Sermon in Rockford 11.08.2013

Be unto you and peace from God, our Heavenly Father, and from His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us quieten our hearts in thanksgiving and prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, this morning we have come before Your Holy Word. Father, we have come here, each one of us, with our own thoughts and our own prayers, our own hopes that You would hear our prayers and comfort us in our time of need and trial, lead us and guide us in our moments of decision, that we would do Your will, Father, here on earth, and that the honor and glory would belong to You. So, we thank You this morning especially for the gift of faith that You have granted unto us and for Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through whom we have been able to believe all of our sins forgiven and have that lively hope in our heart, that we are traveling on that narrow way that leads to eternal life in Heaven.

We want to reach the destination, Father, and this morning hour we ask You to help us, that one day faith might change to see. And yet we also remember those on the outside of this kingdom. Father, grant unto them a seeking and searching heart. Lead them here to these mountains of living water found in Your kingdom here on earth, that they also would be able to believe their unbelief and all their sins forgiven.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

For our study this morning, I will read from the ninth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, the first six verses. With that open prayer that God would open His word, that we might be fed here this morning at our service gathering.

Hear, O Israel, thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to Heaven, a people great and tall, the children of Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, who can stand before the children of Anak? Understand, therefore, this day, that the Lord thy God is He which goeth over before thee. As a consuming fire, He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face. So shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said unto thee.

Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land. But for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for thy uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land. But for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. That He may perform the word which the Lord swear unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness. For thou art a stiff-necked people. Amen.

Our text for this Sunday on the church calendar speaks of the importance of examining ourselves and to endeavor to journey as a little child in God's kingdom. Not boasting of one's own merits or goodness, but rather one who seeks the blood drops of Jesus, knowing that sin is so close that we ourselves are of nothing. Our righteousness is, as the scriptures record, a filthy rag before God.

So this text here begins with these words, "Hear, O Israel, thou art to pass over Jordan this day." Many times when we are traveling on life's journey, we perhaps, I could say, contemplate the future and wonder what lies ahead and what are God's plans for us. And it could be that even of ourselves we begin to imagine what these plans might be. We begin to think about what we would think would be a good plan, a good outcome. One that perhaps gives us a comfortable life. One that gives us an easy way. One that is full of good blessings and few, if any, trials.

And yet as we go forward in life, is it not so, brothers and sisters, that we don't know the way? We don't know what lies ahead. We don't know what God's will is. And sometimes when we try to push into the direction we think it should go, it seems like nothing happens. It seems like perhaps we are pushing a rope or something like that. And perhaps we even become frustrated. And we have to stop and consider, is this God's will? Or are we trying to go in our own directions, create our own outcomes, take control of our own life situations?

And so then, when we are in that frame of mind, I think it has been the case for me many times I have needed to learn this lesson over and over and over again: to trust in God and to accept His will and to seek His direction for my life.

And this here, in this example or this portion of God's word, God makes His will known through the servant Moses of what now was to be accomplished or to be done, the direction that God willed for His chosen people. And he says that thou art to pass over Jordan this day to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven.

When we think of that, what God has provided there or set for our goal or our task and how He has described it, it immediately sounds like a good place to go, immediately sounds like it would be a great victory, I guess in some way. And yet we see how our flesh is so close to us, and I would perhaps think that it was the same for the children of Israel. Perhaps some were immediately excited by that goal, perhaps some were uncertain, and perhaps some were doubting. Perhaps they brought forth this point that is spoken of in the second verse here: a people great and tall, the children of Anakim, whom thou knowest and whom thou hast heard say, who can stand before the children of Anak?

So now begins the battle of our flesh but also our mind and our reason: can this be truly God's plan and God's will? This way which I had been hoping for now looks a little different. It looks like there are great obstacles here, there are great dangers here, the foe is much mightier.

We see how the enemy of souls can put these kinds of doubts in our minds in many different situations in life where we begin to see the obstacles. We begin to see the difficulties. We begin to perhaps feel like it is a futile thing to do, that it would only lead to difficulties and be unsuccessful.

I think perhaps some example I would share with you, dear young ones. I would ask this question here this morning: How many of you have had the benefit of attending a camp at Stoney Lake or our camp facility? Perhaps some of you have just recently come from confirmation there. Perhaps many in the audience immediately remember their experiences there at Stoney Lake and how wonderful it has been to be there.

And we who are older ones, we remember when that camp was built. We remember the discussions leading up to that camp. We think of the times even. Think about this: that only less than ten years earlier, God's kingdom had come through a heresy. It was a difficult time for many in God's kingdom. When God separated those who were not walking according to His will from His congregation, rebelling against the teaching and instruction of God's kingdom, and living the life that they had felt was a better way to go, not based on God's word and God's instruction.

But God had brought the children through that storm. And the congregation was much smaller, very small. For example, you're familiar with the Cocado congregation. After the heresy, there were only 34 gathered for the first congregational meeting. This Rockford Church was not even here at that time when that heresy took place. But God preserved those who wanted to keep faith and a good conscience and brought them through that trial and difficulty and led and guided His kingdom here on earth.

