On behalf of the leaders, pastors, deacons, and elders of Grace Bible Church in Cambridge, Ontario, I send you our most sincere greetings in the name of our risen King, Lord Jesus. I do a lot of traveling. I'm acutely aware. As I travel out of the world and through Canada, we're reminded at our home church of how acutely Satan is devilishly at work to undermine the work of the gospel wherever the gospel is proclaimed faithfully.
We have a policy at our church that we have about eight or nine guys who travel regularly. We're blessed with a small congregation, about 150, but we have about eight guys whose master's degrees are better. And what we do is we do a lot of church assisting, small churches, and we have guys constantly on the road helping churches preach and teach on Sunday mornings as part of our means of influencing the church for the cause of the gospel. And we all submit our teaching calendars to the elders.
And even while you were asleep this morning and having breakfast, this service was being bathed in prayer by the fellowship back in Cambridge. I just wanted you to know that. It's true I work for Solo Scriptura Ministries, and we are a conference teaching publishing ministry. I'm going to talk about that for 30 seconds.
And one of the things we do is we go to a lot of book fair events. We meet people and Christians from a wide variety of denominational stripes and a wide variety of evangelical backgrounds. And as one who's involved very heavily in reform book distribution, you get some rather interesting questions. You get all kinds of questions about books.
Do you have books about topics X, Y, and Z? Do you have books about eschatology? Do you have books about, about, about? And occasionally, you get a real zinger.
One lady once asked me, do you have a book about appropriate Christian hairdos that I can give to my 13-year-old teenage daughter? That's probably the weirdest one I ever got. But most recently, in Ontario, I had a lady who said, typical question, I want to buy a book for a family member, and what do you recommend? Well, that's like asking, I'm hungry, what do you think I should eat?
I mean, food would be good, but can you narrow the field a little bit here? So we asked a number of probing questions. Does she like history? Does she like fiction?
Does she like, does she like, does she like? And so finally, I'm running out of questions to ask her. And I said, well, how about theology? That word of a lie.
She said, oh, no. Don't give me theology. Give me something practical. And at that point, I did one of these magnificent Baryshnikov's leaps over the table, 12 feet in the air, landed in front of her, grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, and said, woman, there is nothing more vital than the study of theology, because once you understand the character, the nature of the person, and the will of God, that has to transform you on a number of practical levels.
That's what I wanted to do. I explained to her the fallacy of her thinking, and we finally set up her and her daughter with some appropriate literature for reading. But what this illustrates is a mantra that you hear far too often amongst professing evangelicals that we need to be pragmatic. Now, there's nothing wrong with being pragmatic, and the scriptures give us a lot of commands on how we ought to live.
Husbands, you ought to love your wives as Christ loved the church. That's very practical. It's very pragmatic. We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
That's a very pragmatic thing. We are to have compassion on the poor. That's a very pragmatic thing. We are to love the marginalized and give hands and feet to many of the commands that Christ has given us in the New Testament.
That's very pragmatic. It's one thing to be pragmatic. It's a whole different worldview by becoming or embracing something called pragmatism. And every time you take a word and add an ISM at the end of it, what you've done is now changed the meaning of the word.
Because now pragmatism is a worldview that says, what is good is what works. Not is it true, but does it work? And you see this in a lot of areas like the church growth movement, for example. If the goal of preaching the gospel or the goal of doing church is to fill the pew, the question is, what can we do to attract bodies into the church?
And if that becomes your goal, then a lot of things tend to get jettisoned, like, how about truth? How about gospel? How about the offense of a cross? That's offensive to a lot of people and deliberately keeps people out of the church because they cannot abide the thought that I am a sinner, Christ died for my sins, and therefore he is the only way where I can be reconciled.
That is an offense to the people outside the faith. And if the goal of getting people into the pew is to remove offenses and provide jazz music and social evenings and free buffets, then by all means, go to it. But that's called pragmatism. That's not being pragmatic in a Christian sense.
What I want to point out this morning is look at one of the heroes of the faith in the Old Testament, Moses, and take a look at both how dangerous and foolish and folly it can be when we begin to go down the road of pragmatism. So
Introduction and Context
I want you to flip to the Old Testament. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 31 beginning at the first verse. Is this water safe to drink down here? Okay, thank you.
