Many times on Mother's Day, I've
brought messages about mothers. I'd just like to read three verses
of scripture before we go into the book of Numbers today that
have been a blessing about this subject. And the first one is
found over in the book of Genesis chapter three. Would you turn
with me to Genesis chapter three? And we find here, after Adam
and Eve fell, that Adam said something about his wife, Eve. Now, in the next verse, we find
that the Lord covered them. It wasn't that the Lord made
up his mind at that time to cover them. He had a purpose in the
covenant of grace to cover them pictorially with what we know
he did in reality. He covered them with his blood. Well, here it says, Adam called
his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. Now that's going to be fulfilled
later at the birth of Christ, but she is also the one that
brought all physical life into this world, human physical life. Turn with me, if you would, now
over to the book of Galatians. In the book of Galatians, there's
an interesting verse about a mother. And this is a spiritual application
of what we find the Apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to
give us a relationship. a relationship between she is
the mother of all living, and what we find here in Galatians
4, verse 26. In this passage of scripture,
the Apostle Paul was used of the Holy Spirit to share with
us much about the relationship that we have with Christ, and
it is not because of the law. Never has been, never will be. We don't even please God in any
fashion, by any attempt to keep the law. When we try that, we
are simply saying Christ is not enough. That's the sum and total
of trying to keep the law even now for righteousness sake. All right, now here it tells
us In the book of Galatians, here in chapter 4 and verse 26,
or verse 27, it says, I've got to get this, 426. But Jerusalem,
which is above, is free. Now, if you back up, you find
out that Jerusalem that now is in the days of Paul and continues
to be to this day a representation of bondage. but we have a Jerusalem
which is above. Now this Jerusalem which is above
is another name for the church and it is through the church
Maybe not an assembly like this, but people who make up the body
of Christ, the church, who carry the gospel, the good news, and
that is how, what do we hear? We read here, the mother of us
all. It is through the preaching of
the gospel that the people who know something about the gospel
and the preaching of the gospel that God uses to bring more children
into his kingdom. Now, they've always been embryonic
children. There's never been a goat that's
ever been made a sheep, but they're always been embryonic, if you
please. They've been in his counsel,
in his mind, in his purpose, in his blood, in his book. Wherever
we go, we find that they were there and they have been loved
with an everlasting love, but in time, they are born again. and the church is use. People
who know the truth are used to share with others the gospel.
Now, the last one I want to look at on this subject found in the
book of First Timothy, Chapter 1. First Timothy, Chapter 1,
Verse 5. First Timothy, Chapter 1, Verse
5. What a statement. First Timothy. Maybe we should go to 2 Timothy. There it is, 2 Timothy. Now the Apostle Paul, in writing
to Timothy, had this to say about his mother, Timothy's mother,
and grandmother. Now, he doesn't say anything
about great-grandmother, but he says mother and grandmother. And he says that these two had
something so special that only grace could give them. It says,
when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee,
which dwelt first in thy mother Lois. I wish I could say that
about my mother. And then it goes on to say, and
grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice. I wish I could say that
about my grandmother and my mother. But both of them didn't know
anything about the gospel. They knew some Bible, but they
didn't know the gospel. But this Timothy had a very special
position. He's the third generation that
God has quickened in the same family. What a miracle of grace
that that would ever take place. Now, I said that was the last
verse, but I want to go back to Galatians chapter 1. And we
read in Galatians chapter 1, what a special thing it is, even
if... Our mother, our grandmother,
our great grandmother didn't know the first thing about the
gospel. God uses these people to bring
his sheep into the world. Here it tells us, Paul's saying,
when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
call me by his grace. What a blessing it is that God
in his eternal purpose brings it down to the right place, the
right person, at the right time, and brings all of his children
into this world so that they can hear the gospel wherever
that is. Now thanks be to God for those mothers that knew something
or grandmothers that knew something. But I'm thankful that God used
my mother to deliver me so that I could hear something about
the glories of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She was used in
that capacity and I'm thankful for it. All right, would you
join me back in the book of Numbers this morning, chapter 20, as
we continue our study of the book of Numbers And we see here
that as time goes on, things don't really change. As time
goes on, we still see the people identified. They identify themselves
as not knowing much about God. They identify themselves as not
knowing the gospel. They identify themselves as being
unfaithful. They identify themselves here
in the book of Numbers, and let us begin reading with verse two
of the 20th chapter of the book of Numbers. It shares with us
here, and there was no water for the congregation, and they
gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
Now, it is our prayer that when those circumstances are our circumstances,
when we don't have water, as it tells us here, that we don't
have the physical blessings. And we are not in a position
to enjoy the spiritual blessings. It is my prayer that we will
be able to hear the word of God when he says, I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me. Now that doesn't mean that
I'm going to grow another inch and it doesn't mean that I'm
going to have good health. It doesn't mean any of that.
