Deuteronomy 6–7

Good evening. Would you all stand? Let's see if I can clear my throat a little bit here. Excuse me.

We want to welcome all of you here this evening, those online that are joining us, and you here in the sanctuary. Welcome to Calvary Chapel here in Arkansas City. We pray that you just have a blessed time and that we grow in God's grace tonight. Would you bow with me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity we have this evening to gather, to worship in song, and to study your word.

Father God, would you speak to us by your Holy Spirit? Just fill us afresh tonight, Lord, as we're in the middle of another week, Lord. With activities and things going on, Lord, help us to be able to take a little time here to focus on you, Lord, and to calm our hearts, to worship in song, and to study your word. I want to lift up the nursery and the folks looking after the little ones.

You'd bless that. And the children's church, bless that time with the kids spending time growing in your grace also, learning of your word, and worshiping. And we lift up the youth group, Lord, that you'd bless them as they also gather to spend time getting to know you better and fellowshipping one with another. Just bless our service here this evening, Lord, and we give you all the thanks in Jesus' name.

It's who you need to be seated.

We come to you tonight. Father, even though, whether or not we're experiencing pain or whatever, sorrow, we know there's many different loved ones and other Christians that are, Lord, in a world that's seeming chaotic, Lord. We look to you, Lord. Please strengthen us, Lord, with your help. Let's just always look to you. Praise this evening, Lord.

Nothing but the blood. He loves us each. Divine love. And in spite of love, in spite of us, he loves us. And because of us, for his pleasure, we're to give him glory.

Father, just continue to bless our service now as Pastor Ryan comes up to teach your word, that it would come forth with your power, with the anointing of your Holy Spirit, with hearts to receive that which you have tonight. And, Lord, then may we give out what you give us to others, Lord, and serve us to you. Thank you, in Jesus' name. Amen. The Lord bless you all.

Good evening. Glad you could be here tonight. If you could open up in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 6. Deuteronomy 6. We'll be picking up where we left off last week, which was not as far as I intended to get. That's how it goes. We'll be picking up in verse 10 of chapter 6. We had started into what God expected of the nation of Israel. And, of course, the first thing that we see is the first thing that God expected of the nation of Israel.

And what we saw in chapter 5 is that he told them that they needed to hear, to learn, and to obey the law of God. And so he reiterates that law to them as he reiterates the Ten Commandments there in chapter 5. But then as we moved into chapter 6, he really gave them the greatest commandment, which was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. And so as he gives them that commandment, he then reminds them that these words of God, this law that God had given them, should be something that should be on their heart.

But not only should it be on their heart and that it be the things that they meditate on, but it also should be written on their frontlets of their foreheads, on their hands, on the doorposts of their homes. Really, it should be everywhere so that it can be spoken of everywhere that they went. It was to be the focal point of their life. And so as he told them that about loving God with all of their heart, keeping God's word constantly around them, he now, the end of chapter 6, halfway through chapter 6, on through about halfway through chapter 7, he's going to begin to give some warnings to the children of Israel.

And it's going to be kind of interesting because really this is the pattern that a lot of the next handful of chapters are going to give to us. Some commands and then some warnings about what happens if they don't keep those commands. And so I think that not only do the commands are important for us to pay attention to, but also those warnings are important. These are important for us to pay attention to because we know that when God gives us a warning, it means it's something we should really pay attention to.

And so we start off in verse 10 of chapter 6. It says this, Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you great and splendid cities which you did not build, houses full of all the good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards, and olive trees which you did not plant and you eat and are satisfied. Then watch yourself that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God and you shall worship him and swear by his name.

You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the people who surround you for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God. Otherwise, the anger of the Lord, your God, will be kindled against you and he will wipe you off the face of the earth. So the first warning that he gives them is to not forget the Lord. But I want you to take note of how this warning begins.

This warning begins by letting them know when they get into the land, they are going to experience success and prosperity because those are the things that God has promised them in this promised land, that they would have success over their enemies. But then they would also have this great prosperity. Did you take note of the language that was used? Vineyards, that you didn't know?

