Join us this morning, if you
would, and it's just very fortuitous. We're in this place, in the book
of Numbers, at the right time. Book of Numbers, chapter 27.
Numbers, chapter 27, as Brother Mike mentioned, the gospel according
to Jeremiah. I'm starting to call all of the
books of the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, the
gospel according to Jesus Christ. Here's the gospel according to
Numbers. Nobody, Moses included, Joshua included, Caleb included,
nobody in the Old Testament was ever saved by keeping a law. They were saved by grace. And
go to the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews and you find,
by faith, and God supplied him that faith, by faith. God did
this, or by faith, Abel did this, or Moses, or Caleb. And here we look into this passage
of scripture and we find that God did something for Moses that
usually, I don't hear of it very often, that He does for us. And
that is, He gives us our day of our passing. Moses is going
to be informed that he is going to pass before he goes into the
promised land, into the land that had been given to the congregation. And here in Numbers chapter 27,
beginning with verse 12, would you read with me? And the Lord
said unto Moses, get thee up into this Mount Abram. It's one
of the very interesting thing about the Lord. He never suggests He never says, if you feel good
about it. He commands. That is a command
by the sovereign. That is a command by the king.
And we'll find that wherever we go in scripture. You know,
the gospel is a command. Repentance is a command. Faith
is a command. We find that God commandeth us
to repent. And then we find out, how can
I do that? Well, thank God for the Holy Spirit. Thank God for
His Word. Thank God for all of His works in us. It is He that
both works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
So we depend upon that so much. The Lord said unto Moses, Get
thee up into this Mount Abram, and see the land which I have
given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou
also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother
was gathered. For ye rebelled against my commandment
in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to
sanctify me at the water before their eyes. This is the water
of Meribah and Kedish in the wilderness of Zin. I want to
say just a few thoughts about this because this thought is
found several times in the scripture. So would you hold your finger
here and travel with me to the next book, the book of Deuteronomy.
The book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32. Deuteronomy, chapter 32,
we also find this record. God shares with Moses. Now, it is on purpose that He
prevents Moses from going into the Promised Land. Even in the
types and the shadows and the pictures that the Lord gives
us in the Old Testament of the gospel, he always is faithful
to those types, shadows, and pictures. And in many ways, Moses
is a type. Moses is a shadow. Moses is a
picture, and that of the law. And it is very important that
as we read through the scriptures, we find God shares with us, even
in this type, that the law, Moses, would not be the one to carry
his people into a land, into the promised land. We are never
saved by the law. And we'll look at some of the
thoughts about that in just a moment. But here in the book of Deuteronomy
chapter 32 and verse 48, we read these words, Deuteronomy chapter
32 and verse 48. And the Lord spake unto Moses
that self same day, get thee up into this mountain Abram unto
Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against
Jericho, this close. It is this close to Jericho. Over against Jericho, and behold
the land of Canaan, which I gave unto the children of Israel for
a possession. And die in the mount, whither
thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy
brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered unto his people.
Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel
in the waters of Meribah, Kadish, in the wilderness of Zan, because
ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel." What
did God request of him the first time? About a rock and some water? Strike the rock. What did God
command the second time? He said, Speak to the rock. And
not only did Moses not speak to the rock, but he struck the
rock twice this time. You know, when we get into the
study of the law, we find out that the law is not very gracious
to us. It can never treat us kindly. There is nothing about the law
that is gentle with us. In fact, the law is like someone
grabbing the hold of our throat when we owe a debt and shaking
us and saying, you will pay everything you owe. There's nothing gentle,
nothing kind about it. And the law, as Moses is a type,
he struck that rock twice, and we find he was not sanctified.
The Lord was not sanctified before the people. It is not something
that shares with us the goodness, the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. All right, also in the book of
Deuteronomy, two more chapters, chapter 34. Would you turn there
with me, verses 5, 6, and 7 of Deuteronomy, chapter 34, verse
5. Deuteronomy chapter 34 and verse 5 so Moses the servant
of the Lord died there in the land of Moab according to the
word of the Lord and He buried him in a valley in the land of
Moab over against Beth Peor But no man knoweth his sepulcher
unto this day And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he
died, and his eyes were not dim, nor his natural force abated.