The meaning of that is we must depend upon Jesus Christ for
everything. And when it comes to a time like
this, we pray that we trust him. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me. That is God's blessing to us.
And we also hear him say, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
These people couldn't hear those messages, but I trust that God's
people will hear those messages because it is so important to
have that confidence in Christ continuing. And yet, when we
find that we don't have the confidence in Christ that we should have,
The Lord tells us, you may not be faithful, but I'm faithful.
I'll not lose you, I'll not leave you, I'll not forsake you. So
we count those great truths of the gospel so valuable to us
in our walk through this life. Here we have a group of people,
and there's probably three to six million of them, that are
traveling through the wilderness and they're going through a time
when God said, for the next 38 years, this generation of people
will be dying off and they will not enter into the promised land.
And as we heard read in the book of Hebrews today, they had the
gospel preached unto them just like you and I had the gospel
preached unto them. They didn't have another gospel.
Moses never came out and says, you must trust these sacrifices
that we're performing. He always pointed people to Christ.
He always pointed people to the Messiah. And so the gospel was
preached unto them as well as unto us, but it was not mixed
with faith. Now, What does that mean? That they just couldn't muster
it up? No. We heard again this morning
that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. That
it was God that gives us the faith to believe Him. It's God
that gives us the faith to trust Him. It's the God that says,
don't worry about your water. Don't worry about your food.
Don't worry about the consideration that you're in. As Paul in another
place says, he had learned whatever state he was in, therewith to
be content. How glorious that is to be able
to do that. And even when we can't, we find
out that God is taking care of it for us. that his people, the
church, those that are in Christ Jesus, he has taken care of them
in such a sufficient way that he will never leave them, he'll
never forsake them, and they will always be his. All right,
it says there's no water, and they gathered themselves against
Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses,
saying, would God that we had died with our brethren, When
our brethren died before the Lord, we wish we were just like
everybody else. We wish we'd have died with them.
We wish that we're going to die. And why have you brought up the
congregation of the Lord into the wilderness that we and our
cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us
to come up out of Egypt, and bring us into this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of
figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to
drink. You know what they had, but didn't
know they had? They had a pillar of cloud, and
they had a pillar of fire. God was around them and didn't
know it. You know, we are just ignorant.
without the revelation of Jesus Christ. We may know a few things
about the Bible, but we'll never know the important things about
the Bible unless the Lord revealed these truths to us. And Aaron
and Moses, Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. and fell
upon their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather
thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak
ye unto the rock before their eyes. And it shall give forth
his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the
rock. so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts
drink.' And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded
him, and Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before
the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels, Must we
fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand,
and with his rod he smote the rock twice, and water came out
abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron, because ye believe me not. to sanctify me in the
eyes of the children of Israel. Therefore, you shall not bring
this congregation into the land which I have given them. This
is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove
with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them." Truly, they did strive
against God instead of against Moses and Aaron, but that's just
a small part of this. As we look, they had no heart
in it. The people gathered themselves against Moses and against Aaron.
They brought up the subject, there's no water. We wish we
had stayed in Egypt. We wish we'd have died with our
brethren through the desert and so forth. And you know, if we
have only a cursory, just a superficial knowledge If we only have a superficial
knowledge of God, a shallow knowledge of God, we will never be satisfied
with His ways, we'll never be satisfied with His salvation,
we'll never be satisfied with His providence, we'll never be
satisfied with His health, with His food, His control, His answer
to prayer. If we only have a cursory, a
very superficial knowledge of God, we will never be satisfied
with God. We must have what God gives as
the new birth, and then we can say, today I'm satisfied. Pray God Almighty I'll be satisfied
with it tomorrow. This is why we hear, that's not
fair. Can you imagine the children
of Israel, they're saying, they're descendants of Abraham. They're
all related. They're aunts and uncles and
cousins. They have heard about Abraham. They have heard about
Isaac. They've heard about Jacob. They've
heard about Jacob and his sons. They're descendants of that.
