Let's just look at these first
four verses. We won't cover all of them this
evening. We won't have time for that.
But let's read the first four verses here in Deuteronomy chapter
32 beginning in verse 1. Give ear, O heavens, and I will
speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, My speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Because
I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe you greatness unto
our God. He is the rock, His work is perfect,
for all His ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity,
just and right is He. Now, we saw last week that this
was a song that the Lord had given Moses. Moses was speaking
here under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and this is a
song beginning in chapter 32. It's a song, and it was given
to witness against the children of Israel. We saw that there
in verse 19 of chapter 31. Now write ye this song for you,
and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouth,
that this song may be a witness for me against the children of
Israel." So it was a witness, a song of witness against the
children of Israel. And Moses had gathered the elders
together, the officers, the officials together, And he rehearses this
song and tells them to go back and teach it to the congregation,
a witness against the children of Israel. It was a witness to
them that they were never to leave the worship and the service
of the living God and turn to idols. That's what this song
is about. In chapter 31, we saw this last week there in verse
16. That's exactly what the Lord predicted that they would do.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers, and this people will rise up and go a whoring
after the gods of the strangers of the land, whether they go
to be among them, and will forsake me and break my covenant which
I have made with them." That prediction was made and we know
history tells the truth that that is what they did. They left
the living God and went and worshipped dumb idols. And that's what this
song here is concerning. There's never been a nation that
had God so near them as the children of Israel. He gave them His Word
that He never gave any other nation. He gave them prophets
to teach them. He gave them the priesthood to
represent them before God. He gave them the offerings to
atone for their sins. All the nations of the world
had was the light of nature, but Israel had the living God
among them in His Shekinah glory. No other nation ever abused their
blessings and their privileges like the children of Israel did
theirs. They sinned against God more
than any other nation ever sinned against Him. And you know something?
more than any other nation ever did because of their sins. And
that's why the Lord wrote this song to them. When they did this,
when they sinned like this and judgment came, He said, Heaven
is going to be a witness against you and earth is going to be
a witness against you. This was the most solemn thing
when you put yourself in this situation and you go here to
verse 1. And Moses is standing there in
the midst of those group of elders and officials. And he looks up
to heaven and he said, Heaven, I call you to witness against
this people if they ever leave the worship of God and turn to
idols. And then he looks around him
and says, Earth, I call you to witness against this people if
they ever leave the worship and service of God and turn to idols.
That had to be a solemn time. for these people knowing that
heaven stood forever and this earth that would not change until
the end of the world was going to be there to witness against
them if they ever left the worship of the living God. They would
certainly be without excuse and heaven would bear witness against
them. Here is how the Lord said it in the book of Isaiah chapter
1. This is the way He begins in Isaiah chapter 1 and verse
1. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath
spoken. I have nourished and brought
up children, and they have rebelled against Me." And He calls heaven
to witness. He does this four times in the
book of Deuteronomy. In other places in the Scripture,
you can see that He calls heaven to witness against the children
of Israel. Heaven will witness against them. Isn't that amazing?
The starry heaven. When the Lord made the universe
and set all these planets and stars in their courses, you know
what? They hold those courses. They
hold the courses that God set them in. They'd never think about
breaking God's decree. Only Israel did that. The sun, He commands the sun
to rise. Does it ever disobey Him? It
is always obedient. The moon comes up and it goes
down. The seasons, spring and summer
and fall and winter, obey His decrees. And they are going to
bear witness against this nation of their rebellion and disobedience
against God. And then He says, Here, O earth,
For the LORD hath spoken, I have brought up children, and they
have rebelled against me. And the very next verse says
this, The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib,
but Israel doeth not know. They are willingly ignorant,
because, listen to this, my people doeth not consider. And here
the poor old ox is, The poor old dumb ox, all he's fit for
is to fatten him up and eat him. But he's going to bear witness
against the children of Israel. He says, I know my crib. You
fellas don't know your God. And the poor dumb ass that's
fit for nothing but to bear a burden. What does he say? I'm going to
rise and judge you fellas. I'm going to condemn you guys.
