Listen and Observe | Sunday, June 28, 2020

Welcome again to Cross Connection Church online. We are going to be in the book of Deuteronomy this morning. If you get your Bible, and if you don't know where that is, it is the fifth book of the Bible. Just open to the very first book, Genesis, and turn to the left until you get to Deuteronomy chapter 4.

Before we get into Deuteronomy today, I want to share a couple of things with you. We have a lot of great things going on as we experience the new normal of church in a post-COVID world. I wish that by saying "post-COVID world," I meant that the coronavirus was entirely behind us. At the moment, that's not the case. If it were, then we would be gathering together here at the church, but you're still watching from home, which means the coronavirus is still here. That's okay; I think God is still doing great things, and in all that He is doing, we rejoice. We rejoice that we can still worship together in song, through the Scriptures, and through sacrificial giving each week.

However, holding church services like this makes some things very difficult. For example, the early church continued steadfastly in fellowship, and we are just unable to fellowship with one another virtually. We are continuing to pray towards holding small group gatherings in homes in the not-too-distant future for watch parties. We'll let you know when this becomes available. Right now, our county health officials are still a bit reticent about such things and meeting like that.

Be that as it may, one of the other things that we are committed to at Cross Connection is discipleship. So, beginning next Sunday, we will launch a new program for kids' discipleship through our Cross Connection Family Ministries. I am very excited about this program, and I want to invite you, parents, to go to the website newcitylifeinconnection.com to learn about the program and to register your kids. This program is entirely free to those families that are connected to Cross Connection Church. You can learn about the program at newcitylifeinconnection.com, and you can register your kids there to receive information and materials mailed to them. So please don't miss out on this.

Next, we are continuing to expand and extend our reach as a church, both locally and globally. Prior to the chaos of COVID-19, we were beginning to prepare for...

We are adding a fourth service to our Sunday offerings at Cross Connection. That hasn't happened yet; in fact, right now we don't have any services at our church facility. However, we have added new services online, and each week we are now reaching people in more than 50 countries around the world. We want to extend this reach, which means we need to invest in new broadcast equipment to make more of that a reality. If you feel led to help us with this, please consider giving to our broadcast fund at broadcast.lifeinconnection.com. We are praying to raise about forty thousand dollars for our broadcast outreach, and so far we've raised about 60% of the needed funds. I want to thank you so much for your help with this; we are very blessed by your faithfulness as a church.

On that note, I also want to thank you for your faithfulness as a church in giving to our general fund. At the beginning of all of this, back in the middle of March, our staff team made financial cuts as we anticipated potential financial challenges due to everything we've been confronted with as a result of social distancing and shutdowns. But you have been so faithful as a church. Your faithfulness has reminded me of three very important things: first, our God is good; He is faithful. Second, Cross Connection, you are a very giving church. Third, I have very little faith, but when I am faithless, God remains faithful.

One more thing before we get into the Scriptures today: obviously, prayer is very important as a focus for us at Cross Connection. As we finish the month of June and step into July, we want to invite you to commit to 31 days of prayer in July. To help you with your daily prayers throughout the month, you can go to the website prayerminder.lifeinconnection.com to subscribe to our daily prayer minder for July. If you register, then each morning you will receive an email from Pastor Mark with a short video and some prayer helps for the day. This will begin this week on July 1st, so make sure that you go and register. I really think that this is going to be a blessing to many of you.

As part of our 31 days of prayer, we are also inviting you to consider a 31-day fast from social media and the news media.

I'm calling this social distancing from social media. Talking with a number of you in our church, I've found that social media and the news media are two of the prime contributors to our restlessness that we have been experiencing over the last hundred days. Today is the hundred and first day since the lockdown in California began. We're in triple digits now, and a lot of people in our church and throughout our nation are feeling the weight of all this.

I'm convinced that prayer and a fast from social media and news media might be well for our souls. So think about it, pray about it, and register at prayermindedlifeandconnection.com.

At the beginning of 2020, we began a new series of study at Cross Connection in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. I had been looking forward to this shift in our study at the church, as we had spent the better part of the last 12 years studying through the New Testament books. For those of you who may be new to the study of the Bible, the Scriptures are composed of 66 books divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Many Christian churches spend much of their time in the New Testament of the Bible. In fact, sometimes the New Testament, the last third of the Bible comprised of 27 books beginning with the Gospels and ending with the book of Revelation, is referred to as the Christian Scriptures. The Old Testament, the first two-thirds of the Bible, is referred to as the Hebrew Scriptures. However, generally speaking, Christians understand that the Old Testament is essentially important to our faith.

