Well, last week we looked at
a warning in the scriptures, and there are plenty of them,
and it was in Luke's gospel, and from the mouth of our Lord
Jesus Christ as he walked this earth. And it was a stern warning. The warning was, except ye repent,
unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish. the words of our Lord Jesus Christ
as he ministered, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. There are plenty of warnings
like that. Warnings against religious presumption. Plenty of warnings
because the heart of man, the heart of the flesh is so prone
to presumption. to false presumption, to presuming
a rightness with God that is not based on the things of the
gospel of Christ. But those warnings against presumption,
bless God for this in his word, they're balanced by great promises
to counter the true believer's fear. You know, everybody asks,
examine yourselves, but everybody asks, will I be lost at the end?
Will I be lost? Is it really well with my soul? Do I really know that I'm right
with God, that I am just with God. How can a man be just with
God? Do I really know that I am and
what is the basis for that knowledge? Well, God gives great and precious
promises. To balance those warnings against
presumption, He gives great and precious promises to counter
that fear of the believing soul. All of the judgment that is pronounced
on Israel. If you read the book of Jeremiah,
for example, you will see again and again the pronouncements
of God's judgment on a people who had gone aside to idolatry,
who had forsaken the fountain of living waters, who were hewing
out for themselves cisterns to hold water, the water of idolatry,
the water of worldliness, the water of terrible sinfulness. And he said it holds no water
and can hold no water. And so great judgments are pronounced.
But again and again, just as we saw when we looked at Isaiah
a couple of years ago, again and again you see these pinnacles
of grace set forth to counter the fear that would be in the
true believer's heart. Those pronouncements of judgment
on Israel, they encompass sweet gospel promises of salvation
for the elect of God. We were reading one in Jeremiah
the other morning, a great outpouring of the judgment of God against
the idolatry of those people. But in the midst of it he says
this, but I still have my remnant. I still have them and I will
not let them go and I will call them from the four corners of
the earth and they will come to me and they will be blessed.
It talks about saving the people that he chose in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Great promises and so I thought
it felt right that we balance last week's warning with some
glorious promises. And so here in Deuteronomy 33,
we have Moses pronouncing blessings on the tribes of Israel. And
particularly verses 26 to 29, there is none like unto the God
of Jeshurun, the God of these tribes, who rideth upon the heaven
in thy help. You know, God is there over everything
for the help of his people. And in his excellency on the
sky, Listen to these words. The eternal God. This is speaking
to Israel. We'll talk about that in a minute,
but he's speaking to Israel. The eternal God is thy refuge. You know, do you ever feel a
need for a refuge? You see some of these signs by
the side of the road when you're going along. If it's a steep
hill and there might be a place where if you're out of control
and your brakes have gone, you can drive into a gravel track
and it's called a refuge. a place of safety, a place that
will save you from certain destruction at the bottom of the hill if
you just carried on running away. The eternal God is thy refuge. And underneath, have you ever
had a feeling that you might fall? I've had a feeling that
you might fall off somewhere, you know that horrible feeling
that there's nothing but empty space below you and gravity pulling
you down. Underneath are the everlasting
arms and he shall thrust out the enemy 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. Also his heavens shall drop down
to you. Happy art thou, O Israel. That's the title. Happy Israel
of God. 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. The blessings of God on his people. You know, Moses was the prophet
of God. And he wrote these first five
books of the scripture, the five books of Moses. And it doesn't
matter what modern theological so-called scholars tell us. Our
Lord Jesus Christ told us that Moses wrote these books. He did. He told us that. He would know,
wouldn't he? He told us clearly. Don't listen
to what so-called scholars tell us. Jesus tells us that Moses
wrote these books. These are the books of Moses.
And Moses had a dual role. He had a dual role. He was the
lawgiver because God gave the law at Sinai via Moses. And in giving the law, there
are aspects of Moses' role that are aspects of terror, and of
fear, and of warning. You know what the old covenant,
the covenant of works, the covenant of law was, do this and you shall
live. Don't do this in any respect
whatsoever and you shall be damned. And the law came with terror.
The people were terrified when the law came down on Mount Sinai.
