[0:00] Well, with God's help, can you turn back to that passage we read there in Deuteronomy and in chapter 8.! So, Deuteronomy chapter 8, and just as a text, I'll take the words there at the beginning of verse 11.
[0:17] Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 11, where we read there, Take care lest you forget the Lord your God. So, we're into nearly the end of the year now, and in the last couple of months of the year, there's a number of important dates in the diary, things that stand out to us.
[0:44] Even going back all the way to the beginning of November, you have Bonfire Night, a big one for the kids, seeing all the fireworks and everything. And then a bit later on, depending on what kind of calendar you have, you might see St. Andrew's Day as well, that's another day that's very often marked on calendars.
[1:00] And then obviously, going into December, you've got the big dates, you've got Christmas Day, and then New Year's Day, and Hogmanay, and all the days surrounding those days as well.
[1:10] But there's another date, another important date that actually took place not that long ago. It was just over a week ago now, certainly less than two weeks anyway.
[1:23] And it's a day that we refer to as Thanksgiving Day. And you would have had a service, some kind of harvest Thanksgiving service to mark that day as we come together.
[1:34] That's something we do in our presbytery. All the congregations come together, and we come and give thanks to the Lord. We worship the Lord. We mark that day. But Thanksgiving Day itself, although it's kind of a big thing in America, and maybe with more of the American influence coming in, there's slightly more awareness of the idea of Thanksgiving. But really, other than maybe that American influence, there's very little mention. It doesn't really feature in the calendar of our land.
[2:08] Other than the harvest Thanksgiving service that we do in our presbytery, the rest of the country really. It's not really a date or a day that that features. The reality is that most people would have had absolutely no idea that Thanksgiving actually took place a few days ago. Probably the only kind of link they would have with it is the fact there's a holiday weekend, maybe, or the Black Friday sales and all these sorts of things. But it used to be, of course, a huge feature.
[2:36] Thanksgiving used to be a very big feature, particularly in the life of our own island here as well, a time where we would stop. The whole place would just stop, like a Sabbath day, as people tell me.
[2:49] And we stopped to give thanks for the provision of the Lord over the past year. But nowadays, there is clearly that sense of losing sight of our reliance on God.
[3:04] I mean, I think that's fairly self-evident. And in our relative comfort, because we do have comfort. There's lots of problems, yes, but relatively speaking, in our comfort, we are really forgetting God.
[3:16] We're forgetting the Lord. And we're thinking that ultimately we can rely on ourselves. That's the kind of logic of how we're thinking as a nation just now, and even as an island as well, that we can very much rely on ourselves, that we can provide for ourselves.
[3:30] And the irony in all that is that even thinking about our own nation, that has absolutely been proved not to be the case.
[3:43] We cannot rely on ourselves. Relying on ourselves, which is what we have been doing, that has really backfired majorly on us, as you think about where we are as a nation.
[3:54] This goes back to a little bit what we're thinking about earlier on today as well. You know, it's no coincidence that we find ourselves, nationally speaking, that we find ourselves in a real time of decline as a nation.
[4:10] Economically, I think that's undeniable. There's an economic decline in the nation, and socially as well. We can see that. We sense that. There's this great decline going on. So you have that decline going on.
[4:21] But it's no coincidence that that decline of the nation, that that is happening at the very same time, that we are doing what we said in the morning, that we're departing from the Word of God, that we're departing from the structure that the Lord has given us.
[4:36] Those two things very much link together. It's absolutely not a coincidence that you see those two slides happening at the same time. And what I want to do this evening is, I suppose, similar to what we did in the morning looking at Jeremiah, but this time looking at the Israelites in the Old Testament, and to see, again, that what we're going through just now is not new.
[5:01] We saw that when we looked at Jeremiah and Jeremiah's experience, and how we can relate to that in our day. And similarly here with the Israelites in the Old Testament, when we see what they're going through and what they're dealing with here, again, we find that there's nothing new under the sun when there's comfort and abundance.
[5:19] That tends to lead to people actually forgetting God and relying on ourselves as well. And as we look at chapter 8 this evening, I want to look at it under two headings.
[5:33] So we're going to begin with thinking about the problem of plenty. So that's the issue, the problem of plenty. Not that the plenty is the problem.
