1 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,240 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:31,960 Well, friends, I don't know if you realized it yet, but today 7 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,440 you came to church to come to a funeral. 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,500 Mm, hmm. Mm. 9 00:00:37,500 --> 00:00:40,320 Hmm. Hence the dress, you know, the 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:42,800 the suit. I thought it was only 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:47,200 appropriate that if we're going to be at a funeral, this is how 12 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,480 I might dress. This is fairly typical for me 13 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:53,960 when I've done funerals in the past with some certain 14 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,440 exceptions, but for the most part this is this is what that 15 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,160 looks like. So welcome to the funeral that 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:01,480 you didn't know you were going to. 17 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,400 Today we are holding a funeral for our good friend Moses. 18 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:14,560 I suspect, like many God fearing Christians I know, Moses at his 19 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,000 funeral would not want us to really talk about him. 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,880 He would want us to talk about the God whom he loved, who 21 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:27,120 walked with him in life and in death, who was so faithful to 22 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,440 him. God or Moses would want us to 23 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,760 talk about that God. He would want us to talk about 24 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,520 the God that he so eagerly sought, the glory of his entire 25 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,400 life. He would want us to know who 26 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,160 that God is and he would want us to know that that God is 27 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:50,880 perfectly faithful in all of his promises related to that. 28 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:59,400 As a Hospice chaplain for for a for a time, I dealt with death 29 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:03,960 and the conversations around death nearly every single day. 30 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,720 And it's interesting that in death or as people are 31 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,400 approaching that the the things that we strive for most in the 32 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,400 prime years of our life are not the things that we care about at 33 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,800 all. We go from caring about having 34 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,840 the right career in the right title and having a big enough 35 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,680 house to house everybody that we want to have come over, or a big 36 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,280 enough house to be able to hide from people who we don't want to 37 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:33,880 come over. All these things that we worry 38 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,080 about. But as people near death, none 39 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,760 of those things come to mind. And I can tell you that for 40 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,120 certain. What I can tell you about people 41 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,080 who are nearing death is wildly consistent. 42 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,840 There's a number of things that they think most about. 43 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,520 Now, the things I'm about to tell you, they don't necessarily 44 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,160 go in this order because every single person is a little bit 45 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:56,960 different. They have different priorities 46 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:59,760 as they know they're leaving this life. 47 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,200 But in general, here's what that looks like. 48 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:06,160 Here's what people worry about. Am I right with my maker? 49 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,640 In other words, where am I? Where am I going? 50 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:11,480 When I die? What's going to happen to me? 51 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,160 They worry. Is it going to hurt? 52 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:22,040 Is dying going to hurt? Am I going to suffer? 53 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,080 They also worry because they have things that they still need 54 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:32,560 to say. There are things there are 55 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:34,360 regrets that they need to air out. 56 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,120 There's apologies that they need to make. 57 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,200 And then on the other side of that same coin, there's things 58 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,560 that they want to hear. They want to hear from people 59 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,080 who love them or were supposed to. 60 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,480 They want to hear forgiveness. They want to hear 61 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:54,520 reconciliation. And finally, they want to know 62 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,080 that the people that they love and they care about are going to 63 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,800 be OK without them, that there is provision for them 64 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,520 emotionally and otherwise, that they're going to be OK. 65 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,520 Now, as you'll hear in this text that we're going to read this 66 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:17,959 morning, Moses died in peace. Our friend was OK when he died. 67 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:21,959 Why? Because he knew God's promises 68 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:25,040 were sure and true. Additionally, he did the things 69 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,120 that I just mentioned, those things that people worry about. 70 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:34,760 He said what he needed to say. He took all of his writing, the 71 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,160 law that the God had given him, all the precepts. 72 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,080 He wrote them down and he handed them to trustworthy people so 73 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,000 that they could be read aloud, so that they could be copied and 74 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:50,920 laid next to the ark. He gave Joshua leadership so 75 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,000 that way he would know that his people would be well led and 76 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:59,480 that they would be OK. Most of all, he knew his God and 77 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:03,600 he knew his God's character, that it was perfect. 