So when the Lord delivered us by the gospel, by his blood,
by his sacrifice, The law went kicking and screaming. It was
not abated. The strength of the law was not
abated. The strength of the law could
still see everything about us, that we were without Christ,
we were without God, and we were without hope in this world. And
it was like shaking our throats, you owe me, you owe me, you owe
me, and you will pay the very last farthing. I'm thankful that
Jesus Christ took that and he says he did not come to just
uh... satisfy he came to fulfill the
law and that's what he did he fulfilled the law he kept it
completely so we find here and it's going to be a few chapters
before we find that that's the end of it here in the book of
numbers but looking ahead we find that the very word of god
was get up in that mountain see what i promised the children
of israel the congregation of israel and i'm gonna take care
of your barrel there nobody will know about it why they'd make
you a god. They'd turn you, they'd want
one of your bones, some finger bone for some nefarious reason. So he's taken up and he dies
and we find that there's of necessity another person takes over. Well,
let's move for just a moment, keeping this thought about Moses
being a type and a shadow of the law. Turn with me, if you
would, to the book of Galatians, chapter 3. The book of Galatians,
chapter 3. The apostle Paul, once the Lord
saved him, never wanted, never entreated, never asked anybody
to get back under the law. He had been bound by the law.
He was a declarer of the law. He judged you by not keeping
the law. He was a nefarious law keeper. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees,
and he was mean as a snake. You know, that's what we get
when we become law keepers. We become mean about it because
you remember what the Pharisee at the temple said, I thank thee
Lord that I'm not like other folks, especially this guy right
over here. And we get that attitude when
we become law keepers, I'm glad I'm not like other folks. Well,
here in the book of Galatians chapter 3, Galatians chapter
3, we find that the Apostle Paul, much of the ministry that the
Lord gave him in writing books of the New Testament was dealing
with this very subject. Is it grace or is it law? And the Apostle Paul was always
saying it's grace, law. Here in the book of Galatians
chapter 3, verse 24, we read this, and you know, When the translators translated
the King James Version, they made a grave error by adding
some words in this verse of scripture because it agreed with their
theology. It's a grave error to make the
Bible agree with your theology. It is very comforting that the
Holy Spirit would make the Word of God our theology. and not
the other way around. Don't ever come up with an idea
and then go to the Word of God to try to prove it. Let the Word
of God create your theology. Be true to the Word. Be honest
with the Word. Well, here in the book of Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 24, there are three words in italics. They
were honest enough to do that because the law never brings
us to Christ. The law never brings us to Christ.
The Holy Spirit brings us to Christ. The Word of God brings
us to Christ, but the law will never do that. The law will grab
our throats and shake us until we can't stand it anymore and
say, you must pay. But there is not a kind word
in it, and nowhere along this route does the law say, well,
right over there, go over there, go over there. No. We find that
John has some disciples and he pointed his disciples to Christ
because he knew where salvation was He never said get back under
the law. He never said honor the law that
way He said salvation's in this the Lamb of God which takes away
the sin of the world well here it says wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster and this this were it he was a In the original
language, this was usually a slave in a household, a household that
had wealth. And this slave had the responsibility
of taking care of the male children until they reached maturity.
And he would walk along with them, and they couldn't even
leave the house without him. They couldn't do a thing without
him. And you know, that, I know that would just chafe me. Why don't you go somewhere? Go
fishing. I'll just take care of my business." Well, this schoolmaster,
less than a schoolmaster, says, and then leave those three words
out, unto Christ. The law was a schoolmaster unto
Christ. Now, unto Christ came to us,
unto Christ went to the cross, you apply how you want, but we
are bound, we're held. Who's the law for? Was it for
just the Jews? No, the law is for everybody
in God's creation, but we'll find out we cannot keep it. And
it is no salvation in it by keeping it. And I fear for those who
say that they love keeping the law for merit. Why do you do
that? Well, I want to be better with
God. Well, where's Jesus Christ in this formula? He's the one
that makes us better with God. He's the one that makes us acceptable
with God. It's not our keeping of anything.
In fact, we cannot keep it. We can't keep our righteousness.
We can't keep our sanctification. We cannot keep our position.
We're thankful for one that does. Then it tells us there in that
verse of Scripture unto Christ that we might be justified by
faith. That's how we're made perfect.
God grants us the faith in Christ Jesus, our atoning Savior, and
we're justified in Him. And then it goes on to say there
in verse 25, but after that faith has come, we are no longer under
a schoolmaster. We don't need that. You know,
many people do not trust the power of the Holy Spirit. They
don't trust the power of the Holy Spirit in salvation. We've
got to do something. We've got to help Him out. We've
got to make it more palatable. We've got to do this, because
He's not powerful enough to do what He said He would do, and
that is point people to Christ. Bring them out of death and to
life. The Holy Spirit is sovereign. The Holy Spirit is all-powerful.
