Deuteronomy 31. We've got probably this study
and maybe the next study. We'll finish the 31st chapter. But I want to begin by considering
the last portion of verse 2. Let's read the whole verse. Deuteronomy
31, verse 2. This is where Moses gathered
Israel together. and said unto them, I am an hundred
and twenty years old this day. This was his birthday. I can
no more go out and come in. Also the Lord hath said unto
me, and this is the verse I want us to consider for just a few
minutes, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. You are not going
over this Jordan. He tells us why the Lord had
forbid him. Now this was very, very sad circumstances. That the Lord forbid this man
to go over Jordan. And he tells us, if you want
to look over in the 32nd chapter of this book, and over in verse
51, he tells us something about the reason. You'll find this
account in Numbers chapter 20, but he mentions this here in
verse 51. Because you trespassed against
Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah, that's
in Kadesh, in the wilderness of sin, because you sanctified
Me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet thou shalt see
the land before thee, but thou shalt not go thither unto the
land which I gave the children of Israel." So, you'll find this
account, there are numbers chapter 20, where the Lord goes into
detail of what happened. And if you'll remember there,
the children of Israel were thirsty. And it was the second generation
after they came out of the land of Egypt. And they cried for
water. And Moses got so upset with them
for crying for water, he prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said,
there's a rock over there, a flint rock of all things, He said,
go over there and speak to it, and it will give you its waters.
But Moses was so grieved, he went over there and smote the
rock twice. Remember that? And he said, you
rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? And the Lord
said, because you believe me not. to sanctify Me before the
people. You'll not go over this short."
And so, there was many reasons that you can see, many sins that
he committed there, in that one was he took part of the glory.
Must we fetch you water? It wasn't him fetching water
out of the rock. The Lord Jesus said, Moses gave
you not that manna from heaven, and Moses didn't give you that
water out of the rock. But He said, must we fetch you
water? That was the sin in and of itself.
And then he was angry. He got so angry, the psalm says,
they provoked his spirit. Made him so upset. And the Bible
says, be ye angry and sin not. But he got so angry that he sinned.
That's another thing that he did. And then by smiting the
rock, the Lord told him specifically, you speak to the rock. The first
rock, remember, the Lord told him to smite it. This time He
says, you speak to this rock. Because the Bible says this rock
was Christ. And to smite the rock once was
all the rock needed to be smitten, and He had already smitten it.
This time He not only smote it once, but He smote it twice.
And that was another sin. And then He tells us in Numbers
chapter 20 and verse 12, because you believed Me not. And isn't that the basis of every
sin we commit? It traces itself right to the
root cause, which is unbelief. He did not believe in the Lord. And therefore, the Lord told
him that you can't go over Jordan. You will not go over Jordan for
this reason. And the Lord forgave him that
sin. He had nothing to do with his salvation. Moses went to
heaven. The Lord took him to heaven.
The Lord said, all manner of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven
you. But he had this one sin that
was devastating to him, and that kept him out of the land of Canaan.
And this is spoken of different times in Moses' writing, even
written about in the book of Psalms, this sin that Moses committed. And it was for this sin the Lord
said, you are not going over into the land of Canaan, not
going over this Jordan, because you have sinned against Me."
Now, I want you to look in Deuteronomy chapter 3, in verse 23. I want you to look there because
the first time the Lord told Moses this, Deuteronomy chapter
3, Moses wasn't for sure if this was settled or not. He thought
it may have been one of those instances where the Lord said,
leave me alone, that I may destroy this people, and really didn't
want to be left alone. He was waiting for Moses to plead
for him. So Moses was in doubt of whether the Lord was really
letting him go over Jordan or not, so he began to ask the Lord
to let him go. You'll see here in Deuteronomy
3, and look in verse 23. Look at this. It's very interesting.
3, verse 23, And I besought the Lord at that time, saying, O
Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness,
just begun, in Thy mighty hand. For what God is there in heaven
or in earth that can do according to Thy works and according to
Thy might? I pray Thee, let me go over. and see the good land that is
beyond Jordan and that goodly mountain and Lebanon. Let me go over. He wanted to
go over, didn't he? We could think of several reasons
this man wanted to go over Jordan to see that good land. Most of
his life, maybe all of his life, this man had lived in deserts.
