Deuteronomy chapter 32. We're looking at verse 10. Well, let's go ahead and go back
and read verse 7, but our text will be found in
verse 10. The Scripture says, remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father, and he will show
thee, thy elders, and they will tell thee, when the Most High
divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated
the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according
to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion
is His people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found
him in a desert land and in a waste-howling wilderness. He led him about,
he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. The title of the message this
morning is The Experience of Grace. The Experience of Grace. Here, We read that the Lord found
him. Well, him refers to Jacob. And he found him, and this is
what we would look at this morning, is these things that the text
divides itself rather easily. That God found Jacob, where did
he find him? In a desert and waste howling
wilderness. What did he do for Jacob? He
led him about. He instructed him and he kept
him. And those are just my outline. That's the outline I have for
you. Now, we know that God the Father has given a bride to Christ. We know that that is the church.
We read of the parable of a certain king who prepared a marriage
feast for his son. That son is Jesus Christ and
the bride is his church. And God did this in a covenant
of grace, in a covenant of mercy. He chose a bride, He chose a
people, and gave them to His Son. And Jesus said, Thine they
were, and Thou gavest them Me. All Mine are Thine, and Thine
are Mine. And I am glorified in them. Who
is that? The elect. The people of God. Now consider, believer in Jesus
Christ, that our Lord took us for His bride. Consider that. Knowing the depths of our depravity
in which we would be fallen, and yet He still was willing
to take us. He was still willing to be our
Redeemer. He loved us and determined to
save us at any price, even, even the death of the cross. I like this in the Song of Solomon,
the voice of my beloved. Behold, he cometh leaping upon
the mountains and skipping on the hills. Can you see that the
Lord came into this world as a man leaping and skipping? You know, when you have young
love, young love leaps and it skips. And this is His love. It is a love for His people that
He came willingly to leap on the mountains of our sin and
over the hills of our iniquity. He came to save us, our beloved. And it is by this election of
grace and love of Jesus Christ for his bride we should have
in view in our text, because Jacob is a picture of that bride. Jacob. Jacob. Israel. Israel is always a picture of
the elect of God. It is then we must see that literal
Israel in the Old Testament is only a type and a figure of the
true spiritual bride of Christ. Therefore the Old Testament,
listen, the Old Testament is full of instruction because of
this. If the Old Testament were only about that nation, were
only about Abraham's seed, what a dry book this would be. Because
none of us are the seed of Abraham. It would have no relevance to
us whatsoever. But because Israel is a type,
is a picture of the elect, of God's people, then this book
is full. I like one writer, he said it
is pregnant with instruction. It's full. It's ready to burst. It opens up when we see this
truth. And so, Jacob here in our text
is a picture of you and me. It's a type. It's a shadow. The
Old Testament's full. And that the Father chose, as
we see the purpose of God in salvation, that the Father chose
a people. Christ's purpose to save those
people. of which Israel is a type, and
as the Holy Spirit led these people about in the wilderness
and all through, even so does God lead His people. He nourishes
us, He cherishes us, He cares for us. All of these things He
says about natural Israel is only a picture of what it really
is for us, His love and mercy. And so by the grace and power
of God, may He teach us even in this text. Now look at your
text. The first thing I want you to see is where He finds
His people. Where does God always find His
people? What state were they in? Look
at this in verse 10. He found Him where? First of
all, in a desert. In a desert. You children of
God, you who are believers in Christ, you are the Lord's portion. I want you to see that. You are
His inheritance. Now, you think not much of inheritance,
right? Nothing. But the Scripture says
it. If the Scripture didn't say it,
I wouldn't tell you that. But the Scripture says it. He
says in verse 9, For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob
is the lot of his inheritance. You are God's choice. You are
God's choice. Out of all of the men that ever
lived upon the face of the earth, God chose you. God chose you. And I like this word, lot, because
it seems like a chance, doesn't it? You are the Lord's lot. What is a lot? It's like a dice.
They would take this die and they would roll it and cast it.
