternity based out of New York City. 526 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:23,920 It was the Hudson River school. You raise your handle if you 527 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,880 know that one their their art is beautiful. 528 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,160 Thomas Cole was one of the authors of that. 529 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,800 He's got a piece in the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. 530 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,880 You can go and see it, but they they were criticized because 531 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:36,760 they will go out into the wilderness. 532 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,320 Nobody had iPhones then. They didn't have cameras like we 533 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,280 have today. And so if you're living in the 534 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,360 city and there's this vast American wilderness, it's 535 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:44,520 beautiful. There's mountains and there's 536 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,680 the Hudson River Valley and the Catskill Mountains. 537 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,280 And so they're trying to paint pictures of these wonderful 538 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,720 landscapes and bring them back so that people can have a sense 539 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,720 of what this land really possessed. 540 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:01,520 And the criticism came and the fact that they didn't paint the 541 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,280 landscape exactly as you would see it. 542 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:05,440 So there's not a place you can go line it up and say, yeah, 543 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,600 there's that tree here in this lake, in this little pond in 544 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,560 this river. And it wasn't like that. 545 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,840 They wanted to give you a sense of what the land would be like. 546 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:14,560 Were you there seeing it for yourself? 547 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:16,840 And so they say you're you're being disingenuous. 548 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:19,400 You're a liar because when I go there and they're saying, no, we 549 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,320 want to recreate and you the same sense that we had when we 550 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,600 saw this for ourselves. I think that's exactly what 551 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:28,320 Moses is trying to do here for his people. 552 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,160 The land is not literally flowing with milk and honey. 553 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,160 The the mountains are not made of iron and copper literally. 554 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,200 But he's wants to give you a sense of the blessing that's 555 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,960 going to come on you when, when you enter into this land, he 556 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:44,080 wants you to be awestruck, like they will be awestruck as they 557 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,640 anticipate this. And he's painting a, a contrast 558 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,760 again, it's a, it's a chapter of contrast between what they've 559 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,760 experienced in the last 40 years and what they will shortly 560 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,720 experience. They're going from the desert 561 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,720 into a sort of paradise. And look at the rich nature of 562 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,440 the land. Verse 7, there's brooks and 563 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,880 there's water and there's fountains and there's springs. 564 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,720 Verse 8 is the necessities of food. 565 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,200 There's wheat and there's barley. 566 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,040 You can make bread and there's grain. 567 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,160 Verse 8, There's luxury items. God doesn't just give you the 568 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,160 necessities. He knows how to give good and 569 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,720 perfect gifts. If God's given you more and 570 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,320 given you things to enjoy, would you honor Him by saying Amen? 571 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:27,440 Look at what he gives them. Vines for grapes and wine and 572 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,640 fig trees and olives and honey and pomegranates. 573 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,040 Verse 9 And there's metal in the mountains. 574 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,720 He says there's iron and copper. And there's an Old Testament 575 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:38,920 scholar named Thompson who comments on this. 576 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,600 He says this is literally true. He says the reference to iron 577 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,880 and copper in the hills is remarkably exact. 578 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,280 Ancient copper mines and smelters have been discovered in 579 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,120 recent years in the Arab below the Dead Sea and Geological 580 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:52,920 Survey has demonstrated the presence of ores and copper and 581 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,360 iron in the hills. You go on to verse 13. 582 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,120 It's not just what's contained in the land, but what they're 583 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,480 going to bring into the land. There's herds and flocks and 584 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,520 they're going to multiply. And he says you're going to 585 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,960 build these beautiful houses, some that you inherit and some 586 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:06,800 that you build, and it's going to go well with you. 587 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,360 Verse 13, there's going to be silver and there's going to be 588 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,440 gold. And then he contrasts that to 589 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:18,760 what it was like in that moment. Look at verse 15, terrifying 590 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,520 wilderness, fiery serpents, thirsty ground. 591 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,440 Verse 16 and manna alone for food. 592 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,160 So again, here's the contrast. You have life in the desert 593 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,520 versus life and experience in the Promised land, and you have 594 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,280 the salvation of Israel against the suffering and the judgement 595 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,960 of the Canaanites. And you have the lack of the 596 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:41,080 Israelites and the abundance of the Canaanites. 597 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,520 And by the way, how did the Canaanites do with all the 598 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,400 wealth and blessing that God gave them? 599 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,760 Did it terribly. So God's taking it away from 600 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,880 them. He's giving it to another. 