If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Deuteronomy chapter 33. Deuteronomy chapter 33. It's the next to last chapter. I want to begin reading verse one.
Just gonna read the first three verses. Deuteronomy 33 verse
one. This is the blessing. Wherewith Moses, the man of God,
blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said,
the Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them. He shined forth from Mount Paran
and he came with 10,000 of saints. from his right hand went a fiery
law for them. Now here's the blessing. Yea,
he loved the people. All his saints are in thy hand,
and they sat down at thy feet. Everyone shall receive of thy
words. This message I've entitled The
Believer's Blessing. The Believer's Blessing. I read
something by Spurgeon. I sent a copy of it to Walter
and Paul. Spurgeon wrote this, I venture
to say that the greatest earthly blessing that God can give to
any of us is health, with the exception of sickness. Sickness has frequently been
of more use to the saints of God than health has. And I got
to thinking about that, and I'm thinking, well, you know, he's
actually got a point. I believe it's true, because here it is.
The weaker we know ourselves to be, the more dependent we
are on God. And here in Deuteronomy chapter
33, we believers are told the blessing of the Lord. Now Moses
is getting ready to die. but he gives this blessing from
the Lord. Now this is from the Lord, this
is not from Moses, this is from the Lord. Oh my. Before his death. You need to
know the blessing of the Lord before your death. Oh my. And these are the words of the
Lord to his people, his saints. It's amazing to see that word
sometimes in the Old Testament. It's a good word. And that's
what believers are. They are the saints of God. Now, I don't feel like a saint,
but I am. You don't look like a saint,
but you are if you believe Christ, if you know Christ. And this
is his blessing, the Lord's blessing to believers through the words
of Moses. So let's start it right here. First thing. The believer
is loved by God. Loved by God. And I like how
he starts it out in verse three with that word, that little word,
yea. Yea, here we are. Because listen,
everything that comes from the Lord is yea and amen. That's what it is. All the Lord
says for his people is yea. even when it doesn't feel like
it, even when the internet doesn't work, and we can't do a broadcast. It's yea, it's yea, oh my. He says yea, this is a great
word to begin the blessing of the Lord for his people. Start
it with a positive, yea. Here we are, what's he say then?
Yea, he loved the people. He loved the people. And notice
very carefully, Moses wrote this, he said it in the past tense.
In the past tense. Ah. Because let me tell you something. If God loves you, Christ loves
you, he always has loved you. Especially when you didn't know
it. Oh my. When you didn't know it,
when they didn't know it, God loved them. In slavery, in Egypt,
he loved them. In the wilderness for 40 years,
he loved them. He loved them. Oh my. He loved
them, actually, if you want to go down to it, before the world
began. He chose them in his Son before
the world began. And he loved them. He chose them
in love in the Son, Jesus Christ. And then the Lord, I talked about
this a while back, the Lord gave them to his Son in times past. Oh my, you know why he gave them
to his Son? Because he loved the Son. The
father loved the son. The father loved the people. This is where, I'm gonna tell
you something, this is where all blessing starts. In love. In love. God is love. And all his blessing starts out
in love. For his son and for his people. That's good stuff. Toward his
people, everything from the Lord flows from the love of God. And here's the other part. From
the beginning, every blessing flows with the love of God for
his people and for his son. All blessings flow from God,
from the love of God. What? his saints, all his saints. The love of the Lord Jesus Christ
is for his people, and I'm gonna tell you something, this love
is perpetual. I like that word, I like that
word. Doesn't have a beginning, doesn't
have an end. Yay, yay, the Lord loved his
people. Yay, he loved the people, and
I'm gonna tell you, are his people, his saints, his saints. The love
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's no end to it. There's no end
to it. Oh my, what'd he say? I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed, even though you might deserve to be consumed.
even though we might deserve to be burned up. But no, yay,
yay. The Lord loved the people. Oh,
I like that, I do. John 13, verse one, put it this
way. It says, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus
knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of
this world unto the Father, unto the Father. And what's it say?
loved his own, which were in the world. He loved them unto
the end. There's no end to the love of
God, which is in Christ. And I'm gonna tell you something,
folks, that's a blessing. That's a blessing. Yea, he loved the people. Oh, I like that. All his saints,
all his saints. So that's the first point, the
believer is loved by him. The second point is this, the
believer is secured in him. What's the next part of that
verse say? Let me see. Yea, he loved the people. All
his saints are in thy hands. Is there a better place to be?