And it would fall onto a certain person or a certain object. But
we know this, that the casting of the lot in the lap, you cast
a lot, but who directs it? Who makes it fall out where it
should? God does. And so this is God's
choice, not a matter of chance. You are His lot. Why have you believed on Christ
while millions perish in unbelief? We confess, not unto us. I confess, not because of me.
Not because of my goodness. For our text reveals this. Even
the very nature of God's people when He finds them. Look back
in verse 5 of this same chapter. It says, They have corrupted
themselves. Their spot is not the spot of
God's children. They are a perverse and crooked
generation. So too are all of God's chosen
people by nature. By nature, we are compared to
a desert. Now, when you think of a desert,
I want you to think of the eastern deserts. Our deserts are not
very large. We have just a couple of states
that might be deserts, but most of their land in this eastern
country is full of desert. It's a vast wasteland where nothing
grows. Nothing. It's barren. It's empty. It's lifeless. That's a desert. No flower or vegetation. No life
to exist there. This was This is a picture of
us by nature. But it was not this way in the
beginning, was it? God didn't make us this way.
Adam was made not like a desert, but as the Garden of Eden. Adam,
on the inside, was just as plush and fruitful as the garden in
which he lived. He walked with God. He communed with God. He loved God. He was faithful and fruitful
until he sinned. When sin came, it ruined his
spirit, and it became a vast wasteland devoid of any righteousness
before God. And this desert spirit was passed
upon all his race. But you know, who only knows
this, really, are the people God has found. Those that God
finds. Those that God comes to. They
know this. It's not just something in their
head. It is truly experienced in their
very soul. They know this about themselves. That we by nature are barren. That we have no goodness wherewith
to offer God. We have nothing to offer God,
nothing. And so then every child of God,
you know, our desire is to be fruitful, isn't it? Man, that
is our heart's desire now. Now that God has found us, now
that God has given us a new nature, our desire is to be fruitful,
but yet what is our experience? Our experience is a desert. Paul said that I have a desire
to do good, but evil is present with me. He said, I want to do righteous,
but that old desert is still with us. And two, he found him
not only in a desert, but a waste-howling wilderness. Now, this has reference
to a king. When a king would come and conquer
a land, he would leave it wasted. He would kill the government
or the people in charge and he would burn the city to the ground. Listen, this is exactly what
the enemy had in his heart when he came and tempted our mother.
He desired to burn our souls to the ground. He desired that
sin should come in and rule over us so that we should never rise
again. And I'll tell you, Adam ruined
us. Satan tempted, but I tell you
this, it was our father's fault. It was our father's fault. He
sinned and he murdered his race by his one sin. And now, in our heart, our heart
is ruined. It's desolate, and by no labor
or religion or determination can change that. You can try
all you want to. You can grin and grit and bare
your teeth and say, I'm going to do good if it kills me. And I tell you, it probably will. You know, that's where George
Whitefield, when he was under the Westleys for so long, a Methodist,
he tortured his soul to almost the brink of death and realized
by the grace of God he could never do that. He could never
accomplish any righteousness in the flesh. I tell you what,
you can grin and bare your teeth and, you know, try. Go ahead,
try. You will fail, you will fail,
you will fail. Why? Because that's your nature. And so then, by no amount of
work or righteousness, our sin is separated between us and our
God, and only death will satisfy the justice of God. Only death. But we're not only a vast wasteland
and a wasted city. Consider that he is also talking
about the waste-howling wind of the wilderness. In the desert,
what is there to stop the wind? Nothing. As the wind blows, it
only gathers steam, and it keeps going, and it howls through the
desert. Consider that's us in our sin
nature. What is there by nature to stop
you from sinning? Nothing. Nothing. You try to
put up a barrier for your sin, set up laws, set up rules, and
you know what? That wind will howl over you
and cover you. Just like the wind in the desert, just like the sandstorm, it covers
all in its path. And not only consider this, but
what about the howling beast of the wilderness? He found him
in a place where there were beasts. The desert is full of beasts. Is that not the passion of your
heart? A beast of prey. And you take
the most moral and religious man and you put him in the right
circumstance and his passion will leap out. It'll leap out. And so passions are like the
sin that crouches at the door, ready to pounce at any moment. Consider David. Isn't that what
happened to him? When he was on the roof of his
kingdom, a man after God's own heart. Believe it or not, it's
not true of us, that even now that sin, that howling beast,
croucheth in us, waiting to pounce on us. And that's what happened
to David. He was up and thought everything
was well, and the sin of lust Pounced on him and it not only