And he had never seen any land like this. The rolling green
hills, the fertile valleys, the beautiful mountains. He had never
seen any place like that. He wanted to see a place like
the Promised Land. And then I imagine he wanted
to see it because he called it that goodly mountain. And I just
wondered if that wasn't Mount Zion, the mountain they finally
built Jerusalem on. Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered
Isaac his son. Mount Calvary. where the Lord
Jesus was going to be crucified. I wonder if he wanted to see
that. I tell you, if I knew, as Moses did, that the incarnate
God was going to be walking that land, I'd want to see that, wouldn't
you? I have some dear friends of mine,
and sometimes if anybody says anything about going over to
Palestine, over to Israel, they say, I've got no desire to go
over there. I don't want to see that land. And yet they'll go
to London to see Spurgeon's Tabernacle. Or they'll go to Bedford to see
Bunyan's grave. I'd love to go over there, wouldn't
you? I'd love to. I'm sorry, maybe you wouldn't,
but I would. I'd love to see where the Lord Jesus was born. I'd love to see that place where
the Incarnate God walked and worked and lived and died and
rose again. Maybe so commercialized you wouldn't
even recognize the place, but I'd still love to see it. Moses
said, let me go see that land. He wanted to see that place.
But the Lord tells him here in verse 26, But the Lord was wrought
with me for your sakes, and would not hear me, and the Lord said
unto me, Let it suffice you. Let it satisfy you. Speak no
more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah,
and lift up thine eyes westward and northward and southward and
eastward, and behold it with thine eyes, for thou shalt not
go over this Jordan." Not go over. And it sufficed him. He yielded to God's will. And
as far as we know, he never said anything else about the matter. But boy, what a meek man this
was. What a loving man this was. You know what he did When the
Lord told him this, say no more to me about this matter, you're
not going over. You know the first thing he started
doing. And we'll find this in our next Scripture over in Numbers
27. He began to ask the Lord to raise
somebody up to take his place. Lord, I'm not going. Don't leave
Israel without a shepherd. He loved God more than he loved
himself. He loved the church of Christ
more than he loved himself. He loved the will of the Lord
more than he desired his will. The good of the Lord's people
more than anything he desired in his life. He was a loving
man, a gracious man. God give us grace that you put
in this man's heart here that we may have such thoughts as
he did. Look at Numbers chapter 27. Here's
what he said when the Lord told him he wasn't going over Jordan.
Look what he said in chapter 27 of Numbers. Well, look all
the way back in verse 12. Numbers 27 and verse 12. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Get thee up into this mount, Abiram, and see the land which
I give unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou
shalt be gathered unto thy fathers, and Aaron thy brother, where
Aaron thy brother was gathered. For ye rebelled against My commandment
in the desert of Zion, in the strife of the congregation, to
sanctify Me at the waters before their eyes, that is, the waters
of Meribah in Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zion. And Moses
spake unto the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the
spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which
may go out before them, which may go in before them, and which
may lead them out, and which may bring them in, that the congregation
of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord
said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom
is the Spirit, and lay thy hand upon him, and set him before
Eliezer the priest, and before the congregation, and give him
a charge in their sight. and thou shalt put some of thine
honor upon him, that all the congregation of the children
of Israel may be obedient." Boy, that's a loving man. That's a
gracious man, ain't it? No jealousy, no envy about him,
no anger about him, no resentment. He just begins to pray, Lord,
raise up a man to take my place. And then the Lord had a man there
immediately. This reminds me of the Apostle
Paul. when he said about Timothy, I
have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state,
for all seek their own, and not the things that be Christ Jesus.
God give us the grace as you gave this man Moses. This reminds
us of the Lord Jesus too, don't it? The Scripture says he pleased
not himself. Pleased not himself. took upon
Him the form of a servant. Being found in fashion as a man,
He humbled Himself. He that was rich became poor.
Pleased not Himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of
them that reproach Thee." They reproached God and reproached
His church. That reproach, He said, has fallen
upon Me. He bore it all. He bore it all. He sought nothing above God's
glory, did He? And above God's will? and above
what pleased Him." Moses had that same spirit about him that
the Master had about him. But he says something here in
Numbers 27, verses 18 through verse 20 that I want to point
out to you. Three things about Joshua. Three things about Joshua being
accepted here of this congregation. Look here in verse 18. He mentions
these three things for a reason. In verse 18, "...and the Lord
said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom
is the Spirit." And that's the Spirit of God. Not just his soul,
but the Spirit of God. Every other version that I looked
in uses a capital letter here and says it should be the Spirit.
The Spirit of God was in this man. What else matters? I mean, it doesn't matter how
much education we have. It doesn't matter how eloquent
we are. Nothing matters if we don't have
the Spirit do it. How important it was then for
the Lord to tell them, Joshua has the Spirit. And then here
in verse 19, He tells Moses something else. He said to him before Eleazar
the priest, and before all the congregation, and give him a
charge in their sight." He sets him before the chief priest.