You didn't plant cisterns, which you didn't dig houses, which you didn't build. In other words, the success and the prosperity is going to be great when you come into this promised land, because that's part of it being the promised land. But when all of the success and all of the prosperity begins to flow and you're no longer constantly on your knees before the Lord for your daily bread, he warns them about a danger that will show up in their lives. He says, watch yourself.

That you don't forget the Lord. Isn't it amazing that we as human beings find that the times when we are the absolute closest to the Lord in our lives are the times when we're going through the hardest situations? I probably would not choose a lot of the hard situations that I've gone through in my life. And when I say probably, I mean, I wouldn't choose any of them.

And yet those were all so important for me. And in the midst of them, I could almost look back and not that I ever want to go back to any of those places again. end, but you can almost kind of go, but there was a depth of my prayer life at that point in time. There was a depth of my devotional life at that point in time. There was a depth of me constantly being on my knees before the Lord that's unlike any other time in my life. Because that was the

only choice I had at that point in time. There was no prosperity or success around me. There was only that constant dependence upon the Lord. But as God always does, he answers. He meets those needs. He takes care of those situations. And then we come into a place where it's like, oh, I'm done with that. Man, I am so glad that that pressure is not constantly on me all the time. But you know what

can happen when that pressure is not constantly on us all the time? All of a sudden we can find that we lose a little bit of our edge. We lose a little bit of that spiritual sharpness, right? Because now it's not every day that I'm going, Lord, I don't know how I'm going to make it through today. Because without you, I can't do it. Now it's, hey, things are actually going pretty good in my life. Things are pretty good right now.

And listen, I don't think you should then try to create a hardship in your life so that you stay close to Jesus. No, you need to heed the warning. And when you're in the midst of that good time, when you're in the midst of that time of peace, prosperity, and success in your life, watch yourself. In other words, same word that we've seen several times show up, keep guard over yourself. And the reason why we keep guard over ourselves is because those are

the times when we can feel the love of God. And that's why we keep guard over ourselves. And that's why we find that we will forget the Lord. We'll find that that's when we have a tendency to forget how much we need God. I'm always reminded of that famous line from the book of Kings when it says, it was the time when the kings would go out to battle. It was the season

when the kings would go out to battle. But David stayed in Jerusalem. And if you know your Bible at all, you know what's going to happen next. It involves a lady by the name of Bathsheba. You see, when David should have been out fighting the battle, when David should have been out doing what he was supposed to be doing, he didn't keep guard over himself. And because he didn't keep guard over himself, he forgot about the Lord. And because he

forgot about the Lord, he began to worship idols. Ryan, we never read of David serving idolatry. Oh, really? The passions of the flesh? Wouldn't we call that idolatry? Because he bowed down to the idol of sexual pleasure in his life. You see, it was at that point in time that that began to happen to him. And so we must remember there will be seasons that are really hard and they will keep us dependent upon the Lord. But

there's going to be seasons of success in our lives where the hardship won't be there as much. And we must make sure at that point in time that we stay as dependent upon the Lord then as we would as if there was a hardship happening. He says, watch yourself that you forget not the Lord. Because what will happen if we forget the Lord? We'll end up giving in to the Lord.

We'll end up giving in to idolatry. And we have to remember that God, it says right here in verse 15, the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God. In other words, he don't want to share you with anybody or anything else. He wants 100%. He goes on to give a second warning. He says in verse 16, he says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at

Massa. You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, that you may go in and possess the good land, which the Lord swore to give to your fathers by driving out all your enemies from before you as the Lord has spoken. When your son asks you in time to come saying, what do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean, which the Lord our God commanded you, you shall say to your son, we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. And the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand.

More of the Lord showed grace. Great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land, which he had sworn to our fathers. So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord, our God, for our good always, and for our survival as it is today. It will be righteousness for us

if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord, our God, just as he commanded us. What's the second warning that he gives us? Don't put God to the test as you did at Masa. If you don't remember what happened at Masa, it's Exodus chapter 17 verses 1 through 7. It was the first real challenge after the Red Sea that they faced. There was nothing to drink. And they found

themselves saying, why has God brought us out here to kill us? Is God really with us? Does God really care about us? Well, looking back on this, Moses said, you put the Lord your God to the test. How'd they put him to the test? Because they didn't believe that he was able to do what he said he was able to do. And essentially they said, prove yourself. Prove that you really are God.