Is there a better place to be? Oh my. John 10 verse 28 says this. And
I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Those are the words of Christ.
But he didn't stop there. He says my father. which gave
them me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I'm telling you something, folks.
Yea, he loved the people. All thy saints are in thy hand. Oh, all the saints are in thy
hand. And even better, all his saints
are in his hand. Oh, I like that. I'm gonna tell
you something. This is eternal life, to be in
the hand of the Father and the Son. There's no more secure place
to be. Oh, you know. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God's got him in his hand. Christ
has him in his hand. The Father has him in his hand.
Who's gonna pluck him out? Nobody, nothing. Oh my. This is eternal life, to be in
the hand of the Father and the Son. Believers are secure in
his hand, in his hand. Believers are safe in his hand. Oh my. Loved and secure. That's good stuff. That's good
stuff. I like that. Then who is it? What'd he say? All his saints. All his saints. All his saints. all that were chosen in the Son,
all that were given to the Son, all that are called by the name
of God. All his saints are in his hand. There's not one out there wandering
alone. Doesn't matter. I'm gonna tell you something.
You can read in the first little bit of Hebrews about where he's
put his angels as ministering over you when you didn't know
him. There is a truth to a guardian
angel. It's not them idiot statues they got on sale at the gift
shop, okay? That's not it, folks. His angels
minister to his people. He's guiding your steps even
when you're lost. You didn't know it, didn't want
it. It's okay. God moves in a mysterious way
his wonders to perform. Yea, he loved the people. All,
all, what? All his saints are in his hand. I am the Lord, I change not.
If you're in his hand now, you was in his hand then. If you
was in his hand now, you've always been in his hand. Oh my, I like
that. Oh my. He keeps us safe and secure
in his hand. In Isaiah 49, there's a question.
Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, ain't no different now. Yea, they may forget, yet. Oh, here we go. Nevertheless,
yet I will not forget thee. Behold, here it is, here it is. These are the words of the Lord
in Isaiah. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before
me. Listen, folks, the saints, all
his saints, are graven in the palms of his hand. He holds us
in his hand. He holds us. I said it last week,
believers belong to him. They belong to him. He owns them. He bought them. Oh, he paid the
price. And they're graven in his hands. You understand, I thought about
this. Because I remember Earl used
to like that, the old Mahalia Jackson song. He's got the whole
world in his hands. And actually, that's true. I
mean, there's nothing. He does have the whole world
in his hands, but his saints are engraved in his palms. He's sovereign over the whole
world, but his saints are in his hands, are in his hands. Oh, I like that. He rules over
all. But believers, the saints, are
engraved, carved into his hands. What's that mean? Well, it means
he made us and he keeps us. He keeps us. The believer is
secured in him. Now, the next part of this verse,
I love this. They sat down at thy feet. That's good. Now he's still talking
about the same people. Oh, the Lord loved the people,
all his saints are in thy hand, and they sat down at thy feet. I'm gonna tell you something.
Some days, sitting down is good. And in some places, sittin' down
is the best. Sittin' down is good at the feet
of Christ. At thy feet, at the feet of Christ. I'm gonna tell you, it's real
good. It's real good. Christ said one thing here himself.
This is in Luke 13, verse 29. And they shall come from the
east and from the west and from the north, what? And from the
south. That's from everywhere. And shall
sit down in the kingdom of God. Now there he was talking to Jews,
but he was also bringing in the Gentiles. They're gonna come.