Deuteronomy chapter 31. Before I read, let me just set the context a little bit. The Book of Deuteronomy is, if you want to understand it from a global perspective, the Book of Deuteronomy is called the second reading of the law. The first generation of Jews who had come out of Egypt have now died in the desert.
They were cursed by God. for having disobeyed God in conquering the land of Canaan 40 years earlier. Because of their disobedience and their unwillingness to trust the promise of God that the land was theirs, they are condemned to die in the desert. And now this is 40 years later. Second generation has raised up.
The law is being read again. And the nation is on the eve of battle. They're on the eve of conquest. They're about to march across with their Abrams tanks, their F-16s, and their Glocks fully loaded in order to take the land that God had promised them.
So just before they cross Jordan, Moses reads the law again. He begins this way. He says, so
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 31
Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel, verse one, and he said to them,
Moses Excluded from the Promised Land
I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, you shall not go over this Jordan. 1.2 million people are about to engage on a campaign of conquest, and the leader who has been in charge of them for the past 40 years is excluded, is not allowed, is not permitted to cross with his covenant people into the land of promise. Moses, just to recap his history a little bit here, Moses was born under the curse of Pharaoh's edict.
He miraculously and providentially escapes execution by being placed in a reed basket, floated down the river, and he ends up in Pharaoh's household where he lives the next 40 years, is raised with the privilege of palace, the full orb of everything it means to be a child of an earthly king is given to him. He leads a blessed and charmed life. He attacks one of Pharaoh's servants when one of Pharaoh's servants abuses one of his Hebrew countrymen. And as a result, he spends the next 40 years of quiet exile in the wilderness of Zin, where he finally encounters God.
It was Moses who then witnesses the burning bush of Sinai. And Moses would be the one who delivers the nation from persecution. Moses, along with Aaron, would be the one who would defeat Pharaoh's magicians at court by doing a number of miraculous feats that result with the exodus, which is a foreshadow of the great exodus represented at the Passover by Christ's atoning sacrifice in Calvary. It was Moses who was instrumental in pardoning the water at the Red Sea.
It was Moses who walked out to Sinai and received both the first law and the second law, tablets, I should say, two sets of tablets. It was Moses who had the singularly unique privilege of seeing a portion of God that you and I will only see when we are translated into glory. He had the temerity to ask God, show me your face. Let me see you.
And I don't think it was an arrogant request. I think it was a loving, adoring request, because he's been so intimately involved with God for all these years. And he wants to see, who is this one to whom I have bent the knee in allegiance? And God says to Moses what?
No man shall gaze upon my face and live. But hear, Moses, what I will do. I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock. My hand will cover you, and you will see the backside of my glory.
It shall parade in front of you. And when Moses has this unique, unique, single, unique privilege, I've seen God this way. He comes off the mountain. And how do the elders respond?
Moses, cover your face. We know you have seen God because we can see the glory of God reflected in your countenance. Cover yourself because we cannot abide this holy visit which you have brought to us. Moses had a killer resume.
And if anybody had a magical or a powerful or a glorious resume to speak of his skill and his ability and his unique spiritual heritage, he was the man. In fact, I would say he has a greater resume than the Apostle Paul had in many ways. Hebrews chapter 3 speaks of Moses as the great servant of God's household who was a foreshadow for the great son who was about to come, the Lord Jesus. It was Moses who appears at Elijah at the Mount of Transfiguration in the Gospels.
It was Moses who was given the awesome responsibility of administrating 1.2 million people in the desert. And yet, on the eve of conquest, on the eve of deliverance, on the eve of fulfilling the promises given to Abraham 430 years later, this man who had the unique privilege of seeing a portion of God's visage is declared by God, you are not invited. Questions why? Well,
The Reason for Moses' Exclusion
let's skip ahead to chapter 32 for just a moment. 32, 48. That very day, the Lord speaks to Moses or spoke to Moses, go up this mountain of Abram, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho. and be you the land of Canaan, which I am giving up to the people of Israel for a possession. And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered up to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. Here's the reason, verse 51.