[5:45] I'm going to come on to that. It's not the plenty that's the problem, but there is a problem within plenty. So that's our first point, the problem of plenty. And then the second point is going to be the remedy for that.
[5:58] And that is the remedy of remembering. So two straightforward points this evening, the problem of plenty and the remedy of remembering.
[6:09] So let's begin with the first one there, the problem of plenty. Now, the book of Deuteronomy is basically just a book of sermons.
[6:21] You know, it's sermons that Moses is actually delivering. He's giving to the people of Israel as they are there on the banks of the Jordan, ready to enter in to the promised land.
[6:34] So if you read through Deuteronomy, that's what Deuteronomy is. It's a series of these sermons preparing the people to go into the promised land. So by this point, if you're thinking about the history of the Lord's people, the history of the Israelites, they've been taken out of Egypt long before this, taken out of slavery in Egypt.
[6:52] They've gone through the Red Sea and been at Sinai. You know, I mentioned that incident in prayer, I think it was, when they come to Sinai. That's all happened. All the hard, difficult years in the wilderness as well.
[7:06] All of these things have happened. And now here they are, 40 years later, of course. So a long time has passed. And here they are. They're on the banks of the Jordan.
[7:16] They're about to take possession of the promised land. So it's a big deal. And that means that when Moses is actually delivering these sermons here, he's actually addressing a new generation of Israelites.
[7:32] Because most of these people who are hearing the sermon, who are there ready to actually go in and enter into the promised land, most of them were actually born in the wilderness. They weren't in Egypt.
[7:44] You know, they didn't experience those things. You know, the Red Sea and even Mount Sinai and many of these events, they didn't experience these things. So Deuteronomy, really the sermons in it, serves as a way of really reminding the people of their past.
[8:00] And that's going to be really important. God, through Moses, has to remind the people here of their past. Because they're about to enter a very different world here.
[8:11] A completely new world. I mean, yes, there was going to be some difficulties and challenges. And you know that if you read further on in the narrative. But generally speaking, it was going to be a land flowing with milk and honey.
[8:24] So they've been through 40 hard years in the wilderness. There's difficulties, then further difficulties in slavery before then as well. And now here they are, going to enter into a whole new world. A very different reality.
[8:35] This land flowing with milk and honey. And God knows that with that blessing and with the prosperity that was going to come, there was going to be a great temptation there.
[8:47] A significant temptation. And the temptation is just that, to forget. The temptation is to forget their past. Forget all the things that God did for them. To lose sense of their reliance on God.
[8:59] And to think that they can rely upon themselves. That was a very real temptation. And you know, when you look through the chapter in Deuteronomy chapter 8 here, you see the wonder of what was lying before them here.
[9:14] You see this description of just how fruitful and full of abundance this promised land was going to be. I mean, imagine being an Israelite and hearing what it was going to be like. You've just been living off manna for a long time.
[9:27] And now here, through this sermon, you're being told here that this promised land was going to be a place of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates.
[9:39] Pomegranates, oil and honey and all these wonderful things. And that's food that's very often associated with royalty. The food of royalty. The food of kings.
[9:50] And that was going to be the prospect for them here in the promised land. So this was going to be a land of rich and full produce. And we read there down in verse 10, we read there that they would be full.
[10:05] So God is telling them there that you would be full. In other words, that they would eat to such an extent that they would be full. That they would be filled to capacity.
[10:15] So there was an abundance of food provision awaiting for them. Very different to the manna, which they very often complained about. Well, here was this wonderful provision waiting for them on the other side.
[10:26] And it's not just about food either. You see there's a reference in verse 12 to houses as well. They will have good houses as well. Again, they were used to just living in tents.
[10:40] They never really knew houses. They were like nomads. Just moving from one place to the other. Not really having one structured house or abode that they can call their house.
[10:54] But now they're going to be entering into this promised land. And as they enter into this land, they were going to build good houses for themselves. Beautiful houses for themselves. So again, you can imagine them hearing this.
[11:06] You know, imagine the past that they've just had. The hard past that they've just had. And hearing what was waiting for them. You can imagine the kind of thoughts that they would have had in their heads. And it's not just the food and the houses.
[11:19] But there's also a reference there to just wealth in general as well. So in verse 13, we read there about their herds and flocks would multiply as well as their silver and gold.
