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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 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 Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel, 
verse one, and he said to them, 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, 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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.