I. A Vision Fulfilled 00:00
…in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.
So, we’ve got some stuff going on this week. If you don’t know, we’ve got this awesome conference, Three Streams Ignited. I was so excited, because the other day I stumbled upon the document that I presented to the House of Bishops a year and eight months ago or something. And we had created it. These young adults: it had sprung out of them as they prayed about what God wanted them to do for the conference. So we put a vision together. We said, “It’s going to be this date in 2025. It’s going to be at Saint Michael’s Church. We’re going to have over a hundred young adults there.”
And at the time, that was a crazy vision. It didn’t make sense in the rational mind, but they had faith, because God had given them this vision to walk out. And I presented that to the bishops, and the bishops were very excited. And guess what? It’s happening this week, here, with over a hundred young adults. I mean, praise God! It’s truly a demonstration of how God leads us in community together, because I have been helping these young adults by asking them questions: “Well, what do you think God wants to do? Who do you think God wants to speak? What do you think God wants to say?” And they’ve been talking and praying together and seeking God, and he has just unfolded this whole plan and this whole conference. And then we submit it to the bishops, and they say, “Yes and amen.” We submit it to our pastor: “Yes and amen.” We do all of these things, and it’s awesome to see God’s operation at work.
And I don’t want to just glaze over that. This is not just a random party that we’re throwing. This is God giving a plan, a vision, a strategy, and we’re going to walk into the fulfillment. And it took years for this to happen. And so when you think about that, I want you to be encouraged about your own life. Maybe God’s given you a vision or an interest or a desire or something that you think is God, but you’re worried about it because it’s way out there. It’s hard to see. It’s hard to grab hold of. Write it down. Invite somebody to pray about it with you. And watch as God takes that seed and brings it forth in your life. He is talking to each of us. Each of us has the Holy Spirit, and he wants to see those fulfilling things in our life.
II. That They May Know What They Ought to Do 02:09
And as we looked today at our Deuteronomy passage, I want to open with the collect we read this morning: “O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them.”
That’s the vision that Moses puts forth in Deuteronomy. You know Moses. Prince of Egypt. We all love the soundtrack. But think about this story of this Hebrew slave who was raised in the palace and then was exiled to the wilderness and thought his life was over. He thought, “I killed a man. I am guilty, and I’m just going to go be a shepherd in the country, and I’m going to live this quiet life.” But God called him back. God had bigger plans for Moses than he could have possibly imagined. And as we see him walk this out throughout these 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God says, “You don’t get to go to the promised land. Instead, you’re going to send your children, your grandchildren, this people that you have raised up in my name. You’re going to hand that off to young Joshua.” I mean, the ages in the Old Testament are kind of funny, because I think Joshua was like 80 by this time. But the generational handing off is what’s going on here.
And so you see this process happening, where Moses is the guy who received the law from God’s own hand, the man who saved Israel by the power of God from the power of slavery. He’s a type for us of Christ. And I use that word type in the sense used in biblical interpretation: he’s like the form of Christ, the image of Christ in the Old Testament, that teaches us about who Jesus is.
III. The Lord Will Take Delight in Prospering You 04:25
This man with all this abundance of wisdom said, “If I have one more thing to say to you, it is this.” And that’s what we’re going to look at this morning. He’s going to talk about what it means to know what you ought to do and have the grace and power to achieve it. So in Deuteronomy we’re going to begin in chapter 30, verse 9. There we go. This is in the midst of a large passage. In the very next chapter he’s going to be handing things off to Joshua. And we see him say:
9 The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut 30.9–10
I love the intro to the passage today, because who here doesn’t want God to prosper the work of their hand, the fruit of their womb, the fruit of the cattle, the fruit of the ground? It’s this great promise. I want to be prospered in the work I do, in my household, in my children, in my provision, and in my territory. He’s covering all the bases. It’s like: you don’t lose if you go God’s way. You can trust him.