Because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel, in the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel, for you shall see the land before you But you shall not go there into the land that I'm giving up to the people of Israel." The waters of Kadesh, the waters of Meribah.
Two Episodes at Meribah
The Old Testament records two incidents, two identical incidents at the same spot 40 years apart where we have this issue of water coming from a rock. The first is Exodus chapter 17, verse 1. Exodus 17, verse 1, we are here merely days, if not weeks, after we have seen the single greatest lopsided military victory ever executed upon any superpower at any time. This is just a few weeks away.
People have seen the pillar of fire and the Shekinah cloud of glory. They have seen Pharaoh's armies instantaneously vaporized by these two cascading walls of water as Israel emerged on dry land. And yet, just a few days later, we read this.
The First Meribah: Exodus 17
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Zin by stages, according to the command of the Lord. and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?
But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So Moses cried to the Lord, what shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff which you struck the Nile and go.
Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and people will drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massa and Meribah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
Miraculous deliverance. An entire army obliterated. It would be the equivalent of the US 7th fleet. sailing into Victoria Harbor in order to take hold of British Columbia, and all of a sudden you have this instant wormhole of a typhoon of water suddenly suck up 47 ships and 47,000 sailors in just a moment of time. That's the scale we're talking about here.
And yet, something as inane, as simple as, if God can deliver, destroy an entire nation, why can't he deliver water? So they tested God, and so the nation failed the first of many tests, right here and then. Now, that's the first episode. It ended rather successfully.
The people were tested. Everybody went home for the prayer meeting happy and delighted, and they were filled. The same episode takes place 40 years later. Second generation.
First generation's dead. Second generation has raised up. They're at the very same place, and the very same issues arise once more. And you can find that in Numbers chapter 20, in verse 1.
I'm going to read that section for you. Numbers chapter 20, again, 40 years later, Eve of conquest. And
The Second Meribah: Numbers 20
the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there. Now there was no water, and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, would that we have perished.
Now same argument that the first generation raised up. Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord, referring to the first generation that died in the wilderness. Why have you brought the assembly into this wasteland that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come out of Egypt?
Double whammy. Not only did our parents die in the desert, but you also took us out of Egypt. Let's go back. Out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place.
It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink. Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of a tent of meeting and fell on their faces. The glory of the Lord appeared. The Lord said to Moses, saying, take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron, your brother.
Tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock. And he, being Moses, said to them, hear now, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice and water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and their livestock. Verse 12, the shoe drops. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not believe in me to uphold me as holy in the eyes of Israel, therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given you. These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy." There is a marked difference between this episode today and the one that happened 40 years earlier.
The other one ended well. This one ended well, too, in a matter of speaking, but there was a fatal consequence, a fatal price that had to be paid. So let's look at this from two different angles.
What Moses Did Right
First question we're going to ask is, in this situation, what did Moses do right? OK, we have a church problem in front of us. We have a terrible crisis. We have a calamity.
We have something, a problem, a very real problem that needs to be addressed. Thirst in the desert is a very real problem. You don't have hydration. In a very short amount of days, you are dead.
That's a fact of life. It's got to be solved. So we have a very real problem that faces the congregation in the desert. The two things that Moses did right is, first of all, he went to the tent of meeting.
He went to the place where God dwells. He went to the place where God manifests himself in a unique and a powerful dynamic way. That's the first thing he did right. The second thing that both he and Aaron did right was that they fell on their faces and began to worship.
They began to pray. And they began to seek God's face for the problem that was in front of them. And I will submit to you that this is a good example of what we need to do In times when calamity hits your family, when calamity hits the church, when there's a real problem that needs to be solved, the first thing we do is don't call CNN, we don't call our human rights advocates, we don't go to human rights tribunals, call the courts, call the police. What we do is we take our prayers and petition before Lord Almighty and seek His face, seek His will, seek His guidance, and seek His direction.
That's what Moses did here. And he gets the answer. The answer is, the problem is not the answer, the problem is they got the answer wrong. They didn't follow God's prescription.