Prove that you really are in the midst of us. Prove to us that you really love us. Because if you remember, one of the things they said is, God does not love us. He's brought us out here to kill us. You see, they put the Lord their God to the test because they didn't have what they right in front of them. Therefore, they wanted God to prove himself by providing water. It's

interesting because Jesus quotes this exact same thing when he is tempted by the devil. Do you remember? The devil tempted him and said, hey, you should just throw yourself off of this mountain because I guarantee, no, excuse me, the pinnacle of the temple. Throw yourself off this pinnacle of the temple because it's written in the scriptures, an angel will catch you lest you dash your foot against a stone. You remember how Jesus responded? He said, it's written, you shall

not. Put the Lord your God to the test. Why? Because we're not to throw tests out for God to make sure that he can be who he says he is, that he would do what he says he's going to do. It's essentially pride on our part. And that's exactly what was going on with the nation of Israel then. He says, don't put the Lord your God to the test like you did at Masa. What should they do instead? Instead,

you should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and all of his testimonies, and you shall do what you're told to do. And that's what they're saying. And that's what they're What is right and good in the sight of the Lord. In other words, I trust God to do what he's going to do. I do what I'm called to do. We're going to come here in just a little while in the book of

Deuteronomy to one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible. It says, the secret things belong to the Lord and the revealed things belong to us. It's a similar idea to what he puts right here when he says, don't put the Lord your God to the test, because you and I will come across times in office. lives where we're going, I don't know how God's going to do what he says he's going to do, but it's not my job to figure that out because the secret things belong to the Lord.

My job is to do what God continues to call me to do, even if it's not easy, even if it doesn't make sense at the time, even if I can't see how the end result is going to come out, I continue to diligently keep the commandments of the Lord my God and do what he's called me to do because it's right, because that's me being obedient to him and trusting that he will take care of everything else. He says, and when you do so, when you come into the land and you've driven out your enemies and you've not put the Lord your God to the test, instead you've just done what God has commanded you to do, it's going to be a great witness. As a matter of fact, he says your kids are going to be

like, hey dad, what's up with all the commands and stuff that you make us keep all the time? What's up with all these commands that God gave to us? And that will be a... A wonderful opportunity for a witness for you because you'll be able to say, well, you see, son, God delivered us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He's brought us into this land. He's done all of these great things for us and these are the commands he expects for us to keep.

You know what this tells us? This tells us that the greatest witness that I can have in the life of both my kids and all of the other people around me is my obedience. Obedience to God. Because that is the greatest test of whether or not Jesus has taken any kind of root in my life. You say, Ryan, that's legalistic. Is it? Because what did Jesus say? If you love me,

you'll keep my commandments. That's how I'll know that you love me. That's the test. You see, what God is desiring of us as believers is that we would become obedient. Not obedient so that we can earn his love, but obedient because we already have it. Obedient because we're responding to what he's already done for us in our lives. And I now from that place obey God out of a desire to honor him in everything that I do.

And it's the greatest witness that I have to the world that's around me. Because then eventually, I guarantee it, whether it's them mocking you for what you're doing or whether it's them questioning what you're doing, someone around you will say, why do you live the life that you live? Why do you do the things that you do? My girls ask me all the time, Dad, why can't we do X, Y, and Z? And it's an opportunity for me to say, well, you see,

Jesus saved me out of that, and I don't want to go back to it again. So that's why I don't do some of those things. Why do we do these things? Because Jesus saved me, and I want to honor him with every bit of my life. You see, it's not necessarily me saying God delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh. It's me saying Jesus saved me from a life of sin. And it's my greatest witness,

both to my kids and to the world that is around me. Well, he goes on from there in chapter seven to give one more warning. It says, when the Lord, your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites, and the Amorites and the Canaanites, and the Amorites and the Amorites, and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you. When the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them.

You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them. You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. And then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and he will quickly destroy you.

But thus you shall do to them. You shall tear down their pillars, tear down their altars, hew down their asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own people. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. And of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

The Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you are more in number than any of the peoples. For you are the fewest of all the peoples. But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which he swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to the thousandth generation with those who love him, keep his commandments, but repays those who hate him to their faces to destroy them.

