Thank you for joining us and
good to be here. Would you join me in the book
of Numbers chapter 31 this morning, Numbers chapter 31. I'm not going
to read this entire chapter. I'm going to read a few passages
out of this chapter and we'll leave the rest up to you as you
are led to read. We find in chapter 31 and verse
1, another one of the statements that the Lord makes here in the
book of Numbers, as we find it so often in these first five
books of the Old Testament, as well as through the rest of the
Bible, that it is the Lord that is speaking and he spake to Moses
saying. And it's just wonderful sometimes
to be reminded of the power of the Word of God, the power of
the Word of God. And we have that brought out
in two or three places in the Old Testament and in the New
Testament that I'd like to look at just briefly as we pass through
this. But the Lord spake unto Moses.
Now, almost every incident that we ever hear the Lord speaking,
it is not a suggestion, it is a command. When it comes to believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ, that is not a suggestion, that is
a command. We are commanded to believe. Now, we find it in our natural
state, it's an impossibility, but still, we are commanded.
God has stated that. But I would like you, if you
would, to turn with me to the book of Jeremiah. We'll be right
back here and looking at this holy war that God brought on
the Midianites. But join me, if you would, in
the book of Jeremiah chapter 23, and we have some interesting
verses of scripture with regard to the power of God's word. The
same word that he spoke to Moses in this incident is the same
word that it took to create the heavens and the earth. He is
an all-powerful and his voice means something. And when he
speaks to us, it is a command. Here in the book of Jeremiah
chapter 23, we find these thoughts with regard to the word of the
Lord, the word of God. There in Jeremiah chapter 23
and verse 29, is not my word like as a fire." It is powerful. And then he goes on to say, saith
the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh a rock to pieces." Now,
this is the promise of God when it comes to saving his lost sheep. We, by nature, in our undone
and in our fallen state in Adam, we have just as much desire to
hear the word of God as we heard in the Bible class this morning.
We have no interest in it. It is not given to us to understand
the word of God. We can't figure it out. And we
are in the same position that the Ethiopian eunuch was, how
shall I know except some man tell me? Now, the Lord had already
worked on him and made him want to hear something, and the Lord
has to work on us in order for us to want to hear something.
So this word of God is powerful. It's like a fire, and it's like
a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces, and truly that is
what he does for us. Another verse of scripture I
want to look at is found in the book of Luke. the book of Luke
chapter 24. The book of Luke chapter 24 is
we find these words about the word of God and the word of God
is the best commentary on the word of God that we'll ever find.
Here is what we read in the book of Luke, Luke chapter 24 verse
32. These words are recorded with
regard to the word of the Lord. In verse 32 of this chapter,
It shares this, and they said one to another. Now these are
the two on the road to Damascus. The Lord spoke to them, but he
did not reveal himself to begin with. You know, that's the Lord's
prerogative. That's the Lord's sovereignty.
That's the Lord's doing. That's what he does. And we find
that he often did that when he healed somebody. He didn't reveal
himself to them until later. Here it says, and they said one
to another. Now he had spoken to them, and opened the scriptures
to them. He had revealed himself in the
Old Testament scriptures. He said, and they said, did not
our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way,
Now, they were believers, and the Word of God in the heart
of a believer, it has that warming effect, but it also has that
powerful effect, and it says, while he talked with us, by the
way, while he opened to us the Scriptures, How beneficial is
that warming, that fire of God in the hearts of believers when
he reveals to us the Scriptures, when he lets us know, he unlocks
them for us and shares with us the truth of the Scriptures.
Now, I don't know of anyone that would confess the fact or confess
that they know all the Scriptures. In fact, it's only a fool that
would say that. But we find out we're thankful
for what the Lord has opened to us. If it is a minuscule amount,
it is more than we ever would have by nature. So to have that
revealed to us And then if you look ahead just a little bit
in the book of John, as the Lord spoke to Moses and he's going
to give Moses a command, this is what he's going to do there
in the book of Deuteronomy, but look here in the book of John
chapter 6. Now in the words that he spoke
to those on the road to Damascus and those that he speaks here
in John chapter 6 verse 63, They are no different than what Moses
was going to share with the children of Israel in the Old Testament.