The 39 books of the Old Testament, beginning with Genesis and moving through Malachi, set the groundwork for the Gospel. All of that aside, I began looking forward to our studies in the Old Testament and selected the book of Deuteronomy as the place for us to begin because it establishes a very important starting point for a disciple's understanding of the whole of the Old Testament literature.

That's not to say that the four books that precede Deuteronomy—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers—are not important; they really are. But the book of Deuteronomy sets the stage for the history, poetic, and prophetic books that make up the bulk of the Old Testament literature. In the coming years, I anticipate that we'll be spending a fair amount of time considering those things together, that is, if the Lord doesn't return before we do.

Get there at the pace that we're going, both in society and our very slow study through Deuteronomy. That's entirely possible.

On that point, let me simply say that we are living in strange days. Many Christians, looking at the happenings in our nation and world, find themselves calling to mind the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. He said, "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." Jesus's words in Luke 21 are given after He speaks of the distress of nations and men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming upon the earth.

In light of all the distress in our own nation, I have been asked a number of times over the last 10 to 15 weeks, prophetically, what does the Bible have to say about all the things that are going on in the world? Are we living in the last days? The answer to the question, "Are we living in the last days?" is an emphatic yes. According to the Bible, we have been living in the last days for the last 2,000 years. The opening words of the Book of Hebrews identify the period from the first coming of Jesus until His second coming as the last days. So, in that sense, we are most certainly living during that time.

However, the question is obviously bigger than that. In light of all that is going on in the world—from coronavirus to wars and rumors of wars, to civil unrest, to brother against brother fighting in our own nation, and even plagues of locusts in Africa and Asia— is this the end?

I believe that a careful reading and study of Jesus's words and passages like Luke 21, Mark 13, and Matthew 24, which are referred to in the Gospels as the Olivet Discourse, will reveal that these things are the realities of living in a broken and fallen world. Jesus said in Matthew 24, beginning at verse 6, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." He goes on to speak of civil unrest, war, famines, pandemics, earthquakes, tribulation, persecution, and lawlessness. All of these things, Jesus says, are the beginning of sorrows.

That we must endure. He says things that will continue until the end when he returns. How shall we then live as followers of Jesus in a broken and fallen world? We should be faithful and wise servants of our Master, found continuing in His work until He returns. We should be dutifully watching and waiting, as those who are ready for His return. Even if He doesn't return during our lives, we should be using the gifts and talents that He has given to us for His purposes.

What exactly is the work and purpose to which He has set us? Well, Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20 say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verses 15 and 16, He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned." In Luke's Gospel, chapter 24, verse 47, we read, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

This is the task to which Christians are to be committed. Throughout church history, there have been countless things that have distracted the church from these tasks, and there are many things in our day that could distract us as well. But I would argue that it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that both redeems and transforms. The gospel redeems sinners, and it transforms for the better the societies where those redeemed sinners live.

I believe that an honest assessment of the history and the expanse of the gospel of Jesus Christ will bear this out. The nation that I, and many of you watching this, call our home—the United States—is an example of the transforming power of the gospel. The United States is an imperfect expression of it. The United States is not perfect; I think every one of us would recognize and understand that. But comparatively speaking, we can see in our...

Imperfect Union: the Upsides of the Gospel's Power

When we see things in our nation that are imperfect, the best answer is the Gospel. Redeemed and transformed people will make a more perfect union. That was, and continues to be, the experiment that is the United States. The opening words of the Constitution read, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Where do such concepts come from? I suggest that they are rooted in the Judeo-Christian ordinances of books like the Book of Deuteronomy. Since January, we have been considering together the first three chapters of Deuteronomy in a series of teachings that I have entitled "Bordering Blessing." The reason for the series title was fairly clear. When Moses preached to the people of Israel the message that makes up the Book of Deuteronomy, they were on the border of the promised land of blessing. They were preparing to enter the promised land, so they were quite literally bordering blessing.

However, to enter into and continue in possession of the blessing of the promised land, Israel was going to have to adhere to the statutes and judgments of God's law. As we now begin Deuteronomy chapter 4, we are shifting from "Bordering Blessing" to a new series of teachings that I'm calling "Statutes and Judgments." This comes directly to us from the passage before us in Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 1. There we read, "Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of our fathers is giving you."