He will not delay with him who hates him. He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, statutes, and judgments, which I am commanding you today to do them. The last warning that he gives to the people is make no covenant with the people. Make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land. He starts off by saying, when the Lord your God brings you into the land

and you destroy them and you have victory over them, even though all these nations are stronger than you. That's a fun way that he phrases that because did you notice what he did not start off by saying? He did not start off by saying, if you come into the land and you defeat seven nations that are stronger than you and you displace them and you're given victory over them. He says when, because it is a foregone conclusion.

And I appreciate that about God because he states that, which has not yet occurred as if it already has. And that's what he does with the nation of Israel. And I think that's something for us to hold on to as well because while we're not about to march into a land and defeat an entire people group that are much greater than us, you and I have a different kind of promised land that we're facing right now. The promised land that we're facing right now is overcoming all of the sins of our flesh and beginning to walk in a life of faith.

And sometimes I can find myself, and perhaps you're the same way, saying, if I can overcome this, if I can get past this, you can almost hear God going, now wait a second. It's not if. It's when. Because I don't give you battles you can't win because I've already been there and I've already defeated it for you. He said when you come into that land, when you have defeated nations stronger and greater than you,

there's something that they were to be aware of. You shall not make a covenant with the people. Matter of fact, it says you shall show no favor to them nor shall you intermarry with them. I appreciate what he says here because he knows who we are as human beings. He knew that what their tendency would be is to come into the land, earn a little bit of a victory,

but then think, gosh, I don't hate everything that they do, right? Like they're not all bad. I mean, surely some of those things are kind of good. Can't we blend a little bit with what we're doing right now? Because after all, I think there's a handful of things that they do that God doesn't want to do. I think there's a handful of things that they do that God doesn't want to do.

I think there's a handful of things that they do that God doesn't want to do. That could really just, well, it's gonna make us, make us a whole lot more culturally relevant than just completely wiping it out. And he knew that it would be their tendency to want to compromise a little bit with the sin of the land. And unfortunately, he was right. And unfortunately, they didn't heed this warning.

But he said you shouldn't make a covenant with the people. Now, it's one thing for us in the 21st century looking back on the children of Israel and say, if only they'd listened. But you know what I always find myself thinking? If only I'd listened. Only I'd listened. Because you know what I find in my own life, and I would venture to say that I'm not a completely abnormal cross-section of humanity,

is that there's a certain amount of sin that I find absolutely detestable. And I have no problem absolutely making no covenant with it. Just like there's probably some sin that you find absolutely detestable, and you're willing to cut it off and make no covenant with it. But we all have those areas in our life where we think, I'm only gonna give up this much.

This, I'm just only gonna go this far, but no farther. I think that that's okay. You know what they call that? They call that making a covenant. They call that making a compromise with our flesh. Matter of fact, I think if we could really, myself included, view sin the way that God views it, I think it would really change the way that we view sin. The way that we view sin.

We've viewed just about everything in our lives. Every now and then I have people come to me with questions that are great questions. I love them. Especially young ladies, and I appreciate where they're coming from. I was presented with this question a couple weeks ago. If David was a man after God's own heart, why did he have as many wives as he had? Right?

It's a legit question. And all I know to say is, God definitely did not approve of it. Matter of fact, you can see the consequences of it in his life. You can really see the consequences of it in Solomon's life. And absolutely, it's the wrong thing to do. God has intended one man, one woman, for life. But then I always finish up with this statement. But you know what I wonder?

What kind of sins are culturally acceptable at our age? That if people two, three hundred, four hundred years from now read about them would go, why did God allow that to take place? I don't know. I don't always know what they are. You know why? Because they're so culturally acceptable that we don't always think about it as being the grotesque sin that it is.

Just like when they had multiple wives at that point, they didn't see it as the grotesque sin that it actually is. But it's because they made a covenant. They made a compromise with the people of the land. They made a compromise with their flesh. So brothers and sisters, all we can do is just know, we need to ask God to reveal any of the areas where we've made covenants with sin.