There's never a contradiction with the Word of God. We believe
that God inspired the Word of God, that it is God given to
us. You know, if we took a survey,
and I was just reading recently about a survey that was given
among quote-unquote Christian denominations, and from 50 to
80 percent of the pastors of those churches in this survey
said they did not believe that the Bible was divinely inspired.
Well, what's the use? Why have it? Why say I'm a preacher
of the Word of God when I don't even believe it? God must give us a hearing ear,
God must give us an understanding, and then it's our life, it's
our water, it's our food, it's everything that God requires
that we have, and we delight in it, and it warms us, and it's
powerful, and it's the only thing that we have to speak to people
about. If they say, well, I don't believe
the Bible, then we don't have much to talk about. And if they
say, I believe the Bible, but they don't believe the Bible,
that gives us something to talk about, because it's the word
of God. All right, here in the book of John, chapter six and
verse 63, it is the spirit that quickeneth. What a statement.
It is the spirit that quickeneth. What that word quickeneth gives
us life. What is that? The new birth.
What is that? It's a new creation in Christ
Jesus. And the flesh profiteth nothing. Now the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. So we have this wonderful statement
made by the Lord that gives us the information about the word
of God that we so need and we desperately need. And we need
that as a Christian every day. We need that life. given to us,
placed in us. And so, as Moses speaks, or is
spoken to over here by the Lord, His Word is powerful. Hebrews
chapter, was it 4 verse 12, is powerful, quicker, sharper than
any two-edged sword. That's just the power of the
Word of God. And I pray that we don't lose
the very truth of that, that it is the Word that has its power
because it has the Spirit behind the Word of God. And we preach
the Word, we declare the Word, we share the Word. It's a joy
when God opens the doors that we get to share the word of God,
because now it's out of our hands, but it is in the hands of a powerful
God, almighty God, God whose word is so vibrant and can cause
life to be born as a result of it. So it's no trivial thing,
and we don't need any extra church organizations to do that. It's
the business of believers to do this. All right, let's go
back over here to the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, the
book of Numbers, the book of Numbers. If you'd turn with me
to the book of Numbers, and there in chapter 31, Numbers chapter
31, and there in verse two, now we have the word of the Lord,
the word of Jehovah came to Moses, and here is his word, avenge. the children of Israel of the
Midianites. And then the Lord says, Moses,
afterward, you shall be gathered unto thy people. What's that
mean? After this, you're gonna die. Moses has already shared
that, he's already been, has that information given to him. But this is one thing left that
I want you to do, avenge the children of the Midianites. You
know, whether we like it or not. And the church says, you know,
Lord, I just don't understand this, but I believe that you
do this because it's in your word. And it's not for us to
understand, it's for us to trust the Lord in. And why, why in
the world does the Lord differentiate between people? Because he's
sovereign, he is God. And it doesn't matter whether
someone says or I say, you know, I just don't think that's fair.
That is God's choice and God's choice in the matter. And his
word declares that he has the right to do this. Turn back with me as we think
about this. Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites.
He is going to call for a holy war. He is going to go and call
on Israel, a thousand out of every tribe, to go in and take
care of the Midianites. and they are going to. All right,
but before we get there, turn with me back to the book of Genesis,
if you would. Genesis chapter 15. In Genesis
chapter 15, the Lord shares with Abraham some information about
the children of Abraham that have yet to be born. There's
generations that are going to take place here before this is
fulfilled, and it's found in Genesis chapter 15 and verse
16. Now the Lord can do as he pleases because he is the God
of creation. He's the God of heaven and earth.
He is the creator of all things. He can do as we find that he's
revealed unto the prophet and he reveals unto us through the
prophet and the minister Paul. He says, does not the potter
have power over the clay? Now, if we say that he doesn't,
then we're arguing with God, and only a natural man would
argue with God. The rest of us can say, I don't
understand it. But listen to this. God is speaking
to Abraham, and he is talking about generations after this,
but your people, He says, let me back up here
just a moment, verse 13, and he said unto Abraham, know of
a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict
them 400 years. Now this is God speaking about
what is going to happen with the children of Abraham. Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and 12 tribes of Israel are going to go down
into Egypt, and they're going to be there and be afflicted
for 400 years. You know, the land that they
inherited or the land that they go into, just as we conclude
the book of Deuteronomy, and as we open up the book of Joshua,
They had lived there for a long time. God had already placed
Abraham there. He'd already had Isaac there.
