I Need a New Moses, Part 2

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. We live in our souls with this sense of fear and under the dread of condemnation and simply saving us does not take that spirit out of us. But in Christ, God has made you part of a new family. That means you don't have to live under this cloud of condemnation where you expect to keep suffering for past mistakes.

Your daddy says no. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The old is gone.

The new has come. At the center of any religion, you'll find a list of rules and expectations for its followers to adhere to. But the gospel message found in the Bible is different because it's not about anything that we need to do. It's all about accepting what's been done for us.

And that's our subject today on Summit Life. Pastor J.D. Greer is continuing to teach this series called The Whole Story, giving us a bird's eye view of the story of salvation from Genesis to Revelation. And today we're looking at the final sermon that Moses delivered to the Israelites before his death and discovering how even in the Old Testament, Moses was already pointing to Jesus and the gospel of grace.

Let's get started. For Jewish people, Moses was more than a celebrity. Moses was larger than life. He was not just a celebrity. He was the deliverer. He was their national founding father. He was their law giver. He was revered in life and even more so after death. So there is no doubt that Moses really shocked them, surprised them in Deuteronomy 18, 15, when he said in his final sermon to them, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.

It is to him that you'll actually listen. You see, Moses ends his life in his final sermon pointing to a new prophet, a better prophet, he is saying, who would do for the Israelite people what Moses had been unable to accomplish himself. Moses, you see, in many ways had been a failure. He had given the law to the Israelites faithfully, but he had been unable to get the people to actually obey the law. The history of Exodus through Deuteronomy, it reads like one long continuous list of failures. Furthermore, Moses turns out to be a deeply flawed leader himself. Moses had himself been sinful and unbelieving. In Numbers 20, the Israelites are in another one of their complaining fits, again, about where they're going to find water. So God tells Moses, go out and speak to the rock in the presence of the people and I'll make water flow out of the rock for them. And instead of speaking to the rock, like God had said, he hits it twice with his staff instead. God said that it was more than just frustration and impatience on Moses's part.

It was unbelief and it was a failure of love. So Moses said, I'm not the final prophet that you need. There's another one coming. This coming prophet will do what I've never been able to do. I could explain the law accurately to you, but I have not been able to lead you to obey it. So let me stop before we go any farther and tell you why that is so important for us. You see, just like with Israel, number one, we need a law that can change us. For most of us, the problem is not that we don't know that we should be different. Our problem is that we can't make ourselves be different. We know we should be more honest, more moral, more diligent, more loving, more courageous. We need to be better students or better dads. The problem is not that we don't know these things.

The problem is we can't convince our hearts to act that way all the time. So number one, the law can't change us. We need a law that can change. Number two, because our greatest enemies like Israel are within us, not outside of us. You see, just like with the Israelites, we think the problem is out there. We need deliverance. We need another Moses. We may not say that literally, but we need some kind of change in situation. We need a political or economic deliverer to come and save it. We need somebody who can bring hope and change, or somebody who can make America great again, or somebody to make us all prosperous. That's what I need. There is no law, no liberation, no external or circumstantial change that can transform the heart of man.

You need something different. You need something more powerful, something that even a perfect law cannot supply to you. Number three, we need somebody who will love us unconditionally. In order for real love for God to grow in us, we need a leader who will show us perfect and unconditional love. All of our life, we've craved that unconditional love. We look for it first in our parents.

Then we look for it in a spouse. And until we find it, our hearts are fearful and distressed. True virtue grows only in the soil of security. It is only in the security of God's love for me that love for God grows in me. Here's number four, we need somebody who can actually bridge the gap between God and us. Moses' law was effective at showing us how sinful we were. It was effective at showing us how terrible our sin was.

But it couldn't change us. So what Moses promises is extremely relevant to us as well. The Lord your God will raise up our prophet. He says, like me, from among your brothers. Another one is to him you'll actually listen. There's a couple important characteristics that he gives us in that one verse right there about this coming prophet. First, he says, it's gonna be from among your brothers. The other characteristics, he says, it's gonna be like me.