Where we've made compromises with sin. Where we've made compromises with sin. And ask him to reveal that to us so that we can cut it off so that there can be no intermarrying of ourselves with flesh at all. Matter of fact, he says, don't, don't do that. Don't let your kids intermarry with them. Which is why I absolutely don't believe in my daughter's dating until they're like 40.

Right? And don't know, no intermarrying with them. You know why? You know why God was so specific about this? He says, because they'll pull your heart out. They'll pull your heart away from following me. Basically, we have a New Testament verse for this. Do you know what the New Testament verse we have for this is? Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

It's the, it's the one verse we teach every teenage kid, right? We're like, listen, you, you can't be unequally yoked. That person is not a believer. You can't date them. And while I absolutely think that's one portion of the context that's being used there, I actually think it goes much deeper than that. Yes, I think we should teach our kids. You should not,

have any sort of deep relationship, especially a dating style of relationship with somebody who is not a believer. As a matter of fact, I'd fight pretty hard with my daughters about this. But do you know that command goes much deeper than that? You know how I know that? Because it says right here, it's not just the intermarrying God was concerned about. He was concerned about any kind of covenant with the people.

That tells me that in our business dealings, we need to be aware of who all we're dealing with. We need to be aware of who all we're dealing with. We need to be aware of who all we're dealing with. That means in the friendships that some of us as men have, we need to be careful how much of an influence those friendships have over our lives. Some of those ladies that you go and spend your time with,

you need to be aware of how much of an influence that is over your lives, because we can't help it, brothers and sisters. Bad company corrupts good morals.

I really want to break into a song right now, but I won't. Because it's just true. And so he tells him, you can't do that. You can't intermarry with the people. Instead, this is what you should do. You should tear down their altars. You should smash their sacred pillars. You should hew down their ashram, burn their graven images with fire. That means that as we see the idols around us,

we should just tear them down. Now, I want to be really clear on this. I don't think you should start going to buildings and tearing them down right now. I don't think you should start burning anything down, right? I realize that in the world we live in right now, you have to make distinctions like that. But perhaps you start in your own life. Perhaps each of us starts in our own lives with burning down those idols,

burning down those things, because you know what I have found? The idols that I struggle with in my own life are the same idols that my kids struggle with in their lives, because they've watched me do it, because they've watched me be there. He says, instead, you should tear that stuff down. Why? Again, we're operating from a place of response. Verse six, because you're a holy people to the Lord your God.

The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. I believe in hitting things as absolutely hard as scripture hits them. And what God has just told the nation of Israel is, you're a holy people and God chose you. God chose you as his people. Therefore, you are set apart unto him. And,

brothers and sisters, I think we should live in that way. I should begin to view myself as holy and set apart unto God. Ryan, I'm not really much of a saint. If you put your faith in Jesus, you are. You've been called a saint. Therefore, you are set apart unto God. Now live like you're set apart unto God. As a matter of fact, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ,

you have been chosen by God. Ryan, that's Calvinistic. No, that's biblical. It's biblical to say that once you become born again, there is a sign, on the other side of that door leading into heaven, that says chosen before the foundations of the earth. Doesn't mean you didn't have a choice in the matter either, because you have responsibility. But we can rest in the fact that we've been chosen by God.

But notice what he goes on to say to the nation of Israel. The Lord didn't set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any of the peoples. Right? Lest they get a little too high minded, for you were the fewest of all the peoples. The Lord loved you, kept the oath, which he swore to you, your forefathers. The Lord brought you out by a mighty hand,

and redeems you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. I love that part in 1 Corinthians, where he says, and you know your calling, brethren, that not many mighty, not many noble, not many wise, according to this world, have been called. As a matter of fact, God chose the foolish things of this world, to confound the wise. It's almost like the Old and the New Testament work together perfectly here.

Because God said the exact same thing to the nation of Israel through Moses, right here in Deuteronomy. And we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt, while I am chosen by God, and I can rest in that. He didn't choose me because of how good I am. He wasn't like, oh, he's gonna be special. Let's just, let's choose him out right there. He was like, he's a loser.