Now, why do we need to be told that? Because if you go God’s way, you’re going to experience trial and tribulation. It may not look like this is true. You might be following God’s way, and it’s exactly why you get fired. Or it’s exactly because you’re following him that you feel like you’re not achieving what you need to achieve. You might get this whole body of evidence against the Lord. But we have to return to the promises of God. In fact, if you find this passage appealing, remember that he who chose the way of life died on a cross, betrayed by all he loved, crucified for our sins, not his own. So I do want to invite you to the way of the cross. But I want to remind you that this promise, that you will be prospered in the work of your hand, the fruit of your womb (God’s going to work that out over your lifetime and into eternity), is something for us to hold on to as we follow him. It’s not a prosperity gospel here. We don’t do the work to get the blessing. We do the work to know Jesus. That’s all. That’s our center. Everything else is a bonus that we’re given. To know Jesus is the center.
Okay. So that’s the promise. Let’s go that way. So how do we do that? Well, I want to focus on this line real quick: “For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you.” I think sometimes we get this image of God as a taskmaster. When we talk about the cross and we talk about the struggles we go through, we don’t think of God as delighting in prospering us, but only as the disciplinarian who wants to see us sacrifice and achieve and succeed in his way. That’s not the heart of God. The heart of God is like a father who delights in his children. In fact, Jesus puts it plainly in Luke 12:32. Right after he tells us all, “Do not be anxious for anything,” his summary of that is, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12.32).
He’s excited to give you everything that he has for you. He’s not holding back his goodness or his blessings. He’s just inviting us to walk that path that brings the greatness of God into our life, the goodness of God into our life. And yes, that way includes a cross. But it’s the cross that burns away everything that would keep us back from what he has for us. There is nothing God asks you to lay down that he does not, through the resurrection, bring to fulfillment in our life. We like to hang on to stuff. At least I do. It’s hard for me to let go of my things and my projects and my ambitions. But when God calls you to do so, you can trust him, because it’s his delight to give us the kingdom. I just thought that was interesting; I don’t want to pass over it. It’s not a transaction where we earn our blessing. It’s always God’s delight to bless you. He’s just inviting you to walk in it.
IV. Hear His Voice, Keep His Word, Turn With All Your Heart 08:54
Okay. So how do we do this? Verse 10: “When you obey the voice of the LORD your God.” Well, let’s just stop right there. The most important thing is that you hear God’s voice, right now and today. You need to have a relationship with your Father, so that he can talk to you. He can lead you and guide you.
This is actually separate from, and in addition to, and grounded in, the next part, which says, “to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law.” So we can talk about the revelation of all of Scripture, God’s word, so that we can keep his commandments from the wisdom that’s been handed to us: the living, active word that is our tool in the battle, that is a shaping for our character and our heart. You need to know the Bible. But you also need to hear his voice. There are people who know the Bible, who aren’t Christians, who know the Bible better than anybody in this room, who reject Jesus. So that proves to me that it’s not enough to just know the Bible. You have to hear the voice of your Father. You have to go where he leads. So when you combine those two things, you are unstoppable. When you have the voice of God leading you and you’re grounded in the Scriptures, he will bring you to where he has promised.
And further, in case you should forget, it says, “when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” You actually have to give it all to him. He has to be the focus. He has to be the center. And that’s what it means when Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6.33). We often split our focus. We are a distracted people. We are so committed to our own prospering that we run after all these various ways to try and make ourselves successful, when one thing is needful. One thing matters: that you’re pursuing him and his kingdom. And all these things will be added unto you. It’s not like God doesn’t know you need clothing and food and all this other stuff that you work for. He knows that. But you have to start with him, first and central.
In fact, Abraham Kuyper: it’s one of the most commonly quoted things, but it is so good to remind yourself that we don’t get to have our things and Jesus. He has everything and gives us, out of his goodness, everything we enjoy. Abraham Kuyper says, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Nothing. Your hobby? It’s Jesus’ hobby. He loves it. Your delight in the TV show you watch? He wants to be a part of that. If you’re watching a TV show you can’t imagine Jesus delighting in, you probably shouldn’t watch it. There’s a little of my own personal conviction here. So you have to think through these things. It only gets better the more you give to him. The more of your life is his, the better it gets. It already belongs to him. Let’s stop pretending.
V. The Word Is Very Near You 12:42
Okay. Next, in verse 11, it says:
11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” Deut 30.11–14
There are a million people on the internet today who will tell you that they have crossed the sea, found the revelation, and they are going to bring it to you. They have gone to heaven, and they have gotten the solution to your life: “If you would just pay $7.99 a month and follow my seven-step program, you will find your salvation.” If it sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a lie. It’s a lie that we are fed every day, from every channel: “I will save you. I will save you. I will save you. Just follow this plan. Follow this program. I have the secret knowledge.” No. You have the Holy Spirit. You, in this pew, you have the Holy Spirit. You don’t need them.