Like me, consider this. Like Moses, Jesus was a Jew. Like Moses, Jesus was born during a time when Israel was oppressed. Like Moses, when Jesus was born, a local leader tried to kill all the Hebrew boys. In Moses' case, it was Pharaoh. In Jesus' case, it was Herod.

Like Moses, Jesus chose to leave his royal family to identify with his people. Like Moses, Jesus was spent time in the wilderness before his ministry began. Jesus was the scapegoat sent into the wilderness, bearing our guilt on his head. He was the bronze serpent lifted up so we could be healed. The rock struck by the anger of God so that we could drink of the water of life.

The manna that dropped from heaven so that we could be filled with the bread of life. Everything that Moses gave in shadow, Jesus fulfilled in substance. And unlike Moses, Jesus' blood actually cleanses us so that we can be safe again in God's presence. Because see, Jesus' blood does what no religious observance can do. It's not water that we need to wash the filth of our bodies.

It's something that we need to wash the filth off of our souls. Most importantly, unlike Moses, this new prophet never grows weary with us and he never falters in obedience. Jesus did not get mad and strike the rock in frustration like Moses did.

In love, he took the stroke of justice so that we could escape it. Jesus is the truer and better Moses. And he gives us what Moses could never give us, what no law could ever give us. So see, now that you know that, we can spend our last few minutes here looking at the actual sermon that Moses preached. The whole book of Deuteronomy is one long sermon.

After he's given, you know, after they failed the law, this is his final words to them. And there are two primary themes in this sermon, two primary, which you and I can listen to even better than they listen to because we know the actual prophet that he was talking about. The sermon is kind of summarized in chapter six. So flip over to chapter six.

Let me pick up just a couple of things in there for you. Two themes in this sermon. The first theme is remember. Remember. He's going to repeat this command some 24 times in Deuteronomy.

At least that's how many we counted. Israel's spiritual wandering is always going to be marked by a time of spiritual forgetting. It is amnesia that leads to idolatry. Now, it's not that they physically could not remember like they had a mental problem.

It's just that these things lost their prominence in their minds. So what does he command them to remember? Verse 12, take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. I'm going to give you three things you're supposed to remember from that verse.

The first one, letter A, the slavery of sin. Remember the slavery that sin had led you into. You need to stop and remember where your sin had taken you. Some of you can look back at your own life and remember that, can't you? You can remember where you were without God. Can you remember the emotional turmoil, the anxiety that you live with? Do you really want to go back there? Some of you are young. You've been raised in Christian homes and you don't have a life that's been scarred by sin yet.

Thank God. You need to think about where sinful choices can take you because you got a choice right now that you can take a life of freedom and blessing and goodness that leads to eternal life or one of bondage and bitterness and dissatisfaction and strain that leads to hell. And you need to stop and remember where these choices are going to lead you.

He says, secondly, letter B, you need to remember that you've been delivered. Take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out. Don't just forget that you were in slavery. Also don't forget that God brought you out. You see God's deliverance process.

Listen to this. God's deliverance process is not just taking you out of bondage. It's taking the spirit of bondage out of you.

And sometimes the last thing is harder than the first thing. Imagine an infant boy taken into the foster care system who is placed into a home where the father abuses him. And the boy spends the first seven or eight years of his life in that home. This dad never tells the boy that he loves him.

He calls him names and demeans him. One day this daddy comes home drunk and he kicks open the door and he knocks one of the boy's teeth out. This little boy doesn't have a bed. He has to sleep in the corner of a room. He doesn't sleep in pajamas because his dad will barely buy him enough food, much less buy him pajamas.

This little boy never gets toys or games. When he's at school, he has to borrow food from his friends and he shoves it in his pocket so that when he gets home, he's got something to eat. Then one day when he's about seven years old, Child Protective Services takes this child away and he's adopted by a good family with a good father. This dad starts to speak love and life into the boy. He says things like, son, I'm proud of you or I love you. This boy has never in his life heard those words.

