Don't Put it Off
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Story of DL Moody and putting off decision.
These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.
It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.
In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him to say to them.
This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.
Deuteronomy means “Second Law,” but is a set of final messages by Moses, before Israel enters the Promised Land.
The first five books of the Bible go together as the Torah, or Law of Moses, also called Pentateuch, because it is 5 books.
The Hebrew name for this book is “These are the words” taken from the first verse.
We refer to the 5 books as the Law, and for most of us that has a negative connotation, but to the Hebrews Law was more about “instruction.”
The 34 chapters of Deuteronomy can be divided into 4 separate discourses or messages of varying lengths.
I think a New Testament Preacher who considers preaching through a Book like Deuteronomy has to keep several things in front of him and the people to whom he will preach.
3 Things to Keep in Mind
3 Things to Keep in Mind
Jesus
Jesus
The task of a New Testament preacher is to point people to Jesus. One preacher said, “take a text from anywhere, then make a b-line for Jesus and the cross.” This is not always easy. But Jesus and the Apostles loved Deuteronomy and quoted from it almost as much as they did the book of Isaiah.
Law Versus Grace
Law Versus Grace
The New Testament makes clear no one has been or could be saved by keeping the law. So as we approach these instructions we will keep hammering the overarching theme of all of Scripture that we are saved by faith, not works. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. We are not saved by good works but by grace, and we do not lose salvation by bad works, but are kept by grace through faith in Jesus.
Original Hearers and Modern Readers
Original Hearers and Modern Readers
The truth is Deuteronomy was spoken and written down first and foremost as instructions for Israel as they entered the Promised Land. These instructions are sometimes moral, sometimes civil, sometimes dietary and cultural. There are things written that are obviously universal in application, and there are things that are written that are obviously “Jewish” and do not transfer line for line to a New Testament Christian. The New Testament in Acts and Galatians make it clear that parts of what God instructed the Nation of Israel do not apply to the New Testament Church. Great care will be given to understanding the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy in light of the New Testament.
These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.
It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir.
In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him to say to them.
This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.
Don’t miss this: Their disobedience turned what should have been an 11 day trip into 40 years of wandering, until an entire adult generation died out.
Have you ever put off a decision that ended up costing you enormously?
Today, my message is simple, we cannot afford to delay about the things God leads us to do.
Don’t Put Off Doing What God Says
Don’t Put Off Doing What God Says
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
What is it that God is telling you to do right now?
For some of you, it is to surrender your life to Christ and be saved.
For some of you, it is to forgive someone that is hindering your own health.
For some of you, it is to repent of some habitual sin, and walk refreshed and renewed.
For some of you, it is to follow the Lord in Believer’s Baptism as Brittany did earlier today.
For some of you, it is to make Riddles Bend your church home.
For some of you, it is to jump into that thing, that mission, that ministry, even full time ministry, that you keep feeling God is leading you to do.
For some of you, it is something that I haven’t mentioned that God has laid on your heart, and you keep putting it off.
But today, as we begin this new study through the Book of Deuteronomy, don’t put off any longer what God has been leading you to do.