He had Jacob there. He had the 12 sons of Jacob and
the tribes beginning in that land. And they're taken down
to Egypt because of a famine. And now Abraham, years and years
before the fact, he said, your people, your know of a surety your seed. And
verse 14, and also that nation whom they shall serve will I
judge. afterward shall they go out with great substance, and
thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried
in a good old age, but in the fourth generation they shall
come hither again, back to this place, but notice the last phrase,
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Full knowledge
of that, I don't understand it completely, but I understand
this, that God had determined that these people called the
Amorites, they're gonna be full and full and full before he judges
them. And that's when the children
of Israel will be taken out of Egyptian bondage. He has shown
us here this great truth about why he is going to detain them
there. The fullness of the Amorites
is not yet full. Now he shares with us years later,
after this event, while the children of Israel are down in Egypt,
he shares with us through Moses, as Moses spoke to Pharaoh, and
Moses is recorded there in the book of Exodus, but it's also
recorded in the book of Romans, that as Moses speaks to the king
of Egypt, a great and powerful man. It doesn't take us long
to figure out that this man was powerful when we look at the
realm that he was a ruler over. He ruled over a great empire. And it says that Moses walked
up to tell him this, for this very reason has God
raised you up. that he might show his power
in you. Now turn with me, if you would,
that's in Exodus, but turn with me, if you would, to the book
of Romans, Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine, we find
these words. Now, This is very unpopular among
religious people. Even when I was in Bible school
for that very small time and didn't even know the gospel,
I was told that this whole section is a parenthetical statement
and it doesn't need to be read because it could be just set
out over here and we can go from chapter 8 until chapter 12. Well,
that is just exactly opposite of what the Lord said in the
book of Revelation that if you take out part of his word, a
great crime has been committed if you add to or diminish from
the word of God. So we're just gonna believe that
it is the word of God in Romans chapter nine, and there in verse
17, we read these words. Let me get to Romans. Romans 9, verse 17. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, now the apostle Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to
quote an Old Testament verse and use it for his message. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. Why did
God share with Moses that I want you to avenge against the Amorites? Because he has the, or the Midianites,
he has the right to. Here it goes on to say, I have
raised thee up that I might show my power in thee and that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. This God has the
ability of having his word declared throughout all the world, and
when he does, when the gospel is preached about this great
and mighty, all-powerful, all-sovereign, all-knowing God, it is going
to strike the hearts of his lost sheep in whatever small partition
of the world they are in, and he is going to reach them with
this knowledge that the Savior, the Savior of his people, is
an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-sovereign God, and that he
is doing what he is doing on purpose and not by mistake. I
remember reading about Brother Rob Barnard asking somebody one
time, were you saved on purpose or were you saved by mistake?
Well, we're saved on purpose, according to purpose. So it's
not a mistake when God saves anybody, it is on purpose. It's
not as a result of their influence or their power or their will.
All right, the same passage of scripture here in the book of
Romans chapter nine, would you turn with me there to verse 21,
verse 21. This is why he could command
Moses to take vengeance. It tells us there, hath not the
potter power over the clay. Another quote from the Old Testament.
Hath not the potter power over the clay. Don't ever diminish
the power of God. don't ever take away from his
word when it is so powerfully written that he has the power
over the clay. God has the power of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honor. Now, you know, it is only
by the grace of God that any of us could be called a vessel
of honor. By the grace of God alone. But
he goes on to say, and another to dishonor. Now what he wants
to do with that clay is his business. You know the Lord said, I have
made all things for myself, yea, even the wicked for the day of
evil. Now, I know that's not popular, but that's the God of
the Bible. He was not a popular God, and his prophets were not
popular, and his preachers were not popular. What is it? All of the disciples the Lord
had except for John, one went out and hung himself, but he's
replaced, and the rest all died a martyr's death except John.
Why? Because they hated him. They
hated him. They hated James. Why did he
preach the gospel? Stephen, he preached the gospel.