[11:32] So all of this sounds incredible. And I have no doubt when they're hearing the sermon, the details of the sermon, and they're being reminded of the good life that awaits them in the promised land of Canaan, they're going to be excited.
[11:47] They're going to be absolutely filled with this sense of excitement as they think on all these things. And they must have been filled at that point.
[11:57] It's going to be different later on. But at that point, they must have been filled with a sense of thankfulness. They must have been filled with this sense of gratitude towards the Lord himself. And you can imagine them. If you put yourself in their situation, you can imagine yourself saying to God something along the lines of, thank you, God, for the wonder of what you've prepared for me here in this promised land.
[12:19] And there is no way I'm going to forget. There is no way I'm going to cease to give thanks to you for the wonder of what it is that you've done, the wonder of the provision that you have provided. I'm in no way going to forget this.
[12:31] There's no way I'm going to stop giving thanks. Everything that I get in the promised land, I'm going to use it for you, God. The new house that I'll build, I'll use it for your glory.
[12:41] The food that I eat, the wonderful provision that's awaiting, I will give thanks to you for every bite. Every single bite that comes, I will give thanks. And the wealth, the gold and silver that's referenced here, I'll tithe it.
[12:55] I'll accept it as a gift from you, and I'll make sure I tithe and I give back to you. That's surely how they would have thought at that point. I think that's how any of us would think at that point, when you had hard years, and God has just said this tremendous blessing there.
[13:09] That would have been their intention. And that would have been a genuine intention on their part as well. But the problem is that with that abundance, with the blessing that was going to come, the danger was going to be that they would actually forget that.
[13:24] That they would forget their past. That they would forget the way in which they relied on God. And that they would turn in other directions, turn towards idolatry as well. Just to point out, it is clear from the passage here that there is nothing inherently wrong with receiving plenty from the Lord.
[13:45] There's nothing inherently wrong with receiving material, plenteous material provision from the Lord. There's nothing wrong with having a nice house. There's nothing wrong with food being made available.
[13:57] There's nothing wrong with having riches and things like that. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. Indeed, these things can be seen as a blessing from the Lord. Of course, a blessing that then we are to use for the glory of God.
[14:11] But it is a gift from God. Having said that, we're not all promised that. We're not all promised that we'll all be rich and that we'll all have big houses. That is not something that we find in the Word of God.
[14:22] But you have heard of an error, a theological error, a wrong teaching referred to as the prosperity gospel. That's maybe something that's not really as apparent in our nation.
[14:35] Although it is there in pockets, but it's not a big thing. But there are other cultures and other nations where this kind of idea of the prosperity gospel is a big thing. This idea of, you know, you come before God and you give money to the church and you worship God and he'll make you rich and he'll give you big houses and all these things.
[14:52] We don't believe in that. That is nonsense. There's nothing in the Word of God that suggests that that's the case. But although we don't believe in that, although we don't believe in the prosperity gospel in that sense, we do believe in a gospel that changes people.
[15:10] And in a gospel that changes families. And in a gospel that changes, therefore, communities. And a gospel that changes nations as well. And it can change families, individuals, societies, and nations to the end of actually enabling them to prosper.
[15:27] Because when people actually live the way in which God intends us to live, very often, it's not a direct rule, but very often, that's exactly what you see. You see prospering.
[15:39] You see nations prospering. I think that's something that we have experienced in our own nation in the past as well. You know, a land very much built off the foundation of the Word of God.
[15:51] The gospel is very much at the core. And lo and behold, there was great prospering that took place during that period as well. I know it's not an exact science, but there is something there. Where the gospel is at work in a place where our lives are lived out the way in which God intends, there is, naturally speaking, there is a degree of prosperity that comes with that.
[16:11] But again, going back to the main point, that prosperity comes with a danger attached. So the question is, what is that problem? I think you all know, given what I've just mentioned and what we've read there as our text, what the problem is.
[16:26] But what is the problem inherent of plenty? So the problem isn't having the plenty. The problem isn't owning these things. The problem is the danger of stopping trusting on God.
[16:39] The danger of no longer leaning on God. And thinking very much that we have achieved these things in our strength, that we have done this for ourselves, leaning on ourselves, forgetting God.
[16:53] And, you know, the sad thing is, that's exactly what happened with the Israelites. You know, again, if you imagine them standing on the banks of the Jordan there, you'd have thought they would never have forgotten. They would never have had their eyes or heads turned by the false gods.
