Gtcotr/052817
One
of the greatest concerns known to man and shared by God is a concern that we
might forget the price that was paid for us by others.
John 15:13 “Greater love has
no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends."
Before
we get to the heart of our message today it behooves us to realize where we
stand in history, how we got here and where we will go from here. It’s Memorial
Day weekend in the United States and this is an important week on God’s
calendar in history.
1 Corinthians 15:46 However,
the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
There
is a governing principle which allows us to observe eternal spiritual truths
acted out in life. Even the very things of nature cry out concerning the truth.
Just as seeds in good ground produce an expected harvest, so God’s Word laid in
our lives produces an expected harvest. We most often see what God plans to do
in eternity by observing what He has already done in the earth.
When
God sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt it was a both a revelation
and a reminder of what God would later do to save people from their sin and
bondage to this world. Moses was a type of Jesus and Egypt represented the
World system to which people are enslaved. Pharaoh was a type of satan and the
Land of Canaan which was promised to the Children of Israel represents heaven
that awaits the followers of Christ. The wilderness experience parallels the
period of time followers of Jesus live in this world after we have been saved
and delivered from satan.
God
continued revealing His eternal plan through each encounter and every step made
by the Children of Israel. God instructed them to keep certain feasts each year
at the set time He had established. Each feast was
ordained by God to be a dress rehearsal for a coming event which would
ultimately be fulfilled by the promised Messiah.
God
gave strict instructions concerning how each Feast was to be observed. Every
step reveals yet another piece to God’s master plan of redemption. Jesus will
meticulously fulfill every tenant of each Feast in order to accomplish the plan
of God and secure us for all eternity.
For
example: Moses told the Children of Israel to take a lamb and sacrifice it in
the afternoon on the day just before Passover began that evening at sundown. He
further instructed them to take the blood of that lamb and cover their houses
so that the angel of death would “Passover” them
and all who were covered by the blood. Their journey to the Promise Land began
that next day with the start of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread.
The
Children of Israel were free from Pharaoh but found themselves trapped between
the taunting enemies of their past and their bright new future by a body of
water, the Red Sea. God parted the waters and the Children of Israel were all
baptized the sea. Those same waters closed upon their enemies and shut their
mouths to every claim they could make. It was in that type of water baptism
that the enemies of those saved by God were drowned to be heard from never
again.
The
Children of Israel were saved, delivered, safe, secure, well fed and well led.
Although they were on their way to the Promise Land, yet God had one more
important stop for them along the way. He knew they needed greater direction
and more confidence if they were going to go up against the giants that awaited
them. God wanted to give them something which can only come through a dynamic personal
spiritual encounter with the living God. So instead of going straight to the
battle with the Canaanites, they were led first to the mountain of God, Mount
Horeb.
It
took about 40 days to reach Mount Horeb. On the 50th day after the
day they began their journey God appeared to them at Mount Horeb. God had
instructed them to count from the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Count 7 weeks, making 49 days, and on the 50th day they would
observe the Feast of Weeks, as spoken of throughout the Old Testament, called
the Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament.
It
was on that day that the Holy Spirit of God descended on the Mount and appeared
unto everyone with power and passion. There was thunder, lightning, smoke, fire
and a voice from heaven. This instilled such great and respectful fear in the Children
of Israel. On this mountain they received the Ten Commandments written by the
finger of God.
These
commandments, the New Testament reveals, are no longer written on stone but are
rather written in our hearts and minds. The things experienced by the Children
of God that day would be forever commemorated by the yearly Feast of Pentecost.
The prophet Joel spoke of a day when God’s Spirit would be poured out on His
servants. In Acts 2 Peter proclaimed that prophecy fulfilled through God
sending His Holy Spirit accompanied by signs, wonders and miracles.
I
have said all of that to say this – Today is the 47th Day since the
beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread this year. According to the Jewish
calendar and the instructions of God, the Feast of Shavuot,
or Pentecost, will take place this coming Wednesday beginning at Sundown. What
a wonderful day for us to remember and celebrate God sending the Comforter and
Guide on that day and the awesome power made available to every Believer to be
a witness through this Pentecostal experience.
The
Holy Spirit is not spooky and did not pass away. God still saves sinners,
sanctifies them to Himself and fills with His Holy Spirit. He knows we need the
awesome in order to deal with and conquer our enemies while we live in this
worldly wilderness on our way to our Promise Land.
Now
for today’s Memorial Day weekend message: Lest We Forget
Not
long before they will go into the Promise Land, Moses reminds the Children of
Israel concerning the need to remember how they have been blessed by God in the
past and what it took to get them to this place.
Deuteronomy 4
7 “For what great nation is
there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to
us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?
8 “And what great nation is
there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all
this law which I set before you this day?
9 “Only take heed to
yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes
have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And
teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
10 “especially concerning
the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me,
‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may
learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may
teach their children.’
11 “Then you came near and
stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the
midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
12 “And the LORD spoke to you
out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no
form; you only heard a voice.
13 “So He declared to you His
covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote
them on two tablets of stone.
14 “And the LORD commanded me
at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them
in the land which you cross over to possess.
Today
there is no nation under heaven which is so blessed by God greater than the
United States of America. No nation has such laws which protect the innocent
and punish the guilty. No nation enjoys a greater religious freedom or the
rights to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We are one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We hold certain truths to be self-evident
among those truths is the equality of all men.
We
are a nation by God’s design, formed by the Holy Spirit moving on the hearts of
men and women. The seeds of democracy and the pledge of freedom for all men
have been sown by us in the soil of nations all around the world. These seeds
have been well watered by the blood, sweat and tears of American soldiers,
sailors, airmen and marines. We will never forget the price paid by those who
laid down their lives so that we might live in peace.
May
God bless America and the memory of her best and bravest sons and daughters who
gave their all. And may we never forget the debt we owe our Heavenly Father for
the sacrifice of His Only Son so that we might have a peace filled eternity
when our work on earth is done.
I
have but three closing questions for each one of you today:
1. Are you saved?
2. Are you right with God?
3. Are you filled with His Holy Power to be a
witness?