That's the most important man, religious man of that day, the
chief priest. And Moses lays his hands on him
and he gives him a charge. Now these two men recognizing
this man before this congregation, that had to impress that congregation
when they did that to this man. And then he says there in verse
20, "...put some of thine honor upon him." I guess it was just
the fact that Moses, this great prophet of God, for him to put
his hands on this man, that had to impress that congregation
for him to do that. Honored him. Dignity. power upon
this man. And why did all this happen?
Well, verse 20 says, there in the last portion, that all the
congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient unto
Him. Now, if they didn't respect Him,
they weren't going to obey Him, was they? They just wouldn't
believe Him. When he spake to them, if they
didn't feel some power and liberty in what he was saying, they'd
have no confidence in him. They had to be assured that God
was with this man. And whatever he did and wherever
he went, he was going to be like Moses. The Lord was going to
lead him. You know, this still happens
today. This is such a good example of what happens today. There
was a pastor who called me from another state, and he said he
wasn't a pastor, he was one of the men in the congregation,
and he said the church didn't have a pastor. And he wanted
to know if I could give him any suggestions about getting a pastor.
And I said, the best thing you can do is call a man. Let him preach to you for about
three or four months. Don't call him to be the pastor.
Just say, come, let's get acquainted with you. And see what the congregation
thinks about him. Is he a blessing to that congregation? Do they sense that that's the
man for them? Do they sense that he has the
Spirit of the Lord? Are they being blessed by that
man? Sometimes the Lord will raise
up a preacher or a teacher or a help right in the midst of
the congregation. And you know something, sometimes
the congregation will recognize a man's gifts and abilities even
before the man himself does." I wonder what Joshua was thinking
about all of this when they had him there in the midst of this
people. I wonder if he recognized his
gifts and abilities. When he was standing before the
high priest, and Moses, this holy man of God, had his hands
on him, and they were setting him aside for the highest office
in that great nation, I wonder what he thought about all of
that. I wonder if he thought, man, I'm equipped. Man, I'm ready. I bet you he was trembling in
his shoes. Don't you? They see something
I don't see. They know something about me
I don't know. God help me. I can't do this. I bet that's
the way he was thinking. And this is why Moses encouraged
him so much. Because Moses knew and maybe
the congregation knew more than Joshua knew about how the Lord
was going to use him. You remember Gideon there in
Judges chapter 6. Israel was in bondage to the
Medianites. And they would come down and
steal all their grain and everything. And Gideon was hiding, getting some wheat out of the
house. And the angel of the Lord came
up on him and said, Hail, thou mighty man of valor! The Lord
is with thee. By you, God is going to deliver
Israel from the Medianites." And that poor man didn't know
what to say. It's almost like he said, don't
you know who I am? Me? I'm going to deliver anybody? My family is the poorest tribe
in all Manasseh, and I'm the least in my father's house. What
can I do to deliver? the children of Israel. Sometimes
when the Lord has given a man gifts and abilities, he does
not recognize it. Usually other people recognize
it before he recognizes it in himself. And you know something? A man is not worth a dime in
the Kingdom of Christ. And he will never be a blessing
to the Lord's people and much of a help if he is not somewhat
apprehentious about taking a public role and part in the ministry. If he can just jump into it and
do it without any hesitation, without any apprehension, I wouldn't
give you a dime for that, man. Because any time you step out
into a public role in the Kingdom of Christ to do anything before
God's people, I tell you, there's some drawback there. There's
some soul searching. When Paul went to Corinth to
preach Christ to them, and he said, I determined to know nothing
among you but Christ and Him crucified, he said, I was with
you in weakness and fear and in much trembling. And my speech,
he said, my preaching, wasn't with enticing words. of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power." Why? That your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. To stand up
here and declare the glory of God, the way of salvation, and
how to bring souls to that faith that saves them, that's a dreadful
thing to even think about, ain't it? And those who are truly called
They think about things like that. And that's why sometimes
they just have to keep being encouraged and encouraged and
encouraged to do it because they're so apprehensive about it. Look
back over here again in our text in Deuteronomy chapter 31. Deuteronomy
chapter 31. And look here in verse 14. Look in verse 7. Moses continually encouraged
Joshua because I imagine he knew how this man was feeling. Remember
when the Lord called Moses? Remember how he felt? He said,
Lord, I can't go. Send somebody else. I don't even
have a clear tongue to speak. My tongue is stammering. Don't
send me." And look how he encouraged Joshua. Notice verses 1-4. He's been talking to the Lord's
people, encouraging them. And now he goes to Joshua. He
says the very same thing to Joshua. He said to them, And Moses called
unto Joshua, and said unto him, In the sight of all Israel, Be
strong and of a good courage, for thou must go with this people
into the land which the Lord has sworn unto their fathers
to give unto them. Thou shalt cause them to inherit
it. And the Lord He it is that goeth before thee. He shall be with thee. He will
not fail thee, neither forsake thee, fear not, be neither dismayed."