He's never experienced unconditional love. This father cleans him up, buys him new clothes, gives him a bed and toys and lots of things to eat. Well, one night the father walks into the kid's bedroom and the little kid is curled up in the corner sleeping on the floor. So what's the father do? He walks over and he picks him up and says, you don't have to sleep on the floor anymore.

You can sleep in the bed. That was your old family. This is your new one. I'm your daddy now.

You are loved and you are cherished here. Sometimes when the father comes home, the little boy hides in the closet and the daddy says, you don't have to do that anymore either. I'll never hurt you.

I love you. One night at the dinner table, the dad sees the little boy taking food and shoving it into his pockets. And the dad says, you don't have to do that anymore either. I'll never let you go hungry. This is your new family.

I'm your dad. I'll always provide for you. You see, that's the story of every single Christian. Sin has damaged us so that we live in our souls with this sense of fear and under the dread of condemnation. And simply saving us does not take that spirit out of us, but in Christ, God has made you part of a new family.

That means you don't have to live under this cloud of condemnation where you expect to keep suffering for past mistakes. Oh, you're divorced. Oh, you messed up. Oh, you got pregnant. Oh, you got fired. Things are over for you.

Your daddy says, no, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The old is gone. The new has come. We don't have to live with the fear that we are going to be abandoned and end up in poverty because I know that my God shall supply all your need. He knows every hair that's on your head.

He has them all counted. Not one falls without his knowledge. Of course, he's not going to let you go hungry. I can lay down every single night with the assurance that surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life and will follow me all the days of my life because I know that he that did not spare his own son for me when I was his enemy isn't going to abandon me now that I'm his child. You don't have to feel shame because God has chosen you. He has cleansed you and changed you. And you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that he has appointed for you.

You don't have to compete any longer for the approval of others to prove to yourself or anybody else that you have worth because in Christ you've got the absolute approval of the only one whose opinion really matters anyway. You're a new person adopted into a new family with a new father. You are a cherished son or daughter who will never be forgotten. Moses says now live that way. Never forget it because it'll change everything. Let her see. He says you got to remember the graciousness of the God who saved you.

See that? Take care lest you forget the Lord himself. Remember the character of this God because it's when you forget this character that obedience becomes drudgery. It's when you forget this God that you lose your joy. It is grasping the trustworthiness of God that enables you to obey with freedom and joy. In fact look at this a few verses later. Moses anticipates a conversation that's going to take place one day between daddies who saw God do the Red Sea thing and boys you know their sons who didn't. Verse 20, when your son asked you in time to come what is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God has commanded you? Daddy why do we obey all these rules?

Now let me tell you what I would say instinctively. I'd say well son the reason God gave us the rule about adultery is because it's better in marriage to have one partner for life. It leads to lifelong intimacy.

Marriage sex is the best sex. It keeps us from things like STDs. It keeps us from a lot of heartbreak. God's way is better and the reason he told us to take one day off a week is because psychologists have proven that you need at least one day a week. That your heart rate slows.

That you're not doing the same thing at the normal pace. It leads to a healthier and happier life and so ultimately it's better if we take off the Sabbath. That's why God told us that.

His way is always the best. That's what I would have said. That is not what God said. Notice what God says.

This next verse. Well then you shall say to your son why did we obey? Let me tell you when we were slaves in Egypt the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And then he gave us these statutes to fear him for our good always that he might preserve us alive as we are this day. In other words why did we obey son? Because the God who gave us these rules is a God who saved us and we know that if he saved us he's thinking about our good. And so I don't have to sit around and try to figure out if I agree with him because I know that a God who did not abandon me in slavery is a God that I can trust with my life.

High school student let me ask you this. If you believe that Jesus Christ died for you which I know that the majority of you sitting here listening to me do. If you believe that Jesus Christ died for you do you honestly think that you can't trust him when it comes to things like sex and marriage? How schizophrenic is that? That you would believe that he cared enough to die for you but you got a better plan that he doesn't know about with marriage and sex and friendship and you can't really trust him with your life. That is absolute and total insanity.

You see they only had the red sea. We have Mount Calvary. I know that the God who gave me every single rule the God who beckons me to give me might give him my life is a God that I can trust with my life because he proved it at Calvary. All of our trust in God is founded on what we saw him do for us at the cross. I saw a movie a couple weeks ago called miracles from heaven. It's a great movie little girl gets deathly sick her mother really struggles with faith then some amazing things happen and her the mother Jennifer Garner learns to believe again. Now it's an amazing movie based on a true story but the one thing that it leaves out all these movies leave this out.

I guess Hollywood just doesn't have the capacity to communicate this but the question it never answers is why? Why would I trust God in the middle of pain? Why would I trust God when somebody that I love is hurting?

Why would you trust God in the midst of a world like the one that we live in? The answer for the Christian is very simple because of the cross because that's where I see the depths of God's love because I see that regardless of what else is happening in my life it's not because God has stopped loving me it's not because God has lost his power because I know that a God who did not give up on me when I was his enemy is certainly not going to give up on me now that I am his child and so the old proverb says it like this even when I can't trace God's hand I can trust his heart because I learn who he is from how he delivered me and I base the rest of my life on what I saw there. You see as you get older in the faith the cross needs to grow larger in your life it needs to get more dominant in your life to the point that it becomes the filter through which you see everything because when the cross is large in your life your obedience will have joy because you'll trust God and you'll be able to persevere through trials and will confidently because you'll know that the God who didn't abandon you with the cross isn't abandoning you now. So Moses says remember these things and if you remember them then you're going to live joyfully. Command number one is to remember. Command number two is to cling to the word. He says you got to cling to this word.

Look at verse six. These words that I command you today they need to be on your heart. Teach them to be on your diligently to your children. Talk to them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way. In other words in your family life around the dinner table in your work life think through your work in light of these things when you lie down when your eyes are morning and night buying them as a sign on your hand and they should be as frontlets between your eyes your your hand will be let them guard your actions the frontlets of your eyes are that's going to be how you think you shall write them on the doorpost of your house in your household on your gates that's your political thinking needs to be guided by scripture cling to this word he says because these promises these promises are everything deuteronomy 32 47 this is not an empty word these words are life itself you see by a word god spoke the worlds into existence by a word god gives sight to the blind he made the lame walk it's by a word that god raised jesus from the dead it's by his word that god brings salvation to the believing heart it is by a word that he breaks the chains of addiction in your life it is by a word that he pieces back together the broken shards of your marriage it is by a word that he renews and transforms your children this word moses said it is light it is life it is salvation it redeems reconciles restores renews it is not an empty word it's your life don't you want to know it don't you want to know it don't you want your kids to know it every week in our small groups we go deeper in it where we read the bible through as individuals some of us for the first time and where we take our kids through the bible as well i'm saying this because some of you have started off strong but you've kind of fallen off the wagon here it's time for you to get back in this is not an idle word it's not a curiosity it's your life it's the life of your family for some of you you've never taken this step to get into the christian life it begins somewhere and where it begins is something that we call baptism now let me be very clear the gospel is that jesus christ died for your sin paid for all your sin and he offers it as a free gift to all who will receive it you don't receive it by being baptized you don't receive it by raising your hand you don't receive it by filling out a card or walking an aisle the way that you receive god's offer of salvation is you believe it with your heart and you just take it as a gift he offers it to you he says whosoever will may come that if you will if you will surrender to him and just say jesus you're the lord and you'll receive his offer salvation he'll save you after you do that however you were supposed to declare that publicly by baptism baptism is the public ceremony of salvation it's where you go public with it and jesus said it is to be the first act of obedience after you trust in christ now there's a number of you here that have never taken that step of obedience and over the years i've been given lots of reasons why one i get is i just don't see it as being that important i mean what difference is it going to make and it's a little inconvenient and it's kind of humiliating getting wet in front of a bunch of people and my response to that is always who are you to tell jesus which of his commands you think are important and which ones are not that is not the way to start out your christian life it's almost like getting married and telling your wife on your honeymoon night that you're going to go hang out with the boys that's not the way to start a marriage the way that you start surrender to the lordship of jesus is not by picking and choosing which commands you're going to obey and which ones you're not so it's important because he said it was important all right um you say well uh people say well here's one they say well i was baptized as a baby um listen i want to be very careful with this one because i know different churches do things in different ways and there are major things and there are minor things but every time listen hear me out every time we see baptism in the bible it's always always no exceptions not one exception it's always a profession of your faith you do it after you have made a decision to follow christ there's not one example anywhere of somebody who is baptized on behalf of somebody else's faith acts two if you believe you can be baptized actually if you believe you can be baptized act 16 if you believe you can be baptized it's always in that order when you got baptized as a baby there was no faith of your own to declare it was your parents faith that was being declared and listen thank god for your parents faith right they were hoping the reason they baptized you is they were hoping that when you got older you would follow jesus and now you are so when you get baptized as a profession of your faith that is not a repudiation of their faith it's actually an affirmation of their faith you are ratifying a decision that they made for you 10 15 30 60 years ago you're going to call them up after it's over and say mom and dad i got good news remember that thing you were hoping for me when you baptized me when i was a baby it happened i'm following jesus now and i just ratified what you did when i was a baby i just ratified it and said i agree with what my mom and dad were hoping for me and i am fulfilling all their dreams for me it'll be a glorious day it'll be a glorious day for you and for them it is disobedience and rebellion for you to put off until tomorrow what god has told you to do today and for many of you this is the moment that god is saying it's time for you to go public it's time for you to quit putting this off it's time for you to stop disobeying because delayed obedience and disobedience and i want you to do what you know i want you to do are you ready to respond to god today we'd love to help you learn more and to take the next step in your walk of faith be sure to get in touch when you call us right now at 866-335-5220 or by visiting jdgrier.com we've been talking a lot about prayer in the last few weeks and i was able to sit down and talk in more detail with pastor jd about it i asked him the difficult question many of us have is there such thing as unanswered prayer not really if you're if you're god's child not really because a father never turns a deaf ear to his child now that said there are there are prayers that god redirects because as a dad he knows better than us sometimes god god in love answers your prayer the way that you would have asked it if you knew what he knew right so just because it doesn't look like an answered prayer doesn't mean it isn't an answered prayer furthermore there's a lot of things that god wants to give us through persistence and asking it's just a repeated theme in jesus's teaching god is testing our resolve in his goodness our belief that that he really is good so much of our bibles was written in the posture of people who are waiting on god believing that he is going to answer and come through i really wrestle with that question throughout this book just ask because it's been one of the biggest impediments it's been one of the one of the areas ironically that god has used to deepen my own spiritual life and increase my trust in him so and just ask we really kind of get into that and say practically how do you let that fuel and motivate your prayer life rather than stymie it you can find it at jdgrier.com we pray that as you read this book you'll be encouraged and challenged in how you talk to god you're welcome to request it when you support this ministry with a donation of 25 or more when you give to summit life you're really giving this program to your fellow listeners making sure that we stay on your station online and even on tv now and the book is just our way of saying thanks for your support remember to ask for your copy of jd's newest book just ask when you call 866-335-5220 or if it's easier you can give online at jdgrier.com i'm molly vidovich inviting you to join us again tomorrow when pastor jd turns our attention to the book of joshua he'll describe what it means to submit yourself completely to god's will we're learning how to give up control as we look at the story of joshua and the battle of jericho friday on summit life with jd greer today's program was produced and sponsored by jd greer ministries