North, east, west, south, it doesn't matter. All that matters
is, are they his people? The Lord loved the people. All
his saints are in his hands. and they sat down at his feet. Here's the thing, do you wanna
sit down in the kingdom of God? There's one place that says we're
gonna sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And you know
what that sitting down is? That's a reference to sitting
down to a feast, to a feast, to be fed by the Lord at his
table. Oh, I like that too. Do you wanna
sit down in the kingdom of God? Because I'm gonna tell you something,
that sounds good to me. That sounds good because it is
good. Oh. Then there's that one particular
incident with the fellow they call the Gadarene Demoniac. Once
Christ, and here's the thing, once Christ set that man free
from the bondage he was in, the bondage of being possessed by,
a legion of devils. What happened? And they come
to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and
had the legion. How'd they find that fella? Sitting. Sitting. Sitting, what? And clothed. And in his right mind. In his right mind. And here's
the kicker, and they were afraid. They were afraid. I'm going to
tell you something. If unbelievers ever get a glimpse of the power
of God, they're going to be afraid. They're going to be afraid. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. Oh, my. Oh. He seated and clothed, and in his
right mind. That's where I want to be. That's
where I want to be. Jesus gave the example, one part,
about the lost son, when he says, when he came to himself, he said,
I'll arise and go to my father's house. His servants are living
better than I do. I'll go and make myself a servant.
No, the father received him when he came home. But here's the
thing, he was out there all that time and never came to himself.
This gathering demoniac had never been in his right mind. But when
God lays hold of you, oh, you're gonna be found sitting down,
clothed, and in your right mind. Oh, I like that, I do. Here's an astounding statement,
because pay attention to this. What does it say? They sat down
at thy feet. The saints, believers, the people,
sit willingly at the feet of Christ. That's where they want
to be. That's where we want to be, sitting
at thy feet. And that's a position of submission
and it's a position of interest, of interest. They sat at Christ's
feet when he taught. There were people who came, there
was a woman who came and bathed his feet with her tears and wiped
them and dried them with her hair. That's a place of submission. It's a place of worship. It's
a place of interest in learning. And they sat down. I like that. They sat down. Why? He's got
them in his hand. He loved them. And they sit down
at his feet. Oh my. Revelation 3 and 21 says
this astounding statement. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me. These are the words of Christ.
With me in my throne. Even as I also overcame and am
set down with my father in his throne. We're seated and he's on the
throne. Oh my, he's on the right hand
of the majesty on high. And you know where we are, where
the people are, where all his saints are? They're right there
with him. They're right there with him.
Doesn't feel like it sometimes, folks. It doesn't feel like it,
but you're there. If you're his, you're there. because you're there in him,
not in yourselves, not in your works, not in your actions, but
in him, you're there. Where? Sitting down, sitting
down. Oh, here's the thing. Believers
sit and have been seated at his feet. By his grace and by his
power, we are at his feet. Oh, and here's the thing. We're
where we wanna be. You understand? That's a good place
to be, is at the feet of Christ. That's a good place to be. So where are believers right
now? Well, every one of us. All the saints, all the people
of God, all that are by, All that are in him and made by his
workmanship, the believer is seated at his feet. And that's
where we wanna be. Now, the fourth thing. The believer
receives his word. That's what it says. Everyone
shall receive of thy words. Let's be clear, this is not optional. The believer shall receive his
word, he shall. Also remember, as I just said,
his word is only received when you're in your right mind. But
he's gotta give you your right mind. But we are commanded, all
people are commanded to hear his word. 24 times in the Old
Testament, this exact phrase is used. I'm not gonna go into
them all, but I'm just gonna give it to them, because I know
you've read it. Hear the word of the Lord, says it 24 times
in the Old Testament. And you know what? He meant it
24 different times. And there are variations, that's
just the one phrase I picked out and searched. because we
are to hear the word of the Lord. What's that mean? We are to receive
it. We are to receive it. It's out there. It's right here.
In black and white and maybe the words of Jesus Christ in
red, I don't know. Depends upon what you got, but
here it is. This is his word. We are to hear
the word of the Lord. What does it say? Everyone shall
receive of thy words. Mm. Actually, in the New Testament,
there was a voice came from the clouds at the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew 17 five put it this way.
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and
behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved
son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Hear ye him. Hear ye him. Understand, that was a commandment. That wasn't a suggestion either.