601 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:56,240 He's taking it away. He's showing that riches have a 602 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,840 unique ability to draw your heart away from God. 603 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,080 There's a strange tension that we don't often think about that 604 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,480 God knows how to give blessings to his people, and those same 605 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,960 blessings have the ability to draw our hearts away from God. 606 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,320 And so he's warning you of this ahead of time. 607 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,920 And you think because you're not daily and consciously, this is 608 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,040 most of the people in the room because we're not daily 609 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,920 consciously, intentionally thinking about how God is 610 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,120 providing for us, that somehow we're able to provide for 611 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,280 ourselves or that the wealth that we've gained was somehow 612 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:31,320 because of our own hands. We think we're wise, we have a 613 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,280 solid education, we're employable for others. 614 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:39,520 We're strong and we're capable. We being you, not me for others. 615 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,600 You're rich. God's prospered, your house. 616 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,880 And so you think I have gotten these things for myself. 617 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,440 And when you come into that mindset, this is what verse 17 618 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,240 is telling you. Listen to the warnings. 619 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:53,240 Beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of 620 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:54,760 my hand have gotten me where I am. 621 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:56,760 Verse 18. This has been one of my favorite 622 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:00,360 verses for a decade because it's, it's so beautiful and, and 623 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,520 what Scripture teaches about how to how to have wealth and how to 624 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,760 gain it and how to be faithful with it. 625 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,240 He says you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who 626 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:09,640 gives you the power to get wealth. 627 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:14,480 That's such a wise verse. And so God's saying He's the one 628 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,320 who gave you the gifts and the circumstances to have the 629 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,560 education and to have the muscles and to have the money. 630 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:21,200 Just because you achieved something through 631 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,360 entrepreneurship doesn't mean it's not a gift of God. 632 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,920 Just because you went and earned your four year degree doesn't 633 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,320 mean it it wasn't given to you by God. 634 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:32,360 Verse 18, He gave you the power to get wealth. 635 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,960 And so Proverbs 39, therefore honor the Lord with your wealth. 636 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:39,840 Deuteronomy 818, honor the Lord who gave you the wealth. 637 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:44,200 Beware, don't allow the gifts to take the place of the giver, 638 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,880 your relationship with the gifts to over shadow the relationship 639 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,360 with the giver of those gifts. That's what happened to Solomon, 640 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,800 who Jesus says was not arrayed like God would have taken care 641 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,240 of him and he gave him. This was the high point the the 642 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,000 golden age of Israel's and David and Solomon and what happened to 643 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,440 Solomon when God made him rich, it led him to accumulate all of 644 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:08,040 these women and wives and his heart was led away. 645 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:13,120 So what do we do? There's a few verses I want to 646 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:15,680 call your attention to in this passage that show us the 647 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,680 faithful way forward. The first one is in verse 2. 648 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:23,200 Remember. Remember the lesson learned from 649 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,000 the desert. Remember the wisdom of the 650 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,160 wilderness, Why He subjected you to futility, why He brought you 651 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,000 into impossible situations to test your faith. 652 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,080 He gives you 3 reasons at least. He says it's to humble you, It's 653 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:40,000 to expose your heart, to show that you are not self-sufficient 654 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,720 and to form you into the image of Jesus Christ. 655 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,680 That's why He does it. Remember 2nd verb He says, you 656 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,760 got to. You got to know verse 3. 657 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,480 Above all, you are to know that man does not live by bread 658 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:53,400 alone. Jesus learned this wisdom and he 659 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,200 used it himself three times. Satan tempts him in the 660 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,200 wilderness when he's recapitulating the life of 661 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,280 Israel. But where they failed at every 662 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,520 point, he is faithful at every point. 663 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,120 Every time Satan comes at him and tests him, he quotes 664 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,400 Deuteronomy. And the beauty of this is, now 665 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,600 we've seen all three of the quotations in context. 666 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,000 I'll read them. You've seen all of these. 667 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,000 When tempted to throw himself from the temple, Jesus quotes 668 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,520 Deuteronomy 616. You shall not put the Lord your 669 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,400 God to the test. And when he's tempted again to 670 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,000 worship Satan and so to inherit all the kingdoms of the world, 671 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,080 he quotes Deuteronomy 613. It is the Lord your God you 672 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,840 shall fear, and him alone you shall serve. 673 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,440 And then when he's hungry, he's tested by Satan to turn the 674 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,280 stones into bread. And he responds with Deuteronomy 675 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,520 6 or Deuteronomy 8/3, this very passage you're studying same 676 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,680 Bible, same verse you have in front of you. 677 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:46,720 Jesus quotes it saying man shall not live by bread alone, but he 678 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,880 lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 679 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:51,800 This is the whole point of the passage. 