They were terrified, absolutely terrified. They were told that
should they or an animal approach to that mountain, it would die.
It must be shot through with an arrow, it would die. And there
was fear, and there was trembling. The Scriptures make it quite
clear. When the law was given, it is given in the strict justice
of Almighty God, for our God is a consuming fire, and it is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
And Moses comes in the Scripture as the lawgiver. for God. For
God gave the law by Moses. In fact, when he came down from
the mountain, he was so shining with the presence of the holiness
of God. He, a man, a sinner, Yet the
people said, we can't look upon you, you must put a veil over
your face, for it terrifies us to look at you. And there were
strict punishments in the law-giving. This was part of Moses' law.
You know, Moses symbolizes the giving of that terrible law,
that law of God, which comes in such strict justice. Think
of some of the punishments. when Moses went up on the mountain
to get the law on Sinai and he came down with those first tablets
and he'd been gone some time and the people said to Aaron,
we don't know where this man Moses has gone, what are you
going to do for us, make us a God? And they compelled him, and you
wonder about the weakness of Aaron, but never, you know, Aaron
was ultimately accepted, but the people wanted something like
the nations around them to worship. And the gold that they'd come
out of Egypt with was given, and they made a golden calf.
And as Moses came down the mountain, he saw them there worshiping
the golden calf. He'd been up in the presence
of God. getting this law for them. And he came down, and there
they were, worshipping, a golden calf, the thing that they'd made
themselves. And the result of that? Moses
said, all of you that are on the Lord's side, come over here,
put your swords on, draw your swords, go through the camp,
and whether they're your brothers, or your parents, or your sons,
or whoever, if they're not on the Lord's side, you must slay
them. And they went through the camp, and they slew them. That's
strict, isn't it? Strict justice. What does it
speak of? It's appointed unto man to die
once, and then the judgment. And I tell you, for every one
of us, for everyone living in this world, come that day, come
that day of judgment, don't think for one moment that the strictness
of the justice of God will be in any way diminished outside
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Severe. Korah, Dathan, Abiram,
who set themselves up as alternative priests and prophets in the place
of Moses and Aaron. And what did God do? The earth
opened up and swallowed them. Strict justice. Strict punishment. Blasphemers were stoned to death.
Sabbath breakers, those picking up sticks on the Sabbath day.
were stoned to death under the law. It was severe. This was
Moses in his role as the lawgiver. But, again and again we see him
as the mediator. As a mediator, as a typical mediator. As a mediator who typifies the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because we see him when the people
have disobeyed. We see him and God says, I'm
going to destroy this people and Moses comes pleading with
such boldness before the throne of grace, before God, pleading
for mercy. Oh Lord, think of this. You've
brought them out of Egypt. What are the nations going to
say that you brought out this people from Egypt just to destroy
them in the wilderness? You see how boldly Moses pleads
with the living God, pleading for mercy when God would destroy. Christ pleads for mercy for his
people. in the face of the strict justice
of God, interceding for the people, speaking of Christ. Deuteronomy
18 verse 15 says this, Moses said it, the Lord thy God will
raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me. Unto him ye shall hearken. Who do you think that prophet
was that Moses was speaking of? It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
How do I know? John chapter 5, verses 46 and
47, Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, he said, For had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed me. For he, Moses, no question,
you know, so-called scholars, hear what the one who knows. The one who came down from heaven
says, for he, Moses, wrote of me. But if you believe not his
writings, if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe
my words? For he wrote of me. For beginning
at Moses and the prophets, Christ expounded to those disciples
on the Emmaus road all the things concerning himself. Moses was
a typical mediator. He not only gave the law, but
he was a typical mediator, and he spoke of Christ, and he pointed
to Christ. He was a man of the gospel. I
just want to turn your attention for a few moments to Hebrews
chapter 11, the faith gallery, and read verses 23 down to 29. Verse 23 of Hebrews 11. You don't
need to turn to it if you can't get there quickly, it's okay.