The land of blessing is possessed only by adherence and obedience to the statutes and judgments of God. This was true more than 3,000 years ago for Israel, and it is also true for any society that desires to experience the blessing of an orderly society today. The statutes and judgments are essential for this purpose.

Judgments of God are the superordinate principles that lead to an ordered and orderly society. Without them, a society destabilizes. If they are rejected, a society inevitably experiences ruin—maybe not immediately, but eventually. This is evidenced in Israel's history, which follows Deuteronomy, and it is evident in the history of other societies. At each stage in Israel's history, when they departed from God's statutes and judgments, they began to experience inevitable destabilization and collapse. Prophets would arise to call them back to the superordinate principle of Deuteronomy.

It is because of this that the book of Deuteronomy is, I believe, essentially important as a preamble for understanding the historic and prophetic books of the Old Testament. In other words, if you're going to understand Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Micah, and the rest of the Old Testament prophets, then you need to have a basic understanding of Deuteronomy. I want so much to teach through the major and minor prophets of the Bible. I've spent a lot of time studying and teaching them over the years in college settings, but I know that a basic understanding of Deuteronomy is something of a prerequisite. That's why we're studying Deuteronomy.

The Old Testament prophets present the application of Deuteronomy for a destabilizing society. Four hundred years ago, as the nation of Israel prepared to enter into the promised land of blessing, Moses rehearsed the law for a second time. That is what Deuteronomy means: the second reading of the law. We are at the point in this book where the statutes and judgments of the law are going to be given. The previous three chapters were a reminder of the immediate history Israel faced leading up to this point.

Now we read Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 1: "Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you." These words are exceedingly important; they are a call to you and to me to pay attention. You can disagree with what these words teach, but if you do, you should go and consider biblically and historically what has happened to those who reject the statutes, ordinances, and judgments of God.

Judgments of God are significant, and it is worth noting that there are the written statutes and judgments of God recorded in Scripture, as well as those written upon our hearts in the form of our conscience. When an individual or a society rejects the statutes and judgments of God, it will invariably result in destabilization and collapse. Conversely, when an individual or society pays attention to His statutes and ordinances, and observes and obeys them, the result is blessing and life.

The Book of Proverbs states it this way: "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Righteousness is doing what is right in accordance with the ordinances of God, while sin is the rejection and disobedience to God's law. Life and the possession of God's blessing depend upon our hearing and heeding God's statutes and judgments.

Moses says, "Now Israel, listen." The word "listen" is the Hebrew word "Shama," which is an important term for Israel. They will become well acquainted with it in Deuteronomy chapter 6. In that passage, there is a portion referred to as the Shema. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 states, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

The word "Shema" means to listen, hear, understand, and obey. All of that and more is contained in this one word. Moses tells Israel to listen to the statutes and judgments that he is teaching them to observe. My calling as a pastor and a teacher is to do just what Moses is talking about here. I teach these things so that you may observe and do them, not merely that you might know them, but that you would do them.

Jesus said to His disciples, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Knowledge of the statutes and judgments of God is important, but adherence and observance are essential. Essential to what? That you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you.

We are not headed toward an earthly promised land as Israel was three millennia ago, but if we desire to experience life and blessing in the land in which we live today, we must pay attention to these statutes and judgments.

Attention to the superordinate principles of God's statutes and judgments is crucial as Moses's message in Deuteronomy comes to an end. In the thirtieth chapter, Moses will say, "Call heaven and earth to witness against you this day. I have set before you death and life, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

We are at a moment in our nation's history in which we are seeing the continued rejection of and rebellion against the statutes and judgments of God's moral and written law. As a result, we are witnessing the destabilization of our culture. Unless we repent, we will see its ruin. This is the prophetic message that we will become well acquainted with as we study through the Old Testament Scriptures. The prophet Isaiah arose during a time of destabilization in his day, and using the statutes and judgments, the blessings and cursings of Deuteronomy, he called the people of his time to repent. Jeremiah did the same thing over and over again. We read the same message from the prophets.

We do not have the same office of prophet today in our nation, but we do have the prophetic voices of faithful pastors looking at the statutes and judgments of Scripture and saying, as I do this day, our society will experience ruin unless we repent and submit once again to the superordinate principles of the statutes and judgments of God.

Over the next several weeks, we will be considering these essential truths from Deuteronomy together. We will observe so that you may live and possess the blessing that God desires you to enjoy. The blessing is ultimately found in and through the gospel, which we will consider more fully in our coming studies together.