680 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,600 And so in this context, it's it's the reason for the 681 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:56,880 remaining verbs. Verse 11, take care. 682 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:02,200 Verse 17 beware, take care lest you forget the Lord in times of 683 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,400 abundance and beware lest you think that the resources and the 684 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,360 blessings, the time, the treasure and the talent you have 685 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,960 are because of you. They are gifts from God. 686 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:15,000 You go to Paul Josiah read right up to our our verse and I love 687 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,199 we get to pick up right where he left off in Philippians where 688 00:34:18,199 --> 00:34:20,239 Paul says this. I know how to be brought low. 689 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,159 I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. 690 00:34:23,159 --> 00:34:25,520 I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, 691 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,560 abundance and need. I can do all things through 692 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,679 Christ who strengthens me. That's the context of his words 693 00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:35,679 when he says that we can live in abundance and we can pass the 694 00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:38,760 test and we can live with nothing and we can pass the 695 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:39,679 test. Why? 696 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,600 Because we can do all things through Christ, who gives us 697 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,239 strength to be faithful with nothing and faithful with much. 698 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,239 If there was a secret to living correctly with abundance, this 699 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:51,719 is it. We think that money and food are 700 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:54,880 indispensable for life, but Jesus says I am indispensable 701 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,240 for life. The Scriptures are 702 00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:00,080 indispensable. Carson and Beale go even further 703 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,600 and they say it's the spiritual nourishment that takes 704 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,320 precedence over the physical. Because if you go without food 705 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,960 and water, you can, you can die and you can perish in one sense, 706 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:14,200 but if you go without salvation and living with Christ, then you 707 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:16,800 perish forever. And so he says this. 708 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,840 We don't live by bread alone, but by every word that that 709 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,440 comes from the mouth of God. What Moses is teaching is that 710 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:28,200 following Christ is true life. And if you would seek God, his 711 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,160 Kingdom and his righteousness, all of the rest of these things 712 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:35,400 will be added to you. If God's provided for all your 713 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,040 needs these years of your life, would you say Amen? 714 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:41,880 If he's given you abundantly, more than you can ask or think, 715 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,640 would you say Amen? He is so faithful. 716 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,840 There's a tension here that Moses is drawing. 717 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:49,240 The last tension I want to draw you to. 718 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,360 He says there's on the one hand, there's emptiness with 719 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,400 remembering. That's where Israel was in the 720 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:55,720 desert. When you're empty, it's easy to 721 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,440 remember God. Your your need for him is your 722 00:35:58,440 --> 00:35:59,960 dependence on him. That's what the desert 723 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:02,800 experience taught. And then he says there can be 724 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:04,840 fullness with forgetting. That's the warning. 725 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,640 Don't get so full and multiply your resources to the point that 726 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,160 you forget God. So he says when you have 727 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,920 nothing, trust God, especially in that hopeless moment. 728 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,120 And when you have everything, remember God and honor him. 729 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:20,880 He's wanting to to create this balance. 730 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:25,400 What if you as a Christian were a full rememberer? 731 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:29,400 What if God gave you all good things and you remembered Him? 732 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:32,600 That's the pattern that He wants you to follow. 733 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:34,720 When you have nothing, trust Him. 734 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:36,440 When you have everything, remember Him. 735 00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:38,600 Make Paul's words your own words. 736 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,040 I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound in any and 737 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:43,680 every circumstance. I've learned the secret of 738 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,720 facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 739 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,120 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 740 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:56,120 Church, pray with me. Lord, we, we know that there are 741 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,960 many in our in our midst who are suffering, who have nothing in 742 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,600 this moment because of health, because of trials, because of 743 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,520 any of these, these situations, Lord, where these trials can 744 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:06,800 come on us. And we pray that you would give 745 00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:11,000 them the faith to acknowledge you and to remember you as they 746 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:12,800 have nothing. And for many of us in this room, 747 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:14,680 and many who are not here because they have already 748 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,400 forgotten, Lord, we pray that when you bring blessing and when 749 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,160 you bring those times of abundance, that we would 750 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:23,040 remember you and that we would so be blessed, as Paul says, 751 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,160 that in all circumstances you would be honored as Lord. 752 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:29,240 And we confess in this moment that we are so dependent on you, 753 00:37:29,240 --> 00:37:31,600 You are our Lord. We bow our knee to You that we 754 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,160 remember that formally now as we remember back to the cross which 755 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,320 sets us all on the the same playing field. 756 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:38,200 Lord, we are all equally dependent on you. 757 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:41,360 God, increase our unity and increase our love, even as we 758 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,480 come now to the Lord's Supper to start another month again in 759 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,640 complete unity and faith and independence on you, our Savior, 760 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:49,400 and whose name we pray. Amen. 761 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:53,600 Thanks for listening. To learn more about Heritage 762 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,600 Church or if you'd like to respond to this sermon, visit 763 00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:00,920 our website at www.heritageshawnee.org.