And the gospel goes contrary to natural man's thoughts. And
here we have one of those things that just upsets people. Hath
not the potter power of the clay? And in verse 22, what if God
willing to show his wrath? Oh no, God's a God of love. God wants everybody, no. and
make his power known, endured much longsuffering, the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction. I have made them for this very
reason. And people, by our nature, go
contrary to that because we just do not know God. Adam and Eve
hid themselves because they did not know him anymore. The light
had been taken from them. Darkness fell on them, and it's
been passed down to every generation. There in, if you back up to verse
18 of this Romans chapter nine, it says, therefore hath he mercy
on whom he'll have mercy. You know, he was merciful to
Israel. for no other reason than his
grace, nothing else. He was merciful to Abraham to
call him out of Ur of the Chaldees. He is not a special person in
the sense that he was down there worshiping God. In fact, Joshua
said he was worshiping all kinds of God. He was a pagan. He was
a lost man without help and without hope and without God in his world.
And Stephen said the God of glory appeared unto him and brought
him out of that state. brought him out of Ur of the
Chaldees. The only thing that Abraham could
delight in was the Lord. He couldn't delight in his works.
He couldn't delight in his prayers. He couldn't delight in anything.
It was the grace of God alone. And what about Isaac? The same
thing. And what about Jacob? The same thing. And what about
the 12 tribes of Israel? The same thing. Only the grace
of God. And grace of God shared with us that if he does not get
involved with his grace, people will not know a thing about him.
And it's so evident as we follow the children of Israel through
the 40 years of the wilderness wanderings. All right, in verse
18, he hath mercy on whom he'll have mercy, and whom he will
he hardeneth. Now I'm thankful for the grace
of God, because that is what I deserved. I deserved hardening,
I deserved being raised up for only one reason, that he might
show his power in his destruction. I was raised up, as we find there
in the Proverbs, the Lord hath made all things, yea, even the
wicked, for the day of evil. But God, in his infinite mercy
and grace, his great love wherewith he loved us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How glorious, how glorious
do we delight in all of that. And so, as we go over here, once
again, to the book of Deuteronomy, excuse me, Numbers chapter 31,
Numbers chapter 31, and there in verse two, avenge the children
of Israel of the Midianites. Afterward, shalt thou be gathered
unto thy people. And Moses spake unto the people,
saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go
against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian. Of every
tribe a thousand throughout all the tribes of Israel shall you
send to war. So there were delivered out of
the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, 12,000 armed
for war. Moses sent them to the war, and
a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas, the son of Elisha
the priest, to the war with the holy instruments and the trumpets
to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites
as the Lord commanded Moses, and they slew all the males.
And they slew the kings of Midian. There is one thing. that we find
in the scriptures about our warfare today. The Lord does not command
us to go and put people down and argue with them with physical
arms. We have something much more powerful
than that. The religious wars of the day,
the religious wars in the years past, you know, Brother Ed and
I were talking the other day about the independence that Britain
gave to India, and instantly a civil war broke out between
the Muslims and the Hindus. And now we have Pakistan or Bangladesh. You know, it's just so common
that people get into a war over religion. But our warfare, turn
with me to the second Corinthians, We have something much more powerful,
something much more that God has given. Now what he did over
there is his business, that's what he did. He is God, he can
order that, he did order that, and they went out and slew all
the males of the Midianites. Now God's gonna share with us
in just a little bit that these are the people that caused the
children of Israel to sin after Balaam. that he used the women
of the Midianites to lead the children of Israel astray. And
we have that brought out there in the book of Judas. Mike has
been going through there. But look with me here in the
book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians, chapter 10. Now the physical sword has never
convinced anybody of anything. A man convinced against his will
is of the same opinion still. You can hold a sword at their
throat, but they will not change their mind. They may say with
their words, but their heart is not changed. God demonstrates
that as he walks with us, walks with the children of Israel through
the Old Testament. And he brought great blessings
upon the children of Israel, and then he would punish them.
As we heard read this morning, there about the thousands that
were slain when that plague broke out. Did you read there though,
after the plague of Korah, the people came to Moses and said,
you've killed the people of the Lord. Well, don't think for a
moment you would have done anything different. We won't. We must have the grace of God. All right, here in the book of
2 Corinthians 10, verse 4, it says, for the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal. but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge
of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of what? Of Christ. What do we have? What was used on you? Was it
a physical sword at your throat, or was it the sword of the Spirit?