[17:07] But that's exactly what happened. They forgot. They forgot and they started to rely on themselves. They started to think that basically they had done all this for themselves. And they forgot God. They forgot their past.
[17:18] They forgot all of these things. Luxury and comfort and ease, or at least relative luxury and comfort and ease, tends to have this effect of us forgetting who it is that actually provides for us.
[17:34] It makes us proud. It shouldn't do that. But very often it does. We fall into that error. We fall into this error of becoming proud. And you have something like that in verse 12, again, there, where we read, Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, watch then that your heart not be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God.
[18:07] So that is the danger there. And it's a danger we all, I think, is the danger of becoming proud and forgetting that everything we have, all that we have is ultimately from the Lord.
[18:22] And again, just thinking about our own island communities as well. We know this. We know in the past, like I was mentioning earlier, that they had a real sense of their dependence on God.
[18:35] Like for every crop, every meal, their very well-being. Our ancestors were very much, they had to be dependent on the Lord.
[18:46] But in our day, it is different. It is different. I realize there's poverty and I absolutely realize there's people going through a lot of difficulties. But generally speaking, relative to other eras, there's food in the cupboards.
[18:58] We have shops available at any time. We can go and we can buy food. We have some kind of form of heating and homes. Again, not taking away from the difficulties that people are going through.
[19:11] But generally speaking, we have a lot of material, material blessing. And the danger is that because of that, we forget. Because we're not reliant on the crop growing. Because we're not reliant on the boat coming in with some provision.
[19:26] Fishermen going out and things like that. Because we don't sense our sense of reliance on these things, we lose sight of our reliance on the Lord himself. And again, it's not a bad thing that we have all this provision.
[19:39] I'm not trying to kind of paint this out that it wasn't terrible that we have all this provision. Not at all. This is a blessing from God that we have all the provision that we have available today. But it is a blessing that we must be careful not to take for granted.
[19:54] And to stop and give thanks every day. And I think that's a very practical thing. Every day, do you stop and give thanks to the Lord for even your homes? The fact that you have a roof over your heads.
[20:07] Do you stop every day? In a meaningful way, I mean. And thank God for the clothing on your back. Or even food as well. You know, we have the right practice, of course, when we eat our food or come before a meal to give thanks.
[20:22] According to the pattern of the Lord himself, we give thanks. But even these wee things, saying the grace, giving thanks for food. It's a small practical thing in your day. But it helps you to think about the sense of being grateful to God.
[20:36] You know, these little patterns are so important. And I would encourage you to keep on that mindset of gratitude and thanking God for the small things.
[20:47] The material things that we have in our lives. So that's the problem that's connected with plenty. So the issue isn't the plenty. The issue isn't the abundance. I don't want to give that impression.
[20:59] That's not the issue. Abundance is a blessing. But the problem inherent in plenty is that we become proud. We forget that all we have is ultimately a gift from God.
[21:09] And that all of that can be taken away in a moment as well. We think that all these things are always going to be there. But these things can be taken in a moment. So that's the problem.
[21:21] The problem of plenty. But I want to move on to the solution here. What is the remedy? The remedy of remembering. So this is key here. This whole passage is about remembering.
[21:34] Remember. So Moses is telling the people here in this chapter. He's saying, remember your past. It's a basic thing. It's a very straightforward thing in many ways.
[21:45] But that's what we've been encouraged to do here. Remember your past. He says to make sure you don't forget the way in which you are ultimately dependent on God. And your past is going to show you that. Your past is going to make you see that.
[21:57] Remember your past. As he's speaking to the Israelites. Remember the way in which you were so dependent on me. The way your forefathers were so dependent on me. And specifically what he's pointing him back to is the wilderness.
[22:09] The wilderness journey. That's when you read the verses there in verse 15 and 16 there. That's the focus. The wilderness journey. He's reminding them how when they went through that wilderness.
[22:20] I provided for you, God says. I provided for you in so many different ways. Do not forget that. So he's saying, do not forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
[22:32] Out of the house of slavery. Verse 15. Who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness. With its fiery serpents and scorpions. And thirsty ground where there was no water.
[22:44] Who brought you water out of the flinty rock. Who fed you in the wilderness with manna. Now, so there he mentions, interestingly, three things in particular.