By faith, what's faith? The sight of the soul. By what
he saw that the natural man doesn't see. By what he saw, how did
he get it? Not of himself, it's the gift
of God. By faith, Moses. When he was
born was hid three months of his parents. His parents had
faith. His parents saw things of the
gospel. They saw that he was a proper
child. I haven't got a moment to spend
looking at that. Suffice it to say this, he was
in God's purpose for the proclamation of the gospel, for the taking
out of the people from Egypt, for everything that pictured
what Christ would do for his people. He was a proper child.
And they were not afraid of the king's commandment, Pharaoh's
commandment. By faith, Moses, when he was come of years, when
he'd grown up, he grew up as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. She found him in that basket
as a baby in the bulrushes of the River Nile, and she raised
him as a prince, as her son in the palace. But when he was come
to years, He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
What did he choose instead? Verse 25, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season. Do you see? His heart, even then,
was set upon being with the people of God. As Ruth said to Naomi,
As Ruth said, do you remember what Ruth said? You know, Naomi
said to her, go back to your family, go back to your mother-in-law,
go back to your relatives. And Ruth said, no. Your people
will be my people. Your God will be my God. Wherever
you go, I will go. He wanted to be amongst those
people, the people of God. Choosing to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ. You know, if you believe Christ
and you trust Him, you will know something of the reproach of
Christ. Because people all around us
don't like the Gospel of Christ. There is a reproach. There is
the offense. What's the offense of the Gospel?
It's the offense of sovereign grace to the natural man. The
offense of the Gospel. And there's a reproach that comes
from it. But Moses as God's people do, esteemed, considered, the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt,
for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. What was the reward?
As God said to Abraham, Abraham, I am your exceeding great reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king,
for he endured this is faith, as seeing him who is invisible. He endured looking to Christ. Through faith, he kept the Passover. What does that mean? He looked,
when he kept the Passover with a literal lamb, he was looking
to the lamb of God, who was slain from the foundation of the world,
who shed his blood for the sins of his people. Through faith,
he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood. Knowing
that where God said he saw the blood, he would pass over. lest
he that destroyed the firstborn of all Egypt should touch them. By faith they passed through
the Red Sea, as by dry land, which the Egyptians, trying to
do or saying to do, were drowned." Et cetera. Moses was a man, not
only who brought the law, but he was a man of the gospel of
grace. For the law that he brought, what was the purpose of the law?
Paul tells us what the purpose of the law was. What's the law
for? To tell us how to live? No, we
can't. We can never ever do it, for the law is weak. Why? Because
the flesh is weak. The flesh, the people of Israel
kept saying, everything God said to us we will do, and as quick
as a flash, everything that God said to them, they disobeyed.
Is that not our daily experience? For, as Paul said, in my flesh,
in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. No, the
law that he brought down that mountain was his schoolmaster
to drive him to Christ. That's what the law's for, a
schoolmaster to drive to Christ. And so it is for God's true believing
people. God's true believing people,
they know that they're sinners in the flesh under the law and
condemnation of God. But they hear a promise of mercy.
That God is a God who delights in mercy. They hear of forgiveness
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiveness for sins, for the
sin debt has been paid. They hear of the acceptance with
God that comes from that sin debt being paid. You know, it's
just... A financial transaction is a
very good illustration, but it doesn't come anywhere close to
conveying the full meaning of this. The acceptance is because
the blood of Christ has paid the debt of his people's sins.
And so the law of God which is absolutely unchanging, absolutely
unchanging and strict in its application, is at peace because
Christ has paid that debt to the full. There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Salvation
is proclaimed clearly. The book of Deuteronomy, particularly,
is Moses, above all, as a mediator, pointing to Christ. And Israel,
as it is here, this is the second point, Israel, as I've told you
many times, but I'll reinforce it now because, you know, there's
so much false thinking in religion about this, Gospel believers
in our day are the Israel of God. The Israel of God is not
a country in the Middle East. It's not the Jewish people. The
Israel of God is the people that God chose in Christ before the
foundation of the world, that Christ came to redeem, that the
Holy Spirit quickens with new life in the new birth. This is
the Israel of God. To whom are the words of Deuteronomy
33 applicable today? to the Israel of God. Romans
9, let me remind you of these things, Romans 9, 6 to 8, 4,
they are not all the true Israel of God, is what he means, which
are of Israel, the country and the people that call themselves
Israel. They which are the children of the flesh, who say, oh I'm
descended from Abraham and so on, these are not the children
of God, but the children of the promise. In Isaac shall the promise
be, said God to Abraham. Not through all the others, but
in that promised line. The children of the promise are
counted for the seed. It's the elect of God that he's
speaking of. It's those whom the Father chose
in Christ before the beginning of time. Those who in this day
Believe, beloved, he says, Paul says to the Thessalonians, beloved.