Well, we know the answer to that. It's the sword of the Spirit
that God used on us. It was the Word of God that God
brought to us. It was a convincing power of
the Holy Spirit that God intervened in us. It is the power of God,
and it brought down strongholds. It brought down imaginations,
all of the false things that we believed about God and about
his word and people had told us and we'd give our eye, teeth
for because we just believed it with all the fiber we had,
our natural estate, we believe this, we believe that. You know
what? I went down to Bible school and
was changed from an Armenian to a Calvinist, but I hadn't
been changed in heart and there wasn't a nickel's worth of difference.
Calvinism is not gonna save anybody. The doctrines of grace is not
gonna save anybody. It's Christ, and then we learn
those great truths of the gospel, that God saves sinners, and he
does it on purpose because he had a plan before the foundation
of the world, and he's carrying it out. He has a purpose. So
we find those things out, but just believing some doctrine
doesn't save one person. Never has, never will. Here he
says, casting down imaginations and every high thing. There was
nobody so important to us. We were pretty high. Can you
imagine that Pharisee there at the temple? I mean, he didn't
bow his head. bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. You know what Christ does? He
brings us to Him, He reveals Himself to us, and then we, like
those two on the road to Emmaus, say, did not our hearts burn
within us when He revealed the Scriptures to us? Oh my goodness. We see Christ and nothing else.
We see the purpose of God. We see it is the Son of God that
is sent to save us. And God the Father, and God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit agree completely on how they're
going to save people. And if you don't believe the
Father and what he had to say about himself, you don't believe
Christ. That's all there is to it. You
must, if you believe Christ, you're going to believe everything
that the Father had to say. Now, we may not understand it,
but we're going to say yes and amen. He has the ability of having
mercy on whom he'll have mercy and whom he will. He can do with
what he will. This whole chapter shares with us much about Israel
and much about the enemy of God. I would like you to turn with
me again to the book of Ezekiel, the book of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel
chapter 36, and I'm just gonna read verse 22. Now there's a
big message in chapter 36 of the book of Ezekiel. But here
in verse 22, we read this. The Lord didn't do with what
he did with Israel because of Israel. He did it because of himself. Therefore, say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, two names of God attached to
this message to Israel, the house of Israel. I do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my own holy name's sake,
which ye have profaned among the heathen, whether ye went.
I don't save people for themselves, I save them because of my glory. I save them because of my grace. It isn't because of what we did
or said or how we bowed or how we prayed, but our salvation
is the glory of God. There's no greater glory than
God saving his people from their sins. And we find, as Moses asked
the Lord to show me your glory, and he hit him in the cleft of
the rock, and you know what he said unto him? I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. That's the glory of God. I'll
have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and whom I will, I hardeneth.
whom I will all love. We love him because he first
loved us. So we have this great statement
about the power that God had and has and will ever have. We have why he chose Israel for
God's own glory. We have his power of his word
that he sends out through his instruments today as you know,
as sinful and as lowly and as these instruments are, it's His
Word that goes out. Did you notice that we had some
trumpets that go out with this warfare against the Midianites? The priest took some trumpets,
you know, that's such a, the trumpet, the power of that trumpet,
the power of the trumpet of the gospel that God sends out. We're just reporters, we're just
spokesmen for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he takes
it out and he does as he pleases with that. And the Apostle Paul,
using those trumpets as a symbol, says, if the trumpet give an
uncertain sound, What will the army do? Well, we don't want
an uncertain sound. We want the word of God as what
comes out of it. Now, if you'll turn back with
me to the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter 31, and verse four, It says there, of
every tribe, a thousand throughout all the tribes of Israel shall
you send to war. 12,000 men are taken into war. And we find out that they slew
the men of Midian and the kings of Midian. And in verse eight,
It tells us here also that someone that we have heard about before
here in Numbers chapter 16, we heard of again this morning,
and also over in the book of Jude, we read about him, and
is it first or second Peter? Balaam. We had those three chapters
about Balaam here in the book of Numbers, and it says here,
among the five kings of Midian, Balaam also the son of Beor,
they slew with the sword. You know what? He's on the wrong
side. Even though God used him to speak great things about God
and the great things about Israel, he's on the wrong side. He knew
nothing about the grace of God, and he is slain with a sword.
