A. Opening illustration: When it comes to being on the alert and ready at any moment to do the job, it’s hard to beat the Pony Express. This historically famous mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and California depended on constant movement and readiness. Relay stations were established every ten to fifteen miles. A rider would shout aloud as he approached a station, giving the station master very short notice that he needed to be outside waiting with a fresh mount. Even when a rider came to the station where he was to spend the night, another rider was already mounted and waiting, ready to grab the first rider’s bundle of packages and continue the trip.
B. Background to passage: this is the last time God speaks to the nation of Israel for about 400 years. And so, this instruction is very significant. God is preparing them for the next time that He speaks and the next big event on the calendar of God—the birth of Christ. God prepares us for big things in our lives spiritually.
C. Main thought: in the text we will see three things that God says to Israel to prepare for a big event/trial
A. Let the Word be determinative (v. 4)
1. When the bible uses language like “remember,” it means to keep in the forefront of your mind. Here God tells the people, if you want to prepare for 400 years of silence, then the Messiah, keep the law of Moses at the forefront of your minds. It means to allow it to be determinative in your life. It means to reverence and honor God’s Word for exactly what it is.
2. Ps 119:9-16
3. Illustration: I will seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them. –George Mueller, Story/testimony from the former homosexual that was trying to justify his previous life in the scripture on day, and his partner came down the stairs and nonchalantly said “it’s not there.”
4. In scripture we are exhorted to love the Word, memorize it, meditate it, learn it, speak it, live it, and honor it in every way. The bible is our guidebook and final authority, but it is much more than that. It is historically, culturally, and scientifically accurate, but much more than that. It is the perfect, self-revelation of the One True God. It is the absolute, unshakable truth forever. It is the means by which we come to know God, are sanctified by God, sustain our daily walk with God, discern the heart of God, and gain guidance from God. In marriage disputes, financial decisions, workplace ethics, personal purity, and everything else, we must allow God’s Word to be authoritative in our lives. If we want to be prepared for God to work great works in our lives, we must allow God’s Word to shape our lives. Or else, when crisis comes, we make all the wrong decisions, thus delaying the deliverance in our lives, and dishonoring God in the process.
5. For example, if you are wrestling with the sin of lust manifesting in various behaviors or thoughts. We examine Rom 8:15, want to put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, then we turn and begin to memorize and apply Psalm 119:37 “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways,” thus doing 1 Thess 4:3-5 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.”
6. Or if you are struggling with forgiving another person who has treated you unjustly, we read Jesus’s warning in Matt 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” then we read Paul’s instructions in Eph 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Then you go and do whatever is necessary to forgive, and fight to take thoughts of unforgiveness captive, 2 Cor 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
B. Let your eyes of faith be alert (v. 5)
1. In this verse God speaks about sending his messenger before Him. Malachi spoke of this over in 3:1, but here he gives a little more specific information. He said that this one would come the spirit and power of Elijah, the greatest of the early prophets. God kept giving prophecies and hints of when the Messiah would come with the assumption that His people would be watching. In fact, by giving them these hints, He was saying to them to be alert, keep watching, even though I am silent, I am working. He was preparing them for 400 years of silence. No prophets, no prophecy, no messiah, no word from the Lord, no miracles, no revival, just silence. These years of silence would precede the greatest events since creation – the coming of Elijah (John the Baptist and Jesus).