The Holy Spirit does and is pleased by the covenant of grace, and
He is able to do as Christ and the Father is far greater than
we can think or do. Back up to the second chapter
of the book of Galatians for just a moment as we think about
Moses taken off the scene. He will not take the children
of Israel into the land. The law will not take us to glory,
it takes Jesus Christ. It's interesting that the person
that's going to take the place of Moses, his name means Savior
or Deliverer, same name as we find Jesus in the New Testament.
Here in the book of Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16 we read
this, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, You know, for a long, long time. How old was Saul of Tarsus
before he was saved? It doesn't actually tell us.
But for a long, long time, he believed that he was justified
by the keeping of the law. He believed he was making God
pleased with him. And it's exactly the opposite.
God is not pleased with our attempts to keep the law. He is pleased
with us trusting Christ as our only Savior. But by the faith
of Jesus Christ, and whose faith is that? It�s the faith of Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not
by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Turn with me back just a little
bit into the book of Acts and we continue this look at the
law and its place. God used it We found out we couldn't
keep it. Really, we didn't find that out
until we were born again that we couldn't keep it. We thought
we were doing a pretty good job about it. Someone asked me one
time, how are you doing with the qualifications for a pastor
over there in the book of Timothy and Titus? And I said, you know,
not very well. but I have someone who has kept
it for me and I'm just gonna sit in him. Now that doesn't
mean I'm giving up on it. That means I'm resting in someone
who can take care of it. And that person had the audacity
to tell, well, I've got them all down but one or two and I'm
working on them. That's like someone saying, how are you doing
with the 10 commandments? Well, I can tell you honestly,
I have grave difficulty with them. because they declare the
holiness of God, and I am not holy as God is by nature. Now,
by the new birth, I am caused to be holy as He is holy. I have
respect for His Word. I have respect for His Word of
God. I have respect for His law. I
can't keep it. I know someone who did, and I
know who someone who did could give me the grace and impute
it to me and say, in my stead, I covered you wholly. And now,
now that does not give us a license to go out and sin. The Apostle
Paul dealt with that in the book of Romans right off, because
he knew what people were going to think. Are you telling me
that if I'm saved by the grace that you're saved by, that I
can go do anything I want? Well, that just revealed a whole
lot about a person's heart. No. Absolutely not. God's people don't want to do
that. You know, we sin a whole lot more than we want to do.
It's not something we have to plan for. Well, here in the book
of Acts chapter 13, we read these words that give us some insight
about the position as a type and a shadow and a picture that
Moses had before the children of Israel. In Acts chapter 13
and verse 39, But by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which ye could not be justified
by the law of Moses. You didn't have the ability. Dead in trespasses and sin, there's
not one part of us that was not affected by the fall. We're dead
in body, we're dead in spirit, we're dead in mind, and we need
a resurrection. And we'll not attain that by
ourselves. We'll not attain it by doing
something for God. He doesn't help us. Grace is
not grace if we have to help it. Well, as we find that the
bondage of the law prescribes rules of life but affords no
help to obey it. No help. I used to love my mother
when she said, now you're going to do this, but I want to help
you. I did that with students in school.
You have to do this, but I'll help you. And we have God Almighty
saying, this is the requirement, but I'm the helper. I'll carry
you as a shepherd does carry his lambs. You will accomplish
it in me. Such is the rigor of the law
which takes every debtor, everyone ever born into this world is
a debtor to the law. And again, I use this illustration.
Have you ever seen anybody or has it happened to you that you
owe money and someone got a hold of you and says, you're going
to pay the very last dollar. And if you don't, Well, let's
not go there. Those who do not have the very
last farthing paid will be on the left-hand side. That's what
the Scriptures say. Alright, as we go back to the
book of Numbers, we find that this Moses, being a, actually
he's a man of grace. Typically, he's a picture of
the law. But he, he doesn't, Lord, I'm not ready to die. Lord, give me a couple more years.
Lord, I want to go to the doctor and get a new heart. Did you
know we read over there, it says there was nothing wrong with
him physically. His eyes were still good. He
didn't have to wear glasses. He could walk 10 miles, 20 miles
a day, not bother him. He was in good shape at 120 years
of age, and he passed away. God took his life away from him.