He needs help. He's one of the small guys. He chose me, and he chose you. Not because we were the best, not because we were the smartest. He chose us. Why? Because he loves us. Isn't that a great thought? That God chose me because he loves me. Listen, I'm not the biggest guy on the face of the earth. And every time when I was growing up, when people were choosing teams for football,

I was not chosen very early. Because they looked at me and they thought, let's choose him for the ball, right? And so to know that God chose me, that God chose me because he loves me, means a lot.

We're his own special people who've been called out for a special purpose. And I love verse nine. Know therefore that the Lord's your God. He is God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to a thousandth generation, to those who love him and keep his commandments. Again, I can't help it. A lot of New Testament verses really flowed as I was studying this

over the past couple of days. Because I thought about that verse out of Philippians. Well, first of all, I thought about the verse out of Hebrews where it says that we are to look unto Jesus, both the author and the finisher of our faith. But that always also sparks that verse out of Philippians chapter one. I believe it's verse six where he says, and being confident of this very thing,

he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. Until the day of Christ Jesus. Why? Because the Lord's your God, he is God. And he is the faithful God who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to a thousandth generation. Of course, that's for those who love him. To those who hate him, he's every bit as faithful. But he's faithful in judgment

in the same way that he's faithful in grace. Well, we go on from there. And of course, that prompts him. The warning says, therefore, keep the commandments which I'm commanding you today. Then he begins to talk about the blessings of obedience. Notice what he says in verse 12. Then it shall come about because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them

that the Lord your God will keep with you his covenant and his loving kindness which he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock and the land which he swore to give your forefathers. You shall be blessed above all peoples.

There will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. The Lord will remove from you all sickness. He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt, which you have known, but he will lay them, on all who hate you. You shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will deliver to you. Your eyes shall not pity them nor shall you serve their gods.

That would be a snare to you. He starts off by saying, if you love God and keep his commandments, then God will keep his covenant with you. This is the very heart of what we call the old covenant. It's a covenant that's based on obedience. If you do this, then God will do this. Now here's the thing that you find about the old covenant. There's nothing wrong with the old covenant.

It's a very beautiful covenant. We're told that in the New Testament. In and of itself, there's no issue with the old covenant. The old covenant only has one problem. It has nothing to do with the covenant. It has everything to do with the covenant keeper. And I'm not talking about God. Because the problem with the old covenant is me. The problem with the old covenant is you.

God will fully keep up his end of it. I just can't keep up. I can't keep up my end of it. But this is the basis of everything that the old covenant is based on. God says, listen, if you will do what I command for you to do, I will always take care of you. Sickness will not be prevalent in your land. All the plagues that I put on Egypt, those won't happen to you.

You'll pop out kids left and right. Everything's going to be beautiful for you if you just obey me. Problem is we struggle with that. Which is what makes the new covenant so much better. Because the better new covenant states this. Jesus already kept it for us. Therefore, I put my faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. And now I live from the position of blessing.

I don't live from a position of trying to achieve the blessing. That being said, I do think that there's something for us as New Testament saints to pay attention to about what he says about blessing and obedience. And the thing I think that's there for us to pay attention to is this. There is a principle that runs all the way through Scripture, both Old and New Testament.

And the principle is this. You will reap that which you sow. If you sow to the flesh, you will of the flesh reap corruption. But if you sow to the Spirit, then you will of the Spirit reap life and peace. If I belong to Jesus Christ, I am secure in him. But if while belonging, belonging to Jesus Christ, I live a life where I am continually sowing to the flesh,

there's two questions that come up. Number one, do I really belong to Jesus Christ? Number two, what kind of fruit am I producing? Because in my life, I will always have that strife. I will always have that enmity. I will always have that feeling like I'm not in good standing with God. And it's not because I'm not in good standing with God. It's not because of anything he does.

It's because I've been living a life sowing to the flesh. But if as a believer in Jesus Christ, I sow to the things of the Spirit, then as I sow to the things of the Spirit, I will find that life and peace are what come about in my life. That I live a life that's full of peace. You'll be like that one kid sitting in class who everybody else was not doing what they were supposed to be doing.