We thank God for you always, knowing that you are the elect
of God. For God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. You believe the gospel, therefore
I know you're the Israel of God. In Psalm 139 verse 16 is our
Lord Jesus Christ speaking. And he's speaking to his father
and he's saying, in thy book all my members were written. What are Christ's members? were
members of his body. His church is his body. His members. In thy book all my members were
written when as yet there was none of them. Before the beginning
of time in other words. They were all written there in
the book of God. These are the elect of God. It's
speaking of Christ's church manifested by a work of grace in these days. Romans chapter 2, 28 and 29.
He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit
and not of the letter we're not talking about pharisaical Jews
when it says Israel in Deuteronomy 33 we're not talking about them
we're talking about ones like Nathanael do you remember in
John chapter 1 where was it Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus and
he said come and see we've found Messiah and he says come and
see and as Jesus saw him coming from a distance he looked at
Nathanael and he said behold an Israelite indeed yeah they're
not all Israel which are of Israel but he is one an Israelite indeed
in whom there is no guile Is he saying he's such a good man?
No, in whom there is no guile. How is it that there is no guile
in him? All are sinners, all have sinned and fall short. How
is he saying of Nathanael and all other true Israel, there's
no guile in him? Psalm 32 verse 2. Blessed, truly
happy, blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth. Doesn't
credit, doesn't account iniquity. And in whose spirit there is
no guile. That's what the psalm says. Blessed. The one in whose spirit there's
no guile. Why is there no guile there?
Because Christ has paid for it. Because the blood of the lamb
has paid for it. Justified from all eternity.
We were looking in some detail a few weeks ago at Philippians
chapter 3 and verse 3. These are the true Israelites.
These are the ones to whom this is addressed. They worship God
in the spirit. We are the circumcision, said
Paul. Not them. Beware of dogs, he said. Beware
of these false workers. Beware of them. He said, we're
the true Israel. How do we know we are? We worship
God in the spirit. We worship God. We don't worship
God in buildings. We don't worship God on pilgrimages. We don't worship God in our,
we worship God in the spirit. And we rejoice in Christ Jesus. because we find in Him everything. Jesus Christ, He's my all in
all. And confidence? What have you
done so far? Nothing, nothing, nothing. No
confidence in the flesh. Is this you? Is this something
that in your conscience, in your heart, you know? Then you're
a member of this Israel of God, as Galatians 6.16 calls them.
The blessings of God be upon the Israel of God. You're a sinner,
for a sinner is a sacred thing, the Holy Ghost has made him so.
And you're one who has come to repentance, for God has granted
unto the Gentiles repentance, a turning around, and have been
given faith, because it's by grace that you're saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And you've
trusted Christ. And you know that it's His are
the everlasting arms that are underneath you. who preserve
you from hell, then what Moses wrote here is for you, because
you're part of the Israel of God. So he talks about the happiness
of God's Israel. Happy, verse 29. Happy art thou,
O Israel. I'm talking to some of you this
morning. 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? the happiness of God's true Israel.