led from that it led from lust and adultery to murder and this
was a man saved But I tell you believer this
is where Always listen always where God finds Jacob. This is it. He always finds him
in the desert And the scripture in our text
says nothing of Jacob looking for God, does it? God didn't
find Jacob looking for him. He found Jacob in a desert, running. He was running for his life. He cared nothing of God. He cared
only about himself, and he was running. And God found him because
he had chosen him. It doesn't speak of Jacob's goodness
or Jacob's merit. Nowhere in Holy Scripture does
God ever speak good or positively about the natural man. Do you
know that? You can search the Scriptures and you won't find
one instance God speaks positively about your nature. Not one. But as God sought Adam and found
him... Now, where do you find Adam? Covered in fig leaves. Self-righteousness. That's where he finds his people,
in self-righteousness. He finds them running from God. Even so did God find Jacob, his
elect, in a desert and waste-howling wilderness. That's where he always
finds sinners. In the teeth of their sins. Now
secondly, look at the dealings that God had with Jacob. First
of all, he found him And then he led him about. He led him
about. Even so does God find his children,
and he leads us about in two ways, believer. In two ways he
leads every one of his people he finds. Listen, providence
and grace. He leads him. Now consider Jacob
and how he led Jacob. Now God loved and chose Jacob
even before he was born. You remember he told Rebekah,
he said, the elder shall serve the younger. For Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. Yet consider the providence of
God that who ordained everything to that end in purpose to find
him in the desert. You suppose that God was surprised
to find him in the desert? What are you doing here, Jacob? I didn't intend... Well, I'm
glad I found you. No. Everything that happened
before was ordained of God so that He should find him in the
desert. You remember, it just so happened
Esau was hungry one day and Jacob had some food. And Jacob wanted that birthright.
Probably for every wrong reason. But he wanted it. He knew that
all the wealth of the family, all of the blessings of God came
from that covenant, and he wanted it. And he connived to get it
and said, I'll sell you some... You give me that birthright and
I'll give you some food. And he sold that birthright.
You remember Esau was... Jacob and Rebekah, how they plotted
To get the blessing from Isaac. Isaac wanted to give the blessing
to Esau. But they plotted together. And
he dressed up like Esau and came in. And Isaac blessed Jacob instead of
Esau. Do you suppose that was happenstance?
No. It was ordained by God. Esau then determined to kill
Jacob. And so Jacob fled into the desert
where God revealed Himself. Do you not see the providence
of God leading him all the way? Every step of the way was being
led. Yes, that was their sin. That
does not excuse their sin. But I tell you, it was God leading
him all the way. Even so does God lead all of
His elect by divine providence, all our life, as He kept Jacob
even in his unregenerate state and condition, so did He keep
us. Why is it that you live so long
as then to believe in Christ? Why didn't you die before? Because
you were led, you were kept by God, safe. There was no chance
of Esau killing Jacob, was there? No chance at all. Because God
led him. God led him to this place. Consider
all the events of your life that has led you even now to this
place. Do you not see that everything that has led you to this place
at this time is God? Everything. Everything has brought
you now here to hear this. Do you not see how history had
turned? All of your families and relations
moved together so that you should be born into this world. And
all of the events that has happened to you, all of your life have
led up to this one day. All ordained of God to bring
you to this place. to hear the message of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. He had led you all the way, and
God used all people and events, angels and demons for this single
purpose, to save His people from their sins. Look in your text at verse 8. I thought this very interesting.
when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
when He separated the sons of Adam. You know, there are two groups
of people, God's people and everyone else. And I want you to know that everything
God does is for you, His people. Look what it says. He separated
the sons of Adam. He set the bounds of the people
according to the number of the children of Israel. What is God
setting the bounds? Well, how does He determine who
gets what and who goes where? According to the number of His
people. That's it. He does everything according
to His people, for His people. He does everything. Did not our God tell us, I have
given Ethiopia and Sheba for thee? Since thou was precious
in my sight, I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee, and people for thy life. How many millions have went off
into eternity so that God should save you. He used them, as He pleased,
to bring about even this day for His people, because you,
believer, are precious in His sight. God did not send a famine. Remember,
God sent a famine to Bethlehem, Judah. He allowed Elimelech and
his sons to die in Moab so that he should bring that one woman,
Ruth, from Moab to Bethlehem. You don't see that God did that?
