#1) HIS REFLECTIONS
Ø At the end of people’s lives they begin to reflect. Here are three common reflective conclusions:
o 1) If I had it do to all over again, I would reflect
more.
o 2) If I had it do to all over again, I would risk more.
o 3) If I had it do to all over again, I would do more things that would live on
after I am dead.
MOSES REFLECTS
§ A) YOU WERE CALLED - For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 7. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8. But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you (Deuteronomy 7:6)
§ B) TEN COMMANDMENTS
o 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
o 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
o 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
o 4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
o 5. Honour thy father and thy mother.
o 6. Thou shalt not kill.
o 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
o 8. Thou shalt not steal.
o 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
o 10. Thou shalt not covet.
Ø C) THE WILDERNESS
o Deuteronomy 8:1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. 4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. 5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
#2) HIS INSTRUCTIONS
VISION AND INSTRUCTION EITHER STICKS OR LEAKS
Ø An old phrase says, “The leader’s job is to keep the main thing, the main thing.” Moses attempts to do this in Deuteronomy by reminding the Israelites that their existence revolves around loving God. He also tells family leaders how to transfer truth to their children.
Ø Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Ø Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Ø Deuteronomy 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
IF YOU OBEY
Deuteronomy 6:10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, 11. And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
CONDITIONS
§ A) NO OTHER GODS - Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (Deuteronomy 6:14)
§ B) DON’T TEMPT GOD - Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. Deuteronomy 6:16
§ C) KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS - Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. (Deuteronomy 6:17)
§ D) DO RIGHT - And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, (Deuteronomy 6:18)
Ø E) SEEK THE LORD - But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)
Ø F) JEALOUSY - For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. 5. Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. (Deuteronomy 4:24)
#3) HIS LEGACY
Ø Just before he died, Moses formally presented his successor, Joshua, to the people. Moses had been mentoring him for year in preparation for this day. Knowing that he would not be able to enter the Promised Land himself, he realized he had to equip the next leader to finish what he had started. Note what Moses did for Joshua:
§ A) He endorsed the new leader and passed on his authority to Joshua (31:3-5)
§ B) He forecasted victory under Joshua and cited his track record (31:3-6)
§ C) He commissioned Joshua with the task of leading the people into the land (7-8)
QUOTES
§ People will summarize your life in one sentence – PICK IT NOW
§ A leader’s lasting value is measured by Succession
An old man, going down a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed into the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength building here;
Your journey will end with the ending of the day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pit-fall be,
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building it for him.”