What makes God's Israel truly happy? You see, it's a unique
happiness. It's a happiness that the world
doesn't, you know, the world is happy with all sorts of things,
but this is a unique happiness that the world knows nothing
about, because it's not based on the things of the world. It's
not based on the things of the flesh. Somebody wrote, and I
think it's very good, he said this, the Lord tends to dry up
or embitter the waters of the world, to a true believer. The
Lord tends to dry up or embitter the waters of the world to a
true believer. Do you remember the account of
Israel? Wandering through the wilderness
and they got thirsty because it was a wilderness place and
it was dry. And they came to some water at a place called
Marah. And they drank the waters. Can you imagine? Three days they'd
been thirsting. And they see this water and they
go to taste it. And it's bitter. And they cannot
drink it. It's vile. Their taste cannot
stand it. It's a picture of the waters
of this world to the true people of God. The Lord tends to dry
up or embitter the waters of the world. The waters, the things
that quench your thirst, the things that make you glad, they're
the broken cisterns of Jeremiah chapter three. The broken tanks
that we all try to make for ourselves. Oh, if only I had this, then
I would be happy. Oh, if only I got that thing,
then I will be ultimately happy. Oh, this thing is what I need,
and then I know I'll be happy. Oh, if only I had my full health,
then I know I'll be happy. Oh, wealth is what I need. I
want to know that I'm secure and that there's nothing that
I need for the future. Oh, my family, I want them all
around me. Oh, world peace. You know, you could go on and
on and on and listen. You know, the governments of
this world that are striving for a utopia of world peace,
I'm not saying they shouldn't try to be peaceful, but in this
world there will always be wars and rumors of wars. And all of
this following after these things, they're broken cisterns, they
can hold no water, they provide no comfort for eternity, none
whatsoever. For it is still appointed to
man to die once, and then the judgment. And we've all offended
the living God. No, Israel, and remember who
I mean? I mean the true Israel of God.
Israel's true joy is found only in the Lord. Happy art thou,
O Israel. Their true joy is found only
in the Lord. And unbelievers can know nothing
of this true happiness. It's the happiness of peace with
God. You know, think about it. Think
about the anguish. Think about the torment of knowing
enmity with God. which is what the situation truly
is outside of Christ. Enmity with God. Knowing that
sense of not being right. You know the sense that you get
when you know you're not right with the law of the land, and
the law of the land is coming after you, and you know that
you've got to go to court, and we've seen many public cases,
and they get hauled before the judge and the jury, and condemned,
and their freedoms taken away from them, and they're sent to
prison. It's a most unhappy, dreadful situation. but the happiness
of peace with God, the happiness of knowing that my sins are forgiven.
that they're not there, that they're not there for me to have
to give an account for. Of knowing, the happiness of
knowing that the righteousness that I'm told I must have if
I would see God, that I must follow, because without it I
will not see God, that righteousness is imputed, is credited to me,
is imparted to me in my desires, in the new man. That promise
of eternal bliss in God's immediate presence, this is the basis of
happiness. It's not based at all on the
things of this world. And why does it have a solid
foundation? Because Christ has accomplished
all. If we'd had time, which we don't,
we could have looked back in verses 13 to 17 about Joseph. Because here, in these words
of Moses in Deuteronomy 33, verses 13 to 17, he speaks a lot about
Joseph. And why does he speak so much
about Joseph? Because Joseph is such a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Being for the salvation of his
brethren, being despitefully treated by his brethren, being,
well, they wanted to slay him. They wanted to slay him. you
know we will not have this man to rule over us because he had
these dreams and he said to them I had a dream and it shows you
bowing down to me and you can imagine this young man being
perturbed by this and they envied him and they hated him and they
wanted to kill him and they finally compromised and sold him into
slavery in Egypt and he went down there and you know the story
you know it so well but what a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ
who went from glory down to this earth, went from the comfort
of his father's house, as it were, Joseph and Jacob, and Christ
came for the rescue of his brethren. And Joseph through the providential
guidance of God, all of those things that happened and everything
that is there is a picture of what God has done in Christ,
in saving his people from their sins. Joseph accomplished all
for physical Israel then, in saving them alive in time of
famine. Christ has accomplished all for his people. It's such
a glorious picture, as I say, we don't have time to look at
it. But look at the uniqueness of God's Israel in the few minutes
we have left. Who is like unto thee? Moses
asks. To the true Israel of God, who
is like unto thee? Is there any people that's like
you, the true Israel of God? They're unique. Whatever others