A famine. A famine. How many people died in that
famine? I imagine many. Elimelech thought to escape the
famine. But he ended up dying in Moab.
For what purpose? So that Ruth should be brought
and saved and be the descendant of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
do not see that God does all things for His people. He led
Him about. He leads us using every event and people to bring
us to this wilderness, to bring His people to their desert and
show them the condition of their nature, conviction of sins. And then he leads us on in grace. He led us up to the point of
the desert to find us. And then he comes in grace and
displays to us mercy. I like that song, Hail Sovereign
Love. He said, Wrapped in thick Egyptian
night, And fond of darkness more than light, Madly I ran the sinful
race, Secure without a hiding place. Thus the eternal counsel
ran, Almighty love arrest that man. And then he said, Angel's
mercy form appeared, He led me on with gentle pace. To what? Jesus Christ, my hiding place. Isn't that what God showed Jacob
in the desert? The ladder? That was set up on
earth and reached to heaven. Isn't that what Christ did? He
set up our redemption here when he came as a man. And that redemption
stretches all the way to heaven for us. We are like Gomer. You remember
Gomer, that prostitute? God told his prophet, you go
and marry a harlot. And her name means wasted. Isn't
that awesome? Her name means wasted. Isn't
that what we are? Wasted. Now where God finds us?
Waste-howling wilderness. And Gomer, she commits adultery
against her husband. And you know what he does for
her? He brings her food every day and sets it at her door.
Until when? Until her lovers leave. Until
the pleasures of sin are no longer pleasurable. And then she says,
oh, I'll just return to my husband. He said, not so fast. He starts
taking away all the food. Even so, God, takes away all
of the corn and wine and vineyards and gods of our self-righteousness. He scatters our sins for this
purpose. He said, I will allure her and
bring her, where? Where did he say he'd bring her?
Into the wilderness. Isn't that where he brought you,
believer? into the wilderness and exposed your sin? He led
you there. He allured you there. For what
purpose? To kill you? To destroy you? No! To speak comfortably to you. Isn't this amazing? That He would
lure us to show us and expose our sins, not to destroy us. He could have left us alone to
do that. He exposed our sins so that He should speak comfortably
to us. And He said, I will give to her
her vineyards. What are you by nature? A desert. And yet God gives you vineyards
in the desert. A new nature. Righteousness. He gives us righteousness. Even
the righteousness of Christ. And he said, I will give her
the valley of Achar as a door of hope. You know what the valley of Achar
is? That's that place where Achan died. That man that stole from
God after they went over Jericho, God gave them the victory, and
He said, you're not to take anything because you didn't do anything.
You don't deserve the spoils. And remember, He took the spoils. And God punished all Israel because
of His sin. Isn't that picturesque? What Adam did, God punished all
of us. But how was the curse removed
from Israel? Achan died and the curse was
removed. Look, Christ died and the curse
is removed. Isn't that not the door of hope?
That's the only door of hope. Are you in the desert? Are you
full of sin? Has God exposed you? I'm showing
you the door. The door of hope is Christ. He's
Christ is the door of hope. And this hope is freely given.
God leads us to it. He's led us to it by grace. And
God has found us in the desert of our depravity. He has led
us all the way by providence. And now he has led us by grace. Led us to what? Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. Now today, believer,
how is God leading you? How is God leading you? He will continue to lead us by
faith. By faith. And He will lead us
all the way to Canaan's blissful shore. Now you who believe You are led
by the grace and power of God, and God found you in the desert.