I'm going to bear witness against you because I know my Master
and you don't know yours. I tell you there's going to be
a lot of witnesses against the children of Israel. These people
that God brought out of the land of Egypt and through the desert
and give them this land, the witnesses that is already set
to witness against this people and their rebellion. The Lord
Jesus sent His disciples out to preach in the towns of Israel
and here's what He said to them. If they refuse to hear shake
off the dust of your feet as a witness against them. It shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for them in that
day." The dust is going to rise up to witness against the children
of Israel. The Jews kept arguing with the Lord Jesus when He confronted
them about their sins. They said, We have no sins. You
must be talking to somebody else. We have no sins. He said, ìYouíre
of your father the devil.î And they said, ìYou have a devil
yourself. Youíre a Samaritan yourself.î
And hereís what Christ told those men. He said, ìThe men of Nineveh
shall rise up in the judgment with you and shall condemn you.î
I mean, hereís everybody rising to be a witness. The starry heavens,
the sun and the moon, who obey their Creator, And now the dust
of the earth and these heathen nations will rise up and condemn
them in that day because they repented at the preaching of
Jonah and a greater than Jonah is here. And he said even the
queen of the south, how far did she live away from Jerusalem?
But she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon and they would not listen to Christ. But He
says she is going to judge you in the last day and she is going
to condemn you. Because she came from a far country
to hear the wisdom of Solomon and a greater than Solomon is
here. I tell you, this people was blessed
with privileges above any nation in the world. But I tell you,
they were more cursed and judgment fell upon this people more than
anywhere else, anyone else. And the Lord calls heaven and
earth to bear record against them. It seems like the more
advantages we have, the more responsible we are in it. The
more advantages we have, the more responsible we are. You
know something? I think I'd rather have been
born somewhere in the dark jungles of the rainforest and never heard
the name of Jesus Christ, never heard the gospel, never had anything
but the light of nature than to live here where everybody's
got a Bible. and where the gospel is yet preached
and we have so much light and so many spiritual privileges
and liberties. I'd rather live in that jungle
and die there than to live here and die lost. Wouldn't you? And
die lost. That's what He said to the children
of Israel. Listen to what He said to them in His day. Oh,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem. you that kill the prophets and
stone them that are sent unto you. How often I would have gathered
your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens
under her wings, and you would not. Now your house is left unto
you desolate. I do not know if God is ever
going to save that nation or not. I really do not know. They
are gathering back over there now. There's millions of them
going back to that land. I don't know if He's gathering
those people back over there to save them for the gospel or
destroy them. I don't know. But I know this
much. If He's going to save them for
the gospel, He's going to confront them with this song. And if He saves them, they're
going to look back at their forefathers from that generation that come
out of Egypt all the way up until this present generation. And
all they're going to see is a nation that was rebellious against God
from the very beginning. I don't see any evidence yet
that God's going to save those people. And I'll tell you why. You don't see any confession
of sin. You don't see any brokenness in that whole nation. Before,
when the Lord turned them back to Himself, here's the way they
prayed. O God of heaven, we have sinned
with our fathers and done abomination in Thy sight. Do you see that
nation doing that? When the Lord turns them to Himself,
if He does, that's the way you'll see them praying. But until then,
I can't believe He's going to save them, can you? I hope He
does. I hope He does. But this is one
of the, and has been, the most stiff-necked and uncircumcised
nation this world has ever known. And one of the reasons the rebellion
has been so great and the judgment has been so severe upon them
is because of the light that God gives. He gave them the gospel
in types, in promises, in prophecies. They didn't believe it. They
didn't believe it. And He gave them the law plainly
on tables of stone and they would not obey it. What they did was
condemn everybody else with it and justified themselves simply
because they could quote the law. And they brought such shame
and reproach upon the name of God. Did they not? In Romans
chapter 2, Paul said, You teach a man should not steal, and you
steal yourself. You teach a man should not commit
adultery, and yet you are living in it. You teach that you should
not worship idols, but you guys are worshiping idols? And then
he said, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,
as it is written. Now, here in our text, back here
in chapter 32, Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and your, O
earth, the words of my mouth." Now, you might think that this
song begins like I begin. It's been harsh and hard, ain't
it? And you'd think this song would
begin that way, just like I did. You corruptors, you blasphemers,
you hard-hearted rebels, the judgment of God is ready to fall
upon you and condemn you to the lowest hell. You'd think it would
begin with this violence, but you know the Psalms don't begin
that way at all. The verses I read unto you, it
begins so tranquil, it begins so peaceful. You know why? Because it begins
with God. It begins with God. If it had
began with them, it would have began pronouncing judgment upon
them. If you and I begin with man and
his corruption and his unfaithfulness and his sinning, I tell you,
it is the most discouraging and disgusting thing in this world.
Is it not? But when we begin with God, God,
if we begin with Him, then things are tranquil, things are peaceful. Over and above our fallen humanity,
and what we have done and what we are and all the disgust of
it. There is a peace. There is a
tranquility. There is a safe haven to be found
for a burdened soul and a solid place to stand when the world
seems to be sinking in the great abyss of sin and death. But it
is found outside of ourselves. It's found outside of this world
and apart from this world and its temporal advantages. It's
found apart from this world's religion, outside of fleshly
convictions and preferences. It's found in God our Savior. The first four verses didn't
say a thing about them, did it? It began with Him. With Him. The Jews brought this charge
against the Lord all the way through the Bible, even in the
New Testament. They brought this charge against the Lord. You're
too hard. You're too hard. Your ways are
too hard and your doctrine is too hard. You're just too hard. We can't serve you. We don't
want to serve you. You're too hard. Except ye eat
my flesh and drink my blood, ye have no life in you. He that
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and
I will raise him up at the last day." And what did they say?
That is too hard. This is a hard saying. Who can
hear it? What does God say about His doctrine? Well, He says here in verse 2,
it is like the rain. It is like the rain. Not the stinging rain. Not the
floods carried everything before it, but look here in verse 2
what He said about it again. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, and My speech shall distill as the dew. Do you know anything
that is violent about the dew? Don't it drop so easy? It comes
during the night and you get up the next morning. It didn't
come shaking the place and wake you up. It fell so easy during
the night. And by doctrine is as the small
rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the rain. Nothing is said here about a
violent flood. Nothing is said about the muddy
gully washers that they get over in West Virginia or the driving
blistering rains. Everything here is gentle. It
comes so easy, it is easy as the earth drinking in the rain
that falls upon it. That is His doctrine, His teaching,
His Word. The words of Jesus Christ our
Lord and Savior is calculated to do the same thing for our
hearts as the rain does for the earth and the tender herbs and
the grass. What does it do when the rain
comes? It softens the earth, does it not? It waters the tender
herbs. It gives nourishment to the grass
and makes it grow. The earth which drinketh in the
rain that comes oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet
for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God. That's what the Word does. Some won't open their Bibles
and read it. And you know why? They are scared to death of the
One that wrote it. And the devil has convinced them
that he's hard. You don't want to have anything
to do with him now. He's hard. They fear that the burden of
the Word will be so great they can't bear it. Or they fear that
they'll read a commandment there that will be so hard it will
grieve them in an attempt to keep it. None of these things
are so, brothers and sisters. They are just not so. Don't we
read of the gentleness of Christ? Don't we read that He is meek
and lowly in His heart? Don't we hear Him say, My yoke
is easy and My burden is light? Don't we read that His commandments
are not grievous? Didn't King David say, I rejoice
at thy word, as they that findeth great spoils? It wasn't grievous
to him, was it? It wasn't burdenous to him. Let
the words of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching
and admonishing one another. No matter what condition we're
in, what circumstances we find ourselves under, the doctrine
of God is calculated to come right down in the midst of our
situation and direct us and correct us and do us good. And it does it so gently like
the rain coming down from heaven to water the earth. When our hearts are opened by
the Word to see the plague of our hearts, is that a bad thing? Some people won't listen to preaching
that describes man's depravity. That's too hard. They won't read
the Bible that opens their heart up to what they are. And if you
want to know what you are, open this book. It doesn't have anything
good to say about us, does it? In our nature and in our sin. But why does the Lord open up
our hearts? to burden us and just afflict
us? No. He opens up our hearts to
its plague and its spread and leprosy to show us the fountain
that is open for sin and for uncleanness. When the Word shows
us that we failed in ourselves, it is only to show us that without
Him we can do nothing. Is that not a joyful teaching?
Is that not a wonderful, easy doctrine to receive? I have no
trouble with that, do you? How often have I utterly failed
and I went home weeping and the Lord dried my tears by telling
me, Bruce, did I not tell you without me you can do nothing?
You went in your own strength. Go in my strength. And that gives
me joy. That is like rain coming from
heaven upon the mown grass. If He shows us our utter weakness
and our helplessness, it is only to bring us to the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the
time of need. If He calls on us to carry a
burden and it seems heavy, it is only to prove that His grace
is sufficient for us. There's nothing, brothers and
sisters, in the Word of God, in His doctrine about Himself
or us, our creation, our providence, our salvation, nothing that will
put upon us an undue burden. It's so easy. Haven't you found
it that way? I tell you, it's so easy for
the thirsty heart. It's easy for the broken heart.
It's easy for the willing heart. It's easy for the believing heart.
His doctrine is easy. And if I come before you tonight
and I say, man, this is hard. His Word is hard. He's hard.
His ways are hard. You know something? Heaven would
bear witness against me. Bruce, you're wrong. We've obeyed
our Creator for years. We delight to do His will. And
here you're burdened by it. You're wrong. Earth would rise
up against me. The little ant would rise up
and say, Come and watch me, you slugger! I prepare for the winner! No. His ways aren't hard because
He's not hard. His doctrine is not hard. It's
like the rain coming from heaven, softening, bringing forth fruit. Let me ask you this question.
Have you found the Lord Jesus Christ to be too hard? Have you? It's only got hard when you've
left Him. Is that not right? It's only
got difficult when you don't abide in Him and in His strength. That's when it gets hard. When
does His commandments get grievous? When you've got this rebellion
flaring up in your heart. But when you love Him and abide
in His love, isn't His commandments sweet? Yes, they are. Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon
you, and learn of Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and
My burden is light." That is what He is telling the children
of Israel. And they said, Oh, you are too hard. Your doctrine
is too hard. Your way is too hard. Yes, when you're over there
worshiping your idols. When you leave the living God
and His service and His worship and His Word and you go to worship
these other gods, oh, it gets unbearably hard. That's what
He's telling them. That's what He called heaven
and earth to witness against them. Now leave that and go one
more place with me. Look over in Isaiah chapter 55. There's nothing in this world,
I guess, that's more mysterious than the Word of God. And it's because He accomplishes
His work, His will by it. That's what He's working by today.
Now, if you're one of those fellows, I hope you're not, but if you
are, that's all right. Just don't let this ever happen
again. If you're one of those persons that keep saying, God
told me, God told me to do this and God told me to do that. Please
don't do that anymore. If He speaks to you and tells
you to do something, be sure and write it down because that's
inspiration. That's inspired. And we'll put
it in this book. He doesn't work that way, does
He? He uses His Word and He accomplishes His will. He saves people by
His Word. I'm not saying He can't impress
upon your conscience the Spirit of God will lead you, but you
can't be saved, you won't be saved apart from this Word. Of His own will begot He us with
a Word of truth. And here's what's so amazing
about that. It don't come violently. It don't
come sweeping and take everything before it. It don't come violently
and press you down and conquer your heart. It don't come that
way. Elijah was up in a cave and this
wind came through. But God wasn't in the wind. And
the earthquake turned the rocks up and busted them. God wasn't
in the earthquake. What was He in? That still, small
voice. And here's what's so amazing
about this. God is working in this world right now. He's working
in hearts right now. But He's doing it so secretly
It is just like the dew that you find on the grass in the
morning and you say, how did that get there? But it is there,
isn't it? And it is the same way with the
Word. He takes His Word and He secretly, almost secretly, sows
it in your heart and it brings forth fruit. And sometimes you
don't even know how, but there it is, And it is not only working,
it is working irresistibly. Look what he says in this familiar
passage in Isaiah chapter 55 and look in verse 10. He is talking
about the same things our text was talking about. For as the
rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not
thither, but it watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the
eater." Now that's what it does. I mean, it starts right from
the beginning. You've got the little tiny seed
that you can't even hardly see, and it's down in the ground,
and here you've got the rain and the dew that waters that
little seed. It grows up and becomes a stalk,
then it's got an ear and all these grains on it, and people
begin to eat and feed off of it. That's amazing how that happens,
isn't it? Verse 11, So shall my word be
that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I send it. Now I'll be honest
with you. He doesn't always send it for
salvation. Here's the fearful thing about
setting up the gospel. It's a saver of death to some
people. Some people hear it and they
say, I won't have that. I hate that. I hate the God that
that describes. I don't want anything to do with
that Jesus. Away with Him. That Word has accomplished His
task. It's come and you've hardened your heart against it and sealed
your own eternal doom. But has it failed? It hasn't
had it. It hasn't. And then it's a savor
of life. It comes to the heart and it
tenders the heart and causes that seed to sprout and grow
and spring up into life everlasting. And none of that's done in a
violent way. None of it is done like a big thunderstorm. It is
all done in the secret recesses of the heart where the Word works
in that. I hope I never go to attend a
worship service. I hope I never read this Bible
without whispering to God in prayer, Oh, make this like rain
from the heavens upon my heart. Soften my heart. Water my soul
with Your Word. cause it to work in me to bring
forth fruit." And I think that's a good prayer. If God hears it,
I tell you, He'll start springing up. Read it, brothers and sisters. Read it. Don't be afraid of God's
Word. If you're here and you're lost,
don't be afraid of His Word. Open it. And ask Him to open
your heart to it. And read it. and read it, and
read it, and saturate your soul with it, and pray that He had
blessed it to your heart, and it would indeed bring forth fruit. We'll begin our next week, Lord's
Will, and we'll go through that song, okay? Brother Larry, would
you dismiss us?