2. Matthew 11:14 - and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
3. Matthew 17:12–13 - But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
4. 1 Corinthians 16:13 - Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
5. 1 Thessalonians 5:6 - So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
6. 1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
7. Illustration: The main point of Henry Blackaby’s study Experiencing God was that we were find where God is working and join Him. During the Revolutionary War, a loyalist spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey where the Hessians were encamped. The spy was denied an audience with the commander and instead wrote his message on a piece of paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a poker game he stuffed the unread note into his pocket. When the guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to stop Washington’s army, Rall was still playing cards. Without time to organize, the Hessian army was captured. The battle occurred the day after Christmas, 1776, giving the colonists a late present--their first major victory of the war,
8. We do live in a day and age where God does work every day. Therefore, the application is to be watchful. We are to be spiritually alert to what God is doing in our church, in our world, and in our personal lives. We must be cautious about becoming spiritually lethargic because we don’t see active results of prayer or movement of God. You may go through seasons where you feel that God is not watching you, not hearing your prayers, being silent. Know that the promise that God is working is firm, not feelings. It is a war to keep from defaulting to feelings for reality over and against the Word. Watch for circumstantial indicators of how God is moving in your life, even if you are not seeing them. Keep a journal as to how God is leading you, even if you don’t feel led. Maintain your closeness to the Lord so that you may hear him well. God may have opportunities for you to take hold of. Or God may be maneuvering your life into a position of usefulness and blessing. Pray for clear direction in your life and a spiritual watchfulness. Be cautious against trusting your heart too much. The Spirit leads, the Word speaks, circumstances, counselors, and impressions are important, but subjective.
C. Let God use you in revival (v. 6)
1. This verse speaks of a great revival to come alongside the ministry of Elijah. God says that fathers would cease to live self-centered lives, and sons would consider their actions and how they might honor their father on earth, and by implication their father in heaven. There verses foretold a revival that would happen about 400 years later. The point is that you never know when God is going to break forth in a big way. But most of these outbreaks of the Spirit of God begin with one person, or a small group of people that has a white-hot passion for Christ, a diligence about prayer, a brokenness over sin, and a purpose in their heart to be obedient in every way.
2. Luke 1:16-17,
3. Illustration: Revival came to north China in 1932 in answer to several years of prayer. At one point, Norwegian missionary Maria Monsen wondered what good her praying could do. She longed to see God’s river of life flood spiritually dry China. Then she realized that the mighty Yangtze River began when the tiny drops of rain came together in the top of the mountains. Maria sought a prayer partner who would join her in claiming the promise “that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Mt. 18:19). When she finally found someone she exclaimed, “The awakening has begun! Two of us have agreed!” The raindrops of revival prayer were coming together. In November of 1930 Maria announced, “A great revival is coming soon, and it will begin in the North China Mission.” She was convinced that the missionaries had fulfilled the conditions for revival found in 2 Chron. 7:14. In 1932 about forty Christians were meeting in a town in North China for prayer four times a day beginning at 5:00 a.m. Believers were convicted of sin. Two men repented of hating each other. Love was strong and deep. Joy abounded. When revival came more people were born again than in any previous year in North China. One missionary estimated that 3,000 people came to Christ in his town. Pastors, missionaries, and Bible women experienced a deeper Christian life than they had ever known before. On New Year’s Eve 1739, John Wesley, George Whitefield, and some of their friends held a “love feast” which became a watchnight of prayer to see the New Year in. At about 3 a.m., Wesley wrote, “the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground.”
4. We do not know when the next great revival will come to our state, nation, or town, but God would have us to be prepared to be used in a mighty way. Pray the prayers of the saints of old: “God, burn me out for you,” “take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee,” “give me Scotland, or else I die,” or “anytime, anything, anywhere.” Strive to maintain closeness to God in your life, and when you feel a clear leading, mark it down and go for it. Be faithful to do what you have been led to do, regardless of the perceived results, believing that God is in it, and He is using it to accomplish His purposes. How would we react to an extraordinary, outside of the norm move of God in here? We must be on the starting blocks awaiting him to “visit” his people, call others to himself, be a light in the darkness.
A. Closing illustration: What would you do if Jesus were coming back on Friday afternoon…
B. The common thread through all three points is that God wants us to maintain our closeness to Him and His word on a daily basis so that we might be prepared when God allows a long period of silence, begins a great revival, or initiates some major event on His calendar. Are you close enough to God to be used by Him? Don’t beat yourself up with guilt, simply repent, and change your behavior, your schedule, your attitude, and the discipline, feelings, and power will be applied to your life later.
C. Invitation to commitment