So here we find that Moses, as he hears the word, you're going
to die. You know what his concern was?
We need someone else to take my place. We need another leader. Turn with me back there to the
book of Numbers, chapter 27. What a statement we read here.
What a gracious statement. He didn't complain about what
God was going to do with him. He simply says here in the book
of Numbers, chapter 27, verse 15, he says, Moses spake unto
the Lord, saying, now, you know, As was brought out this morning,
in the gospel there is no fear. There's reverence. But we are
called on to come boldly before his throne of grace. We're calling
to come. Oh, when the need arise, come. Whatever it be, come. Come, present
your petition. Come before me. Come before the
throne of grace. Without fear, without reservation.
In the night seasons. Oh, I had a terrible dream last
night. And I says, Lord, can you just get rid of that so I
can go back to sleep? In the night seasons, we can come bowling. And here, Moses spake to the
Lord face to face saying, let the Lord, notice he didn't say,
let me help you choose somebody. You know, I've known some pastors
made some grave mistakes trying to fill the pulpit when they're
gone. I must tell you right now, when I'm gone, I have nobody
in mind. It's not my job. It's the Holy
Spirit's job. We found each other by the Holy
Spirit. When I'm gone, you'll find someone
else by the Holy Spirit. Here it says, let the Lord, the
God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation. which may go out before them,
which may come in before them, which may lead them out, which
may bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which
have no shepherd. Those are precious words. Moses'
concern for the children of Israel just before they cross over the
Jordan River and go into the land that God had promised them
for centuries, he just says here, Lord, please, can you do this? Have somebody take my place. Well, we're gonna find out in
many respects the person who filled the shoes of Moses did
much better because he was able to lead them into the land. This is Joshua by name. We're
gonna find out there in just a moment. You know, as this is
brought up, notice with me in the book of Matthew chapter nine.
The book of Matthew chapter nine, the same subject is brought up
here in Matthew chapter nine as the Lord Jesus speaks to his
disciples. And he tells us in Matthew chapter
nine that the fields are white unto harvest. Matthew 9, there
in verse 36, Matthew 9, verse 36, it says, And when he saw
the multitudes, Matthew 9, verse 36, When he saw the multitudes,
he was moved with compassion. Now, this is the Lord. He's moved
with compassion. I am so thankful that the God
of glory, the sovereign king of all things is moved for compassion
upon his people. That he loves them with an everlasting
love and he exercises that compassion. He will go out and find them.
He will bring them in. It says he was moved with compassion
on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as
sheep having no shepherd. What was it that Moses just said?
Please have somebody, Lord, so that they will have a shepherd
and not act like a group of sheep without a shepherd. Then saith
he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors
are few. You know, I've had people preach
messages from that verse and not pay any attention to the
next verse. And before you know it, you got
every person, every male in the church called to preach. I've told you about being called
to preach in religion, haven't I? I went to my pastor and told
him I was lost and before I left he called me to preach. Because
that's the very last thing it could be, because I'd done everything
else that was possible. I'd asked Jesus into my heart.
I'd been down on my knees. I'd cried. I'd done everything
that was possible. And he said, there's one thing
left. It must be that you're called to preach. You know, I've
shared this too. I saw him many years later at
a funeral and asked him, how could you do that? And he couldn't
answer me. I'm glad I asked him. Well, let's look at verse 38,
because this is what essentially Moses was saying. If you're taking
me off the scene, and that's only right and good, Lord. You
have every right to do that. I am your subject. You are my
king. When you say my time is over,
my time is over. It is appointed and the man wants
to die, and after that will stand before God. And those with Christ
will say, yay and amen, and those without Christ will say, oh me.
Woe is me. Well, let me talk to you about
my good works, Lord. Depart from me, ye workers of
iniquity, I never knew you. All right, verse 38. Pray ye,
therefore, the Lord of the harvest. Now, in September, we had Brother
Lance Heller here. You know, Brother Lance and I
are just real close. We can visit about things that
I can't visit with very many other pastors, missionaries.
And he says there's a phenomena going on in America about young
preachers, people that are surrendering to preach sit in a church and
they're waiting for some old preacher to die so they can go
in and take over that church because it will have a good income.