So He kept encouraging this man. That's what we have to do to
one another, ain't it? That's what we should do. Edify
one another. Encourage one another and strengthen
one another. I tell you, we've got a battle
on our hands every day, don't we? I ought to be encouraging
you as the Lord's people. You ought to be encouraging me
as the pastor. Lifting one another up and helping
one another. Because I'm telling you, it's
a battle, ain't it? It's an absolute battle. But
you know, there is something else we need besides just saying,
I believe that the Lord has called you, and encouraging you in that. We need the Lord's assurance. And Moses here was encouraging
Joshua, but something else is going to take place in this chapter. Something that is essential for
him, for Joshua. And look here what he says in
verse 14. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Behold, thy days approach that thou must die. Call Joshua, and
present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may
give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went and
presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation. Now in verse
23, notice, this is the charge. that the Lord gave him. And he,
the Lord, gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge and said, Be
strong and of a good courage, for thou shalt bring the children
of Israel into the land which I swear unto them, and I will
be with thee. Before, Moses said, The Lord
will be with thee. But now it's different. Now the
Lord Himself spoke to Joshua. And he says, Joshua, I'll be
with you. And boy, that makes a difference,
don't it? That really makes a difference. Why is this necessary? Well,
I may encourage Brother Larry, and I may say, Larry, I really
sense, listen to you teach, that you've got a gift to teach, that
the Lord has given you a gift to teach, and encourage him to
teach. Or somebody else, a missionary,
you may talk to a missionary and you say, Dear brother, I
just feel in my heart, I sense God's blessings upon you as a
missionary. This is what you should be doing.
This may even come right down to salvation. I may talk to some
of you and say, You know, I really believe that the Lord has saved
you. I really believe you've got the
saving grace of God in your heart. But boy, there comes a time when
that won't do much for you. There comes a time when Larry's
Bible seems like somebody stole the words off of it. And he can't
pray and he can't teach. And then, my encouragement isn't
going to mean much to him. This is what he's going to want.
A discernment from the Lord. Assurance from the Lord He's
got His hand upon Larry. And boy, it's this way in salvation
too, ain't it? Other people have confidence
in you and call you brother and call you sister, and they say,
I believe you're a child of God, I believe your name's in the
Lamb's Book of Life. But boy, I tell you what, buddy, there's
battles that you're going to face that you're going to want
the assurance that only the Lord can give you, and nobody else
can give you. I told you about the preacher
where the young man was praying, and I was there with him, pretty
close to the young man. And this preacher came up to
him and patted him on the shoulder and said, Son, the Lord has told
me to tell you that He has forgiven all your sins. I thought, man
of life, he doesn't need to hear that from you. He needs to hear
that from the Lord. What's that going to do when
he gets in trouble, when he gets in temptation, when he walks
through some long valley? Going to remember that you told
him? He needs the Lord to tell him, doesn't he? That's where
he needs the assurance from. And that's what you and I need.
We need to go to the Lord and seek Him for our assurance of
salvation. And whatever we're doing, we
feel like He's called us to in the kingdom. Helps pastors or
teachers. to get the assurance from Him
that He's called us. And the reason I say that, because
somewhere or another, we're going to hit a brick wall. Boy, if
you ain't hit one, you're going to hit a brick wall. I'm telling
you. Everything is going to suddenly come to a stop. And you're going
to say, what in the world just happened? What am I doing in
a place like this? I want you to turn over here
and leave our text. We're finished with that. Look
over in Joshua chapter 7. Over in the very next book to
your right. Joshua chapter 7. Joshua had took off, boy. He
had led the children of Israel across the Jordan. The Jordan
had parted, parted, and they went across. March 7 days around
Jericho, the walls fell. And they were happy. They were
happy. But Achan had taken some things
he wasn't supposed to take, and he hid them in his tent. And
the Lord was going to do some correcting, but Joshua didn't
know it. But look what happened. Look in Joshua chapter 7 and
let's begin in verse 2. This is after Jericho fell. And
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethlehem
on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up
and view the country. And the men went up and viewed
Ai. And they returned to Joshua and
said unto him, Let not all the people go up, Let about 2,000
or 3,000 go up, 2,000 or 3,000 men, and smite Aiah, and make
not all the people to labor thither, for there are but few. So there
went up thither of the people about 3,000 men, and they fled
before the men of Aiah. And the men of Aiah smote them
about 30 and 6 men, and they chased them from before the gate
unto Shebarem, and smote them in the going down. Wherefore
the heart of the people melded, and became as water. And Joshua
rent his clothes, and fell on the earth upon his face before
the ark of the Lord, until the even tide. He and the elders
of Israel put dust upon their heads, and Joshua said, Alas,
O Lord God! Wherefore hast thou at all brought
this people over Jordan? to deliver us into the hands
of the Amorites to destroy us? Would to God we had been content
and dwelt on the other side of Jordan." See what he is saying?