But you were the one kid who was reading the book your teacher assigned while they were out of the room. And then the next day, and the teacher walks in and everybody goes, oh no, and you're like, no problem here. Because you're still doing what God called you to do, right? And that's the way it is. When we live a life of sowing to the things of the Spirit,

a life of obedience, there's great peace that's produced in my life. And that relationship with the Father stays strong. Well, he goes on from there to talk about this blessing of obedience. And it has to do with their victory over the enemy. Notice what he says in verse 17. If you should think about it, if you should say in your heart, these nations are greater than I,

how can I dispossess them? You shall not be afraid of them. You shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt. The great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out, so shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Moreover, the Lord your God, will send the hornet against them until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. You shall not dread them for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will clear away all these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to put an end to them quickly for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you.

But the Lord your God will deliver them before you and will throw them into great danger. Until they are all destroyed. He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven. No man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. The graven images of their God you are to burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that's on them

nor take it for yourselves or you will be snared by it for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house and like it come under the ban. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it for it is something banned. I love the way this next section starts off because he says, if you find yourself saying these nations are greater than I

how can I dispossess them? Because you know what they'd already found themselves saying that prompted them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years? These nations are greater than I how can I dispossess them? Because they knew that the nations that they were facing were larger and greater. It says if you find yourself in that place if you find yourself fearful

here's what you need to do. And do you know what I appreciate about the fact that God says this? Is that often times I find myself kind of fearful. Often times I can find myself going these things that I'm facing in my life are too great for me. But do you know what he reminds them of? He reminds them of one thing. He says when you find yourself saying that

this is what I want you to remember. I want you to remember everything that the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to the nation of Egypt to bring you out. In other words all of the past success that I've seen in my walk with the Lord continues to fuel my present peace and obedience. I continue to draw upon what God has done in the past not so that I can live in the present peace but so that I can live in the present peace.

I continue to draw upon what God has done in the past but so that I can live in the past but so that I can obey in the present. You know what I found? Every next battle that I face God prepared me for with the battle before. Every next battle that I face God had already given me everything that I needed in the battle before to be ready for this next one. I'm reminded of the fact that

after I started walking with Jesus there were some things that I had to overcome that had to do with not caring as much what people thought about me and being willing to take a stand for faith and some of those kinds of things. That was my first big thing because the thing that led me into my greatest rebellion was my desire for people to like me. So that was number one thing that I had to overcome. Man, I didn't have any friends but that's okay.

Then I went off to Bible college. Beautiful things took place there. I met all kinds of wonderful people. It was awesome. That prepared me for the next battle because the next battle that I had to face had to do with anxiety and depression that I battled for years. But you know what? Everything that I'd been through up to now, up to that point in time, prepared me for this next great battle.

And when God brought me through that, I remember him saying, that is to prepare you for what's next. And every single time I've watched God do brand new things and I see that I wasn't ready for this down here just yet because I had to go through all these other battles first. But every new thing that I face, I'm reminded of the fact that I remember what God did before. I can remember what God did before.

I can remember how God brought me through X, Y, and Z. Therefore, I know I'm ready for this, at least according to what God says because he's prepared me for it all along the way. That's why I think one of the most wonderful things that you can do is either write something down or keep a mental note of all of those things that God does. If you write down all of those things, we call them Ebenezer stones, we'll get to it in the book of Joshua, then it's that wonderful reminder of what God has done.

I don't know if you've read it, but it's a wonderful reminder. I like to sometimes just underline things and put a little date next to it in my Bible. And as I put a date next to it in my Bible, I come across it in a year, two years, five years. I don't know, I own way too many Bibles. But occasionally I'll come across a date and I'm like, huh, I'll have to kind of sit and think about it

and I'll read the verse and I'll think about it and I'll read the verse and I'll think about it. And I'll go, oh, yeah, I definitely remember what was going on then. Wow, God really did bring me through that. I often find that it's the very thing that he's prepared me for. He's preparing me for today. I think I've shared this before, but when I was in Bible college,

they would let some of us as guys get up and give devotions in front of the school. And I gave one and a couple people came up to me afterwards and said how much they enjoyed it, you know, this, that, and the other thing. And I remember sitting in class later that day and a good friend of mine was sitting next to me and she wrote me a note. She handed me this note, and I still have this note to this day.

