May Almighty God be pleased to bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to the Word of God in the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy. And the 33rd chapter, we'll read as a text, verse 27. The 33rd chapter in the book of Deuteronomy, and we'll read verse 27.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, destroy them. We'll just read together the last four verses in this chapter from verse 26, because they all flow together. So from verse 26, There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, and Jeshurun is another name for Israel. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms, and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee. and shall say, destroy them.

Israel shall dwell in safety alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine. Also his heavens shall drop down to you. Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, And who is the sword of thy excellency? And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

It's a wonderful testimony that God has given us these words of Moses. We might think they are the last words, more or less, of Moses having led the children of Israel for those many years. and now realizing that the days on the earth are short and therefore he was ordained by Almighty God to write this book of Deuteronomy, we call it Deuteronomy, and it has a great deal of instruction in it. And I sometimes think of some of the gracious words which were written earlier in the chapter, in the 6th of Deuteronomy, and from verse 6 we read this, or verse 5 perhaps, verse 4 rather. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And these words which I command thee in this day shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and thou shalt be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates. Very clear, isn't it, that Moses was so concerned that Israel might not forget the great truths that he had been divinely given the ability to instruct them in the things of God as they travelled many years together and now he's about to part from them. He's concerned that they might remember the Way and they might talk about it. They might not just think about it in their own minds.

How wonderful it is to realise that here we have a statement. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart We have such a statement many times in the Word of God. With all thy heart. That means not a divided heart. That means we don't come and just select a few texts that we rather like and concentrate on those. We are to take hold of the Word of God and love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might.

That's a very important statement, isn't it? It's a fundamental statement. It's a great statement, but how far short you and I come when we think of these truths. And then as he directs them to teach diligently the children again, how often we fail there. Not just to now and again speak to the children, but here is a very clear statement to teach them diligently and not just on occasions. Because he says, talk with them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. So, a great word to instruct the children and young people in the ways of God.

That was Moses. great concern obviously influenced by the blessed Spirit of God and how important for us today in our lives to take heed to such good and gracious and wonderful words. So here we have this statement then, as Moses wrote and said, there is none like unto the God of Joshua, none like the God of Israel.

He is the true God, the only true God. He is the Almighty God and as we have it in this 27th verse He is the Eternal God what does that mean? it means that the God described in the Word of God was that God that always was that's a great truth which is beyond your ability and my ability to understand that He always was He always was and always will be. He is eternal.

It's a great word eternal and how important it is that we recognize that as you and I today live on the earth that we have to do with the eternal God that one who ever was and is and ever will be who lives and reigns and we should not therefore allow ourselves to trifle with such a God, and to perhaps pick and choose about the bits which we think are important in the Word of God, and some bits which we might think are less important. We should realize the Word of God is from Genesis to Revelation. And that's why, as you know, I encourage you to read the Bible through from beginning to end, and then do it again. and again because it is a wonderful book of instruction.

It's God's word. It's God's word. It's not man's word. Man was used by God to write it but God indicted those writers to write the words and they're written for the Church of God to be encouraged and directed and strengthened as you and I now walk on the earth. Many people over the thousands of years have read these words, and we have it in our own language. There are still many countries which do not have freely copies available in their own language, but you and I do, and we should bless God for it.

But also to solemnly realize, therefore we are without excuse, we shall never be able to stand before the judgment seat of God and say well of course I never actually read that I never actually read that the fact is we should have read it and we should be desirous to read it and we should be pleased to read it and we should have a concern to follow the great and glorious truths contained in the Word of God and there are some very searching requests in God's Word and naturally speaking you and I don't possess those abilities and we're told in the Psalms and how true it is in the 22nd Psalm we read this no man or woman or child can keep alive their own soul that's a very great truth a very solemn truth you and I can't keep alive our own soul but it's interesting and a blessing that if carry on and read the 23rd Psalm and we read there these glorious words He, that's God, restoreth my soul what a mercy it is that we do have a great God who looks upon us and knows our true situation.

No one else knows, only God and you. Almighty God and myself. Only we know what we are truly like. What a blessing if God therefore gives us that desire to be spiritually minded, to follow the truth of God's Word. And we should be thankful that we are encouraged to be able to read a word like this this morning.

The Eternal God, nonetheless, the Eternal God is thy refuge. He was speaking to Israel of old, and of course he's speaking to the Church of God. And he's saying this the eternal God is thy refuge. A refuge is a place where you and I can shelter, hide. What a blessing it is to realize that God supplies his need. He himself, he himself is our refuge. It's here spoken in a personal way, and it's good if you and I recognize that, direct it to ourselves. The eternal God is thy refuge. How wonderful that is, to recognize that you and I have a God who understands our path, understands the temptations that we enter into, understands the attacks of Satan.

He knows all about them. Nothing is not known to our God. And to think that those truths and those facts were known and ordained by Almighty God before the creation of the world. That's the greatness of our God. He knows what you and I have thought this morning since we got up. He knows what you and I have thought since we've been here in chapel. Whether we've been following the reading, and following the singing, and following the words. God knows whether you and I have been attentive, or whether we've just thought, well I can now let my mind wander around to those things that I did perhaps yesterday and are going to do tomorrow.