And they come up before Moses and Aaron one day and say, it's
not fair. We don't have any water. It's
not right. This is wrong. Or I don't believe
that. So they didn't believe God. You
know, those who believe God, it's counted unto them for righteousness.
We can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. We
can never, he'll never leave us nor forsake us. forsakes not
his saints, the Lord will not forsake his people, and we're
thankful that he did not forsake those that belong to him in that
whole herd of people. You know, that rock is mentioned
in that passage of scripture, and it's the only type, the only
shadow, and the only picture of all through the Old Testament
that is ever brought up in the New Testament, and it is shared
with regard to that rock. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of 1 Corinthians 10, In 1 Corinthians 10, the Holy
Spirit brought this to Paul's mind as he was writing to these
saints in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 10, and there in
verse four, this is the only time we have such specific identification
about a type in the Old Testament. When we cover the Paschal Lamb
or the Passover Lamb, it never comes to the New Testament as
this, that lamb was Christ. When we look at the altar, that
altar was Christ. When we come to the tabernacle,
that tabernacle was Christ. Now, we look at those as types
and shadows and pictures, but the apostle Paul was led by the
Holy Spirit to point out here in the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 10 and verse 4, and did all drink the same spiritual
drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ. Who are they complaining against?
That rock. Who are they complaining about
the ways of? That rock. Now, the Lord was gracious to
them and gave them physical water out of that rock, but we find
that Moses and Aaron both suffered death as a result of their activities
that very day. It won't be long that Aaron is
going to be taken aside and he's going to die. He's not going
to enter the promised land. We're going to find out not very
far after that, that Moses is taken aside and he's going to
die and he's not going to enter the promised land. And you know
what? Throughout the ages, the church has stood up in hallelujah
chorus and said, hallelujah, they did not enter the land.
And you ask why? They represented the law. You
know, Moses was told to speak to that rock because if we go
back to the book of Exodus, at another time when the children
of Israel didn't have water, God says, strike that rock and
you'll get water. So in actuality, he struck the
rock three times. There in the book of Exodus,
twice here he struck the rock and the Lord says, speak to the
rock. Well, By God's mercy, he gave them water, physical water
out of it anyway, but we find out that Moses and Aaron represented
what could not deliver the people, represented the law. The law
was never a representation of life. You know, if we get to
looking at the law, as we find in the book of Hebrews so often,
if we get to looking at the law, we find out that the law has
no soft edges. There's no cushion to it. You
know, if I'm walking down this aisle and I fall, I hope I hit
the cushion and not that wood right there on the end. The law
had no easy place to fall to. It is all hard. It is all pointy. It is all damaging. The law was given to kill. You know, if one person could
not put their rest in Christ and went out on the Sabbath day
and picked up sticks, you know what the penalty for that was?
They could not stay in their tent and rest on Christ. They couldn't rest according
to the law. They got up and picked up sticks
so they could have a fire and cook their food over it. You
know what the penalty for that was for not resting in Christ? Death. That's what the law demands. If we do not rest in Christ,
the law demands death. That's why we find that Jesus
Christ came to this earth to die. He came to fulfill the law. The law was honored in the death
of Christ. Turn with me over there to the
book of Hebrews again. Brother Lauren just read this,
but I want to read just a short portion of that. I appreciate
the man willing to read what I ask him to because most of
the time it goes along with the message. All right, well, everything
would, but I realize that. All right, Hebrews chapter 10,
if you would. Hebrews chapter 10. In the book
of Hebrews chapter 10, we have these wonderful words there in
verse nine. It says, then said I, Hebrews chapter 10, verse nine,
then said I, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first. Why? There was no grace in it. There was no mercy in it. There
was only... It only identified us as sinners,
but never gave us a way to get out of it. It proved that we
were sinners. We could not keep the law of
God. There wasn't a portion of it
that we could keep. As we read over there in the
book of Exodus, when the law was given, this we will keep.