Some were buried in a box. And the note said this. It said, God used you today and you need to remember that because there's gonna come a time where you're gonna question everything about your calling and you're gonna question everything about the gifting that God has given you. But you need to remember today because God wants to use you in that exact same way.

I didn't think too much about it. I held onto it. I put it in a box of my stuff that I have some other things in and it's a lot. And I wrote it down. And I wrote it down. And I wrote it down. And I wrote it down. And about two years later, when I was going through that other really hard time that I was talking to you about, I remember pulling that out. I don't know why, I just came across it as I was unloading some things, and I read that

note, and I remember thinking, whoa, it's almost like God was preparing me by reminding me of the victory that he gave me then, so that I would hold on to it for today. Why? Because when I was going through that really hard time, I thought, God can never use me again. I don't think I'll ever teach the Bible again. I don't feel fit to clean a toilet right now, but maybe I get to.

Maybe one of these days, God will use me in that way. You're going to find that there's times in your life where you're like, I can't move on from here. The nations I'm facing are too great for me. And when that happens, you need to remember everything God has done in your life up to this point in time, because he wants to use that past victory for your present obedience.

He goes on from there to remind him. He says, I'm going to go before you. As a matter of fact, I'm going to send a hornet against them. I want to know what that hornet looked like, but that's just me. Until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish, you shall not dread them for the Lord. And I love this verse, verse 21. You shall not dread them for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome

God. But then verse 22 is what really sticks out to me. The Lord your God will clear away those nations before you. Pay attention to this. Little. By little. You will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous. The Lord your God will deliver them before you and will throw them into confusion until they're all destroyed.

The way that God works in our lives, and I hate it sometimes, right? The way that God works in our lives is slowly but surely. Slowly but surely. God works. I remember one of the first things God told me when I first became the pastor here was just relax, you've got time. Because I felt like I had so much to learn, I had so much to do, and I was just like, oh Lord, I can't take all this in.

And over and over and over again, he kept telling me the exact same thing. You've got time. And you've got nothing but time. In my will, you have nothing but time. Just relax. Day by day, one thing at a time. I've never been one that can move really quick. I've never been one that can make a decision really quick. Just ask my wife. It's just not who I am. God reminds me over and over again, that's not what I want you to be.

Or that's exactly what I want you to be. Slowly but surely. Little by little. That's how growth in our life comes. Sometimes I just want it to all happen right now, right? But when I first got saved, I was just like, ha! God, you're amazing. I can't wait for what you're going to do. And then I was like, oh my gosh, I still struggle. And now, 25 years later, I'm like, oh my gosh, Lord, I'm so excited for what you're going to do.

Why do I still struggle? Because slowly but surely, slowly but surely over time, God brings us to where he wants us to be. And he defeats those enemies before us. And he does it that way because otherwise the beasts of the land would become too numerous. You know what? Those beasts of the land are in our lives.

That pride is one of the greatest beasts that we'll deal with. And if we all of a sudden figured it all out right now, overcame every battle of the flesh that we had right now, we'd write a book about it. How I became humble in five easy steps, right? It'd be one of those things. And so, that's how God works in us. He says, he'll deliver the kings into your hand.

But listen, don't mess around with their graven images. I... Should have started this at the beginning of Deuteronomy. We should have written down how many times God says, stay away from idols. Because we'd run out of ink in our pens. Underlining all the places where he's like, but don't jack around with the idols. Just get rid of them. And that's how he finishes off chapter seven.

Well, boys and girls, I didn't make it as far as I wanted to again tonight. We'll pick up on chapter eight next week as we look at God's gracious dealings with the children of Israel. Father, we come before you. And Lord, I thank you so much for the time that we've had in your word. Lord, I thank you for how good you are to us. And Lord, I pray that you would give us the grace

to heed the warnings that you give to us in our lives. And Lord, that as the fear comes, Lord, of just how great of an enemy we face. And Lord, the obstacles that we have to overcome. May we not put our eyes on the enemy. May we not keep our eyes focused on the obstacles. But may we place our eyes squarely upon you, the author and the finisher of our faith.

The one who's given us such great victories before and who promises even better victories today and in the future. Lord, give us those eyes to see. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.