As we end our time together this morning, I want to take just a moment more to share with you that one of the things we will see as we study through Deuteronomy and the other passages of Scripture is that the law of God, His statutes and judgments, are an ideal that we ought to aim at. However, they are an ideal that we will always come short of. We might get close to fulfilling the ideal, but we will...

Always miss the mark; that's exactly what sin is. Sin is a missing of the mark, and when we miss the mark, when we sin, we are falling short of God's perfect righteous standard. By coming short of His perfect righteous standard, we are falling short of the purpose for which He created us. We are living outside of His ideal.

You acknowledge the truth of this in your own heart when you are confronted with the thought that you are not fully living up to your own potential. Living outside of God's ideal always leads to brokenness, separation, and death. This is what we are all living under. We are living in a world that is devastated by the brokenness, separation, and death that sin brings. When we see injustice in the world, that is the result of sin. When we see division, conflict, war, and death, these are all the result of sin. If these things burden and break your heart, know for certain that they burden and break the heart of God as well.

But 2,000 years ago, Jesus, God incarnate, came to the world to deal with the brokenness of sin and death. Jesus came to demonstrate God's love and to reconcile us back to our Father in Heaven. He did this by dying on the cross. The New Testament book of Romans says that Jesus was delivered up to death on the cross for our sins in our place, and three days later, He rose from the dead for our justification. The word "justification" means that He makes us right before a holy God.

This is the good news of the gospel. This is what we call the gospel: Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and three days later, He rose again so that you and I, through His death and resurrection, could receive everlasting life. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might receive the righteousness of God through Him.

With this good and glorious news in mind, we read this very important passage of Scripture in Romans chapter 10, beginning at verse 9: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew or Greek; the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

All who call upon Him, for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. As we close out our time studying through the Scriptures today, I want to give you an opportunity to receive Christ as your Lord and to put your faith in Him for salvation. Just as we saw there in Romans chapter 10, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will not be turned away; they will not be put to shame. They will receive the salvation that only Jesus gives.

How do you receive this free gift of salvation? It's as simple as ABC. First, you admit that you are a sinner; that's called confession. You recognize and admit that you have fallen short of God's perfect, righteous standard, and before a holy God, you are guilty of missing the mark. So first, you admit that you have sinned.

Second, you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins. Third, you confess your sin to Him and call out to Him in prayer, asking Him to come into your life and to forgive you of your sin. If you'd like to do that today, I would like to lead you in a very simple prayer of faith to do just that. So wherever you're at, you can pray with me. If you'd like to, simply pray this prayer. Prayer is talking to God.

Dear Jesus, I pray that you would come into my life and into my heart. I recognize that I have fallen short of your perfect standard. I have sinned, and I confess my sin to you today. I pray that you would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow you by faith all of the days of my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer today, we would love to know about it and to be in contact with you, maybe even send you a Bible if you don't have one. You can go to the website on the screen right now: commit.life in canaction.com. We would love to be in touch with you about your new faith in Christ. We are truly grateful to God for what He is doing by His Holy Spirit and through His Word as we are able to broadcast it around the world.

We encourage you, who call Cross Connection Church your home church, to continue to pray for the work that God is doing. In just a moment, Anthony and the worship team are going to lead us in one final song. But before they do, let's close our time in the Scriptures together in prayer.

Father God, thank you for the work that you are doing.

I pray that we would take heed to Your word as we are going to see it here in this passage. We will be considering the Ten Commandments and Your statutes and judgments. If a person seeks to live according to these things, they will inevitably come to the point where they will find You and discover the grace and blessing that is only found in Jesus Christ.

So, God, I pray that You would do that work through Your church during this time. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

How are you hurting and broken? Are you overwhelmed by the weight of it all? Jesus is calling. Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling. Come to God for forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus. Leave behind your mistakes and sorrows, and trade them for joy. Jesus is calling.

Oh, isn't He wonderful? Sing a little louder, "Christ is risen," for He is love. All singing, "Christ is our..." I still come.

Father, we thank You for Your precious blood. As we come to Your altar, we thank You that it is there, at the altar, as we confess our sins, that You are able to alter and transform our lives. God, I pray that You would continue to do that work in Your church, transforming us more and more into the likeness of Your children, so that we would represent You well in the world in which we are living today.

May we be like bright, shining lights in a very dark world. God, shine through Your church, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name.

Now may the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.