Sermon Tone Analysis

How many of you watched the movie Interstellar?

It was a Science Fiction movie that came out in 2014 with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway.

If you saw it, you may remember a poem read by Michael Caine a few different times in the movie.

The opening lines go like this:

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should rage and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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The poet, Dylan Thomas, penned these words as a man contemplating the coming death of his father.

He wasn’t a Christian, and the poem seems written to those on their deathbed, challenging them to fight to cling to life.

As we wrap up our study of Moses this week, I want to give a similar challenge to you: Do not go gentle into that good night.

I am not saying fight to cling to life; instead, I am challenging you to live the life you have left to the fullest you can for the kingdom of God.

We would probably take some issue with it, because we know that death is

Moses did this.

He made the choice to finish well, and I want to encourage you to do the same.

Over the past several weeks, we have seen that Moses’ life was a life of choices.

You’ll remember that in our overview of his life, we looked at the reality that, more often than not, he chose God in every decision.

We looked at what that meant and were encouraged to choose to be and do what God desired every step of the way.

Next, we examined the foundation that allowed Moses to consistently choose God.

We saw that Moses’ mom and dad had such a fear of God and respect for Him that they were willing to go against laws and cultural norms to do what God had called.

We were challenged to lay the groundwork for our families by modeling for them a life of right choices.

Following that, we saw God confront Moses in the burning bush, which led Moses to choose belief over doubt.

We saw, although hesitatingly, that Moses surrendered to God’s plan, choosing to believe that God could do the impossible through him.

We saw how Moses and the nation trusted the blood of the lamb to protect them on the night of the Passover, and we commemorated Jesus’ death for us by taking the Lord’s supper together.

We saw that Moses and the nation of Israel were given the choice to either have entry into the Promised Land or to have the presence of God.

On that Sunday, we saw from Moses’ example that the most crucial thing any of us could ever want or desire is the presence of God, not the presents He can give.

Last Sunday, we examined one of the poor choices Moses made.

We saw that, in a moment of rash anger, he belittled God, took credit for what only God could do, and suffered the consequences of the painful choice of pride.

We heard how Moses, one of the choice servants of God in the Old Testament, immediately forfeited the right to lead the people into the Promised Land.

In these weeks, we have barely scratched the surface of who Moses was and what God did in and through Him.

Yet this morning, we are going to try to wrap up the life of this incredible man.

This morning, I want you to think of life as if it were a race.

There truly is an art to finishing well in a race.

The record books of history are filled with the tragic tales of men and women who started off well but didn’t make it to the finish line.

Their greed, selfishness, lust, laziness, or whatever else caused them to collapse before they reached the end.

I have seen great men fall in the last years of their life, never to regain from their moral failure.

Even more important than any race I have ever run in or will ever run in is this: finishing the race of my life well.

The annals of history are filled with the tragic tales of men and women who started off well but didn’t make it to the finish line.

Their greed, selfishness, lust, laziness, or whatever else caused them to collapse before they reached the end.

I have seen great men fall in the last years of their life, never to regain from their moral failure.

When people speak of them, they shake their heads and say, “Man…what a shame.

He was such a great preacher, teacher, father, husband, business man…now look at him.

She was so beautiful and seemed like she had everything together, but have you heard what happened?”

You and I have no idea how long this race ahead of us will last, but I promise you this: the race you are running and have been running since the day you took your first breath will one day be over.

How are you going to finish?

As we look this morning in the last book in the Bible that Moses wrote, the book of Deuteronomy, we will be challenged by one final choice of Moses’ life: Choose to finish well.

No matter the obstacles, no matter the pain, no matter the struggle, no matter the turmoil, choose to finish well.

Flip over with me to Deuteronomy 34.

This is the only section in the first 5 books of the OT that likely wasn’t written by Moses.

It is more likely that these words were written by Joshua, Moses’ successor, looking back at the life of one of God’s greatest servants.

Despite his lack of confidence in what God could do and his temper, Moses still receives some of the most glowing commendations in Scripture.

How?

Because Moses was a man who chose to finish well.

Read this short chapter with me.

I want you to see with me this morning several steps Moses took as he reached the finish line.

From these, I want you to see this morning how to make a conscious choice to finish well.

1) Invest in those coming behind you.

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Throughout the time Israel wandered in the desert, you see that Moses has an assistant with him: a man by the name of Joshua.

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You may remember that Joshua had gone up to Mt. Sinai with Moses and was one of the two spies out of twelve who believed that God could actually give the land to the people of Israel.

Remember when we talked about Moses’ relationship with God out of Exodus 33:17?

We noted then that Joshua was with Moses when he met with God at the tent of meeting.

Moses had invested himself in a younger man who he knew would take his place some day.

God told Moses in that Joshua would be the one to succeed him, and Moses spent the next years training Joshua to be the leader and man that God wanted him to be.

Over the chapters leading up to what we have just read, we see Moses handing over leadership of the people to Joshua.

Look back at verse 9...

Moses had laid his hands on Joshua, which was a symbol of transferring his authority to him.

For years leading up to this, he had been training and equipping Joshua to take his place.

It would be under Joshua’s leadership that the people of Israel would finally take the land God had promised them.

As Joshua walked alongside Moses, he saw time and time again how to be the kind of man and leader that he should be.

Can I suggest to you that this is perhaps one of the greatest ways you can finish well?

As you grow older, you have a responsibility to bring others with you.

We have a bad habit of forgetting that God didn’t call you to just be a good Christian by yourself.

The actual call on your life is to be a disciple-making disciple!

In other words, God calls you to pour into someone else what he has taught you.

We see this in the Old Testament repeatedly as we see God commanding his people to pass down what he has done from generation to generation:

That is one of the reasons why I love having a church that spans multiple generations.

Those of you who have walked with Jesus for a long time can encourage those who haven’t been alive as long.

Paul told Timothy that this was one of the key ways the church was supposed to work:

Paul explained how this works to Titus in :

“But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.

Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” (Titus 2:1–8, NASB95)

As an older man, it is you have a responsibility to teach younger men how to be dads, husbands, employees and employers who live godly, outstanding lives.

Those coming behind you need to see what a godly man looks like as he grows older.

Likewise, ladies, you need to model for the young moms how to stay sane through the toddler and teenage years.

You need to model for them how to manage a household, how to build others up and not gossip.

You may sit there and say, “But I am not a pastor, teacher, deacon, or a leader.”

Your position is not important; look around you and find someone to pour your life into.

It might be your kids, your grand kids, a neighbor, a person you serve on a team with, but there has to be someone whose life you can offer some of the wisdom and experiences God has given to you.

Another objection you may have is, “But my life isn’t worth copying.”

If so, make it that way! Strive hard to finish well; don’t check out because you’re tired.

Serve with everything you have to finish out strong.

Live a life that is worth looking up to—be the man or woman you always wanted to be when you grew up so that you can be an example to those who are following behind.

If you’re going to do this, to leave an example of finishing well, you must, just like Moses,

2) Keep seeking God’s presence.

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We talked a few weeks ago about Moses’ unique relationship with God, but it bears repeating here.

Moses never stopped seeking the face of God.

As you look through these last few chapters of the book of Deuteronomy, you find Moses in constant communion with God until the very end.

In fact, that’s what we see here in - His final moments were spent directly in the presence of God, to the point that God even oversaw the burial of Moses’ body!