They're not hearing about a group of people meeting over here in
Timbuktu and say, you know, I really would like to come over and speak
for you. Could we set up a time or anything like that? Because
there's nothing in it. Here the Lord says, as Moses
requested, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that
he will send forth laborers into his harvest. You know, when that
man called me to preach, I had a local call. You know what that
used to mean. The old dial telephones. This
is a local call. It's only cost a dime. Or there
was the long-distance call, and that was going to cost more.
When Nancy and I were going together, before we got married, she lived
340 miles away from me, and our only contact most of the time
was a telephone. And my parents didn't have a
telephone. So my pastor would get a call from Nancy. He'd come
down to my house. Says, Nancy's on the phone. Would
you come up to the house and call her? So I'd go up there.
At the end of the month, he'd say, here's the long-distance
bill. Now, I don't know, it wasn't very much, and I'd have paid
10 times that much to talk to her, but it was a long-distance
call. You know, that's the only effectual call is a long-distance
call. God, what it says there, pray
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth
labors into his harvest. I remember hearing about a young
preacher down in Oklahoma, and he surrendered to the ministry
and was going to Africa as a missionary. And his pastor King says, meet
me here next Saturday and we're going to go out. And that young
man came the next Saturday, pastor met him at the church, and they
went into a part of Oklahoma City at that time that Afro-Americans
lived in. He says, what are we doing here?
He says, what do you think you're going to find in Africa? You
know what? He lost all interest. It was
just a romantic idea to go to a foreign country, Africa, and
be a missionary there, and hopefully people would support him. You
know, nobody calls me anymore like they used to do and say,
I'm going to be a missionary. The landmarkers were good at
this, and that's where I was, and they knew my name. They'd
call me up and say, I'd like to come by and speak for you
and tell you about the work over and so on and so forth. I said,
how much money do you need to be able to go over there? He
said, oh, I need $5,000. Oh boy, you know, we're booked. My brother Lance went to New
Guinea without any guarantee because that's where the Lord
wanted him. That's the way it should be. All right. Pray ye
therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labors
into the harvest. And when there's a need, they
will be called. There's not one extra church
in the world and not one too few. We say, I wish there was
a church down in Vancouver. I wish there was a church in
Portland. I wish there was a church in Golden Lake. I wish there
were churches all over. But they're not there. Why? If
there was enough sheep there, there would be one there. That's
the way God does His business. All right. Go back with me, if
you would, to the book of, oh, no, go with me to the book
of Matthew again, chapter 4. It lets us know, there in that
verse of scripture, that He is in the charge of calling. And
He's going to call someone to take care of Israel. We know
Him already. It's Joshua. We know Him already. But here, turn with me to the
book of Matthew chapter 4 and verse 19. Matthew chapter 4 and
verse 19, the Word of God says this, And He said unto him, Follow
Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Did you notice the next
verse? And they straightway left their
nets and followed him. Now this is not a suggestive
call. This is not a call that God suggested something to them. It is a command. And God doesn't
speak in anything less than commands. It is a command that He goes
out. You know, by the very voice that
He said unto them, follow me, is the voice that He created
the heavens and the earth. The same voice that He called
unto them, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men, is the
same voice that He created the heavens and the earth and all
things that are therein. This is an all-powerful voice. And when He calls, These people
responded, those that knew him. It says, and they straightway
left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence,
he saw two other brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John,
his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets,
and called them, and they immediately left the ship and their father
and followed him. This is a command. That's what
God does. It's a command. He also commands
us to salvation. It's a command, and He alone
is able to usher us into that command. Mark, move ahead just
a little bit to the book of Mark, chapter two. Mark chapter two,
and we read there in chapter two of the book of Mark in verse
14, along the same lines as Moses said, someone needs to take care
of these people. I have no problem with you taking
my life. I have no problem with going
over there and just looking in. I don't have a problem with that.
But I, please Lord, would you fill the spot. And here in the
book of Mark chapter 2 and verse 40, 14. And as he passed by,
he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom
and said unto him. Now he's a tax collector, sitting
at receipt of custom. And his livelihood is based upon
how much extra he can collect. And this seems to be Matthew.