[22:56] Three moments in those wilderness years. So there shall mention there of the fiery serpents. There shall mention there of the water from the rock. And there shall mention there of the manna from heaven as well.
[23:10] Three things that he draws their attention to. I just want to touch very briefly on those three things as well. So the first one is the fiery serpents. Remember. Remember the fiery serpents.
[23:20] Now, mention of the fiery serpents ought to trigger in our minds a very specific story. A very specific narrative. It brings us to a particular moment.
[23:32] A particular event in the wilderness experience of the Lord's people. And if you want to read more about that narrative, you can find it in the book of Numbers, chapter 21. And we see there the narrative of the fiery serpents.
[23:45] And remember what that narrative was about. That narrative is basically the Lord's people, the Israelites. They're in the wilderness. And they're complaining to God. They complained quite a few times, to be fair.
[23:59] But this was one of the times where they were complaining. They were complaining to the Lord. They were essentially wishing they were really back in Egypt. And as a judgment on the spirit of complaining and their ingratitude.
[24:14] The judgment was the Lord allowed these fiery serpents into the camp. And these were serpents that were basically biting and perhaps with some kind of burning sensation were causing the people not only to be bitten and this kind of fiery pain, but also ultimately a lot of them to die.
[24:30] So they were being bitten and they were being put to death. And these fiery serpents in the wilderness, they would have killed all the people. But the people at that point, they repent. They turn to the Lord.
[24:43] They repent of their sin. They acknowledge their sin. And they ask Moses, of course, to intercede. And what does God do? God answers. God responds to the repentance of His people.
[24:54] And He tells Moses, right, you build a bronze serpent. You put it on a pole. Lift it high up. And next time someone is bitten, look at that serpent and you will be saved.
[25:05] And that's exactly what happened. They built that bronze serpent. And the fiery serpents were still in the camp biting and causing pain. But as soon as they were put in the people, they would look to the bronze serpent and they would be healed.
[25:17] So God provides a salvation for them. So that's what that whole story is about. But why has it been mentioned here? Why is God through Moses saying, here, remember that story? Why is He reminding them of that?
[25:29] Well, He's reminding them of that here because that's effectively reminding them of the importance of being thankful to the Lord. And not falling into the spirit of complaining.
[25:40] Not falling into this spirit of ingratitude. Like happened to the Lord's people. Like happened to the Israelites in the wilderness. And it's a reminder or a warning not just of that, but it's also a reminder of the way in which God saved them as well.
[25:57] The mercy of God is in that story as well. So remember the fiery serpents. It's a reminder to them of all these things. Don't complain. Don't forget to give thanks to the Lord. But also remember of the salvation of the Lord too.
[26:10] So these are memories that they're to remember and to think about. To not forget. And it's not just the fiery serpent. You've also got the water from the rock and the manna as well.
[26:21] So He's basically saying to them there, you know, remember how the Lord brought that water out of the rock for you. Remember how He provided this manna substance, this manna from heaven in order to nourish you every day.
[26:34] Because those wilderness years were difficult. That wilderness journey was a journey that was hard. It meant they were hungry and they were thirsty. And very often we read about their hunger and their thirst as well as they journeyed.
[26:48] But the thing is, God provided. And He provided miraculously. It was a miraculous provision of water. A miraculous provision of the manna as well.
[27:00] That manna that was available to them every day. And it's almost like in remembering these things and reminding them of these things. He's saying to them here, remember, I want you to stop and I want you to remember the hunger and thirst that you experienced and the way in which I provided for you.
[27:18] And the reason for that reminder is the very fact of what we were talking about earlier. That the danger was that when they entered into the promised land, when they began to prosper, when they began to get comfortable, that they would indeed forget.
[27:35] And God is saying, don't forget that. Remember the way in which I provided for you. And remembering is so important. And we need to do that as well.
[27:46] We need to stop and we need to actually make sure that we remember. And when you look back on your own Christian pilgrimage, obviously we're looking at the Israelites' pilgrimage here.
[27:58] But when we look back on our own Christian pilgrimage, again, sometimes in our comfort, sometimes when things are going well for us, we can forget. Forget the different ways in which the Lord has provided for us in the past.
