If you will, take your Bibles
and turn to the book of Deuteronomy. This is the last of the books
of Moses. And we'll be looking at some
verses here in chapter 33. Moses had come to the end of his days. I think that will be said of
all of us here. There's a time coming when we're
gonna come to the end of our days. Now Moses' life was to
do what God bid him to do. He wanted to do the will of God
and God revealed His will to him and spoke with him as a friend. Spoke to him face to face. No other prophet in the Bible
like Moses whom God spoke to face to face. But he come to
the end of his journey in the wilderness of sin and God told
him, He said, I'm going to take you up on Mount Nebo. Now remember, this is it. He's
not coming back. I'm gonna take you up there,
but you're not coming back down. But before I bury you, I'm gonna let you see all the
promises of God. Everything that God has promised
Israel, I'm gonna let you see it. Is there anybody here who could
hope for more? Huh? To be able to see, to look and
see your inheritance. Huh? God's inheritance. Now,
of course, these things that I'm reading to you here out of
Deuteronomy, these are figurative things. These are typical things,
typifying Christ and the kingdom of God. But he's going to take
Moses up on Mount Nebo, and there he's going to die. And knowing
this was his last address to God's elect, those which had
been entrusted to his care, the prophet of God blessed the children
of Israel before he went up on the mountain. It says that he
loved them. He loved those people. They didn't give him much reason
to love them, but God did. He loved them. And he told them
to sit down in the grass. Just, you can imagine, he's talking
to all the tribes of Israel and they're gathered around him there
on the side of that mountain. He said, just sit down in the
grass, I've got some things to say. And he goes through the
12 tribes of Israel, kind of like Jacob did, and spoke
the blessings of God upon them. Now, we know that the 12 tribes
of Israel represent true Israel, and that's what was taking place
here. And I don't have time this morning
to go through each of the individual tribes, but suffice it to say
that the blessing of each was the blessing of all. And if they
had been blessed, if you were to know the true meaning of each
one of those blessings, those are the blessings where God blessed
us from the beginning, with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. But this morning I want us to
look at Deuteronomy 33, verses 26 through 29. And in verse 26, he begins and
he says, there's none like unto the God of Jezuron, who rideth upon the heaven in
thy help, and in his excellency, rides upon the sky to thy help. Now Jezuron is another name for
Israel. And in particular, it means upright. Paul spoke in the book of Romans,
I think, chapter 11, and he said there was a remnant in Israel. There was a remnant that God
preserved by his election of grace. And this is that remnant. They're called here Jezuron.
They are the upright. Upright Israel, true Israel. None like unto the God of Jezreel. He was then and is now our God
in a very special way. He's everybody's God. He's Satan's
God. He's everybody's God, he's God.
There's nothing that's not under His authority that's not under
His Godhead. All things were created by Him. In Him we live and move and have
our being. He's God. But He's God to Jezueron
in a very special way. In a very special way. He has
chosen us by His grace. Our God did that, purposed a
great salvation for us and ordained all the means to bring it to
pass. He's appointed His Son as our
surety and as our representative and sent Him into this world
to redeem us from our sins and cover us with His righteousness. And He has, because of His victory
and ascension into glory, our Savior and Lord poured out upon
His church the Spirit of the Living God, the Spirit of Christ,
the revealer of the Gospel of Christ. And He has, by His Spirit,
made His ambassadors able ministers, able ministers of the Gospel
of Christ. And he shall himself come at
the last day and raise these vile bodies from the grave and
call us unto himself. That's the God of Jezueron. Who
is like unto the God of Jezueron? I tell you, religion's big on
comparing God. There ain't none to compare God
to. How many times in the book of Isaiah did he say, I am God
and there's none like me? Huh? I declare the end from the
beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done
saying my counsel shall stand and I'll do all my pleasure.
Where is another to compare that to? Nowhere. Who, like unto the God of Jezreel,
he rideth upon the heavens in thy help. He's our strength. He's our refuge
and a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled. Though the mountain shake will
swell him, there is a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God. He's our help. Now get this,
this is God is our help. Now if he's our help, who will
we fear? What will we fear? God said in a vision to David,
I've laid help upon one that is mighty, I've exalted one,
chosen of the people, talking about his son. He writheth, this
God of Jezreel, he writheth upon the heaven in thy help. He's
in heaven. That's what he tells us about
worship. I'm in heaven, you're on earth. Let your word be few. You listen to my word. Your angels ever stand before
your Father ready to help at his command. And then look at
verse 27 here in Deuteronomy 33. The eternal God is thy refuge
and underneath are the everlasting arms. David prayed and said, keep me
as the apple of thine eye. You know what, that's that pupil.
You're pretty careful about that pupil, aren't you? You don't
want anything get too close to your face. David said, keep me that way.
Keep me that way. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. And then Paul said this, we're
talking about The eternal God is your refuge, this God of Jejuron. This is your refuge. Our God
is our refuge. Paul said, if God be for you,
and he is for Jejuron, if God be for you, who's gonna be against
you? The eternal God is our refuge.
Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, and he said, your life is hid
with God in Christ. He's our refuge. Religion has
no refuge. At its best, it's just a change
of habits and customs. And I'm speaking from experience.
That ain't something I read in a book. At the best, that's what
it's going to do. It's going to change the course
of your life in so much as your habits and your customs. Religion,
no refuge. Free will is no refuge. Our will
is no more free than our minds and hearts. Church membership is no refuge. You're only a member so long
as you benefit the congregation. When you get out of place of
that, you're out the door. Memorizing some Scriptural facts
is no refuge. It may make you wiser, but it
can't work in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Baptism is no refuge. Demas was baptized and left the
ministry, left God, left the preaching of the gospel, went
back to the world. The eternal God is our refuge. That's our refuge. We're hid
in God. God himself is our refuge. Our Lord said, no one can pluck
you out of my hand. And even if they could, they
couldn't pluck you out of my father's hand, and I and my father
are one. God is our refuge. A religious refuge is a deceived
man's hideout. It's nothing but a house built
on sand that won't survive when the overflowing scourge passes
through. And hundreds of thousands are
going out to meet God, resting in the idea that accepting Christ
as their personal savior will keep them out of hell and open
the doors of heaven for eternity. What constitutes salvation? I want you to listen to me now.
What constitutes salvation is not what you do with your Savior,
but it has to do with God's acceptance of him, not yours, his. We're accepted in the blood. You see why that's such a dangerous
thing? It's not your acceptance of Him,
it's God's acceptance of Him, and then we're accepted in Him.
He's our representative and head. He's my federal head. If God
accepts Him, He accepts me. We're never told to accept Him.
Nowhere in the Scripture. But we are commanded to receive
Him and to bow to Him and believe on Him and submit to Him and
obey His commandments. And not only does man not accept
the Lord Jesus Christ, but it says he was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grace. It says
he was despised and we esteem him not. To do anything spiritual
demands a new birth, a birth not of blood nor the will of
the flesh nor the will of man, but of God. Listen to this, Christ looked
at his disciples, and I know if you really, truly examine
yourself, you'll put yourself in their shoes. Most of the time
we're confused, aren't we? Confused. Doubting. And he told them, he said, without
me, you could do nothing. What can you do? Nothing. Nothing. The eternal God is our refuge. Now I want you to think about
something. It doesn't say that he could
be your refuge. It says that he is. It didn't say that he might be
your refuge if this, that, or the other. It says he is your
refuge. Didn't talk about him becoming
our refuge. Says he is. Oh, when did he become
our refuge? Before he ever created anything. Huh? Before ever he created the
earth, before ever he created the animals, or the seas, or
the heavens, or... No light, no nothing. He was
our refuge. He made provision for us, loved
us, put us in His Son before the foundation of the
earth. He is our refuge. That's what Moses told Israel.
God has from the beginning chosen us to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. All of the eternal blessings
of God are according as he has chosen us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. Our Lord said, I'm Alpha and
Omega, I'm the beginning and the ending. The eternal God is our refuge.
Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, he also did
justify. And whom he justified, he glorified. The eternal God is our refuge. And then look at the second half
of that verse. And underneath, underneath all
that is the everlasting arms. Now, Jesus Christ is God come
into the flesh and he said his arm is not shortened that it
cannot save. He is the arm of the Lord. To
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? That's Christ. In Mark chapter 10, our Lord,
you know, they were bringing all the sick and the lame and
all this to the Lord, and He was healing them, and people
brought their little children out. Little tiny children. And
here they come, and they were... We know what little children
do. They're just everywhere. And the disciples were trying
to shoot them away. As though they weren't important
at all. And the Lord went over there, And those everlasting
arms, he reached down and he cradled up one of those little
children and held him up here. He said, except you become like
him, you're not going to enter into the kingdom of God. Those everlasting arms. He's the arm of God. He said,
my arms shall rule for me. On my arms shall they trust,
saith the Lord. His arm, he said, has brought
salvation, and his arm is a stretched-out arm. That's what I want you to
see. It's a stretched-out arm. Underneath
the sinner chosen of God is the everlasting arm. He never tires
of holding him. He's never forced to let him
go or put him down. He's never angry to toss him
aside. These are everlasting arms. When
I think of everlasting arms, I think of arms outstretched
in mercy. The Lord says in Proverbs, he
said, I stretched out my hand and no man regarded. They're stretched out arms. In
Exodus 6-6, God said to Israel, I am the Lord, and I'll bring
you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I'll rid
you out of their bondage, and I'll redeem you, now listen,
with a stretched out arm. Oh, my soul. And then I think of those arms,
stretched out arms, as arms to defend us. No man shall pluck
you out of my hand. The Lord went before his people,
defeated all their enemies, sometimes with flies, locusts, frogs. Give them emeralds. Our God is
mighty to save. And I don't know how anyone could
find assurance in this weak, little, impotent, frustrated
God that they preach today. How can you find any assurance
in that, any peace in that? And I say his hands are, I heard
one the other day talk about his hands being tied. I can't
imagine. God's hands being tied. They say he's God but they don't
bow to him. They don't hope in him. And then thirdly, when I think
of everlasting arms, I think of arms cradling the believer
in a loving embrace. Oh my soul, I can relate to this
so much. Someday if we're alone, I'll
give you the whole story. But the prodigal son, he's down
in that hog pen, covered with mud, fighting with the hogs over
the cobs. And he started thinking about
his father's house. And he said, you know, even the
hired servants live better than I do. They got more than I got. Here's what I'm going to do.
He got it all lined up in his head. I'm going to go. And when
I get there, I'm going to say, Father, I'm not fit to be called
your son anymore. Just let me. If you be merciful
to me, just let me stay out there with the hired servants and I'll
eat what they eat and wear what they wear and I'll do whatever
you tell me to do. He was rehearsing that. I
believe he rehearsed that speech all the way home. And when he
was a great way off, who saw him? The father. What did he do? He sat up there
like this. And what's this? It said the
Father, seeing him a great way off, ran to him. Can you imagine? He ran to him. What did he do? Threw his arms around him. Huh? Cradled him to himself. And he
said, my son that was lost, He'd been returned. This is my son. They called for the ring. My
son done forgot his speech. He didn't know what to say. He
just stood there. He couldn't believe his ears.
They put the ring on him. And he said, I've had a calf
getting fat in the stall just for this day. We're going to
get him out here. We're going to have a celebration.
That everlasting arms, when I think about that, I think about loving
embrace. What are these everlasting arms?
They are the whole of God engaged in the salvation of his people.
And these arms include all the eternal provisions. They include
all God's providence. They include all of the means
of salvation and all future events and promises. Everything has
to do with these everlasting arms. Underneath are the everlasting
arms. Oh, I wish this morning by God's
Spirit that you could see this in such
a way that you could say with Paul, my desire is to depart
and be with the Lord. and say it in truth. The eternal God is our refuge. And he that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also
with him freely give us all things? Do you sometimes believe God's
holding back from you? My soul he gave his son. He never
hold anything back. Underneath are the everlasting
arms, arms of omnipotence and arms of everlasting love and
arms of power, arms of justice. And then Moses said to Israel, Our God, our refuge, the God
of Jezreel, he that flyeth into heaven to our help, he shall
thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say, destroy them. Now they're getting ready to
cross this river and do battle. And he said, God is gonna go
before you. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet
speaks of his hand being stretched out against the ungodly. And
he said, this is the purpose that's purposed upon the whole
earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the
nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who shall disavow it? And his hand is stretched out.
Who's going to turn it back? My friends, sin and false religion
are the enemies of his people. He said, by their lies they've
caused my people to err. Paul said, if they come, if anybody
comes, if I come back or an angel from heaven come preaching some
other gospel than the gospel which I preached unto you, let
him be accursed. Count him accursed of God. Don't stand and listen to him
and weigh what he has to say. You count him accursed. This
is not God's messenger. This is a messenger of Satan.
You count him accursed of God. If he brings not the doctrine
of Christ, don't bid him into your house and don't bid him
God's fee. God will thrust out the enemies
of his people. And then lastly, he said this.
Israel then shall dwell in safety alone. The fountain of Jacob
shall be upon the land of corn and wine. Also his heaven shall
drop dew down. Happy art thou, O Israel. That's what I titled the message
this morning, The Happy Man. And here he is. Happy art thou,
O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord. Who do you know in this world
that's like you? Anybody? You want them to be. When he first revealed Christ
to me, I wanted everybody to know it. Still do. I still do. But I woke up to the fact that
not all people do, that want to. And not all people God's
going to reveal himself to. Who's liking you? My soul, you
think about it. God's been blessing you from
all eternity. And then he comes along in your
life and you're going this direction and he just gets a hold of you
and turns you around and lets you go the other direction. Takes
all what you thought was such wisdom and shows you what ignorance
it was and gives you the true wisdom of God in Christ. Huh? Who'd like unto you? Happy art thou, O Israel, whose
like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy
help. How happy is that man or woman
that comes to see God, who is their refuge, and to feel His
loving embrace and know something of His power and promises to
His people. to see His grace making provision
for them and opening up the way for them and leading them and
letting them taste that the Lord is gracious. Who like unto thee
that God hath saved? Not that God saved, that God
hath saved. Who in all the world like unto
the people saved by the Lord? They're blessed, blessed of God. They're blessed, Matthew said,
to be poor in spirit. And they're blessed to mourn,
and blessed to be meek, and blessed with an appetite for His righteousness,
and blessed to be merciful. And blessed to have a pure heart
and blessed to be peacemakers. And they're blessed even in their
persecutions. They're blessed. And blessed
even when men revile them. Blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Recipients of every good and
perfect gift sent down from our Father, who is the unchangeable
God. Happy art thou, O Israel, who
is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord. What can take that away? Nothing. Nothing. Not life, nor death,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate you
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. These
things, they're precious and they're everlasting. They'll
never vanish. They'll never go away. And they're
unchangeable because God himself is our refuge.