Sovereign Grace Chapel located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn to
Deuteronomy and actually go to chapter 32,
Deuteronomy 32. But before I read my main text,
I want to give a brief overview of Deuteronomy 31 through 33. That was your homework I gave
you last week for this Sunday morning, Deuteronomy 31 through
33. Now, I'm giving, again, a brief overview,
and not everything I'm going to mention is in 31 through 33,
but it leads up to 31 through 33. And I'll give you this before
I begin in earnest. Chapter 34 is next week's reading. Do you realize if God lets us
live that long, and I preached that last message on Deuteronomy
34, we will have come all the way through the first five books
of the Bible. Now, it was not a verse-by-verse. I never intended
it to be a verse-by-verse, for I am unable to preach those five
books verse-by-verse. It would take me forever, and
most of it would end up being a history lesson at best, and
that is of no value whatsoever. My desire has been to preach
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God willing, we will then, after
Deuteronomy 34, start in Romans. And we will go through Romans
verse by verse. And I will not give you homework,
for I have no idea how many verses I will get through in any given
Sunday. So just start reading Romans 1. Brief overview. Israel
will enter the land. They will enter the land. But up to this point, in the
past 40 years, God has overthrown thousands of them in the wilderness. God uses definite and strong
language. He says your carcasses shall
fall in the wilderness. That is the God of love. saying
to his own special chosen nation, Israel, your carcasses shall
fall in the wilderness. To whom he swear in his wrath
that all, what was it, 20 and above? Or above 20, whatever
it was, you are going to die and you will not enter the promised
land. As far as we know, only two people
above that age entered. That was Joshua and Caleb, two
men of Faith, so thousands have been slain. Moses, even Moses. And there was not a greater prophet.
Especially up until, there was not a greater prophet, the book
says it, than Moses. Than Moses. But Moses will not
lead Israel into this land. Joshua will lead Israel into
the land. And we know why. Because law
never gets us to rest. Only Jesus Christ, and it's the
same. Joshua's name in the Hebrew is
translated Joshua in English for us. It is the same word as
the Greek Jesus. Jesus, Joshua, must enter, lead
us into the land. Israel, then, this is more overview. Israel is exposed. Chapter 31,
32, 33. Israel is exposed for who they
really are, rebels. stiff-necked, and this is telling,
Moses is talking to the ones that are now, we're under 20,
and some of them now are maybe around 40, or 60, right? You're rebels, you're stiff-necked,
you're corrupt, you're perverse, and that's only a few of the
words that God gives Moses to give to Israel. I've only touched
the surface. Bear with me now. Those filthy
Jews, right? Those filthy Jews. Even Isaiah
a few hundred years later said, you're rottenness from the top
of your head to the soles of your feet, your wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. But Paul comes along and only
quotes what the Old Testament has already said, and he said,
I tell you, we've proved before. The Jews are not better than
the Gentiles. The Gentiles are not better than, we're all under
sin. By nature, by nature, we're all
rebels. At our best state. We're here
to worship God this morning. And worshiping God we are. But
there still, down in here, is that rebellion. There are things
that take place, and I think, oh, if I could just make it different. If it would just be done a different
way. You realize you have three men
that normally speak to you every Sunday morning, and we are total
opposites when it comes to our preaching. But we are not opposite
when it comes to our message. And that is Jesus Christ the
Lord. No. Yes, they were rebels, but
so are we. The man that stands before you
this morning, the one you may be hearing later on TV or over
the internet, I am a rebel. I am stiff-necked, I am corrupt,
and I am perverse, perversity at its core. In me, that is in
my flesh, dwells no good thing. And yet these rebels are given
a song to sing. You remember reading that? These
rebels are given a song to sing. But in that song I noticed that
God alone is praised. And these rebels are to sing
about their rebellion. They are to acknowledge in their
song God's glory and their corruption and at the end that hope has
not been abandoned. In spite of our rebellion, in
spite of our being stiff-necked, in spite of our being corrupt,
and in spite of our perversity, Moses also will view the land. And if you ever, when we look
at that, God willing, next Sunday, it's amazing, he goes up into
this one mountain, Pisgah, and the Bible speaks as though he
sees all the land. Now I've done a little research.
