I say the same thing. I can't
put it into words, honestly. This weekend has been so enjoyable
for us. It's just the greatest thing
in this life that we have is each other. Christ is in us,
and when we gather together, we gather with Christ. And it
blesses the heart. It encourages us. And we love
you all, really. Really and truly. And this congregation
is... The only time I was here was
for David and Elizabeth's wedding. And I never saw this building.
And I've seen it now. And if the Lord is pleased to
give you all another building, that would be great too. And
Lord willing, we'll see that one too. It only has one wing
though. Well, I guess you've got nowhere
to go but down. Seriously, you come and you get
to know the other believers and then they're in your heart. And
we, myself and every brother and sister in Kingsport will
be praying for you. We already have been. This has
just been a wonderful weekend, and I thank the Lord for the
opportunity. I am truly humbled for the invitation. When the Lord calls a man, He
convinces him that he's nothing. He really does. And there are so many men out
there who can truly preach the Gospel. And I'm humbled that
you would have me come. I really am. Turn with me, if
you would, to Deuteronomy 34. I'd like to pick up where Brother
Joe just left off. His message was so perfect for
this, I felt like. The title of this message is,
A View of What the Law Could Not Do. Deuteronomy 34 verse 1 says, And Moses went up from the plains
of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo to the top of Pisgah, this
mountain called Pisgah. that is over against Jericho.
And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and
all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all
the land of Judah unto the utmost sea, and the south and the plain
of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This
is the land which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have caused
thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
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 of his sepulcher unto this day. And Moses was
an hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not
dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept
for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping
and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was
full of the spirit of wisdom. for Moses had laid his hands
upon him. And the children of Israel hearkened
unto Joshua, and did as the Lord commanded Moses. And there arose
not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord
knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders which the
Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all
his servants and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand,
and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of
all Israel." The book of Joshua chapter 1 verse 1 says, now after
the death of Moses. After the death of Moses. Deuteronomy
was the last book that Moses wrote. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And the book of Joshua begins
with the death of Moses. Verse 1 goes on to say, After
the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass
that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister,
saying..." Joshua, the son of Nun, was Moses' minister. He was his servant. And God in His will and in His
purpose and in His good pleasure, He chose to raise up this servant. And He chose to raise up this
servant so that He might take His people across Jordan into
the Promised Land because Moses could not do it. He couldn't
do it. Now spiritually, what does all
that show us? Romans 8 says, what the law could
not do. Moses represents the law. What
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending His own Son. He said in Isaiah 42, Behold
My servant. Isn't that what He said? In Galatians
4, He said, Made of a woman, made under the law. Isn't that what He said? subject
to the law, a servant of the law, and he did that to redeem
them that were under the law. He went where they were. John wrote, the law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The name
Joshua means Savior. It's the exact same name in the
Hebrew that Jesus is in the Greek. And I want us to look at this
this morning. I pray this will be a blessing.
I really do. Brother Henry said one time,
he was talking about the importance of the meat and potatoes of the
gospel. He was talking about the absolute
vitalness of the meat and the potatoes of the Gospel. He said,
but a little ice cream is nice too. Something sweet. And I pray this will be sweet.
I want us to begin by seeing why. Why God would not allow
Moses to lead his people into the Promised Land. And then I
want us to get a good look at this view. We just said that
the Lord took Moses up to the top of Mount Pisgah, and He showed
him something. And I'd like for us to see the
same view Moses got, alright? Deuteronomy 34 verse 4, And the Lord said unto Moses,
This is the land which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac and
unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have caused
thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."
Why was Moses not allowed to deliver the people into the Promised
Land? Turn with me, if you would, to
Exodus 3. Exodus 3. Verse 1 says, Now Moses kept
the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he
led the flock to the back side of the desert, and he came to
the mountain of God even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he
looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush
was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And
when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto
him out of the midst of the bush, and he said, Moses, Moses, and
he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither,
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God
of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon
God. And the Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt." That hard,
hard bondage. That hard affliction. And I've
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. And I've come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that
land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey." Doesn't that sound wonderful? unto the place of the Canaanites,
and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites,
and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry
of the children of Israel is come unto me, and I have also
seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them.
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that
thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of
Egypt." God said, Moses, you're going to deliver the people out
of Egypt. You're going to bring them out
of idolatry, out of that bondage and out of that idolatry. And
Moses did. He did after 430 years of bondage. And to put that in perspective,
I read this in a commentary and the man wrote it a hundred years
ago. But I'll apply it to the year now. To put that into perspective,
this country has only been a country for 241 years. 430 years is a long time. This is just a little over half
of that time. That was a way of life. We don't
know what it was like to live under the British rule. This
was just a way of life. God, through Moses, brought him
out. Now turn with me to Exodus chapter
14. Exodus 14, verse 13, Moses said
unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation
of the Lord, which He will show to you today. For the Egyptians
whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more.