What Moses Did Wrong
He did at least three things wrong here. First thing was, he was commanded to speak to the rock. Almost a small trivial detail. He's supposed to speak to the rock, but it says here in verse 10 that Moses and Aaron gathered assembly together before the rock and he said to them, The congregation.
The congregation may act as rocks sometimes, but the congregation's not a rock. He speaks to them. Small thing. That's the first thing you did wrong.
And the second thing is, in the words Moses speaks, there's almost a hint of arrogance. There's obvious frustration. There's a hint of arrogance. There's a hint of pride, where I think Moses is taking some of the credit that is due God and God alone for this deliverance and taking it upon himself where he says that Here now, you rebels, shall we, we being me, man, Moses, the leader, your kink and your head sheaths, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?
That's the second thing you did wrong. And the third thing you did wrong was, it says here, he struck the rock not once, but twice when the God's instruction was very clear. I want you, Moses, to talk to the rock. Don't hit it.
I never asked you to do that. That's not part of the command. You did not treat me as holy. In fact, the only person who acted obediently in the story is the rock.
The rock did what it was supposed to do. The rock was more obedient than Moses in this case. You know, from a human perspective, when we look at a story like this and we go, what is the big deal? It is such a small thing, it is insignificant, a tiny trivial detail.
Striking the rock, talking the rock, not once but twice, it worked once before, why shouldn't it work now? The difference is that God didn't command it that way. Everyone is blessed. The prayer meeting is closed, the congregation takes the vote, the people go home happy, everyone except Aaron and Moses.
And then you get a stern rebuke where God says, you know, gentlemen, Moses, we're having a party across the Jordan. It's going to be one whale of a party. And I've just taken you off the invitation list. You can't come.
Five Implications of Moses' Failure
There's at least five implications we can draw from this particular episode. And the first, I think the most first and most obvious implication is the question, what does the anger of man really accomplish in the long run? We have a man here who is a leader. He's frustrated.
There's anger, perhaps a bit of arrogance and pride tossed in there for the mix. But his response is out of anger. And if we have time to detail this through scripture, we can show you quite convincingly that the anger of man usually accomplishes very little. In fact, it is often counterproductive to glorifying God and advancing the kingdom of his gospel forward.
I mean, that's the first and, I think, rather obvious problem we have here. I think the second implication he often hears is that God will often forbear our foolish ways patiently and he holds back immediate action where we deserve immediate retribution. Case in point, Uzzah, Old Testament. The story of Uzzah, which I'm sure many of you know very well, where the ark is captured by the Philistine army, and they're going, yippee, we got God.
The box equals God. Therefore, we have Israel's God, we have the supreme power. We're going to take over heaven because God, our God, because Israel's God's been good in the past, he's going to be good to us. What happens to the Philistine nation?
God strikes an enormous amount of plagues. They suddenly realize having this thing in their midst is detrimental to their health, so they put it on a cart, they ship it back across to the Israeli camp. David finds out about this, sends a group of Levites, Levitical priests, to pick up the ark, and what do they do? Well, they're traveling back to Jerusalem.
There's the ox cart, and this poor Levite priest, Uzzah, The ox cart hits a pothole, the ark is about to topple off the cart, and he did probably what you and I would do in the very same instance, this golden holy relic, this ancient treasure, this place that has been the focal point of Israeli worship for up to about 500 years up to this point, is about to topple into the mud, and he instinctively reaches out to stop it, and he's struck dead on the spot. Wasn't Uzzah doing a good thing? The problem was, The Levites had very strict orders of how the Ark was to be transported from place to place. Only Levites.
It could only be carried on foot. It had to be carried with these golden poles that went through these loopholes on the side of the Ark. It was supposed to be carried in the arms of Levitical priests wherever it went. It was never to be traveled on an ox cart.
Small thing. tiny thing. What is the big deal? Whether it's on poles or whether it's on oxcarts or whether it's on the back of your minivan. What difference does it make?
I think the third implication is that no aspect of God's revelation is too small to ignore with reckless impunity. Where God has commanded We need to obey. And sometimes the only answer we can give for doing something is simply this, God has spoken. God has said, this is the way I want it done.