Now there is evidently a magnificent view of that one valley going
north and a little further valley over to the west going south.
And they say it's a great, great view, but you can't see it all.
But the book says Moses will see it all. That was a miracle
of God. Hmm. Moses then blesses the tribes. That is chapter 31, verse one,
through 33, verse 29. Now, one passage stands out for
us, but I'm not saying it's isolated. It's a part of this whole thing,
this whole book, and of course, 31 through 33 go together. If you read it and you take your
time to read it, read it well, you'll see it's its own specific
part, but look at what 32, verse 15 says. But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. Thou art waxened fat, thou art
grown thick, thou art covered with fatness, and this is not
a good thing. This is not a good thing. Then
he forsook God, which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock
of his salvation. That's a little frightening to
me. Because I know I'm just like Jeshua. They provoked him to jealousy
with strange gods. Anything ever come between you
and the living God of heaven and earth? Ever had even one,
maybe just one day in your life when something else was more
important to you? Mack, I'm not pointing the finger,
but you taking your wife to that, that was important to you, wasn't
it? Important to you. But if you put that before God,
it's idolatry. It's idolatry. They provoked
him to jealousy with strange gods. With abominations provoked
they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils,
not to God. To gods whom they knew not. To
new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
of the rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful, and hast
forgotten God that formed thee. These are the Jews that's going
into the land. He done killed off all the older
rebels, now it's just what? Younger rebels, who are now a
little older. And when the Lord saw it, he
abhorred them. How do I make that doctrinally
fit with a good sound Calvinistic theology? I don't have to, I
just preach what this says. I don't have to. As one preacher
used to say, I'm not in the splaining business, I'm in the proclaiming
business. When the Lord saw it, he abhorred
them because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters,
and he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their
end shall be, not because God didn't know, but he's gonna manifest
it. And they are a very froward generation, children in whom
is no, ooh. Right there, one of the very
few places the word faith in the Old Testament's used. Now
it's used, but nothing like it is in the New Testament. And
here it's in the negative, children in whom is no faith. These folks are in trouble, ain't
they? But so am I. I am no better than
them. They have moved me to jealousy
with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger
with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy
with those which are not a people. I will provoke them to anger
with a foolish nation. Now turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter
10 and verse 19 quotes that last verse, Deuteronomy 32, I think
it was 21. Pardon me if I'm wrong with that.
The last verse I read to you. Now, the Israelites are examples
to us. They are examples to us. But
it's much deeper than that. But let me, I would be remiss
if I don't mention a little bit about them being examples. Anyone
here, and I'm not talking just to, I'm not talking to our friends,
I'm talking about this small group. It's tough to preach to
a small group, because you know one another. But I don't really
know you. I know what I see out here. I
don't know what's really down in here. We've had people be
here for years and years, and then turn their back on God.
I don't know what's in here. Israel is our example. Do you
say, well, but I believe like everybody else there at Sovereign
Grace Chapel. And I've had my experience. I've been baptized. And I'm sincere. You remember
what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10 verses one through 14? He
said, I wanna give you something. I'm paraphrasing. You remember
our fathers? They all went through the Red
Sea. They were all under the cloud, the cloud of pillar by
day for shade, and the cloud of fire by night for light. All
of them were, and they were rebels. They drank of the water that
flowed from Jesus Christ who appeared as a rock in their midst
and followed them around for 40 years. They ate the manna
that fell down from heaven, and Paul says, and they are examples,
many of them, God was not well pleased with them. And he overthrew
them in the wilderness. Don't ever take God's grace for
granted. Don't think just because you
hold, I've had people, I believe in sovereign grace, that's not
enough. You must believe the sovereign
God. You must bow in faith and submission
to his blessed son. I don't care what your religious
experience has been in the past. There's a lot of people that
have great religious experiences, just like the believers have,
some unbelievers have had them, but God overthrows them for what,
idolatry? Fornication. I'm just naming
a few of them. Well, here's another one. Ooh,
murmuring. You know what the murmur means,
don't you? It means to complain. And if you ever said, well, I
complain, but I'm not complaining against God, I'm complaining
against man. Well, you have deceived yourself.