How many times you could look up in your strong, how many times
Israel said, we'll keep it, we'll keep it, we'll keep it. Well,
the Lord said they didn't keep it. They regarded it not, I regard
them not. So there was no keeping of it.
It's an impossible thing to keep. God gave an impossible law for
us to keep. We cannot keep it. Nobody has,
nobody will. Anybody that says they have,
they've just broken the law. Thou shall not bear false witness.
It's the lion about it. So no part of it could. And we find out Moses as a representative
of the law. And we find out about Aaron who
is a representative, a high priest under the law. Neither one of
those could make it any softer. You know, Aaron could do no better
than he was doing. He was a representative of all
of those sacrifices, and there was not one sacrifice that ever
did one thing for one sin. But we have the glorious report
about one who could do everything for all our sin, and to the extent
of putting it away, never to be remembered again. Verse 10
of Hebrews chapter 10, it says, by the which will we are sanctified
to the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for, the word
all is in italics, but it's okay. Once has something to do with
time, not number. My mother used to take me over
here and say, this is once for all, people. No, it's once for
all time. It has a time element about it.
Once for all time, every priest and daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. The believer honors the law and
establishes it, its worth and its dignity by believing Christ. If you want to keep the law,
you must trust Christ because he's the only one that did. That's
the hard part. We think keeping the law is hard.
Trusting Christ is hard, impossible. Without the grace of God, none
of us would ever submit to the come of the Lord Jesus. Except for the grace of God.
Book of Romans chapter three, would you turn there with me
to the book of Romans chapter three? In Romans chapter 3, we
have these words recorded for us. Again, Paul is the secretary,
the Holy Spirit is the author, and he shares this message. Do
we then make void the law through faith? I've been told all my life, you've
got to keep the law, you've got to keep the law. And then the
Lord comes along and says, by faith. For by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God.
Oh no, what will the law do? Well, we read right here, the
Holy Spirit says, do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid, yeah, we establish the law. What do we say? Christ
is my law keeper. He established righteousness
by keeping the law. And that righteousness is imputed
to every one of his children. So we do not make void the law
through faith. In fact, we establish the law. We honor the law by having faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of his children honors
the law by being brought to Christ, trusting Christ, having Christ
as our savior. And we do not honor God by trying
to keep something that we cannot keep. Moses' action also reveals
some of the things about the law. The law was never to bring
grace. We do not find even the letter
G in keeping the law. There's not even the minuscule
opportunity for any grace. When the law is brought, it is
absolute no grace at all. The law never
was. It only informs us of what we
are and that we are disobedient. The law can only accuse and only
condemn. It cannot produce life. There
is no life-giving substance in it. And we find out that our
mother Eve was the mother of all living. She's the one that
brought us into this world in a miraculous way, and the law
could not do it. We are born again by the power
of the Spirit of God. The law cannot do it. The law
can do nothing but smite. Moses spoke to the people, but
not to the rock. Did you notice that? He spoke
to the people. What am I going to do with you?
And here, the law will not speak to Christ for grace. Stand before
the judgment of God, and the law cannot speak that word. It
is unknown. It is not Shibboleth, it is Sibboleth. No life. Moses and Aaron will
not take the people to the promised land, and the church says, hallelujah,
because the law made nobody perfect, will not enter into heaven by
the law, will not enter in by Moses and Aaron. I believe both
of them were saved people. But God demonstrates in this
type in a shadow that they, by being representative of the law,
were not going to take the children of Israel into the promised land.
Who did? Someone else by the name of, what's his name? Joshua. Old Testament Joshua, New Testament
Jesus, means the same thing. He's the one that takes them
in. How much did he have to do with the law? Was he a priest? Was he a servant? No, he's not
of the right tribe. Just as Christ was not of the
right tribe, he wasn't a Levite, he's of the tribe of Judah. No
place in the Old Testament was there anybody spoke about being
a priest in the tribe of Judah until we reached the Lord Jesus
Christ and he is the high priest after the order of Melchizedek,
much more long, Ancient, much more powerful, much more is this
Melchizedek, the priesthood of Melchizedek, and he is a picture
of Jesus Christ. I personally believe when he
met with Abraham, he is the pre-incarnate Messiah visiting with one of
his children. But let's move on. Moses and
Aaron will not take the people in. Both will die outside of
the land. And if you wish the law to enter
into the promised land, you must leave grace. Has nothing to do
with us. And as the children of Israel
said, let's just go back into the wilderness and visit the
carcasses of all our friends and hoping we were buried with
them. We see that Moses and Aaron represented the law to the people.