And then we find that those that went into war, chapter 31, verse
14, now Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with
the captains over thousands, captains over hundreds, which
came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, have
you saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children
of Israel through the counsel of Balaam to commit trespass
against the Lord in the matter of Peor. And there was a plague
among the congregation of the Lord. You know, there's much
more said in the Old Testament and in the New Testament about
spiritual fornication and spiritual adultery than there is about
the physical. And these women, caused many
of the Israelites to commit spiritual fornication and took them after
other gods. And here they are bringing them
along. You know, the Lord is quite explicit. We cannot take
any of our old idols with us in this journey. In fact, if
we do, we have just not seen the grace of God. He takes our
idols. He causes himself to be our idol,
object of worship. I'll never forget what Brother
Mahan said one time that someone said, told him, you've just made
Jesus an idol. And he said, that's the greatest
compliment I've ever been paid because an object of worship,
Jesus is our object of worship. and Lord help us to have no others."
These people came back, no doubt they had been instructed of the,
what is the totality of this warfare? What is the totality
of going into battle? What are you supposed to take
care of? What are you supposed to do? And they brought back
much like in the days of Saul. That prophet wondered, what do
I hear? What meaneth the lowing of the
cows and the bleeding of the sheep? They've been ordered to
take care of everything, and they brought them back. Well,
the instructions are given here, and then we find that there is
part of the booty that will be shared. We find in this verse 22, only the gold and the
silver, the brass, the iron, and the tin, and the lead, everything
that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire,
and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall be purified
with water of separation. And verse 26, and take the sum
of the prey that was taken, both of men and of beasts, thou and
Elisha the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation,
and divide the prey into two parts, between them that took
the war unto them and between, and went out to battle, and between
all the congregation." You know, that verse just came off the
page with me when I said, oh my goodness, here's 12,000 that
went to war, but the congregation gets to share. You know, I was
taught that if you're more faithful, you would get more. You know
what? There is no such things as reward. Everybody shares equally here. We find that the Bible teaches
us that everything is shared equally. You know, the Bible
tells us about the Lord in a parable, hiring some men for a penny. Now that's a day's wages. You
know, that could be two or $300 today. hired for a penny, and
they agreed with it. And then through the midday,
hired some more. In the afternoon, hired some
more. And an hour to go, hired some more. Guess what? They all
got the same pay. And there was a bunch of people,
oh, no, that's not fair. That's not fair. Well, here we
find that the tribute that was given unto them, there's three
piles going to be. There's going to be for those
who went to war, those in the congregation, and some of it
went to the Levites because it was tribute to the Lord. They
inherited so much equal. It is where we are. We find out
that we have so much given to us in Christ Jesus. There in the book of Luke chapter
17 is that parable. Let's see here. Turn with me to the book of Genesis,
if you would. Genesis chapter 15. You know where I'm going. This
is what the Lord said to Abraham. all these things the word of
the lord came unto abraham in a vision saying fear not abraham
i am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward you know what that
is said to everyone that god has ever saved i am your exceeding
great reward there is nothing found in scripture about being
more faithful and given more rewards because we find out that
we are just, what is that in the, oh, Luke chapter 17, Luke
chapter 17, turn there with me if you would. I thought this
was the parable of it is not, it's found in the book of Matthew.
In Luke chapter 17, verse seven, we wanna read three or four verses
right here. In Luke chapter 17 verse 7, but
which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will
say unto him, by and by, when he is come from the field, go
and sit down to meet? and will not rather say unto
him, Make ready, wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve
me till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat
and drink. Doth he thank that servant because he did the things
that were commanded of him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when
ye shall have done all those things which are commanded, you
say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which is our
duty today to do. The Lord is so gracious to us
to call us out of darkness to his marvelous light, and we find
out he gives every believer a gift. and every believer's gift complements
other believers' gift, and there is no room, and there's no need,
and there in fact there is no jealousy among the body about
the gifts that are given, because they all complement. But the
gifts that are given are given severally. That means sovereignly.
God has determined what he's going to give to anybody, and
in the last and final look at things, we just simply say, I
only did what What does it say there? Was my duty to do. I only
did what the Lord asked me to do. There's nothing special in
me. I didn't go beyond. I could not
go beyond. This is what he gave me. And
then we find over there in the book of First Chronicles. Turn back with me if you would
to the book of First Chronicles. First Chronicles chapter 29.
First Chronicles chapter 29 verse 14. But who am I and what is my people
that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort?