And then we came to this phase when there was discussion of building this camp at Stoney Lake. So not yet ten years past the heresy. I remember we were visiting here. We didn't live in Minnesota at that time. And we were visiting there in that Monaga area. And one of the believers took us to that campsite. We walked basically along the lake there and in the woods. And this believer was saying, over here would be the main lodge building. Over here would be where the dorms are. And we tried to visualize that in our mind and what would be the purpose of building this facility and what would happen here.

From our temporal mind, from our carnal mind, our reason can seem like we can't see the vision that God has intended for us. We perhaps start to see the obstacles. We're a small flock. How could we build this facility? Who would be able to attend it? Why couldn't we just do that in our home congregations? All these kinds of questions came up. We saw the big obstacles, the reasons why this would be impossible for us to do.

But God led and guided. Just as when Moses was given that understanding from God to instruct the people now that, "Hear, O Israel, thou art to pass over Jordan this day." That God will give the victory. God will lead and guide and He will bless His work. Those obstacles that seem too large are nothing for God. He can remove them simply with His Word. And when we have faith and when we want to be obedient to God's Word, He will help us.

It isn't always the way that our mind and reasoning thinks we should go. But when the Spirit reveals the matter, as many of the believers understood in that day and that time when we talked about Stoney Lake, it was not man's decision or doing, but it was the Spirit that led and guided.

And now when we look back on that which God did for us, does our heart rejoice? Do we give thanks and praise to God? When we are leaving from a camp facility, from perhaps a weekend at the camp, or perhaps like confirmation now and you dear young ones have been there for 10 or 12 days, is it easy to leave?

I'm getting on the older side of our family and I honestly have to say, I don't know how many times now when we've left from confirmation, when I've looked in the rearview mirror and seen the child who has just been confirmed leaving from that camp and seeing the tears streaming down their cheeks. It's so hard to leave from there when God has so richly blessed our gathering together.

When we have been able to talk about the way and the journey, when we have been able to experience the love and the fellowship of God's escorts on the way and the journey, when we have been able to hear that our trials and our difficulties are the same trials and difficulties that our neighbors have.

Oh, how the enemy of souls has been preaching to us that you are the only one. You are so lowly and poor. Nobody would understand those matters. But there, how has it been when we have been able to gather together with God's children? We have been able to hear that sweet message of the gospel, that son and daughter be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.

We see then, looking back, we see how God has led and guided that effort. How God has blessed the work. How God has given the increase. How God has helped on our narrow way that leads to heaven.

So, Moses, knowing and understanding these fears that the people had and these doubts, was given these kinds of words from the Heavenly Father that, "Understand, therefore, this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee. As a consuming fire, he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face. So shalt thou drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee."

We need so often these reminders to put our trust in God. To, yes, we, to look back at these examples from the Scriptures and even as we have visited about that Stoney Lake camp, even these examples from our own time.

But we don't need even to look at external things like that, but how about our own journey of faith? When we, and perhaps some of the young ones, aren't quite so understanding of this, what I would say now, as we who are older, when we look back on our lives and we see how many times when God was leading and guiding us, our tendency was to push back and to say, it's too difficult, it can't be done.

But God has cared for us. He's given us escorts to encourage us. Given the Gospel to strengthen us, to put away our doubts and our sins and those temptations from the enemy of soul and the world, and it has been made very simple and low and easy that only for this moment we need and are encouraged to believe our sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

When our sins are forgiven, we don't need to worry about what's in the past. We don't need to worry about what's lying ahead. But just to be able to be comforted for this moment that as I am here now, I am simply believing as a little child. I'm in the care of my Father in Heaven and I am in care of the mother of this beautiful congregation which God has given us to help us reach Heaven.

And so, when we look back on our life, we can see how many times over and over again it is God who has led and guided and has preserved us, given even those moments of strength and opportunity to confess our sins and to put those doubts away.

And so, we see personally in that journey of faith just the same example here as Moses speaks up to the people how the Lord thy God is He which goeth over before thee. It is God who has gone ahead and He has cleared the way and He has overcome those obstacles. He has given the hearts to serve. He has given the ways and the means to help us through that difficulty. He goes before as it says as a consuming fire. He destroys those obstacles along the way.

But then here I think Moses speaks of another matter and I think it also is a matter that is close to us. And it is that matter then that our heart begins to try to take some portion of this honor and glory when God has done His work in our life.

Moses warns in this way and he warns because God knows how the enemy of souls tempts us. He knows that we carry this corrupt flesh and he knows how the world is around us as a roaring lion. And Moses warns the people in us even yet this day that speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out before thee, saying, "For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land."

Oh how close the enemy is and how close our flesh is. And again I will go to you dear young children for this example. Now shortly school will begin again. And we know when we go to school the teacher teaches us. The teacher gives some kind of lecture, maybe writes some things—I was going to say on the chalkboard but maybe that's old fashioned, maybe they don't use that anymore—but anyway, they have their way of teaching us and then at some point they want to see did we learn and so we get a test.