And that ought to be enough for us. But as impetuous children, oftentimes when parents tell their kids, John, you can't do this, we go, why, why, why, why, why? And as adults, as adult Christians in the faith, often even the most mature of believers can fall into this trap of saying, God, why? The fact that he said it isn't enough.
In this case, it was the leadership, Moses, who failed to live up to God's standards. And as a result, the leadership faced some very serious consequences. So I would ask you to pray for your pastor. Pray for your deacons and elders.
Pray for those who have spiritual authority over you, because James 3 once says that those who teach, those who preach, those who exercise spiritual authority over you will face a double judgment. Not only for their failings, but if what they teach is wrong and they lead you astray, your blood is on his head. So make his life a joy and pray for him. Take care of him and love him.
But you know, even the fact that the minister failed, God nevertheless looks after the sheep in his fold. He didn't allow the congregation to suffer for the leader's folly. He still blessed them with what they needed. And the fourth and probably the fifth thing that wraps all this up together here is that we dare not go beyond God's prescribed means to bring about God's command that ends.
Oftentimes, he's given us the what to. Here's what I want you to do. But in many cases, he's also said, here's what I want you to do, but this is how I want you to do it. We don't dare not short circuit that process.
We must oftentimes follow God's commanded ends by God's commanded means. Question, are you all suitably depressed now? Don't be, because this story has some tremendous news behind it, some really good news here for all of you. It's going to encourage you.
You're going to walk out of here praising the Lord. Good news. I want you to shift gears here for a moment. Keep this in the back of your mind, okay?
This is going to set the framework for what we're about to cover next.
The Judgment of Works: 1 Corinthians 3
I want you to look at the New Testament for a moment, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. If there ever was a problem church, this one was it. First Corinthians chapter three at verse one Paul speaking but I brothers could not address you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk not solid food for you are not ready for it.
And even now you are not ready for you are still of the flesh. But while there is jealousy and strife among you are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way. For one says I follow Paul and another I follow Apollos. Are you not being really human.
What then is Apollos? What is John MacArthur? What is R.C. Sproul?
What is Chuck Swindoll? Servants to whom you believe as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Sproul watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God gives the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one. Each will receive his wages according to his laboring, for we are God's fellow workers. your God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I lay the foundation and someone else's building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, Each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
If ever there was a problem church, this church at Corinth was it. I mean, if you go through, if you read the Corinthians, you'll know that there were a number of scandals wrapped in the church at this time. Probably the most prominent one, which has given the church a black eye was the fact that you have a father and a son were sharing the bedroom with the same woman. And that just, Paul says in very stark terms, that is so heinous, even the pagans, even the guys out there, the ones who are outside the gospel can't even speak of it.
It's not detestable what you're doing. There's sectarianism. There is party politics going on. Who is your favorite celebrity theologian of the month?
Well, I'm a Sproul man. I'm a MacArthur man. I'm a Chuck Swindoll man. I'm a Hank Hanegraaff guy.
It says nothing. They're all one. Each has a separate function in the body. Each is useful, but you have to say, we've got this party politics taking place, which is detestable, according to Paul.
You have improper worship taking place. You have the Lord's tables being besmirched. This is becoming a drunken feast fest in many cases as you go through later chapters of 1 Corinthians. There's misuses of Christian liberty.
There's a whole host of problems that the church needs to, has to be addressed, and Paul pulls no punches here in addressing this. What is clear, though, that this letter to the church in Corinth is written to believers about their lifestyle. It's not a pretty picture. The reason it's written to believers is that he continuously addresses these people as brothers and sisters.
These are people who are regenerate, who Paul knows to be regenerate. They are truly saved. They are in the kingdom. They have bent the knee to the Lord Jesus, although their lives have certain black holes that need to be addressed.
What is clear here, we're just talking about this judgment that is pending believers. It's believers who are going to be judged, not for salvation. That's been dealt with. The cross has dealt with that.
The sins of the past have been dealt with. We're talking about now building upon the foundation. How are you advancing the kingdom? How are you bringing the gospel forward?
What sort of works are you doing to glorify God? This is what he has in mind. These are post-conversion or after-conversion works that will be judged by God. The works here are not designed to merit salvation, because it uses the metaphor of the foundation of the church that's being laid by Christ, and we are to continue building that structure with how we conduct ourselves in our day-to-day lives.
It uses two categories of metaphors to describe the nature of this judgment. He talks about works that are gold, silver, precious jewels, wood, hay, and straw. Each will be tested by fire. The stuff that's consumable is going to be destroyed.
That which is precious, that which is good, that which is lasting, that which has eternal consequence, that will remain. And on the basis of what has remained in our life's work, upon that judgment will be based, the eternal reward will be meted out. Which means that there's some of us who are going to have baskets and baskets of stones, that otherwise we might have a pinky ring at the end of the day. But nevertheless, you are still in the kingdom.
It's called degrees of reward and degrees of punishment. If the work survives, there'll be reward if it's consumed. You enter into the kingdom, but as one who has suffered loss. Now, question is, I'm not sure many of you have read this verse and have probably in your quiet times have wondered, what does this actually look like?
Someday we'll see for sure, but I think Deuteronomy chapter 31 and the life of Moses is an Old Testament example of this New Testament truth and how it meets out in day-to-day life. Let's go back to the Old Testament for a moment.
Moses' Death and God's Mercy
And what do you do with Deuteronomy 34? Deuteronomy 34 is the last glimpse we have of Moses on this earth. These are his very last moments in life. He is about to die.
This time has come. We read at verse 1, Deuteronomy 34, then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land. Gilead, as far as Dan, all Naphtali, land of Ephraim, Manasseh, the land of Judah, as far as the Western Sea. The Negev and the plain that is the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
The Lord said to him, this is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give this to your offspring. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. Is God unjust?
Is he mean? Is he self-serving? What is the big deal? 40 years of faithful service, killer resume. Look at what Moses did over the years.
He did all these wonderful things at the last moment, one mistake, one indiscretion. He has been removed from this earthly reward. Sure, Moses messed up, but does the punishment suit the crime, as some of our legal advocates would say today? I want you to just look one more verse over to verse 5.
So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord. And he, meaning Yahweh, buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor. But no one knows the place of burial to this day. Moses was 120 when he died.
His eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. This is, in light of what we said about the church and court, this is one of the most stunning passages about God's love, his beneficence and his grace and his mercy to his servants.
This is the single greatest funeral service ever recorded in the pages of scripture. Why? Moses' funeral party consisted of one person. God.
God was the pallbearer. God delivered the eulogy. It was God who was with him mercifully at the end. It was God who took him to the grave.
It was God who dug the hole, placed his body, covered the hole. It was God who gives the benediction. He is an example of one whose works were tested by fire. He enters the kingdom of God, and yet he has suffered loss.
But the point, child of God, is no matter what you're struggling with, and we dare not be presumptuous about sin. Romans chapter 6 is very clear. We dare not. We shall not presume on grace.
We shall not presume in sin that grace may abound. But nevertheless, we struggle with sin. We struggle with issues. We struggle with all kinds of temptations of the flesh that beset us. and sometimes hold us back every day.
And I've met people who are depressed, who are guilty, who are trying to work their way back into the kingdom, who see the burden of their sin is so heinous, they're going, how can God love me? Here is how he loves you. Yes, he will test what you do, but he will not abandon you in the end. If you have professed in me, if you have bent in me, if you have come to Jesus in your sin and asked him for forgiveness, child of God, you are forgiven for all eternity.
While you may struggle today, Well, you may suffer loss on the day where your works will be tested. And you may only have a pinky finger, pinky ring that's left on the altar. The foundations have been tested by the Lord himself. Nevertheless, he will be with you like he was with Moses at the end.
And if we could find Moses' headstone, I believe the epitaph would read something like this, where it says in 34 verse 10, but since there has not arisen in Israel a prophet, like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. That's a pretty good funeral address, I would say.
Application: Assurance in Christ
So I said there's great news. There is wonderful news. The fact of the matter is God loves you. And if he has saved you, there is nothing, I mean nothing, but nothing that can separate you from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus and him alone.
And your capacity to sin cannot undo God's capacity to save. He has saved you by the blood of the eternal covenant. Amen.