Now, I’m not saying that if you want the physique of Chris Hemsworth, you don’t submit yourself to the wisdom of a trainer to get there. I’m not saying anything like that. What I am saying is that if you find your fulfillment anywhere but in the leadership of Jesus, if you find your salvation anywhere but in what Jesus has done for you, then you’re going after other gods, and you will choose that path that leads to death. Now, don’t be too scared. We have all followed some guru or another who has helped us do this, that, or the other. That’s fine. I’ve learned so much from the internet. I’ve also seen a lot of baloney. But there are good things. I’m not saying you shouldn’t. It’s all about keeping the first thing first. And if you’re in your life wondering, “What should I do?”, and you think that you’re just not smart enough, you’re not wise enough, you’re not good enough to know: you have the Holy Spirit. And there is nothing that he is not wise enough, smart enough, or good enough to lead you in.
Of course, I opened this whole thing talking about how God speaks to us in community. So, for sure, reach out to your brother, reach out to your sister, reach out to your home group leader, your priest. Of course we walk this out together. But what does he say? “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you.” Feels pretty hard. It’s because it’s not by my strength, but by his strength in me.
Okay, think about who Moses is talking to. If we were to grade them on a scale (they have these scales out there that talk about how educated people are in the world, and they use them to grade different countries or different regions or different schools: how educated are these people?), the people Moses is leading would score zero. They are not educated at all. They are not smart. We have this weird thing in the modern world where we kind of worship intelligence, as though that will save us. These are just the everyday people. They’re carpenters, they’re fishermen, they’re farmers, they’re cattle raisers. They’re just the normal people. And he says, “You don’t need a guru to tell you what to do. You can follow the law of the Lord. It’s right here.” None of this is for the special elite people. It’s all for us to walk out in our life.
Now, he says the word is very near to you: “It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” And if you today are thinking, “The word’s not in my mouth. The word’s not in my heart,” then this is your call to read your Bible and to listen to God and to share these things. I mean that seriously, though. We can get overwhelmed by all the inputs in our life, the entertainment, the social media, the books. If we don’t have the word of God to balance all that out, to help us discern, to be living and active in us, we can get led astray. Absolutely. In fact, the most cutting observation I’ve heard about contemporary Christians is that they’re educated by social media and Hollywood. That’s a problem. If you’re educated by social media and Hollywood instead of the word of Jesus, it’s going to be harder to know what to do. It’s this odd thing where the simple becomes obscure, where our heart is led astray, which makes it hard for our mind to work. And so when we look at this, let’s remember how simple it is. Not easy, but simple. You follow the way of Jesus. Let’s not overcomplicate it.
VI. Life and Death 17:23
Continuing in verse 15, he says:
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. Deut 30.15
Now, we didn’t actually read this this morning in the Old Testament passage. It stopped right before this. But I could not stop right before this. This is the center. Even the background of the slide: life and death. You see, it’s like blue and red. I tried my best, okay? Not a visual guy, but it made sense in my brain. It’s only ever life and death. “Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something,” to paraphrase. Anyone who tells you that it’s not about your life or your death, whether you follow Jesus, is lying. I know, I know. There’s this narrative that has infused our culture, where it’s like, “Oh, that’s for priests and holy people. I’m just a little old person doing my own little thing.” And it’s like, no, no. You are sons and daughters of God, establishing the kingdom on earth, representing him to the world. It’s life or death.
And so when we look at this, I want to just stop real quick and say: it’s not legalistic. It’s not like when you make a mistake, you’ve racked up your death count and now you have to experience so much death. No, no, no. Jesus covered the consequence of your sin. I mean, what does Paul say? He says this crazy thing: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5.20). If you’re feeling condemned today at all, that is not the Holy Spirit or Jesus. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Rom 8.1). But the question is: are you turning towards God, or are you turning away?
And these things happen over the course of people’s lives. In fact, this band, Casting Crowns, wrote this really haunting song called “Slow Fade.” I’m just going to read a little bit of it. It says, “Be careful little ears what you hear, when flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near. Be careful little lips what you say, for empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray. It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away. It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to grey. Thoughts invade, choices made, a price will be paid when you give yourself away. People never crumble in a day.”