In fact, if you look up law of Moses, you're gonna find a plethora
of verses of scripture that lists that together, because he represented
the law. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter eight, verse 31. In the book of Joshua chapter
eight, Verse 31 and 32, we have this
message left us. Joshua 8, verse 31. As Moses, the servant of the
Lord, commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in
the law, in the book of the law of Moses. I like written in the
book of the law of Christ. Now this was picture, it was
needed. Moses, there's this written,
Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded the children of Israel,
as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, Verse 32, and
he wrote thereupon the stones, a copy of the law of Moses. You can go throughout the Old
Testament. We get to the New Testament and we find the law
of Moses, the law of Moses. Turn with me to Acts 13, if you
would. Acts chapter 13, and there are
many, many verses found throughout the Old Testament and the New
Testament about the law of Moses. But turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Acts. The book of Acts chapter 13.
What a wonderful chapter this is, because it just culminates
in the Gentiles. Our forebears saying, would you
say some more about this? The Jews said, we've had enough
of it. And the Gentiles said, would you bring out some more
about this? Well, look here in Acts chapter 13, verse 39. Acts
chapter 13 and verse 39. The scripture says, and by him
all that believe are justified from all things from which ye
could not be justified by the law of Moses. The law of Moses
did not bring justification. The law of Moses, it was impossible
to bring justification because we couldn't keep it. It was an
impossible thing to keep. And then if you go down through
here, we find out that he's speaking to those Jews and he gets down
to verse 48. And it says, when the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord.
And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed what
a wonderful verse of scripture that declares God's purpose of
grace. God sent Paul to the Jews. He preached to the Jews, he preached
what the law was to the Jews, and there was no salvation in
it, could not be justified by it. And almost all of those folks,
particularly the religious people, said, we are justified by the
law. We are perfect in the eyes of God by the law. The Lord spoke
to them, says, you know the outward appearance? I don't care so much about the
bottom of the plate. when I go to the restaurant.
I could probably survive a little bit there. But when you turn
it over and see the top of the plate, and there's all kinds
of nonsense there, I'm sending the plate back. And that's what
Jesus Christ said to a bunch of religious people, you have
cleaned up the outside of the platter, but the inside is full
of rottenness and filth and nobody wants to sit down at your platter.
Or he said, you have taken the tombs and you painted them, whitewashed
them. We know what whitewash is. Still
the same thing underneath, paint. But inside of those tombs are
still dead man's bones. And that's what he compared.
They're keeping or being justified by the law. It's an impossibility.
But those that were ordained to eternal life believed and
were justified by the blood of Christ. That man went down to
his house justified. The man who was a tax collector. Moses, from the beginning, has
been associated with the law. The law could do nothing but
strike. What can the law do? Command death to sinners. You
know, it said over there, the Lord Jesus told them, speak to
this rock. You know what we find the scriptures
tell us? Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40. You know, in religion, you're
taught as pastors to get involved in everybody's life and try to
correct them. Boy, how to raise kids, how to
have a marriage, how to pay your bills, blah, blah, blah, on and
on it goes on. You know what the gospel preacher
tells us? Isaiah 40, verse two. Speak ye. Speak ye. That's what Moses was told to
do, but he couldn't. Law couldn't do that. Law could not speak
easy. It was always a loud voice. I
mean, it's a screaming voice. You cannot keep. And we still
try. But the gospel is this. speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. You know, that
is just for graciousness. My goodness, to have God Almighty
say that all your sins are paid for, that He has taken care of
the bill against you. What the law could not do in
that it was weak, He can accomplish because He's Almighty. Speak
ye comfortably to Israel. And then it goes on in the next
verse, it says, the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a
highway to our God. In the book of Isaiah chapter
45, would you turn there with me, Isaiah 45? We have this also. Moses did not, could not, would
not enter the promised land because of God's decree. The law will
not let anybody take people into the promised land. It'll save
nobody. The church stands back and see
that the type and the shadow and picture of what it was, and
we say, hallelujah. Now I'll meet it, Moses. He was
on the Mount of Transfiguration. Believer, but in type, God did
us a favor and says, nope, Joshua will lead the children of Israel
in. A savior will lead the children of Israel in. All right, here
in the book of Isaiah chapter 45, we read there in verse 19,
Isaiah 45 and verse 19. I have not spoken in secret in
a dark place of the earth. "'I said, not into the seat of
Jacob, "'seek ye me in vain. "'I, the Lord, speaketh righteousness.'"