What in the world have I done? I wish I had kept my mouth shut
and stayed over there on the other side of Jordan and waited
for God to raise up somebody that knew how to lead these people
and knew what was going on. He hid a brick wall. And Buddy,
all of his assurance was gone that he was a leader of this
people. And then about that time, his imagination went crazy. And
look what he said in verse 8. Oh Lord, what shall I say when
Israel turns their backs before their enemies? For the Canaanites
The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it,
and shall encamp around us, and cut off our name from the earth,
and what will thou do unto thy great name?" He had it all figured
out. He just knew what was going to happen, didn't he? His imagination
was running wild with it. And you know the only thing that
saved him? You know the only thing that
got underneath him and held him up during this time? The Lord
returned. The same Lord that had called
him upheld him and corrected him and told him what was going
on. And I tell you, if the Lord hadn't called this man to this
office to do what he was doing, right here is where he would
have fell, never to arose again. It's a good thing when the Lord
calls a man to do anything, and it's a good thing when that man
knows it, when that man has the assurance of it. Because when
the Lord calls you to do something, I'm telling you this, it'll get
done. When He gives you a gift, He'll uphold those gifts. And
hell or earth cannot take those gifts away. The gifts and callings
of God are without repentance. And He upheld this man. in this
awful, awful trial and delivered the children of Israel after
He had corrected them. So boy, it's important for us
to encourage one another and edify one another and try to
assure one another. But I'm telling you over and
above that, we need to know ourselves and have the assurance ourselves,
God has saved me. God has put me where I'm at.
God has called me to do what I'm doing. That's so important,
ain't it? I've been reading a book by Franz
Baker. He was a Dutchman. He died in
1965. He was about 35 years old or
something when he felt like the Lord had called him to preach.
And three years later, they called him to pastor. He pastored for
about six or seven years and got cancer. He was about 44 years
old or so when he got cancer, and he was a good pastor. Good
pastor. They loved him. The Dutch people
loved him. He wrote a little book on prayer. The Fastest of Prayer. And I'm
reading it now. Wonderful little book. But he got cancer. And they did surgery on him.
And said, we've got all the cancer. Just a short time, it came back
and they said, there's nothing we can do. The man was devastated. His congregation was devastated.
And he was so devastated, it took him quite some time to come
to terms that he was going to die. That his ministry was over. And that man that was so blessed
of the Lord spent only eight years. He was 46 years old when
he died. Spent only eight years pastoring
those people. And then he died. He hit that
wall. Hit that wall. Boy, that's when
we want the assurance, ain't it? that the Lord has called
me." We're going to be tried. One more passage of Scripture
in closing. Look at 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians 2. Look in
verse 1. 1 Thessalonians 2. For yourselves, brethren, know
our entrance unto you that it was not in vain. But even after
we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as you
know at Philippi, that's where they beat him and put him in
jail, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel
of God with much contention. For our exhortation was not in
deceit, or error, or uncleanness, nor guile, But as we were allowed
of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak,
not as pleasing men, but God, look at this, which trieth our
hearts." We talk about man trieth us,
family trieth us. We talk about the brethren, the
church trieth us. We talk about the devil trieth
us. But you know God tries us too, doesn't He? He tries us
too. He has chosen us. He has redeemed
us at a great cost to Himself. He's called us into the kingdom
and glory of Christ. And then He tries us. And sometimes
He tries us sore. And then when He's finished with
us, He says, that's it. That's it. And it seems harsh,
doesn't it? Moses, you're not going over.
Don't speak to me anymore about it." And he says to us, that's
it. You've got cancer. That's it. You've had a heart
attack. That's it. You're doing no further. We say, Lord, why? And he says,
don't speak to me anymore about this. And what do we do? We submit
to His will. We submit our will to His will. And we say, Lord, Your will be
done. And we go off the scene and we pray for those that are
going to follow us. Lord, hold them up. Let the work
of Christ continue in this world. God, give us grace that You gave
this man, Moses, to desire Your will more than we desire our
own, and the good of Your church more than our own good, for Your
sake. Shannon, would you dismiss us?