FBMB
October 11, 2009
Sunday Morning
This Is My Story
Deuteronomy 6:23; 9:1
Intro.: Today we continue in our message theme series, “This Is My Story.” Every believer is being encouraged to write their story of how they met Christ and how Christ changed their life. Also want to encourage you to slip a copy in the book of stories, AND to be sharing that story with others.
For over thirty years of my spiritual life I’ve been asking the Lord to help me live my life with purpose and meaning. Before that however my life was empty. I searched in many places to find contentment and satisfaction for my life. Every time I left situations and places without any assurance of why I was on this earth.
One day while attending a church service I heard for the first time that Jesus loved me in a special way and that He had a purpose for my life. A Sunday School teacher shared with me some verses in the Bible that brought me to my life-changing experience. One of them was the reality God had a free gift He wanted to give me. He shared it like this, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” It was then that I became honest with God by telling Him I was sorry for the many things I had done that were wrong and was willing to put my faith in Him alone.
Since that day, now 31 years, I live with complete assurance, peace and joy about my eternity. I don’t question or worry if I’m being good enough or if I’ve done the right things for God to love me. I know that He does and I continue to live my life with purpose and meaning and the assurance of my eternity with God.
I like stories – I especially like stories of how God stepped into someone’s life after He was invited and He changed their life. As a BF teacher I have had several opportunities to read stories from those in my class.
You see, I have the privilege of seeing God take lives of chaos, despair, dissatisfaction and emptiness. I have the unspeakable joy of watching God take a life when granted permission and planting hope and purpose and meaning in that life.
Sometimes I have tears of joy and want to shout because I know that God can take the most gentle person and the most cold hearted person and the most distant person and the most unlikely person and change their life for all time and eternity.
My soul rejoices with the angels in heaven when I see a life that has been brought out of sin and into the righteousness of Jesus. One that has come from this world’s darkness into His marvelous light. Out of the old life of disobedience into the new life of obedience.
May it be so that believers never loose the joy of heaven’s rejoicing when one sinner comes into repentance. That we never forget when and how God brought us out from the very pit of hell and placed us on a heaven-bound road. That He took off the chains of sin, liberated us by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the tomb and is even now preparing us and for us our eternal home.
While reading through Deuteronomy God grabbed my heart a few weeks ago when I read these words from Moses, “Then He brought us OUT from there (Egypt) that He might bring us IN . . . (Promise Land).” (6:23) “Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan TODAY.” (9:1)
When I read that first verse I immediately began to think of my own salvation story. Then the next day that next verse - I began to see how God had appointed a day when He brought me out of my life of sin and began preparing me to enter into His heaven.
Today it is truly an honor for me to share my story in extended form and in an allegorical form from these two passages.
I. The Biblical CONTEXT
A. Deuteronomy = “Book of Remembrance.”
1. In this book God used the leader Moses to begin leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
2. For 400 years they had been held in bondage by the Pharaoh and were treated as slaves of intense labor.
3. God used Moses to speak to the Pharaoh so that the people would be released and go free into a promised land.
4. Once released though they spent an additional 40 years wondering around in the desert.
5. Even in their freedom they continued to experience difficulties, restrictions, setbacks, and trials.
6. A whole generation of people died because of their lack of obedience to follow God and to worship Him alone.
B. At the same time God was using Moses to lead His people OUT of Egypt He was also raising up another man named Joshua to lead His people into the Promise Land.
1. God had told Moses he would not enter into that land of promise but his successor Joshua would.
2. MOSES had led them across the great body of water called the Red Sea.
3. But JOSHUA was going to lead them across the Jordon River.
4. But now, they were standing on Jordan’s stormy banks and preparing to enter a land promised by God.
C. Will you imagine with me the excitement that must have been with the Israelites as they were about to step into a land that had been promised to them?
1. For over 40 years they had been waiting for this.
2. Even though they had been stubborn and Moses even called them a stiff-neck people – there must have been an anticipation that we may not completely understand.
3. But here is contextual truth I want us to hear and understand and the symbolic application I’m making.
4. GOD, not Moses, GOD not Joshua, GOD brought them OUT in order to bring them INTO the land He had promised.
5. Here was an entire population of people that had been told they were going to a land that flowed with milk and honey.
6. For you Cajuns that would be like going somewhere that has rice and gravy, and some boudin sausage.
7. For normal people from Oklahoma that would be like mashed potatoes and cream gravy and fried chicken.
8. Now listen – God was moving them out so He could move them in.
9. They didn’t earn it, they didn’t deserve it, they couldn’t buy it, and they didn’t inherit it on their own.
10. God, from the beginning of time choose them for this purpose.
D. I believe there is a great analogy awaiting us with the Israelites leaving Egypt, entering the promise Land and believers walking out of their life of sin and entering the arms of Jesus.
II. The Biblical CHANGE
A. SIN No Longer Has Dominion Over Me
1. I am no longer controlled by the prince of darkness but rather my life is in submission of the Prince of Peace.
2. I no longer have to say “the devil made me do it” because greater is He than is in me than he than is in the world.
3. God’s great love drew me out of a life of habitual sin into a life of righteousness.
4. When God brought me out of a life of sin He brought me into Himself.
5. That’s what the biblical word repent means – turning from SOMETHING but also turning to SOMEONE.
6. “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.”
7. When the power of God overcomes the power of sin you have been liberated.
8. Since sin no longer has dominion over me -
B. I Am BECOMING a New Creation
1. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
2. The grammatical tense of the verse is important.
3. It indicates a PRESENT change with FUTURE continuous results.
4. Its not reformation, reincarnation, or even rehabilitation.
5. It’s a re-creation: a spiritual heart transplant, a transformation by the renewing of the mind.
C. Paul had in mind the deep truth of spiritual regeneration and the new birth.
1. Paul is saying that the moment we gave our life to Christ we became “new” in relation to God.
2. Understand clearly that this new creation is GREATER than the exodus from Egypt.
3. God has now delivered the believer from the bondage of sin and led us back from the exile of our estrangement from God to a new reconciled relationship.
4. Since sin no longer has dominion over me, and since I am becoming His new creation -
C. I live with perfect PEACE, jubilant JOY, and purposeful PLANS.
1. Never more truer will the words AMAZING GRACE be for the believer than when he/she is secure in their salvation.
2. My hell past is forgiven and my heaven future is guaranteed.
3. The Bible tells me that when He brought me out of sin and into a reconciled relationship with Jesus God gave me His Spirit as a guarantee.
4. So now I don’t play the doubt game or the confused game or the I’m not sure game.
5. I know that I know that I know - once I was lost in sin but God brought me into His Son Jesus and now I am found.
Conclusion: When God brings you out He will not LEAVE you where you are. When He brings you out, He always brings you into so much more and better things than He took us out from.
Today Jesus stands with His arms wide open waiting for you to leave the life of sin and enter into a life of righteousness.