The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
I can't imagine better news being told. The Lord's going to fight. You stand still and keep your
eyes open. You're about to see God fight
for you. And you're not going to see this
enemy anymore. Verse 26, And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch
out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again
upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their horsemen.
And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea
returned to his strength. when the morning appeared, and
the Egyptians fled against it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians
in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered
the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that
came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as
one of them, but the children of Israel walked upon dry land
in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them
on their right hand and on their left." Can you imagine that?
I forget how much it is now, but I read somewhere that the
part of the Red Sea that they believe they traveled through,
the depth of it, it's way deeper than I thought it was. Can you
imagine walking through that wall, looking into that water?
Whales or whatever's in there, I don't know what's in the Red
Sea, looking back at you. You know kids trying to touch it
and the parents saying, don't touch it. The fear of the Lord. Can you imagine that? They walked
across on dry land. You talk about produce faith,
you talk about produce assurance, you talk about produce confidence
in God, right? So, verse 29 says, The children
of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and
the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their
left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the
Egyptians. Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore, and Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.
And the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His
servant Moses. Isn't that fantastic? God did
exactly what He said He would do. Alright, the next chapter. The very next chapter. Chapter
15 verse 23 says, And when they came to Marah, they could not
drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore
the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against
Moses saying, what are we going to drink? They murmured against
Moses. The next chapter. Chapter 16,
verse 2, the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Murmuring and murmuring
and murmuring. Right here in chapter 16, verse
11, it says, the Lord spake unto Moses. Now this is how God answered
their murmuring. He said, I've heard the murmurings
of the children of Israel. Speak unto them, saying, at even
you shall all eat flesh. And in the morning you shall
be filled with bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord
your God. And it came to pass that at even
the quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning
the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was
gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a
small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground.
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another,
it is manna." That means what is it? For they whisked not what
it was, they didn't know what it was. And Moses said unto them,
This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. You know
how he answered all that murmuring and complaining? He gave them
quails at night, and if you look right here at verse 31, Exodus
16-31, it says, "...the house of Israel called the name thereof
Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of
it was like wafers made with honey." Quails at night and honey
wafers in the morning. Just delicious. Chapter 17. And all the congregation of the
children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after
their journeys according to the commandment of the Lord. And
they pitched in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people
to drink. Wherefore, the people did chide
with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And
Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Why do you tempt
me? And they kept murmuring against
Moses, and they kept murmuring against Moses. Now, yesterday, yesterday morning,
sitting right there on those three seats was Hannah's cousin,
Carrie, and her husband, Adam, and their little boy, but they
have two more children. And their oldest is their daughter,
whose name is Lucy, and she wasn't here. But when Lucy, and the
last time I told this story was two years ago, I think, in Crossville,
and David Wright was sitting right there. And I just thought
about that. I thought, I'm going to tell
that story. I'll tell it to David again. Lucy was five years old, and
we were at their house having dinner, and it was time to eat. And everybody's coming to the
table, you know, and they told me to sit down, and Lucy's sitting
right next to me, and she's a little bitty girl, and you'd have to
see her. She had big curly hair, and she scoots up into her seat,
you know, trying to get up in there, and she's got this picture
she colored in her hand. And I said, man, that's a beautiful
picture you have. And she said, thank you. She
said, you want me to tell you about it? And I said, yeah, I
do. So she held it up and it had
a man and there was a waterfall and a bunch of people in the
back. And she said, this is Moses and these are the children of
Israel. And she said, the children of Israel were whining and complaining. And they just kept whining and
complaining. And they just kept on whining
and complaining. She said, so do you know what
Moses did? And I said, what? She said, He
struck the rock. And she said, do you know what
came out of that rock? And I said, what? She said, living
water. And the people drank and they
drank and they were so satisfied. And she said, do you know who
that rock was? Five years old. I said, who? She said, Jesus Christ. And then
she said, do you know what that rock did? And I didn't know. I forgot. And I said, what? She said, it followed the Israelites
wherever they went. And that's what happened right
here. They kept murmuring and complaining and murmuring and
complaining. And if you look at verse 5, the
Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee
of the elders of Israel and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the
river. Take in thine hand and go. Behold,
I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou
shalt smite the rock. and there shall come water out
of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight
of the elders of Israel." What was that a picture of? That was
a picture of the law smiting Joshua. Jesus Christ. The law smoked the Lord Jesus
Christ. And out of Him, that rock was
Christ. Out of Him flowed blood and living
water. And through that blood and that
living water, God the Father was satisfied. He needed blood
to be satisfied. Christ satisfied Him. And God's
people needed to be cleansed. They needed to be refreshed with
living water. And they're all satisfied. Everybody's
satisfied in Him. In Him all live. And that rock
in goodness and in kindness did follow them wherever they went.