and I have deceived myself when I have that attitude. Because
that person or persons, they are in God's almighty sovereign
hand. They cannot touch you or do anything
to you other than what God almighty sovereignly decreed for them
to do unto you. So when we complain, you know
what I said? When we complain, our complaints
are always in fact against God. no matter how holy we're trying
to be in our complaint. These people's clothes didn't
wax old and their shoes didn't wear out. They had water from
Christ the rock for 40 years and manna that fell down. Sometime
when they complained, God even gave them meat to eat from the
heavens. Did he not? and yet they still, what, complained
and complained. Now, what am I trying to tell
you? Oh, preacher, what are you saying? If I complain I'm lost,
I have no idea. Well, if I don't complain I'm
saved, I have no idea. That's not the point. We all
like it laid out black and white. Preacher, preach me a message
so that when you're done I can know whether I'm saved or lost.
I can't do it. The Holy Spirit has to witness
with your spirit that you're the son of God. Not the preacher's
spirit witnesses with your spirit. This is something God's got to
give you comfort in or the lack thereof inside yourself. When he, that is the spirit of
God, is come, he will reprove the world of just the first sin.
I can't do it. I can talk about it, preach against
it, but only the spirit of God can ever convince you of it. Yes, they are our examples. And
he that thinks he stands, Paul puts it this way, let him take
heed, lest he fall. Now God is patient. He is long-suffering. And you may stick it in his face,
and stick it in his face, and stick it in his face, and you
think, well, I must be okay. Nothing's happening. And then
all of a sudden, God show up on the scene. You remember King David? And
God did not condemn King David to eternal ruin, even in spite
of David's sin. But David's house suffered blood
from that time on. And his family, if you read it,
they looked like redneck trailer trash. Go look, go find you the best
redneck trailer trash up the holler here in West Virginia.
And then read David's sons and daughters. You'd think it'd come
right off of one of these TV shows that they have on TV, why?
Because we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. And all God's got to do is lift
his restraint for a moment and we will spiral into darkness
until he stops us and brings us back to where we belong. But
he doesn't have to stop us. He has mercy on whom we have
mercy. He'll have compassion on whom
we'll have compassion. I must move along. They are examples. Don't be like they were. Right? That's what 1 Corinthians 10,
one through 14 says. And it's as true as Ephesians
one, verses one through 14. Right, just as true, just as
inspired, just as valid. So if I stick it in God's face
and God finally chops my hand off, I can't be mad at God about
it. Nah, I have to be mad at self. But Romans 10, look at
verse 19, but I say, Did not Israel know? Now this man, Paul
the Apostle, loved his kinsmen according to the flesh. At one
time he was wishing, and knew it was still possible, he was
wishing that he could be a curse for Christ. Send me to hell instead
of them. But he knew, God taught him,
that don't work, it don't work that way. You are not their substitute.
Jesus Christ is their substitute. But he says, but I say, did not
Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish
nation I will anger you. That's almost word for word is
what we have in the Hebrew context. Now this is my title, Our Hope
Amidst Israel's Fall. Did you know that? I started
to say something along the line, my hope in another man's sin.
But I thought, boy, that probably wouldn't look good on a marquee
somewhere, would it? The benefits, to me, of someone
else's rebellion. But folks, that's the facts.
That's the facts. Notice what he says, but I say,
did not Israel know? First, Moses saith. Clearly, Paul puts this prophecy
of Moses as the spiritual reality in his day, and of course, if
it was the spiritual reality in his day, it's still the spiritual
reality in our day. Our Lord has not returned yet.