That was a commandment of the almighty God. Hear, receive his
words. receive his words. And here's
the thing. Believers do hear his word. Believers hear his voice. All his saints will hear his
voice. All the people will hear his
voice. They'll hear his voice, I'm gonna
tell you. Because here's the thing, believers desire the sincere
milk of the word. Believers want the meat of his
word. His people love to hear his gospel. They love to hear his gospel.
They like to hear his word. They wanna hear from the Lord
the word of the Lord in this book. Oh my, because this is
the thing. It is food and drink to the people
of God. His word is. And God'll do it. God'll see
to it. If you wanna be fed, you'll be
fed. He maketh a table for me. Not just anywhere, folks. Not
just at home. Not just here where we're nice
and comfortable. He makes a table for you in the presence of your
enemies. In the presence of his enemies. He makes a table for you. Why?
To feed you from his book. Oh, from his word. It's food
and drink to us. Because, you know, I just read
it in that last section. Remember about he that overcometh
will sit with me? While I'm on my throne, next
to the Father, hear ye Him? Well, the Apostle John tells
us who overcomes. 1 John 5 and 4 says this, for
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory
that overcometh the world. Not your works, not your deeds,
not even your attitude. No, even our faith. Where's our faith come from?
Well, it comes from the author and the finisher of faith. Oh my, here it is, 1 John 5 and
5. Who is he that overcometh the
world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. That's who overcomes. I'm gonna
tell you that. And that's who sits. Excuse me. That's who sits. And that's who receives his word.
Why? Our faith, which he has given
us. It is our faith. He gives it
to every one of his, what? Saints. To every one of the people. and they'll sit down at his feet
and they'll receive his words. They'll receive his words. How?
By faith. By faith. Oh my. Those, I'll give you a saying.
Those that receive, believe. And those that believe, receive.
It's gotta have both. You gotta have both. And I'm
gonna tell you what, the Lord Jesus Christ gives both. Oh my, and we believers receive
his word. He gives life and faith. He gives grace and mercy. He gives hearing and seeing. He gives repentance and love. I thought about that hymn as
thirst the heart for water brooks. What? So thirst my soul for thee,
oh God. The believer receives his word. Now, I save this for the conclusion. Look at verse one. I like this. And this is The blessing. The blessing. The blessing. Loved by him, secure
in him, seated at his feet, and we receive his word. Understand,
this is one blessing. You can't have any of those without
any of the others. God loved the people. All his
saints are in his hand. All his saints are in his hand.
They sat down at his feet and they receive his word. This is
one blessing from the Lord. To his people, and this is one
blessing from the Lord for his people. Oh my. I just, you know. There shall
be showers of blessings. You've heard that song, right?
There's one blessing. And it all comes from God. It
all comes from God. It's all one blessing. Oh, I'm
gonna tell you something. It's through one man. The Lord
Jesus Christ. This one blessing. All good things. All good gifts. and perfect gifts
cometh down from the Father of light and they come through his
Son to his people, to his people. Oh my. Every believer in every
age and in every place have this singular blessing in Christ Jesus,
in Christ Jesus. Joseph Hart wrote a verse, a
song here Jesus gives us life and peace, faith and love and
holiness. Every blessing, great or small,
Jesus freely gives us all. I like that, I like that. Because
every blessing ordained of Christ Jesus, ordained of Jesus of Nazareth,
ordained of the God-man, is full of mercy and free grace. He paid the price, we don't have
to, from the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Rejoice. Joy in what you've been given. I know. You can be depressed. You can feel down. But know this,
the Lord knoweth them that are his. And the Lord loved the people. The Lord loved the people. All
his saints are in his hand and they sit down at his feet and
everyone shall receive his words. That's the truth of God concerning
his son and his son's people. He, ah, He has made us, and not we ourselves. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this place and this time. Lord, you have done everything
for us, and you've done wondrous things to us. to be able to receive
your word, to see you and your son, to hear you and your son,
and to believe you and your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with
Walter as he preaches where he's at, be with Paul as he comes
to preach to us here in just a moment, and Lord, Be with each
and every one of your people. Love them and keep them engraved
in your hands. Help us to sit at your feet and
receive your words. In Christ's name we pray, amen.