Follow me. and he arose and followed him.
what God is able to do. He is able to do what he commands
and he commanded. All right, would you travel back
with me in a short time that we have left to the book of Numbers
and let's look at the qualifications and the job description that
Moses is led to share with us there in the book of Numbers
chapter 27. Whoever is gonna fill this spot, Numbers chapter
27 and verse 17. Numbers chapter 27 and verse
17. It says, here is what Moses saw
was necessary. Now he has been led by the Holy
Spirit to bring this up. He's been led by the Holy Spirit
to bring this idea up, these thoughts up. It says here, this
person, Verse 16, let the Lord, the God of all spirits, the God
of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
which may go out before them, which may go in before them,
which may lead them out and which may bring them in. And how is
he going to do that? Lord, you're going to have to
give him a position in the minds and hearts of these people that
they will follow him. He's going to have to be a man
of God. He's going to have to be someone who can carry out
what He said He will do. And these people will submit
to Him and follow Him and go out and come in with Him. And
He goes on to tell us there, "...and which may bring them
in, that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which
have no shepherd." you know, over there in the book of Acts
chapter 6 it talks about, so often in commentators, it's the
choosing of the deacons. Have you ever read the qualifications
for those guys? Well, let's just do that right
now. Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6. As we find what
Moses said would be great qualifications. The Holy Spirit gave him those
qualifications. Here in Acts 6, beginning with
verse 1, it says, There was a problem. There was a problem. It says
here, In those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied,
there arose a murmuring. There was quite a number of people
that assembled together to hear the gospel. And these 12 apostles,
12 disciples that were preachers of the gospel, they noticed that
there was a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews
because their widows were neglected in daily food and sustenance. Then the Twelve called the multitude
of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we
should leave the word of God to serve tables. Wherefore, brethren,
look ye out among you seven men." Now notice the qualifications.
It's kind of those that Moses gave over there in the book of
Numbers chapter 27. Somebody to lead the people. It says here,
seven men, honest report. Seven men of honest report. That they, this honest report,
to be a witness. You know what? They need to be
somebody that knows the gospel. They need to be a witness of
Christ. You know, I've been in churches where deacons were ordained
because they were business savvy. They had more business savvy
than anything else. And that's not the qualification.
The qualification is that they would be honest with the word
of God, that they would be honest in declaring Christ. And in doing
that, they will be honest in their work. that they are men
of honest report. I can just hear Moses saying,
Oh, may he be a man of honest report. Someone to lead the people. I, Lord, I don't, it doesn't
bother me at all that you're going to take my life, but we
need someone of an honest report to lead the children of Israel.
And it goes on to tell us in that passage of scripture that
Look out, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom, that we may appoint
over this business." You know, as I think about being full of
wisdom, I have to go to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30, and it tells us
there that Christ is our wisdom. These people need to know Christ. They need to be born again. They need to have an honest report.
They need to have an honest report about the gospel. They need to
know the gospel. And Acts chapter 20, verse 17,
turn there with me if you would. Acts chapter 20, verse 27, excuse
me. In verse 27, it shares this. It says, honest report full of the Holy
Ghost. The Apostle Paul says, for I have shunned, not shunned,
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. We need men of honest
report, full of the Holy Spirit, that will not back up on anything
that God gives us. They will teach Ephesians chapter
1. They will teach Romans 9, 10,
and 11. They will teach the things that
we read in the gospel. They will teach the gospel of
God's free and sovereign grace. This must be. Well, turn with
me back to the book of Numbers chapter 27 and read with me verse
18. Numbers chapter 27 and verse
18. Then the Lord said unto Moses, Numbers chapter 27
verse 18, And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son
of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thy hand upon
him, and set him before Eliezer the priest, and before all the
congregation. and give him a charge in their
sight. And thou shalt put some of thy
honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children
of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eliezer
the priest, who shall take counsel from him after the judgment of
Urim, Before the Lord at his word shall we go out and at his
word shall we come in both he and all the children of Israel
with him even all the congregation and Moses did as the Lord commanded
him and he took Joshua and set him before Eliezer the priest
and before all the congregation and laid his hands upon him and
gave him a charge as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses
and Now those verses that we just read there from 18 through
the end of the chapter, Lord willing, will be the message
that we have when we come back from our trip. these words about
Joshua. This is not the first time that
we have Joshua mentioned in Scripture. We have him several times before
this, and doing honorable things. He's an honorable man. He's an
honest man. He's full of the Spirit. That's
just what we find that the Lord shared. He is full of the Spirit.
I've dealt with him. I have been his Savior. That's
the thing that we read with Joshua and Caleb. they had a different
spirit than the other 10. That's why they came back with
the report that they did. God is able, God is able, God
is able. The 10 came back and said, no,
he's not, no, he's not, no, he's not. Well, we find in scripture,
God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we
ask or think. God bless you. Brother Mike.