Wherever they went. Now, go with me to Numbers 20. Numbers 20 verse 1, Then came
the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into
the desert of Zin, in the first month. And the people abode in
Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was
buried there. And there was no water for the
congregation. And they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with
Moses and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our
brethren died before the Lord? And why have you brought up the
congregation of the Lord into this wilderness that we and our
cattle should die there? Verse 7, 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 beast 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." This is what he said to them. See how kind God has
been all this time. And Moses stands up and he pointed
his finger. I guarantee you, he said, here
now you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? And
Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smoked the rock
twice. And the water came out abundantly,
and the congregation drank, and their beast also. And the Lord
spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because you believed 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."
The first time God told Moses, who represents the law, to strike
the rock for the sin of the people. They murmured, they complained,
you go strike my rock. The second time, God told Moses
to go speak to the rock. Just go speak to the rock. You
just ask, you'll receive. The rock has already been smitten. Grace and mercy has already been
promised. Just go to the rock. Just beg
the rock. That's all you have to do. Speak
to the rock. But Moses didn't do it. He struck
it twice. And God said to do that is to
sin against My justice and My righteousness. The law cannot
strike the innocent. And you know that's our hope,
isn't it? The law cannot strike twice.
Cannot strike the innocent. Christ was smitten once His people
were smitten in Him once, never to be smitten again. Never. God
allowed Moses to do that to show us that all the law can do for
us is damn us. Condemn us. That's all the law
can do. The law cannot forgive us and
the law cannot set us free. Cannot set us free. In order
to be redeemed, We need a Savior. In order to make it all the way
into the promised land, we need a Deliverer. And that can only
be Joshua. Only. Only Joshua. Christ Jesus
the Lord. So God said to Moses, you have
pointed My people to this land all this time. Moses went and
got them, and he brought them out, and he was pointing them
to this land all this time. He said, but you're not going
to be able to carry them in. You can't carry them in. You're going
to die and be removed from them. And they're going to make it
into the promised land solely on the deeds and the merit of
Joshua. Solely. Without the deeds of
the law. He said, but before you die,
before you're dead to them and they're dead to you, I'm going
to take you up to the top of Mount Pisgah. And I'm going to
let you witness what you've been pointing to all this time. Now
go with me back to Deuteronomy 34. While you're turning back over
there, listen to this verse of Scripture. Romans 3 verse 21
says, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. That's what's about
to happen right here, okay? Deuteronomy 34, verse 1, And
Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of
Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And
the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali,
and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of
Judah unto the utmost sea, and the south, in the plain of the
valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the
Lord said unto him, This is the land which I swear unto Abraham,
unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have caused thee to see." Does
your Bible have italicized words? It is in italics. It was added
by the translators. I have caused thee to see with
thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither." God caused
him to see some things. Now, if you look at all those
locations on a map, I have maps in the back of my Bible, and
I went and looked at them, and if you look at all those locations,
it is a massive amount of land. It's a massive amount of land.
But God did not take him up there just before he died to show him
a bunch of land. God didn't do that. This is not
about a vast area of dirt. He caused him to see some things. And you know He causes all of
His people to see some things? All of us. He caused him to see the true
inheritance of God's people. Just before he took him, he said,
I want you to witness. I want the law to witness the
true inheritance of God's people. He brought him up to a lofty
height. You guys sing that song, Sweet Hour of Prayer. I love
that song, Sweet Hour of Prayer. Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty
height, I view my home and take my flight. this robe of flesh
I'll drop and rise to seize the everlasting prize and shout while
passing through the air, farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer."
Here Moses stands. God brought him up to this lofty
height and he said, I just want to show you what you've been
pointing to. He said, I want you to look right over there,
Moses. You see all that? That right over there is Gilead. He said, there's a balm there. There's a balm right there. There's
a physician, Moses, who has a balm. And that balm is medicine that
will soothe the souls of all the people you've been leading.
You've been leading them. You've been appointing them.
He said, Moses, I am that balm. I'm the physician. I'm the balm. I'm about to take you out, and
they're going to be comforted. Don't worry about it. You think
Moses loved those people. They're going to be comforted.
I'm the balm. They're going to be taken care
of. He said, Moses, look over there.
You see all that right there? That's called Naphtali. He said, I'm going to preach
a sermon on the mount. You see that mount right down
there? That's where he did it. I'm going to preach a sermon
on the Mount right there. He said, the title of my message
is, The Bread of Heaven. That's the title of my message.
Whosoever eats of this bread, Moses, will never hunger again.