But what a blessing of God in A was us. to concentrate on the blessed truth of God's word and to realize how wonderful it is that we have such a statement like this the eternal God is thy refuge so if we do have times of temptation which we will without any doubt the devil is always active he's always keen to come and disrupt our thoughts from good godly thoughts. He's always watching for a chink in our armour where he can get in and cause havoc. And how often he's successful. Well, what a blessing it is to realise here we have a God who tells us this in a personal way. The eternal God is thy refuge.

I wonder whether we really appreciate that and whether we perhaps proved it. Whether you've proved that to be true. Whether you've had the assaults of Satan, the attacks of the devil trying to invite you to undertake some ungodly thing and God has blessed you with that strength to flee, flee to that refuge for sinners. The Gospel makes known it is found in the merits of Jesus alone.

That's a wonderful truth, isn't it? And therefore we should be thankful today that God in his sovereign love and mercy to his church when Moses wrote it the church then and the church throughout the ages right down until the end of time will be true the eternal God is thy refuge he is that refuge where unto we can continually resort he's always available to help us He's always available to encourage us. He's always available to stand by us. He's always available to give us that grace to resist the devil, that he may flee from us. This is the eternal God. What a mercy, isn't it? What would you and I do if there was no God to go to? If we only had the devil who just produced wickedness and sin in our lives continually and worse and worse. No hope of any deliverance. No hope of any shelter.

But here we have the gospel set before us in the Old Testament. and how comforting it should be as you and I travel on through life with all the many temptations which we have to face and don't forget as I remind you sometimes the Lord Jesus tells us very clearly it is through much tribulation that we shall enter the kingdom but be of good cheer He says, I have overcome the world. There's our trust, not in ourselves, not in our own ability to fight the battles of life, but we have a great and glorious Saviour, who is this wonderful refuge for sinners.

Well, I hope this morning you and I can truly rejoice that God and His love to his church that's blessed us with such a very straightforward statement the eternal God is thy refuge the church of God I believe down through the ages have rejoiced in such a word as this and so may every one of us this morning by God's grace, rejoice in this glorious truth. It's very humbling, isn't it, to recognise that Almighty God, the Creator of all things, the Ruler of all things, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, tells us this in a direct and very personal and simple way.

The eternal God is thy refuge. It's very positive, isn't it? There's no doubt. And so may we indeed be grateful that we have such a God speaking to us. As he spoke to Israel all those years ago, now today and as we come into times of temptation and difficulty and trial and opposition which we will to remember such a word and we can tell the devil devil the eternal God is my refuge he's my shelter he's the one who I can come to that he will give me that ability to turn away from the temptations that Satan brings like a flood sometimes into our hearts. Well, says Moses, under the blessed influence of the Holy Spirit. It's wonderful, isn't it? That Moses, there he was, not far off eternity. And you see, able to write such glorious truths. What a wonderful thing it is.

And you may remember that, of course, he wrote the first five books in the Bible. And those five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, were written by Moses. And they were then put into a... They were rolled up, you know, they used to write in scrolls, obviously. And everything was rolled up, those five books of the Bible, and put alongside the Ark of the Covenant in the most holy place. And there it was for many, many years.

A record of what God had said. Now we know that God enabled able people to take copies of it. But there was the original. always rely upon this as the blessed truth and word of God and you and I today have it now in our own hands not in a scroll difficult to read scrolls but here we have it in an open book which we can pick up and read and how wonderful isn't it never therefore turn away from the opportunity of reading the Word of God. Well, here we have these wonderful words. The eternal God is thy refuge. And then he goes on and tells us that underneath are the everlasting arms. The arms of God to support us. If you think of that, that's very wonderful, isn't it?

I remember hearing Frank Gosden speak in a sermon once many years ago. I think I may have mentioned it here before. But he said he was in a time of great distress and so many problems in his life kept on coming on. And he spoke and he said to God, I really can't bear another, another problem, another trial, another difficulty. So he said, well, did God hear that and deliver me from it? He said, no, God brought another trial upon me. And he said, what happened? He said, I sunk, I sunk down, I fell. But he said, where?

Into the arms, the everlasting arms of Jesus. What a relief that was to think now still in our lives today the Lord is there with those great and glorious arms to hold us up when perhaps we feel we're sinking. Don't forget He is able. He is able. No one else can take the place of Almighty God. He is able.

And so underneath are the everlasting arms. They don't come and go. They don't support us for just a short time and then they've gone. Because the Word of God tells us here they are everlasting. Everlasting. It's a big word, isn't it? Everlasting. God's arms are ever there to support us and to strengthen us and to enable us to hold on our way as we journey through life.