Things are going on as they were, but God Almighty is having his
way in this world. This is the spiritual reality
in our day. This is no mere one isolated prophecy because he
said first, Moses said. Now he's not talking about like
you hear Joe and Paul and myself, I got point number one, point
number two, point number three, first, second, third. That's
not what he's talking about. He's not saying this is my first
point. He said here's the first witness. The first witness of
what? Notice we are given four witnesses,
more than is even demanded by the law. The law says you gotta
have at least two or three. God gives us four. Note four
witnesses to the present truth at hand, and these witnesses
are Moses, Isaiah, Elias, and David. I've read verse 19, here's
the second one, but Esaias, or that is Isaiah, is very bold. and saith, I was found of them
that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, all day
long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient Ganesan
people. Again I ask, how do you fit that
into your good sound Calvinistic theology? Don't worry about that.
Just preach what this says. God gave Israel opportunity after
opportunity after opportunity, and gave them great miracles,
many of which benefited them personally. I don't get that. Did God do that for you in your
life? Huh? Not to the degree he did them,
and yet they were what? Rebels, stiff-necked, corrupt,
and perverse. And you think that somebody like
us Gentiles, having so much less revelation than what they had,
that we're somehow going to be better? It's like these people
who's about to talk about dealing with sin, dealing with sin, and
look back at Adam in the garden. He had no other woman to mess
around with. Now did he? He didn't have no beer joints
to go to. didn't have no picture shows to avoid, didn't have no
gambling, he didn't need to gamble for anything, he had it all,
but one tree, and he fell. And you think we're not gonna,
we're not, we're gonna do any better on this side of the fall
with all the temptations that are out there and the lust that's
in here? First Moses saith, but then Isaiah
says, but then I say then, now here we're getting, hath God
cast away his people? God forbid. But what is the real
truth behind this statement? For I also am an Israelite of
the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. I am a full-blooded
Jew, that's what he's saying. I am a full-blooded Israelite,
not even a half-breed Samaritan. I am full-blooded Jew, and God
saved me. Isn't that what he's saying?
Look, for God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. There's the key. There's the
key. What ye not, what the scripture
saith of Elias, there's the third witness. How he maketh intercession
to God against Israel, say. There's the third. Three witnesses
so far against Israel. Israel Lord they have killed
thy prophets and dig down thine altars and I'm left alone and
they seek my life and of course we know Having studied somewhat
of his life. He was bellyaching and complaining
Wasn't it? Oh this ministry is so tough.
I can't say that Okay, I can't say that I Know he felt that
way he may have been sincere Joe, but he had some sincere
problems some things he didn't know about Look, but what saith
the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who've not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. And you
didn't have to know about it. Now I put that in there, but
that's what God's telling him. I've already had these men all
this time. And it's up to me to reveal to
who I want what I want. But now, when Elias needs it,
and is struggling, and at his wit's end, God says I'm gonna
tell you something about me. Not about Elias, but I'm gonna
tell you something about me and what I'm doing. Look, I have
reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal. Then Paul writes, even so then
at this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. So amongst the Jews were some
elect Jews. All Jews were elect in that they
were in that special nation, but they were not elected unto
salvation by Christ Jesus. But some were. And they existed
in Moses' day, and they existed in Isaiah's day, and they existed
in Elias' day, and they existed in David's day, and they existed
in the apostle Paul's day, and I have reason to believe they
probably still exist today. Even so, then, at this present
time, there's also a remnant according to the election of
grace, and Paul, knowing how adverse man is to the truth of
God, immediately is moved by the Spirit to explain what he
means. And if by grace, that is this
election, because it's the election of grace. And if by grace, that
is no more of human effort. Works. Otherwise, grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, if it
is, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
It has to be one or the other. There is no mixture of any kind
of the two. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it.
And the rest were what? Blinded. Now this is not a seeing
people and then God takes away their sight. By nature they could
not see. But by God's providence they
had great blessings. Great advantage. Paul says the
Jew had advantage. He had the word of God, he had
the tabernacle. Although they kept it covered
up, there were people who made this ark and they would see the
Shekinah glory of God come down and lighten that tent. But yet,
they didn't believe God. But it says, according as it
is written, and this is what the book says, God hath given
them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and
ears that they should not hear unto this day. And sadly, most,
and I believe I can say that, because I've listened to a lot
of them on TV and stuff, most people, preachers, avoid that
truth like a plague.