I Will Not Forsake You
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton
Text: Deuteronomy 31:1-6
I. Moses was approaching the end of his life. The time of his departure was at hand.
A. Understandably, the children of Israel would be nervous. He has been their leader for 40 years. Moses faced down Pharaoh and led them out of slavery. He is the one who talked with God and brought Israel its laws.
B. What do you do when such a leader is gone?
C. Moses reminded Israel that he worked for God.
1. God is not a frail human.
2. He would go before them, and Joshua would follow after leading the Israelites - Deuteronomy 31:3
3. God had helped them before, so Israel knew God was capable - Deuteronomy 31:4
D. But it requires that those following God must do as God said - Deuteronomy 31:5
E. There is no need to fear when God is helping - Deuteronomy 31:6-8
II. God repeatedly reminded Israel of His presence
A. He told the new leader, Joshua, not to fear - Joshua 1:5
1. Life would become hard for Joshua. Warfare is not easy. People lose their lives.
2. But God is there to help.
B. Korah noted that in times of great difficulty, there is no need to fear because God is there and is able to change things - Psalms 46:1-11
C. David said that he has never seen the righteous forsaken - Psalms 37:23-28
D. God has chosen us, so He will not reject us - Isaiah 41:8-13
1. Notice that this includes those called from the ends of the earth (the Gentiles) as well as the Jews.
E. God redeems Israel but also gathers people from the remote parts of the earth - Isaiah 43:1-7
F. And when His people are too weak, God carries them - Isaiah 63:7-9
III. God came among mankind
A. Immanuel - God with us - Matthew 1:23
B. And Jesus told his people that he would be with them - Matthew 18:20
C. And when Jesus left the earth, he did not leave us without help - Matthew 28:20
IV. Life isn’t always easy
A. The writer of Hebrews mentions the difficulties Christians were facing - Hebrews 10:32-34
1. But those difficulties were wearing on Christians and some of the Jewish brethren were tempted to go back to being Jews - Hebrews 10:35-39
2. Thus, much of Hebrews is written to encourage Christians to endure - Hebrews 3:12-14
B. After pointing out the faith of those who had not received the promises, he points out that we have something better - Hebrews 11:39-40
C. And one of the great promises we have - Hebrews 13:5-6
1. This, after proving that God always keeps His word - Hebrews 6:17-19
2. What God promise, we must believe He is able to perform - Romans 4:19-24
D. Thus, God is there when we are tempted - I Corinthians 10:13
E. God is there when life sours - I Peter 4:19
V. But notice in I Peter 4:19 that the implication is that we are striving to do what is right
A. God is not going to uphold and protect what is against His nature
B. As Asa was warned - II Chronicles 15:1-2
C. We also are warned - Hebrews 10:38-39
D. God doesn’t do all the work and we just drift into heaven. God is faithful to those who are faithful to Him.
1. So where are your loyalties?