Confessions of a Church: Has anything been done like this?
The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.
Deuteronomy 4:32-49
32 “Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34 Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him. 36 Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39 Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
41 Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east, 42 that a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; 45 these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out from Egypt, 46 across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east, 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
This is the word of the Lord.
Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?
If you are a Christian, you believe in talking serpents, parted seas, burning bushes and dead people being made alive. You believe in miracles, chariots of fire, and a place called hell, where the damned will be tormented forever.
Christians believe a person walked on water, fed thousands with a few fish and some bread, and stilled the sea with a word.
Even here in the passage today we are reminded of God doing amazing things, unbelievable things which had not been done before in the history of the world.
Things like bringing His prized possession out from within the midst of another nation. This Great Rescue of Israel from the clutches of death in Egypt was a continuation of God fulfilling His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The thought that the God of all creation would be concerned with a little, obscure, dirty group of slaves like Israel, is an amazing thought because it shows how low God is willing to condescend to rescuse His people and fulfill His promises.
Has anything been done like this great thing?
We live in a post-cross, post- resurrection world, so for us Christians, not only do we believe in fantastic things like those already mentioned, we believe in Jesus. Perfect, spotless lamb of God. The obedient Son. The propitiation for our sins. The One Who was dead and is alive forevermore (Rev 1:18)! Jesus, the Great Physician, Who takes out cold, dead, stony, hearts, and causes people to be born again and walk in the newness of life.
We believe in our King, Jesus, Who through His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead, transferred us from the Domain of Darkness into His Kingdom which has no end.
Has anything been done like this great thing?
These truths which we hold dear, recite week in and week out, are truths which have stirred the souls of men, women, boys, and girls for millennia.
It's these truths which have burned in the hearts of men and women throughout the ages, encouraging them onward in the face of oppression, sickness, war, and loss. I once read a story of a group of Christians in Iraq who were lined up in the street, being beheaded one by one, yet were smiling and singing hymns of praise all the way to their death. They could do this because they knew beyond a shadow of doubt that their Redeemer lives! They had heard the report, and believed. They intimately knew the truths which we frequently sing "No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand". So to the grave they go with joy in their hearts.
Yet how often do people walk through the doors of this Church with downcast faces? How often are the words of your mouth, or the keystrokes of your fingers, issuing forth with words of gloom, doom, and oh, woe is me?
We have access to the grandest story and greatest Savior, yet our problems, our depression, our sadness, our illness, and our loss, are just too much. Our temptations are just too great for God to overcome. Our life is unique. Never has God dealt with someone in our situation before, all the heartache, all the troubles, all the forces of this world aligned against us. We're hopeless. Rather than turning to Christ, opening His Word, using the means of grace which He has graciously given us, how often do we find ourselves turning instead to the things of this world, idols made with the hands of man, rather than to the living God?
Are there any stories of salvation, rescue, freedom from bondage, sacrifice, or deliverance, anywhere or anytime, which can compare to the grand old story of God choosing a people for His glory before the foundation of the world, His Church, and recording this rescue on the pages of history as evidence to the world that He is, He was, and He is to come? Yet you and I trade these glorious truths for the elemental things of this world, crying out to our idols, not realizing that they are powerless to save.
Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?
We have Christ and an inheritance. We have a crown of glory, yet live like slaves, with circumstances, emotions, feelings, and opinions as our slave masters. Every bump in the road, every temptation, every doctor visit, every sleepless night, every single rejection of a family member, all serve as implicit evidence that God has turned away from you and you are without hope. So we mope, complain, whine, and worry, as if Jesus's words are not true: "And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?" (Luke 12:25)
We forget that it has been granted us, not only to believe, but to suffer for His name (Philippians 1:29). We have forgotten that disciples will become like their teachers (Matthew 10:25). In the midst of suffering we forget that we are commanded to "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)
We have a Savior in Christ who is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). A great high priest who understands our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). Won't you repent from your lack of faith in Him this day? Won't you turn from your idols and hope anew in the risen Savior?
If you are able at this time, please kneel as we confess our sins to Almighty God.
Heavenly Father,
We are weak: men, women, boys, and girls of dust. We are prone to forget Your marvelous works towards the sons of men, because we fixate on our problems rather than on our Savior. We meditate on worldly solutions, rather than upon Your Word. We pray to our idols rather than to the Triune God Who is mighty to save. We have Your testimonies which are true and sure, but instead believe the lies of the Devil.
Father, please forgive us for our lack of faith in You. Please forgive us for our short memories, which quickly forget all of Your hard won victories on our behalf, viewing every stumble, slip, and fall as utter defeat.
Please forgive us for any grumbling and complaining, and help us to persevere until the end.
In Jesus's name we pray.
Amen.
Please stand and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:
John 3:16-18a For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged.
To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!
(From the 01/16/2022 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)