He said, you know all that manna I've been dropping? I've been
dropping manna, and I've been dropping manna, and I've been
dropping manna. It represents the true bread of eternal life. Moses, I am that bread. I'm the
bread. This is what all of it has been
pointing to. Moses, look over here. You see
all that right out there? That's Jericho. There's going
to be a blind man sitting on the highwayside begging. And I'm going to pass right by
that man and I'm going to open his eyes. I'm going to come to him. I'm
going to heal him. I'm going to help him. I'm going
to give him eyes to see the truth. Moses, I am the truth. I'm the truth. Right over there. That right there is called Manasseh. I have an appointment, Moses,
with a woman at a well. Right over there. I'm going to
tell her all things. And she's going to go running,
crying, come see a man. The Messiah is here. He said, I want you to look right
here. You see that right down there? That's called Judah. There's a little town. You see
that little town right down there? That little town is called Bethlehem.
I'm going to be born of a virgin right there. Right there near at Moses, do
you see just outside of town right there near that garden
right there? That garden is called Gethsemane. That's where I'm going to take
all the sin of my people. You know all that murmuring,
all that complaining? I'm going to gather every bit
of that up and I'm going to stuff it inside myself. And it's going to be so painful,
it's going to be as though I were sweating great drops of blood. He said just next to it, you
see that mountain right there? That's called Calvary. That's
where I'm going to lay down my life. That's where the rock is
going to truly be smitten. I told you to smite that rock.
The reason you're not going in is because you smote it twice.
And here's why. I am that rock. And right there
on that mountain, the rock is going to be smitten, carrying
all of that sin. He said two miles from there.
Do you see two miles over there? That's called the Mount of Olives. After I finish suffering for
my people, And after I rise out of that grave, right there off
of that mount, I'm going to ascend back up to my Father and I'm
going to sit down on my throne. Verse 1 says, Moses went up from
the plains of Moab unto the mountains of Nebo to the top of Pisgah.
That is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the
land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of
Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah unto the utmost
sea, and the south of the plain of the valley of Jericho, the
city of palm trees unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This
is the land which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed. I have caused
thee to see with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses, the servant of the
Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the Word
of the Lord. You know, we feel so sorry for
Moses, don't we? Poor Moses, he didn't get to
go in and lay hold of that sinful world, that just wicked place,
and all the sadness that came. Poor Moses had to leave the earth
right now and go back up with Jesus Christ to glory. He was
still His child. He's still one of the children
of Israel. And he said, your work is done. Well done, now good and faithful
servant. So verse 5 says, 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. Who buried
him? God buried him. God buried him. God caused the law to rest in
peace. Do we see what that's saying?
God caused the law to rest in peace. Verse 6 says, He buried
him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor,
but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day. No man is ever
going to be able to go find that law and dig it back up. No man knows where it is. It's
gone. It's gone. The strength of the
law. Look at verse 7. Moses was 120
years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his
natural force abated. The strength of the law was never
diminished. When he died at 120 years old,
he was just as strong as when he was 30 years old. The strength
of the law was never diminished. Never. God just caused it to
rest. God just satisfied it. Verse 8, And the children of
Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab. Don't we love
God's law? We're not the enemies of God's
law. God forbid! David said, I love thy law. The
children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty
days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was
full of the Spirit of wisdom. He had the Spirit without measure. For Moses had laid his hands
upon Him. All the law, all the prophets
says, that's the Messiah. Every single thing is pointing
to Him. And the children of Israel hearkened
unto Him and did as the Lord commanded Moses. And there arose
not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord
knew face to face. in all the signs and the wonders
which the Lord sent Him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh,
and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all that
mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in
the sight of Israel. Now after the death of Moses,
the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto
Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant
is dead. Now, therefore, arise. October. Go over this Jordan. Thou and
all these people, they're going with you. You're not going by
yourself, they're going with you. Unto the land which I do
give to them. even to the children of Israel.
He said, every place that the sole of your foot shall tread
upon, that have I given to you, as I said unto Moses. It all
goes to you. Every bit of it goes to you.
And all through the book of Joshua, such a wonderful, wonderful book.
Joshua goes to war. That's what happens. All through
the book of Joshua. He goes to war and he starts
taking all the land. God said, I've given every bit
of it into your hand. And he starts taking all the
land. And Joshua earns what God rightfully gave to his people. By the end of the book, we see
that after Joshua took it all, you know what he did with it?
He divided it all out. It was all His. And He sat down,
didn't He? In Shiloh. They built the tabernacle
in Shiloh. And right there in the door of
the tabernacle of peace, Joshua started drawing lines and doling
it all out. Tribe by tribe. And because of
Joshua, every one of them received the inheritance, God promised.
All because of Joshua. You know what all of God's people
say? You know what we're going to be saying for all eternity?
Thank God for Joshua. Thank God for the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thank God. It has been a true
honor being here. And I've enjoyed it so much.
Thank you. Thank you. The Lord bless you.