For all things come of thee. What is this? I believe this
is Solomon talking. And he says, for all things come
of thee and of thine own have we given thee. For we are strangers
before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers. Our
days on earth are as a shadow, and there's no abiding. O Lord
our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee
in house, for thine holy name cometh of thine hand. It is all
thine own. What do we have that we were
not given? What do we have that we were
not given? All of it belongs to Him anyway. And so as the
Word came back, the people are returning from this great battle,
the holy war that God commanded to take place. We find that the
congregation and the people and the Lord were all to benefit.
You know, the Scriptures tell us, let's quickly go back. I
don't want to over Since we didn't have a song service, I don't
want to go over time, but I want you to turn with me to the book
of Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 43. Excuse me, numbers. Someday I
will learn where I am. Numbers chapter 31, verse 43. Now the half that pertaineth
under the congregation was 300,000, 30,000, and 7,500 sheep. 337,500
sheep. That's what the congregation
gets. You know, the men that went into
battle, they got that. The congregation got that. The
Lord got part of it. It was split so graciously. And that's what we get. Everybody
gets their penny. Everybody that God ever saves
is going to get salvation. And what glorious salvation we
have. And then it says there in verse
44, and 36,000 beaves and 30,000 Asses and 500 and 16,000 persons
or servants that were brought in. My, my, my, what a statement
about God's great grace. These people, I can just see
them, many of them stayed behind because they weren't called to
go. And they prayed about what was happening over there in the
battle. And when they got back, the people says, you know what?
We're dividing all of this equally. Even those who sat here and prayed
for us as we went, everybody in the church is equal. There's
neither rich nor poor. There's neither male nor female.
There's neither bond or free. Everybody is equal before the
Lord. I liked what one preacher said, the ground is flat at the
cross. Everybody's saved the same way,
by the same grace, has the same salvation, has the same Lord,
has the same God, has the same indwelling Holy Spirit, has the
same forgiveness of sin. In fact, Romans chapter 8, Romans
chapter 8, one verse in Romans chapter eight
that I want to read that is just so powerful because it shares
with us what the gift that God gave to us in verse 32, that
great list there, but in verse 32, it says, he that spared not
his own son. Isn't that an interesting statement? He that spared not his own son. but delivered him up for us all. Now, the first thing we do is
just go to who is this book written to? And we find out it was written
to Christians. That's who he was sent for, was those that
God would save. But he goes on to say, how shall
he not with himself, with him also freely give us all things? He's given us the absolute most
best, His Son. He's not gonna hold back. Spiritual
blessings. We have every spiritual blessing
given unto us. We have all the inheritance.
Everyone shall be presented spotless. Everyone inherits the same. The
ground is flat at the cross. We will be all bowing before
the Lord. Now, if he's going to have any
segregation in heaven, it's going to be the first one that died
first and then work backwards. I don't know how it's going to
be, but everybody will be able to see the Lord high and lifted
up. Everyone will see Christ. Everyone
will worship him. And so, shall he not give us,
freely give us all things? And finally, if you turn with
me to the book of 1 Peter, First Peter chapter one. First Peter
chapter one, verse one. As we read about there, God ordained,
God purposed, God determined, God sent those soldiers into
warfare and he had a business to tend to with those men. When
they came back with all of the booty, Moses was very upset that
they had disobeyed on one part. Read that. He's very upset. You
know, a lot of people have better ideas about what to do than God.
You just run into them all the time. They have a better idea
about what to do than God has ordained. And so God straightened
that up. But here, as we read about what
was passed out to the congregation and to the children of Israel,
to those who went into war, read with me in 1 Peter 1, verse 1,
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. These are
the people of God that have been scattered due to persecution.
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Notice verse 4, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled,
and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. We all inherit the same. Jesus Christ the righteous. We
bring nothing but his robe of righteousness that he's given
to us, that hope he's given to us. We appear before him. Complete
whole without spot or wrinkle because of Jesus Christ we inherit
the same and If we're doing something with the hopes of inheriting
a better inheritance Whoa stop examine What is motivating us
to do that? because it certainly is not God
and it's not his spirit and Woe be to us who think by doing something
we're going to get a better reward. There is no greater reward than
Jesus Christ the righteous. All right, Lord willing, we'll
pick up with the next chapter here in the book of Deuteronomy.
And the title of it will be Stay
Here or Go There. If you don't mind reading it,
we encourage you to.