As I've already said, our life on this earth is not a smooth path. It's not a smooth path. In fact, if your path is smooth without any problems, you need to question whether you are in the right path. Because you might be in the broad way. You might be in the easy way. But if you're in the narrow way, you'll find there's obstacles, you'll find there's difficulties, you'll find there's trials.

And what would that do? It'll keep you praying to God. It'll keep you seeking His faith, His face. It'll make you truly desire to know the benefit of these two things, that the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. wonderful comfort that should be to poor unworthy sinners to think that we have this great God great God who looks upon us little sinful individuals and doesn't say well you're not worth any notice you're just too bad Jesus came into this world, as the Apostle Paul said, to save sinners of whom I am chief. What a blessing it is to know that we have such a saviour. And my friends, let us never underestimate the cost to the blessed saviour to be our refuge. to provide that great strength of everlasting arms. But it cost the Saviour. It cost Him His life. His life.

How willing was Jesus to die that we, fellow sinners, might live the life they could not take away. How willing was Jesus to give. Humbling, isn't it? To think that the Lord Jesus Christ, the ever-living God, the true God, the second person in the Trinity, was willing to die that sin-atoning death on the cross at Calvary in order to free us, redeem us, free us from the wrath to come.

What a great and glorious Saviour. What a wonderful Saviour. An eternal Saviour. Everlasting arms. The Eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. You see, these are both very positive statements. First of all, the Eternal God is And then secondly, are, the everlasting are.

And God's word is true. And don't forget that Lord Jesus Christ, when he was praying to his father in the 17th chapter of John, you can read that glorious prayer. He prayed to his father and I think in the second verse, he said, thy word is truth. Thy word is truth. There's very little truth in the world today. But you and I can rely 100% on the word of God. Thy word is truth.

And so the eternal God is thy refuge. And underneath are the everlasting arms. What a mercy and what a blessing. And then he tells us a bit more. He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee. Yes, you may think, well, how am I going to do this? My friends, cast your care upon the Lord. He will do it for us. He has conquered. He is a mighty conqueror. the devil cannot stand against him and therefore here we have this great statement and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say destroy them vanquished foe vanquished foe what a mercy to be able to come and say I will go in the strength of the Lord God of a mention of His righteousness, even of His only. There's our place of rest. There's our strength. Our strength is not in ourselves. We are weak. We are foolish. We're sinful.

God is high and mighty. God is great. God always was and ever will be. the Almighty God. Well, what a mercy today. He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee. And as I say sometimes, these are blessed promises that you and I can come to our God with and plead them that he will support us, that he will strengthen us, that he will thrust out the enemy. The enemy which perhaps sometimes almost seems to overcome us. Well, we're thankful for that great truth.

We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. We're not more than conquerors because we're a clever person. We're not more than conquerors because we think we can fight the devil and win. More than conquerors through Him. and the result he gets all the honour and all the glory and all the praise and I hope that is so in each of our lives when God does indeed fight our battles and gains the glorious victory and thrusts out the enemy from before us we're able to come and to thank him and to praise Him, praise His name, from whom all blessings flow. They do. All the blessings that you and I enjoy come from God. They don't come from our ability. They don't come because we thought up a good idea to conquer the devil. It's all a grace.

Free, unmerited favour of Almighty God. and to think the devil is a vanquished foe the Lord says here and shall say destroy them all the enemies will be destroyed my friends the devil won't be able to go on forever and one day by his grace will indeed be conquerors through him well the God's servant Moses he concludes this wonderful little account in this 33rd chapter by saying Happy art thou O Israel Happy art thou It's good if you and I have understood and experienced the support and strength of Almighty God and are able to come and say oh by the grace of God I am happy Happy art thou, O Israel. And that applies to every really true believer, part of God's favoured people. O Israel. Happy art thou, O Israel. Who is like unto thee? O people saved by the Lord. Yeah, we can't save ourselves. Saved by the Lord. the Lord again. Can we look into our hearts, look into our life and see when God came to us. When God brought about that gracious and glorious life into our soul.

And we're able to be able to say with the Apostle when he wrote to the Ephesians, and you hath he quickened. That means made spiritually alive. And you hath he quickened. who were dead in trespasses and in sinners. O my friends, O people saved by the Lord, saved from ourselves, saved from the snares of Satan, saved and delivered from all our sin by the grace of our blessed God and by his atoning blood, shed on Calvary to redeem unworthy sinners, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency, and thy enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and they shall tread upon thy high places. What do we see? A victory, a victory, not because what we've done, The victory was gained for us at Calvary through the death of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself, the Almighty God, willing to die that you and I might live.

And so how wonderful it is. And who is the sword of thy excellency? And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Well, my friends, it's wonderful to have a God that we can come to, a God who invites us to come to Him and to realize these words are so true as they were written so many years ago to the Church of God. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and his excellency on the sky. How excellent is our God! The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms, and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them!

Israel then shall dwell in safety alone, The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine, or so his heavens shall drop down due. Happy art thou, O Israel! Who is like unto thee? O people, saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency? And thine enemies shall be found liars, unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Can we not say, Glory to God? Amen.