What a difference. "'The law said, no righteousness
in me. "'The gospel, the Lord, Jehovah. "'I, the Lord, speak righteousness
"'and declare things that are right. "'I speak, I speak.'"
What did he say to the woman taken in adultery? Where are your accusers? Where's
the law? They had it all sifted out. They
had her on her way to execution. And the Lord intervened by grace,
and she said, they're all gone. My accusers are all gone. Thank
God. Well, I don't accuse you either.
What did he do for her? Spoke comfortably to a sinner. Isaiah 63 and verse 1. Isaiah 63 and verse 1. Who is this? Isaiah 63 and verse
1. There's so much in this verse
of scripture, I still have not come to even scratching the surface,
but I do have this. The last phrase of this verse
of scripture, who is this that cometh from Eden? Now, he's Christ
with dyed garments from Basra. This that is glorious in his
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. And he says,
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. He doesn't have
a switch in his hand, he has grace. The gracious Savior, the
Lord Jesus. Psalm 40, would you turn with
me to Psalm 40? Psalm 40, we read some more about
this glorious activity of the gospel. It was preached in the
Old Testament just as well as unto us. That's what it tells
us in the book of Hebrews. The gospel went out to those
people, and you know what they said? We'll have none of this. We'll have none of this. There
were a few according to the election of grace. There were a few, a
remnant, according to the election of grace. We have a few. There's Joshua and Caleb. There's
Moses and Aaron. A few. Some more, no doubt, but
a few. The rest said, we'll not have
this man rule over us, and we'll complain every step of the way.
The complaining is not over here in the book of Numbers. It isn't
very long, we have fiery serpents coming, complaining again. What? And there's some that says,
you know, the Lord is gracious. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Here in the book of the Psalms,
Psalm 40, the scriptures share this with us, Psalm 40, and there
in verse five, Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. You know who that
is? That's the church talking about this. Your works of righteousness
are more than can be numbered. Your mighty works to usward are
more than can be numbered. in the book of 2nd Chronicles.
2nd Chronicles. Let's go over there to the book
of 2nd Chronicles and read this passage of scripture. 2nd Chronicles
chapter 20. 2nd Chronicles chapter 20 and
there in verse 15 as we think about the difference between
Moses striking the rock and the grace of God coming, quickening,
saving, declaring. He said, hearken ye all Judah,
and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, thus
saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason
of this great multitude. Now notice the last part of that.
Covers so much, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Isn't
that a comforting statement? The battle is not ours, but God's. It is our privilege. to speak
comfortably. The law never could do that.
Moses couldn't do that. You know, as much as he may have
wanted to, he could not do anything but strike that rock twice. He was a representative of the
law. And Aaron couldn't stop him because he was a representative
of the law. And before we know it, they are
both dead this side of the Jordan River to indicate that nobody
is gonna enter that land. Nobody will ever be saved without
Joshua, the Savior, the Lord Jesus. Nobody will ever be saved
by the keeping of the law. And so the complaints go on. Moses and Aaron go on for a season,
but we have the scriptures declaring to us throughout all time that
even there in the very beginning, We read about Eve being the mother
of all living, and the very next verse, it is God clothing them
with the skins of animals, picturing to us that we must have that
robe of righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, or we don't have
any righteousness at all. As Paul wrote to the Romans,
there is no righteousness or justification in the keeping
of the law. Tell them, Mark, if you'll come.