And I remember when those test days were coming, my flesh would start to tremble, I would start to worry about that, I would start to remember about all the times I drifted off in the lectures and the times when the teacher was teaching and I tried to cram pack as much as I could in that last night before the test and going to that test feeling like I don't know if I'm even going to pass this test, feeling like I should have learned, I should have studied harder.

And so we go through the test and then when we get the results of the test back and we see we pass the test, how is it with you dear young children? Is it the same as the enemy put before me? Oftentimes it's like I would be joyous over that, got a passing grade, even once or twice there might have been an A and that was real cause for celebration.

And we started to think it's because we listened well, it's because we studied hard. Oh how quickly we began to take the honor and the glory into our own portion. It's because of the things that we did and the understanding that we had.

And yet think back only maybe perhaps a few hours before when we had gone into that test we were fearful because we knew nothing. We see how close our flesh is even as little children and it grows through time even as we get older. We have to battle always against that pride.

We think in this way that for my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess, as it says in this land, or we could fill in other things there in place of this land. But Moses reminds here, "But for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee."

So God had His reasons for giving that land to the people. It wasn't anything of the people but it was God's will. It was the wickedness of those people dwelling there in that land, even though they were so strong and mighty, not believing and traveling according to God's word, denying any knowledge or understanding of God. It was their wickedness that the Lord drove them out before thee.

And so it is God who has His plan for us. It is God who decides the course in our life. It is not for anything that we ourselves have done or said. Not for thy righteousness or for the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go to possess their land.

And so, dear young ones, now again I think of this school time that's coming up. When you are gathered there in the school building, perhaps at the lunchtime you gather together around your own table with your own friends and certainly this is a natural thing that takes place.

But that table there with these dear young believing children of God, it's not this high and every other table is this low. You dear children, you carry the same corrupt flesh, you have the same shortcomings and failures as your classmates.

But think of this: God has chosen you. He has called you out of the darkness of this world. The only thing different about you is you have, through God's grace and love, been able to believe your sins forgiven simply as a little child and you travel in His kingdom as a grace beggar, not under the law but under God's grace, putting away sin as it attaches on your way and your journey.

And remember then to love your neighbor, pray to God to give you those kinds of fruits of faith that you would be kind to them, that you would not look down upon them.

Think if we had read the gospel text for this day from one of the gospel books—I forget which one it was in now—but it speaks there of the two men praying in the synagogue, one beating upon his chest, one thanking God that he was so righteous.

We do not want to fall into that place where we begin to think ourselves to be righteous and successful. We want to be in that place where we are as a little child.

I think one example that comes to mind is in the book of John. Remember when the scribes and Pharisees had brought unto Jesus a woman taken in adultery and they said unto him, "Teacher, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?"

This they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he had not heard them. Not so when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground and they which heard it being convicted of their own conscience went out one by one beginning at the eldest even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst.

So when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?" She said, "No man, Lord."

Jesus said unto her, "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more."

So we see the fruits of self-righteousness and pride and puffing ourselves up here in these scribes and Pharisees, there in their unbelief looking down upon the sinful woman, accusing her and condemning her.

But God wants us to instead examine ourselves. How are my matters, you dear young children, when you are sitting there at those lunch tables in your class or with your classmates? How are my matters? Am I any better or am I simply a pardoned sinner able to believe my sins forgiven?

And wouldn't it be a good thing if my classmate could also believe in that same very way?

This is what we have experienced over and over again, especially in these recent years in West Africa, when those that have received the grace of repentance, they have been like that merchant who found the great treasure, the pearl of great value. They have wanted to hold it close to themselves but they have wanted to make known of this treasure that they have found and the possibility that this isn't the only one that I have but you can also have this treasure. It comes from God and it comes through believing one's sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

And so this then is where this portion concludes that, "Understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness, for thou art a stiff-necked people."

So it isn't our righteousness that has made us acceptable to God but it is this simple message of the gospel which many have been able to believe from their childhood but also there are those who have come the way of the prodigal son. It is the same reward for each one, not based on the length of years as a believer but rather upon the condition of the heart that we are believing as little children, as great beggars, as a level-headed plot, each one finding ourselves to be sinful on the way in the journey and needing this care of the heavenly Father in our life.

And so this day your listener here this morning, your brother and sister in faith, uplift your heart and believe all your sins and doubts forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atoning blood. Be of good cheer and be of good comfort. God knows your very needs. He knows the battles that you have. He knows those trials and temptations. He has given them and allowed them that your faith might be purer than gold.

It is not because God doesn't love you. It is because God loves you and we can thank Him even for these trials and temptations that we have in our life that keep us as little children, as grace beggars in God's kingdom.

I also desire to live up this same gospel message: can I believe my sin is forgiven? I want to believe with you dear brothers and sisters. Cling to this faith that you have. Don't think that the obstacles ahead are too great. In fact, don't even worry about those obstacles of tomorrow. Simply believe for this day God will care for you. God will help you to reach the shores of heaven. Trust in Him. In Jesus' name, Amen.