Sermon Tone Analysis

*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*

*/Part 22: True Prosperity /*

*Deuteronomy 28-30*

*/June 6, 2010/*

 

*Main Point(s) of sermon:*

· God himself is the highest blessing – beware seeking lesser things.

· Sin always being suffering, but not all suffering comes from sin.

*Objectives of sermon:*

· Seek the eternal blessings and avoid the eternal curse.

* *

*Prep: *

·         Deut.

28-30

·         HP 2010, 087, Leftovers 1st page

 

*Scripture reading: *Deut.

30:15-20 (Erin Kaplan)

 

Deut.

was Moses *last* *words* to Israel, his final sermon to them – he had five weeks to teach them everything they needed.

This is basically the last of his three part series.

The *first* *week* was about loving God with all your heart soul and mind, the *second* was loving your neighbor as yourself.

This third part is basically how it *pans* *out* for us.

·         Today’s topic is *deeply* *personal* to me.

Prayer

 

You are a *good* and *loving* *father*.

Help us see your love for us and your desire to give us what we really want.

*Recalibrate* us to understand your *true* *blessings*.

PROSPERITY Gospel

 

My *freshman* year at college, I decide to reconnect with a gal I had been friends with on a mission team who lived in the area.

The fact she’d a bit *flirty* might have influenced that decision.

As we talked, I figured out that a classmate of mine (Nathan) was the pastor’s son at her previous church, so I used him as a topic of conversation.

*Bad* *call* (*first* *clue*: “previous church”).

A year or two prior, her little brother had been killed by a garbage truck, and their church (Nathan’s church) had responded by telling the family it was because they had somehow sinned.

Q   *How* on earth do you tell a *grieving* *family* that?

Because you believe God *always* *bless* *obedience* with *prosperity*, *health*, and *protection* from any things bad happening to you, so *therefore* if someone *suffers*, it is because they have *sinned*.

You build this up into a through system that *protects* you from thinking that anything *bad* will happen and you will guard this system with *fanatic* *zeal*.

·         So whenever *something* *bad* happens, you have to *figure* *out* how they have sinned.

I also know of a *pastor* who taught if you have enough faith, you won’t get sick.

When his *wife* was diagnosed with *cancer*, he basically had to choose between his beliefs or his wife.

·         When she died, he said she didn’t have *enough* *faith*.

This is personal

 

Prior to talking to Sara, I’d heard of the “*Health* & *Wealth*” theology, aka “the *Prosperity* *Gospel*” or “Prosperity *Theology*.”

I had rejected it as unbiblical and even argued with Nathan.

·         This was the first time I saw its *destructiveness* *firsthand*.

I hate this doctrine.

It’s *insidious* and *destructive*, damaging believers like Sara’s family (who sometime *leave* the *faith*) but also those for whom *it* *works*.

Q   So how do I deal with things like *today’s* *passage*?

*Deuteronomy 30:15 *  15 ¶ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.

Two Caveat

 

*First*, I believe that these folks are *fellow* *Christians* who love Jesus, yet I believe that their teachings are unbiblical and damaging.

There is a difference between *error* and *heresy*.

·         It’s a fine line: *equipping* you while being *charitable* towards our brothers and sisters – it’s speaking the truth in love.

*Second*, even as we will look very closely at these teachings and their error, but don’t think it’s just about *them* – they simply make *doctrines* of how each of *us* *think*.

·         We all want *happiness* more than *holiness* and *earthly* blessings more than *eternal* blessing.

Blessings and curses

 

Deut.

was a *covenant*, a binding relationship between Yahweh and Israel, like marriage.

Like wedding vows, it lays out the *expectations* and *conditions* (“for better or for worse...”).

A *standard* *part* at the end of a covenant was the “*blessings* and *curses*” which lays out all the good things that will happen if you abide by the covenant and all the bad things if you don’t.

·         We don’t have these in *weddings*, but it might be interesting.

*Deuteronomy 28:1-6 * If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.  2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:  3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock-- the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

Moses then talks about what happened if you don’t obey:

 

*Deuteronomy 28:15-19 *  15 ¶ However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:  16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

Doesn’t this sound like the “*Prosperity* Gospel”?

Does this mean that is we are *suffering* it is because of *sin*?

Does this mean that *Sara’s* *brother* died because of their disobedience?

That is what *Deuteronomy* *teaches*: If you do what is right, you will be *blessed* *financially* and *physically*.

If you do what is wrong, you will suffer.

Q   So what do we do with this?

It gets even more *complicated*: While the *OT* treats riches *prosperity* as a *blessing* from God and a sign of obedience, the *NT* largely treats *riches* as *negative* (or at the best *neutral*).

*Mark 10:25 *  25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

 

*1 Timothy 6:9-10 *  9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

I can’t think of any place in the NT that clearly speaks of *riches* as a sign of *God’s* *blessings*.

Rather, it’s *dangerous*, a *temptation* and a *trap*, one that God want to protect us from.

Q   This is a huge *shift* – *why*?

(*Pause* for internal A’s)

 

Q   Is it as simple as saying that Deut. is *obsolete*?

It’s very clear Jesus and the Apostles didn’t think it obsolete.

While many of the *individual* *practices* may have been meant for ancient *Israel*, the *principles* of the OT still hold *true*.

This is where it becomes *very* *important* that we read the Bible *carefully*, that we use good *hermeneutics* (interpretation principles), because things can get *complicated*.

·         Most doctrinal error in America comes from treating a *complex* problem as *simple*, while ignoring *contrary* *evidence*.

People say “I take the *Bible* *literally*” run into problems when it *literally* *contradicts* itself!

Q   So what is happening here?

A major shift

 

Jesus changed *everything*.

He said he came to *fulfill* the Law, including the “*Blessings* and the *Curses*.”

After Christ there were *three* massive, *cataclysmic* *shifts* that forever changed the meaning of the OT:

 

 

*1.

**From national to universal*

 

These were promises made specifically to *Israel*.

If you weren’t Jewish, you were *out* of *luck*.

The blessings for the Jews came at the *expense* of *everyone* else.

 

·         God’s plan from the beginning was that *all* *nations* would be blessed through Israel, but in a very *different* *way*.

*2.

**From temporal to eternal*

 

Deut.

28:20-68 is a *detailed* *description* of what will happen if Israel disobeys God.