Consider, consider the path of Israel. Have you considered their
path? Because remember, I told you,
this is all a picture for you. This is a picture for you. Do
you realize that from Goshen in Egypt to Jericho is only 250
miles? about the same amount of distance
as it is from Louisville, Kentucky to Knoxville, Tennessee. That's
how far. Now, this in a straight path
should have only taken one or two months for the nation of
Israel to get to Canaan. How long did it take them? Forty
years. Forty years. And they moved only when the
pillar of cloud and pillar of fire moved. They followed God
who led them in the way, so that they did not know what is next. Even so does God lead us. Do
you know what's next? No. This path of providence appears
crooked. He just does. And the Scripture
says, Who can make straight what He hath made crooked? Who? Who can do it? This path of providence
is twisting and winding, and we don't know what is around
the bend. Believers, we know where we're
going, we just don't know how long or what path it takes to
get there. Our trials and troubles and temptations,
we don't know what lays in store even today. We, like Israel,
are led from peace and comfort of Elam to the wilderness of
sin. We are led from palm trees and fountains of faith and assurance
to adders of doubt and guilt. Is that not your experience?
You bet it is. It's the same experience Israel
traveled in. It's the same experience every
believer goes through. Believe it or not, we at times
lift it up to heaven so as to feel His presence. I had this
the other day. It is immensely glorious. We are so then filled with faith
and assurance that if I were to pass now, I would be surely
ushered into His presence and glory. At times we have this
rock solid confidence And then the next minute we are filled
with doubts and fears so as to say, oh my God, I am doomed to
hell forever. Is that not the twists and turns
in which God leads us every day? Heights and depths. What is God
doing? Leading us in this way. Look
at your text. He found him in a desert and
a waste howling wilderness. He led him about by providence
and grace. He leads him in providence and
grace even now. To do what? He instructed him. That's what He's doing for you.
He's instructing you. He's instructing you. Believer,
our God is always and in everything instructing us. Teaching. There are times I get tired of
teaching my children. Just do. I've taught them ever
since they were little to clean their rooms. This is not taking
hold. This is not, this is not, it's
not getting through. I was telling Daryl, he said,
you know, don't make a mess. I said, well, Daryl, maybe you
should make it a little less. Don't make such a big mess. Because
you know they're gonna make a mess. So you get tired and you say,
clean your room, clean your room. I'll clean your room. You get
tired after a while. God never tires of teaching you
and instructing you. Ever. So everything that happens
to us is a teachable moment. He's instructing you. How is
it that you have come to faith in Christ? How is it that you
know your sin and salvation is all in Christ and Him crucified? Even because you were taught
of God. Why is it that other people don't
know this? Why is it that they might know it in their head,
why is it they can't get it in their heart? Why is it that they
can't be instructed in these things? Because they're not taught
of God! You love it because you are taught
of God. That's why. You're taught of
God. We are instructed in the eternal
love of the Father. We are instructed in the atoning
blood and perfect righteousness of Christ. We know of His unfailing
salvation, of His infinite compassion and love for us. And we know
by experience His mercies are new every morning. How do you
know that? You've been instructed. You've
been taught. You've been taught. Oh, I like this. In the very
part of this, look at that verse 2. He says, "...my doctrine shall
drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small
rain on the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass."
Is that not how His Word comes to you? You broken reed. You bruised reed. When you are
wounded, does His message not come as, does it come as the
hail drops? It comes as this tender rain. You expect the hail drops, don't
you? You expect Him to come thundering and lightning after you when
you sin. But He never does. His message distills like the
dew. You know, I wake up in the morning
and I just see the dew on the ground. I don't know where it
came from. Isn't that how his message comes
to you? Like the dew? It just comes,
and you don't even know where it came from. It just distills
on your heart, and you find peace, and you don't even know where
that came from. Why? I was distressed, and all of a sudden now, I'm
at peace. Where'd that come from? He said, My word. It distills
like that. It comes like that, like the
gentle rain. And what is he teaching us by
this? He's teaching us in all our troubles and trials to look
to Christ continually. That's what he's teaching us.
He's never driving us back to the law. He is always alluring
us to Christ. His words are so tender. I know what you deserve. But
that's not what God gives you. He gives you what Christ deserves. That's what it is to be in Christ.