may have or claim to delight in, only God's Israel has the
unique blessings of accomplished salvation. Who else has it? Religion
doesn't have it. None of the religions of this
world have it. None of the false sects of so-called Christianity
have it. No, only God's true Israel has
all the unique blessings of salvation that is accomplished. Salvation
that God purposed in its extent and entirety before time, that
Christ accomplished, that the Holy Spirit is even now applying
until every last one of them that is ordained to eternal life
is called out under the preaching of the Gospel of Grace. Favoured
uniquely from all eternity. Who is like you? Favoured uniquely
from all eternity. For God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. Uniquely from all eternity, redeemed
by Christ at such immense cost. Who is like you? That the God
of this earth, with his own precious blood, God has purchased his
church with his own precious blood, the blood of his son who
is God himself. He's redeemed at such precious
cost. Oh, the price of redemption. Who is like you who is clothed
in all the righteousness of God that is needed in Christ? Look
what he says, you're a people saved by the Lord. Saved. by the Lord, from that just condemnation,
saved from sin, saved from judgment. It's pointed to man to die once
and then the judgment, but for the people of God that's a day
of glory. For who shall lay any charge
to God's elect? Christ has died. Who is like
you, O Israel? There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. He saved you from hell, an eternity
of hell. He's saved by the workings of
the triune God, in the Father electing before the beginning
of time, in the Son redeeming in time. When the fullness of
the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem those who are under the law. and saved
by His Spirit, regenerating. For when we were children of
wrath, even as others, He came, and by grace has saved us, through
faith, that gift of God, making us willing in the day of His
power. And so, how much are we saved? It says in Hebrews 7.25,
to the uttermost. He is able to save to the uttermost. God hasn't saved anyone other
than his Israel. He doesn't give chances. He has
saved to the uttermost. The result? Oh, happy are you. Look at secondly. He is a shield
of thy help. He's a shield. The shield of
thy help. The defense is the shield. The
defense against all that would attack and overcome us. It's
the shield against Satan, the accuser of the brethren. It's
the shield against the law that comes and condemns us. It's the
shield against the accusations of our own conscience. It's the
shield against the flesh, this weak flesh, that snares and corrupts
us. It's the shield, like all that
armor in Ephesians chapter 6. Take to you the whole armor of
God. It's the shield. God is our shield. He provides
that defense. And next, He's the sword of thy
excellency. And the sword, the shield is
for defense, but the sword is for attack. And what is the sword?
The sword of the Spirit. Which is the word of God. The
incarnate word. For He, Christ, is that sword
of the Spirit. He is the word. Not carnal weapons,
of this world's logic, not carnal weapons, not carnal weapons of
human reason, or of emotional appeals, or anything like that,
but with the Gospel, as declared in the Scriptures, anointed by
God's Spirit. This alone, the Gospel of Scripture,
is the attack weapon of our earthly warfare, and it will cause offense,
but that's the one that we're given. We're given the shield,
God is our shield, and we're given the sword of the Spirit,
which is His Word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the
gospel of his grace, alone as the attack weapon of our earthly
warfare. And he promises, he promises
things to Israel, that your enemies shall be found liars unto thee.
What does that mean? Your enemies. Israel, true people
of God, your enemies shall be found liars unto you. Well let's
think about one or two of the enemies. The internal workings
of your flesh. You know, unbelief. Unbelief. Isn't that something that wells
up again and again in the flesh? Unbelief. Lord, I believe, said
that man, help thou mine unbelief. The internal workings against
faith. Sowing doubt and fear. That's
an enemy of our soul. But God says this to his people.
It'll be found a liar, and it most certainly will. their doubts
and fears will be found to be lies. And his truth is the only
truth. Satan, who loves to accuse, coming
with accusations, will be found a liar. Our own guilty conscience,
accusing us, will be found a liar. All will be found liars. When
God looks for reasons to condemn his Israel, as it says, he looked
for iniquity in Judah and Israel, and he found none. And then you
will tread on their high places. And what's that speaking of?
It's speaking of the final triumph over all that is the enemy of
God's Israel. For as I mentioned earlier, Romans
8, 32-33, who is it that condemns? Christ has died. Who's going
to bring any accusation, any charge against God's elect? He's
paid the price of it all. Well, we're out of time. We've barely scratched the surface
of what's here in Deuteronomy 33. But there are truly deep
mines of blessing here that are worth thinking on and meditating
on because they're a source of comfort and they're the cause
of true eternal happiness for those whose hope is entirely
in Christ. Happy art thou, O Israel, who
is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord.