Right. Well, let's turn in our
Bibles this morning to the Old Testament and the book of Deuteronomy,
the book of Deuteronomy. And I'm not trying to be smart,
but if you want to stay with me, you have to have your Bible
and look at where I'm reading, because that's what I'm going
to talk about. I'm not going to read a verse of scripture
and then go to telling you stories that I've seen on TV or heard
on the news or something like that. I might mention something
like that occasionally. But my business is not to entertain. My business is not to try and
do things to keep you awake. If this is the only time you've
got to sleep, go at it. You know, just don't snore too
loud. But my business is to talk to you about this book, about
what God said, and about the contents of the Holy Bible, the
inspired, the inerrant, the unchanging, Word of almighty God. So we're turning to the last
chapter. Of the book of Deuteronomy chapter 34. Deuteronomy chapter
34. A lot of history here, but there's
more than history. So we're going to read these
12 verses together. This is concerning the death
of Moses, the great leader of the Israelites. And Moses went
up from the plains of Moab, under 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, and the plain
of the valley of Jericho, and the city of palm trees, unto Zor. 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 sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was
120 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 30 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 him and
did as the Lord commanded Moses. And there arose not a prophet
sent in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. And 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. That's reading the entire 34th
chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. Now this chapter that we read
in your hearing this morning, recording the death and the burial
of Moses, and I want to speak about this subject, burying Moses,
burying Moses. The real secret in the life of
any child of God is the Lord's working in that life. That's
the most important thing about our lives, is what the Lord's
doing. When I look at me in my life,
it is quite discouraging. When I look at the Lord in my
life, it is very encouraging. Notice the record of scripture
here in Moses' life. Verse 1, and the Lord showed
him. Verse four, the Lord said unto
him. Verse 11, the Lord sent him.
So that is the special secret in any life is the Lord in that
life. Now, the very first statement
we read in verse one presents a worthwhile thought. And Moses
went up from the plains of Moab onto the mountain of Nebo. to
the top of Pisgah. Notice those words, and Moses
went up. Death for a child of God is not
a downhill thing. It's not a downhill plunge, and
Moses went up. The when, the where, and the
how of Moses' death was a fixed thing. It was fixed by God And
so it will be with all of us. The when, the where and the how
of death belongs to God. We hear people talk about so-and-so
dying before their time. No, when you die, it's your time. And you know, whether somebody
kills you or you kill yourself or you get run over by a truck,
when you die, that's your time. You didn't mess God up. You didn't
surprise Him. And just because we don't know
the when, the where, and the how, don't try to rob God of
that knowledge and of His wisdom in the whole matter. Don't rob
Him of His purpose, whether we understand it or not. I remember
when I was a sophomore in high school. I'm fixing to tell you
how terribly old I am now. This was 1963. One of my classmates,
a young man, put a pistol to the side of his head and pulled
the trigger. And he laid in the hospital unconscious
for weeks and weeks, and finally woke up, recovered over the summer,
and caught up in his studies, came back to school in the fall,
and graduated with us in 65. But this happened when we were
in the 10th grade. Fifty-two years. Fifty-two years. I ran into him a few weeks back.
Hadn't seen him in fifty years. I didn't recognize him. He recognized
me. He introduced his wife to me.
And he told me about his family, his children, his grandchildren.
Told me all about his seventeen classic cars. You know, about
his career and what he had done. How the Lord's blessed him. He
and his wife are very active in a church down here, Traveler's
Rest. I thought while he was telling
me all that, and we didn't bring up that experience in our sophomore
year, but I was thinking it the whole time. He was ready 52 years
ago to end his life. But God, but God. You see, you just do well to
believe this book about who God is, whether you want to believe it
or not. We're leaving here in His time, His time. You can't
disturb Him. You can't disappoint Him. You can't defeat Him in anything. So Moses went up, we read here,
and then he The Lord showed him all the land
of Gilead and Dan and these other places, showed him the land over
in Canaan. And that says something big.
The Lord showed him, showed him. Verse seven, we read that his
eye was not dim. He could see good. He was 120
years old and didn't wear glasses. That's what that means. His eye
was not dim. And he could see just as well
at 120 as he could at 20. His eye was not dim. But natural
vision, however good it may be, it's not enough to die with.
It's not enough to die with. Verse 1 does not say he went
up there and saw. It says he went up there and
the Lord showed him. There's a big difference. There's
a big difference in what you can naturally see and what the
Lord will show you. Proverbs 20 and 12, the hearing
ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.
It's the Lord's business to show. So Moses did not die blind, not
only physically, he did not die blind spiritually. He did not
die blind as to who God is and where God is headed in this whole
mission. He died with the Lord showing
him some things. He showed him it's not a matter
of how far along you get. Here's how far I'm going. And
he showed him Canaan, the land of rest, and the people that
would literally go over there as had been promised long, long
ago. Well, Christ is our rest. This land was only a picture.
It was only a type. And the Lord showed Moses, I
brought you up here to die. Up here on this mountain. And
he said, I'm going to bring my son up a mountain to die. And Moses, you're going to come
short of that rest you're looking at over there. You'll not cross
the Jordan, but don't fret about it. Don't fret about it. Because this Canaan land of rest. is not really that literal land
over there. It's in my son. And you're already there. You're at rest in me. You're at rest in the atoning
blood of my son. Now, Hebrews 11 says concerning
this man, Moses, that he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Now that don't make any sense to the natural mind. You can't
see something that's invisible. But the Bible says that Moses
endured as seeing him who is invisible. Now this chapter just
keeps getting bigger the more I look at it. So I want to talk
about two or three things here. I'll refer briefly first to the
grave itself here in burying Moses, the grave itself. Look what verse 5 said, So Moses
the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according
to the word of the Lord. And he, that is the Lord, buried
him, that is buried Moses, in a valley in the land of Moab. It is very interesting and it
is also not without necessity that the Lord himself secretly
buried Moses. Now if you've never read about
this, if you've never thought about this, I want you to think
about it. It is not only interesting, it's
of necessity that the Lord himself secretly buried Moses. The Lord
picked the gravesite. The Lord dug the grave. The Lord
planned the funeral. The Lord presided over the funeral.
The Lord planted the body of Moses. The Lord penned the epitaph of his memory. The Lord protected the location. And no one but God knows where
Moses' grave is. That's what the end of verse
6 says. But no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day. Now, the Lord told Moses earlier,
I don't want you to die down here in the camp of Israel, in
the presence of all the people. Turn back a couple of pages to
chapter 32, and let me read a couple of verses, 48 through 50. Chapter 32, 48 through 50. And
the Lord spake unto Moses that same day, saying, Get thee up
into this mountain, Abiram, unto Mount Nebo, which is in the land
of Moab that is over against Jericho, and behold the land
of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for possession,
and die in the mount, whether thou goest up. And he gathered
and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in
Mount Hor and was gathered unto his people." This is a command.
Go up there and die there. Moses obeyed God's command. He obeyed in going up there.
He didn't have to obey in dying because that's God's business.
And we don't know how long he was up there before he died,
but he obeyed God. And he stayed till he died. Whether
it was an hour or whether it was days. Now there's no tombstone. There's
no grave marker for men to identify the spot, but God put an epitaph,
not graven in stone, but He recorded it in His Holy Word. Some have
said the epitaph could be Exodus 33, 11, and the Lord spake unto
Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Others
have said it could be Hebrews 11, 24 to 27, by faith Moses,
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
Egypt, for he had respect under the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him
who is invisible." That is all true. That would be great epitaph
to this man's memory and life. But the epitaph recorded here
at Moses' death is in the chapter we're reading from, Deuteronomy
34, and the last three verses, 10 through 12. And here's what
God said about him. There arose not a prophet since
in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, and
all the signs and 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 grave, so much for Moses'
grave, is a secret thing, God's secret. I want to consider for
a few moments the grief that is the people's sorrow in all
this. This is the man that had led
them, this particular generation here, he'd led them as long as
they'd been in the world. And their fathers, he'd led them
out of Egypt. So there's great sorrow. when this man Moses dies. But Moses is a representative
picture of leadership, protection, dependence, companionship, important
things in all of our lives. Moses pictures any person or
thing of influence in our lives. And when we lose these persons
or things, it's like burying a Moses. There's a great deal
of grief and sorrow. We lose a spouse, as many of
you here have. We lose a parent, or a child,
or a friend, or even a job, or a position. Anything dear to
us, the pain it brings, the grief, the sorrow. And it brings us
to confess this, only God can bury a Moses. We won't let go
of him. Only God can do it. For some there's the difficulty
of dealing with the fairness of it. And having dealt with
people through the years, I've heard a lot of this. It's just
not fair. Moses had given 40 years of his
life in obeying God, going to Egypt,
confronting Pharaoh, leading the people out of Egypt, watching
his generation die and their carcasses rot in the wilderness.
Watch God raise up a young generation that would be willing to cross
the Jordan. And it seems only right that
when the time comes for God to push back the waters of the Jordan,
that Moses would be the first to set foot in the Canaan land. But not so. The time had come and just before
the crossing, Moses died. It just wasn't fair. The people probably would have
said he wasn't a perfect man, but he was as close as we've
seen. And how many times I've heard that concerning people's
problems and heartaches in life. It's just not fair. Why do bad
things happen to good people? What did he do to deserve it?
What did she do to deserve that? It's hard not to question God. And sometimes it's hard not to
be bitter over the way things go in this life. I want to tell
you what's helped me a great deal as a preacher and as trying
to be a pastor. The Lord Jesus said to his disciples,
boys, that ain't no picnic. It's going to be hell on earth.
Just buckle your seatbelt. And you think, well, I'm not
hardly enough of a Christian to have to face any persecution. I haven't done enough right to
stir the devil up. Listen, listen. The devil hates
God and hates God's people. And all you have to do is be
his child and you're in war. You are in war. That's how it is. It's so easy
to get bitter over things in this life. Problems, being done wrong, being
beat out of things, being accused. Even God's children, we would
almost fall out with the Lord over the fairness of it. It's
not fair that he lets these things happen. Well, here's our problem. We
fail to consider that life in this world is not the main event. We think it is, but it's not. We mistake this life for the
destination when it's really only the journey. It's not the main event. A lot
of times in the world of sports, the main event is preceded by
one or more smaller events. I mean, if there's a world championship
match or game coming up, they'll precede it with a couple of lesser
ones. Just to get people to watch it
and kind of whet your appetite and everything. Building up the
suspense coming to that main event. Before the big game is
the kids game. And before the big race is the
kiddie race. You know how that goes. I want
to say this life we're in is the smaller event. It's not the
main event. If your life is all heaven here,
It's bound to be hell hereafter. But if heaven hereafter is your
destiny, there's bound to be a good measure of hell while
you're here. Now that's how it is. We're in a war zone. This life is preparatory. It's a getting ready place. So
we don't need to argue with the Lord about fairness. It didn't
seem fair to lose Moses at this particular time, but he's gone. He's gone. Not over the fairness,
but Israel's grief involved fear, fear of change, fear of the future. What in the world are we going
to do? How will we make it? Can we even make it? I think
we've all been there. My whole world is caved in. My reason for waking up in the
morning is gone. Their time of grief, it involved
great fears, not only fairness and fears, but this grief, it
included dealing with the finality of it. Moses is not coming back. Is he really gone? It's hard to believe. He had
stayed gone for long periods of time in the Mount, communing
with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights one time. The people didn't really know
that he's gone for sure until we turned the page to Joshua
1.1. And the Lord spake to Joshua
and said, Moses, my servant, is dead. It's official. He's over. He's gone. So the grave of Moses was God's
secret. Why? Historians tell us that
the Israelites in their grief would have idolized the grave
of Moses. They would have literally worshipped
the grave of Moses and stayed right there in the plains of
Moab and the mountains of Moab on the wilderness side of Jordan. They would never accept the finality
of it. They would have refused to move
on. They would have refused to cross the Jordan. They would
have never set foot in Canaan. Except God handle things, the
grief would have consumed them. So he did handle things. They
don't know exactly when Moses died. They don't know exactly
where he died. They don't know anything at all
about it. God himself was the coroner,
the undertaker, the mortician, the grave digger, the pallbearer,
the officiating minister, and engraved in epitaph, in his eternal
word, planted flowers in the Valley of Moab. God did it all. And he'd do it all for you. in
your grief. But there's a bigger picture
in the scope of this very descriptive chapter. Not just the grave,
God's secret, and not just the grief, Israel's sorrow, but there's
the gospel and God's salvation. And this is what the whole Bible
is about, is getting to the nitty-gritty of God's salvation in Christ. You say, well, where's it at?
Well, in this setting, in this historical chapter, Moses represents
the law. He was God's instrument in giving
the law at Mount Sinai and the 10 commandments and all the civil
law to Israel. Moses speaks of law. In the New Testament, John 1.17
says, For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ. Now one picture here is this. The law of God is strong to the
end. It never grows feeble. and weak. It don't seem time for Moses
to die. His eyesight is perfect at 120
and this statement in verse 7, neither is his natural force
abated. That line means two things. It
means first, his moisture had not dried up. He was not a shriveled
up old man. His skin was smooth, not a wrinkle
at 120. And secondly, it means this, that
phrase natural force in the Hebrew is strength of the jaw. The implication
is that his teeth had not fallen out. at 120 years old. He didn't have a cavity at 120. What about that? So what's the
meaning of that? Well, the meaning is this. The
law of God never grows weak. It'll be here to oppress, to
accuse, to arouse a guilty conscience long as you live. If the law
of God never convicts you, I pity your soul. The law remains strong. Moses only dies in the flesh. He lives on. He endures in Christ. How long? He endures forever. as seeing Him who is invisible.
Same as all God's children live forever. That's how I endure.
That's how all God's children endure, is in Christ. Is in seeing God, Him who is
invisible, in Christ. John 1 said, I believe it's John
1 18, No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son,
which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath revealed Him.
Where do you see God? You see Him in His Son, in Jesus
Christ, and we live forever in Him. Now, the law didn't die.
The law didn't die. We did. Galatians 2.19, Paul
said, For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might
live unto God. The law didn't die. I did. And
fellas, it preached that the Old Testament law, God's law,
God's perfect, holy demands is not enforced nowadays. He's lying. God has never changed. He has never settled for anything
less than absolute perfection and perfect holiness. But the blessed thing is, He
found that perfection. He provided that perfection and
that perfect righteousness in His only begotten Son for His
people. So the law didn't die. I did. I died. Did you know the law does a dead
man no harm? I mean, the Sheriff's Department Nevelyn, that's her name. She
worked up there for years. Y'all didn't ever send warrants
out to the cemetery, did you? The law does not harm a corpse. No. You cannot execute a corpse. And what happened with the coming
of Christ, Hebrews says, that God took away the first, that
is, that covenant of works, and says a man's got to measure up,
man's got to pay for his own sin, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. You know, you live perfect or go to hell. God took that
away that he might establish the second. Not that God demands
any less, but that he provided what he demanded. in his only
begotten son. That's why our hope this morning
is in Christ Jesus. And outside of him, we have none.
I don't care how good you've been. I don't care if you don't
drink, smoke, or cuss, or chew, or run with them that do. I don't
care about that. You see? That's not the deal. Don't matter to me, as one preacher
said, if you've got a stack of Sunday school pens that reaches
down to your navel. That's not the issue. Christ
Jesus the Lord. is the only hope for the likes
of us. Paul said it like this, Colossians 3.3, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God. In Christ you've already died
and risen again. That's what he said in that third
chapter of Colossians. If you then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above. not things on the earth. Set
your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. So
we've already died and resurrected. Our life is in Him. Now those
Israelites would have said this, Oh, Moses is our hope. If he's
not going to cross, we're not going to cross. But God said Moses is not your
hope. I am. He's not going to cross,
but you are. You're not going to cross in
Him, you're going to cross in Me. In Me. The law will not carry
any of us to heaven. It would send every last one
of us to hell. The law would. You hadn't kept enough law. You
can't keep enough law to get your feet off the ground, let
alone to heaven. The law accuses, condemns, and
says, you haven't made the grade. And Christ answers, but I have. And I made it for them. I made
it for my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep. And no man is going to pluck
them out of my hand. We sang the song, my faith has
found a resting place. Where? In Moses, no. In the law, no. In my works, no. In Christ and
His grace, my faith has found a resting
place. In my performance, no. In that I'm better than lots
of other people, no. Where is my faith? Where is it
resting? In my doing? No. In my doctrine? No. And we saying in device or creed? No. My faith has found a resting
place. A Canaan land. Where? I trust the ever living
one. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. Moses is gone. He can carry you no further. And that's the way we have to
look at things in our lives that come and go. And things we'd
all like to hold on to and can't. And people we'd like to hold
on to and can't. But when Moses is gone, up steps
Joshua. Joshua is the Old Testament name
for Jesus. Most of you know that. And He
leads the people across the Jordan. The old songwriter said, ask
the Savior to help you. No need to waste any time trying
to make it in this world Ask the Savior to help you. Comfort,
strengthen, and keep you. He is willing to aid you. He
will carry you through. Another songwriter said it like
this, trials darken every hand and we cannot understand. All
the ways that God would lead us to that blessed I've had a
lot of things happen in my life I think I could have done without. But the Lord thought otherwise. He'll guide us with his eye and
we'll follow till we die. We will understand it better
by and by. By and by when the morning comes
and all the saints of God are gathered home. Then we'll tell
the story how we've overcome by Him, by His grace, by His
keeping, by His power. And we'll understand it better
by and by. I just feel in my heart this
morning, somebody here needs to grasp this in your own heart
and life. Moses is dead. Whoever Or whatever it was, Moses
is gone. All you trusted in, all you hoped
in, all you depended on, God has removed it. You can't lean
there anymore. Moses is dead. So what do we
do? Look to somebody else that's
going to die? No, no. We look to somebody that's already
died once and is alive forevermore. We look to one who ever liveth
and he's not going to die again. Set your mind, your heart, your
affections on the Lord Jesus Christ. Make Him your morning,
evening, and midnight. Make Him your salvation, your
strength, your song. Make Him your everything. Do
not look elsewhere. All else dies and must die. Moses can't live on. Let him
go. Look to Joshua. Look to Joshua. Let Moses die. Look to Jesus,
the author, finisher of our faith. Oh, yes, burying Moses was God's
business. And it's a good thing it was
because the people never would have done it. They'd have stayed there with
it, the corpse, and if they had decided to move, they'd have
took the corpse with them. And they kept on worshiping that
corpse. Oh my, let God bury him and march on. All right. Thank you. Let's stand together.