So His Word comes as comfort to us, and it instructs us in
faith to look by faith to the faith of Christ. If you want
to find any assurance, you need to look to the faith of Christ.
How faithful was His faith? Was he ever unbelieving? No. You see, my faith is in his
faith. And because his faith was perfect,
so is mine. And what does a perfect person
deserve? Peace. And that's what God gives
us. And notice this last thing, God
kept Jacob. Well, first of all, before this,
I want us to see this. God instructs us to see this. Christ is all. Christ is all. So when you look by faith to
his faith, what do we see? We see Christ is all. So in the
depths of your sorrow, what is God teaching you? Christ is all. In the heights of your joy, what
is God teaching you? Christ is all. In the word of
God, what is he teaching you? Christ is all. And eternal glory
and bliss, what will be our song? Christ is all. That's what God
teaches. Lastly, he kept Jacob as the
apple of his eye. Now, what is the apple of the
eye? Well, the eye is the most tender part of the body that
is exposed. Now, you consider your heart,
it's got muscles, it's got lungs, it's got a cage of bone around
it. It's vulnerable, but it has to
go through all of that to get to it. The eye is sensitive. It's open to all kinds of violent
things. What is the natural reaction
of the body when the eye is attacked? Have you ever seen somebody when
something's flying in their eye? The other day I did some weeding
for Andrew and I didn't put on the safety glasses or anything
like I should because I'm a man, right? That's just... I know. This is good because God has
instructed me by it. Now, I was weed eating and all
of a sudden this chip of dirt flew up toward my eye. And I dropped that weed eater
and my hands went over my eye and my leg went up and I almost
fell to the ground. My whole body reacted to that
in an instant. It was not thought about. It
was a reaction to that. And if something comes toward
your eye, you will keep it, you will protect it, you will guard
it with every part of your body. Even so, does God with His people
use His whole being to protect us, to keep us. He keeps Him
as the most valuable and vulnerable part of His body. God keeps His people, and from what does He protect
us? Surely He doesn't keep us from sinning, is that right?
I mean, I know that. We know that if we say we have
no sin, the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. So though we do
sin, we despise it, yet we are kept because we have an advocate
with the Father. We're kept because we have an
intercessor with the Father. The scripture says, though a
righteous man falleth seven times and riseth up again, the wicked
shall fall into mischief. Seven times is perfect. You know,
Adam's fall was a perfect fall. It's complete, complete ruin. Yet by the grace of God, he raises
us up and keeps us up. So as we never fall again, we
never fall again. The believer consider how God
is fully engaged in the Trinity of his sacred persons from us
making shipwreck of the faith. He keeps us rooted and built
up in the faith. He keeps His Word fresh to our
hearts. He sets our affection on things
above and keeps us from utter apostasy. So then, none of those
for whom Christ died will ever be lost. Why? Why should you
not be lost? Because He keeps you. He keeps
you. Isn't that what the Scripture
says in 1 Peter 1? It says, "...who are kept by
the power of God unto salvation, ready to be revealed." Ready
to be revealed. O believer, see how valuable
you are to God. And our value is in this, Christ. Christ. For Christ to lose one
of those that God has saved and given to him, and to lose one
for whom he died, do you realize that the glory of God would be
blinded forever? God said, For this is as the
waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I
sworn that I will not be angry with thee. Do you hear that? God is not
angry with you. Ever. He will chase in you, but He
is never angry. He is never angry I know my conscience rebukes
me, men and Satan condemn me, but God has sworn that He will
never be angry, even because Christ has forever removed my
sin. And God says this, though the
mountains shall depart and the hills be removed. That's changing
providence, isn't it? Though they be removed and they
will. This mortal life shall soon cease,
but my kindness, God said, and covenant of peace shall never
depart or be removed, saith the Lord, who hath mercy on thee. Believer, is this your experience? Has God found you in the desert
of your sin? Has he led you all the way? by providence and grace. Has
he taught you Christ is all? Has he kept you as the apple
of his eye? Then you have great confidence
he shall keep you until the day of Jesus Christ. And never will
he let you go. I pray God bless this to you.