[28:12] And all of us, those of us who are the Lord's people here, no doubt you'll be able to look back at a time when you needed help from God. There was some situation and you needed help from God and you would have fallen on your knees and come before the Lord.
[28:28] Perhaps some kind of crisis situation maybe. Some crisis situation in life. Some crisis situation connected to the family. And you come before God. And you cried out. And the Lord answered.
[28:40] And the Lord helped you through that difficulty. He took you through that period. He strengthened you through that period. And then, perhaps, once you get out of that period, once you get out of that difficulty, once you come out of that hardship in life, and then things become a little more comfortable when the Christian life becomes a little easier and you've got to skip on your step once more, it's frightening how quickly it is that we can forget that time.
[29:07] That we can forget that time when we were crying out to the Lord and the Lord took us through. The Lord helped us. Let's make sure that we don't forget. When things are going well, when we're comfortable in the Christian life, it is imperative that we remember.
[29:22] Stop and remember. Reflecting on the past is a very helpful thing to do spiritually. To remember the past.
[29:32] To remember the hole of the pit from which we were dug, as we read in Isaiah. And here God says to them, remember the fiery serpents.
[29:44] Remember the water from the rock. Remember the manna. And by doing so, they remember what God has done for them, exactly as we need to do ourselves as well. But for the New Testament Christian, when we are coming back to a passage like this, we are reminded of more than just snakes and bread or manna and water.
[30:05] We're reminded of more than those three things when we look back at this. And this again goes back to what I was referring to in the morning service. Whenever you're reading the Old Testament, you might not always see the name of Jesus written in these chapters, but he's absolutely there.
[30:20] And this is certainly a chapter that is actually full of Christ. His name is not mentioned, but is a chapter that's full of Christ. The snakes, the water, the bread remind us of Jesus.
[30:33] And you might say, well, how do these things remind us of Jesus? Do we need to perform some kind of spiritual gymnastics to make these things match Jesus? No, we don't. And the reason we don't is because the New Testament does that for us.
[30:45] New Testament already points us, showing us how these things are meant to link us to Christ. So the bronze serpent, for example, well-known passage in John chapter 3, verse 14, we read, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
[31:12] So very clearly, the whole narrative of the bronze serpent, everything connected to that, is meant to be a picture of Christ. You know, just as the bronze serpent was lifted up, just as if you were bitten and you would look up, you would be saved.
[31:25] In the same way, we have Christ lifted up on the cross. He's there crucified, and we've been bitten. We have been affected by the curse of sin. So we look to Christ.
[31:36] And when we look with the eye of faith, we receive that same healing. We receive that same cleansing, that salvation. So the picture of the serpent, the fiery serpents, and the bronze serpent, it's meant to be a picture, a reminder to us of Christ.
[31:49] Similarly, the water from the rock. Again, it's meant to be a picture of Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 1, and this is Paul speaking about the Israelites in the book of Exodus, and he says this about them.
[32:03] He says, All drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. The rock that they drank from was Christ.
[32:16] It's all pointing to Christ. He is the source of the very water of life. He is the one who satisfies their thirst. He is ultimately the one who actually provides life for them, who saved them.
[32:29] And you've got the same link with the manna as well. Same idea. John chapter 6, verse 32. Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
[32:45] For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.
[32:57] He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. So again, you have the manna. It's meant to be a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true bread of life, the one who if we come to him, we will never hunger.
[33:14] So when we look back at a passage like this with our New Testament glasses on, we can see very much Christ is at the heart of this. Christ is at the heart of this passage.
[33:26] And what that's telling us is what we need to remember is what these things are pointed to. What we need to remember is Christ. That's what we need to remember. In this New Testament age, as we reflect and as we remember, we're to remember Christ.
[33:40] Remember what it is that our Lord and Savior has done for us. To remember the way in which he was lifted up on the cross. To remember the way in which he had his blood shed for us.
[33:51] The way in which his body was broken for us. Remember, that's really what's behind this passage. It's almost as though God is saying to us today, through this Old Testament passage here, be careful that in your comfort and your abundance that you do not forget Christ.
[34:09] Don't forget what Christ has done. And, you know, for the Christian in here, for those who put their faith and trust in Christ, for the Lord's people.