That’s haunting to me. I think about that song regularly. In fact, I was writing this, and I didn’t even have to look it up. It played in my head. Because the idea is, it’s the compromise. It’s the “Well, I’ll do this. Well, this is my little corner where I get to go and do my own thing, and Jesus can have everything else.” No. Then the compromises grow. The behavior can take over, and before you know it, you turn around and you’re in a different place.
So yes, let’s take Moses seriously. We live under grace. We live under the blood of Jesus. We have salvation. Let’s live like it. Let’s not play games with sin. Even Paul, after he says, “When sin abounds, grace abounds all the more,” says, “So should we submit ourselves again to sin and death?” (Rom 6.1–2). What? He’s like, “Why would we do that?” When we have life here, right now, today, through Jesus, you can access all the goodness of God in your life. You’ve seen it happen in the lives of people around you, where they start choosing this or they start choosing that, and their life just falls apart. Or at least I know I have.
But the good news today is that I’ve also seen what happens on the opposite side, where people are faithful for decades in their life to choose God and Jesus and to put him first. Their whole life is changed. And guess what? Their children’s lives are changed. Their grandchildren’s lives are changed. Their communities are changed. Their businesses are changed. That’s all available to you right now. Today you can decide to choose life. That’s what Moses is talking about, because he’s thinking, “I’m not going to be here to show you the way. So you’d better have gotten the message. You’d better choose life.” In fact, he goes on to repeat the promises of God, of what happens when you choose life.
VII. Other Gods 22:13
But then he says, in verse 17:
17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. Deut 30.17–18
That’s rough. Now, maybe you think, “We’re not even tempted to worship Allah or Vishnu or Xenu or any of the gods. I don’t struggle with idolatry. What do you mean? Making a little statue and bowing down to it has no appeal. Zero appeal to me.” But you know what we do do? We spend a lot of time, money, and attention on our glowing rectangles, on our TVs, our phones. And you know what? We spend tons of money and time and attention on our things. Worship is this beautiful thing where you dedicate your time, attention, effort, resources to God. Or it’s this terribly degrading thing, where you start to be led to dedicate more and more of your time, money, attention, effort to these false gods.
I want to bring back the old myths. Like Narcissus. That guy’s crazy, right? He looks at a lake, he sees his reflection, and he falls in love, and he dies there, because he can’t look away from his glowing beauty. And we’re like, “Stupid narcissist.” And then we spend an hour getting ourselves done up. I mean, look at all the makeup I put on. No. Okay. This one’s kind of hard to talk about, because it’s not my problem. It isn’t the makeup side. It’s “I’m in love with my own opinions, my own thoughts, my own whatever. It’s about me.” Those stories were so powerful, and they’ve lasted for thousands of years, because they got to something at the heart of us. Don’t dismiss things because they don’t make sense to you. Let me say it this way: if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that all of us are narcissists.
Or King Midas. What a crazy story. He wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. And then when his daughter came, he touched her, and she turned to gold. He worshiped money and possessions so much that he sacrificed his family to get them. That’s the heart of that story. And all of us are like, “I would never do that. I’m smarter than the genie. I would wish for more wishes.” It’s like, no, that’s not the point. The point is, all of us are led astray by the things we desire, by the things we spend our time and attention and money on. So let’s take Moses seriously: “If your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods… you shall surely perish.”
VIII. Choose Life 24:36
If you want another song reference you can look up later: “Faust, Midas, and Myself,” by Switchfoot. Wonderful. Love that song. He explores the depth of that. The turn of that song says, “What direction?” He’s considering this gold, this ability to change his life. “What direction? Death or action? Life begins at the intersection.” Same thing we’re talking about. Life or death. It’s always the choice.
So as we talk through this, and we take Moses seriously, and we look at our life, and you’re in here and you’re like, “Man, my heart’s burning. I want to choose life instead of death,” I remind you of what he says at the end, in verse 19:
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. Deut 30.19–20
What a promise this morning. And how do we participate in God, who is our life? At the table: the ultimate invitation of Jesus, to take his flesh, to drink his blood, and to take part in who he is, and to let him radiate from your life. Amen.