[34:20] When we were first saved, you can think back to whenever that was in your life, you probably were, again, filled with a sense of gratitude and giving thanks to the Lord every day for the salvation that is ours, giving thanks for the death of Christ, you know, giving thanks for that sacrificial love that was shown for people like us.
[34:42] You know, your heart would have no doubt been on fire with that sense of thankfulness and gratitude. But the solemn thing is, sometimes as we go on in the Christian life, we can actually get used to our newfound salvation.
[35:00] Solemnly, we can even take it for granted. And we forget what it was like to be without God, without any hope in this world. We forget what it was like to be on that road that was heading towards destruction.
[35:14] And we forget as well the depth of what it is that our Lord and Savior has done for us. And it is imperative that we do not forget that.
[35:25] Now, I know we have the Lord's Supper and the Lord's Table, and that's an occasion, of course, where we do try and remember. But this ought to be always part of our lives as the Lord's people, that every day that we stop and we remember.
[35:38] Yes, we remember personally how God has helped us. We remember how God has provided materially, like we're talking about. But most importantly of all, remembering what Christ has done, remembering what He's done, remembering the cross, remembering what He did there in order to save sinners like us, remembering the way in which the Spirit came into our hearts and brought us to faith.
[35:58] It can be so easy to forget that, so easy to take that for granted. Let's make sure that we do not. Let's make sure that we do not forget, but that we always remember, and remember with thanksgiving, remember with gratitude, all that the Lord has done.
[36:15] And my prayer is that if you, as of yet, haven't come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, my prayer is that you would come, that you would hear something of the wonder, the spiritual provision that the Lord has for His people, an offer that is so different to what the world offers.
[36:35] Like I was saying in the morning, what the world offers is lies, all sorts of lies to try and lure you away from Christ, to try and lure you into the grips of the world. But what Christ offers is real.
[36:47] It is something of substance. It is a salvation, and a salvation that is an offer this evening if we come and we put our trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Himself.
[37:00] Amen. May the Lord bless these few thoughts to us. We'll bow our heads now and come before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we give thanks again for the wonder of your provision.
[37:16] Even as we were touching on there, we give thanks for even the material provisions that we receive from your hand. Help us, again, not to take these things for granted.
[37:27] Help us to remember that even though perhaps it doesn't always feel like it in our abundance, but that we are always reliant on you for everything that we have. And we know that everything can change in a moment, in the blink of an eye.
[37:42] So give us a heart filled with gratitude, but also help us to remember the way in which you have spiritually provided for us as we think about maybe difficulties that we've individually been through in the past and the way in which you took us through those difficulties.
[37:57] Forgive us for times when we've forgotten to give thanks. We're quick to ask, but very often we forget to give thanks when we come through these difficulties. So help us to stop. Help us to remember. And help us especially to remember Christ, to remember the work of the triune God, to remember all that was done in order that sinners like us might know salvation.
[38:17] So continue with us now. Cleanse us, wash us from sin. We ask it all for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, we'll conclude our time of worship now by singing to God's praise in Psalm 103 in the Sing Psalms.
[38:36] Psalm 103 in the Sing Psalms. And that's page 135.
[38:49] Page 135. Psalm 103. So verse 1 to 7. Praise God, my soul, with all my heart. Let me exalt His holy name.
[39:01] Forget not all His benefits. His praise, my soul, and song proclaims. So forget not all His benefits. Don't forget all the different things, material and spiritual, the Lord has done for us.
[39:13] The Lord forgives you all your sins and heals your sickness and distress. And that's ultimately true of our spiritual sickness. Your life He rescues from the grave and crowns you in His tenderness.
[39:24] So Psalm 103, verse 1 to 7. To the praise of God. Praise God, my soul, with all my heart.
[39:38] Let me exalt His holy name. Forget not all His benefits.
[39:50] His praise, my soul, and song proclaims. The Lord forgives you all your sins and heals your sickness and distress.
[40:08] Your life He rescues from the grave and crowns you in His tenderness.
[40:21] And crowns you in His tenderness. He satisfies your deep desires from His unending storage of good so that just like the eagle's strength your youthful vigor is renewed.
[40:53] The Lord is known for righteousness and justice to death, broad and once, to Moses even known His way.
[41:12] His mighty deeds to His sons. His mighty deeds to His sons.
[41:27] Now, may the grace of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit continue with you all now and forevermore.
[41:40] Amen. Amen. Thank you.