78 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:09,640 And so despite Moses being 120 years old and strangely, 79 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,960 strangely strong and undimmed, when he died at 120, there was 80 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:20,960 no fight, there was no argument. He knew whom he was going home 81 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,320 to and he was OK with that. He was ready to meet his Maker. 82 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:29,480 Therefore today we will honour our friends Moses. 83 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:33,920 We will honour him, but we will not stay on Him. 84 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:39,320 We will not stay there because again, anything that Moses or 85 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,080 anyone in heaven or hell could tell you, if they could tell you 86 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,720 anything, they would tell you that I should just talk about 87 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,400 Jesus. So that's what we're going to do 88 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:53,720 today as we honor Moses. Let's go to the word of the Lord 89 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,480 in Deuteronomy chapter 34. But I suppose before I do that, 90 00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:59,160 maybe I'll tell you where we're going. 91 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:01,640 First and foremost, if you haven't already read it on the 92 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,400 screen. We're going to start with 93 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:08,000 Moses's obituary. It's important to honor him as 94 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,080 God used him. Then we're going to see that the 95 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,480 Lord has absolutely unchangeable character. 96 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,520 And then we're going to see the Lord's faithfulness even in 97 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,720 death. So let's go to Deuteronomy 98 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,520 chapter 34, and then we will explore these themes that we 99 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:24,320 have for today. If you have your Bibles, you can 100 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,440 open there. You can follow along on the 101 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:27,880 screen. It will be right there. 102 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,360 Deuteronomy 34. It's a short chapter, it's only 103 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,480 12 verses and we read this in Jesus name. 104 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,760 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo to 105 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,840 the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. 106 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,480 And the Lord showed him all the land. 107 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:52,400 Gilead as far as Dan, all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim 108 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,680 and Manasseh, all the land of Judah, as far as as far as the 109 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,560 western sea, the Negeb, and the plain that is in the valley of 110 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,680 Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zohar. 111 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,800 And the Lord said to him, This is the land of which I swore to 112 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,320 Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to your 113 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,520 offspring, and I have let you see it with your eyes, but you 114 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:20,680 shall not go over there. So the So Moses the servant of 115 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,040 the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word 116 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,440 of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of 117 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,520 Moab opposite Beth Pior, but when no one knows the place of 118 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:35,920 his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he 119 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,000 died. His eye was undimmed and his 120 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 vigor unabated, and the people of Israel wept for Moses in the 121 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,520 plains of Moab 30 days. Then the days of weeping and 122 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,640 mourning for Moses were ended, and Joshua the son of Nun was 123 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,640 full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on 124 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,920 him. So the people of Israel obeyed 125 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,240 him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 126 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:03,360 And there has not arisen a prophet since since, since an 127 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,600 Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like 128 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,400 him. For all the signs and the 129 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,840 wonders that the Lord sent to him to do in the land of Egypt, 130 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,480 to Pharaoh and to all his servants, to all of his land, 131 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,000 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror 132 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:23,560 that Moses did in the sight of Israel. 133 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:33,760 Here ends reading of God's Word. So Moshe, better known to us as 134 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:39,919 Moses, died at 120 years old. He was the son of Amram, his 135 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:47,240 father, the son of his mother, Jack Bed, and he had two 136 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:53,040 siblings, a sister, Miriam, a brother Aaron. 137 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,920 And then later in life he grew up and he married Zipporah, and 138 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,560 they had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. 139 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,280 Now I have to tell you that Moses was born in unusual 140 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,320 circumstances. Moses was born into slavery. 141 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,960 And in fact, Moses was born to die. 142 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,600 And that's kind of a strange thing to think about, but it's 143 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,600 true. Moses was born to die. 144 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,360 And the reason why we know that is because when Moses was born, 145 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,880 he was born during a time when Pharaoh, the greatest king of 146 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:27,520 the earth, in that moment, had instituted genocide for every 147 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:33,520 male Hebrew born baby. And so his mother, when he was 148 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:38,000 born, she looked at him and she could not help herself. 149 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,520 She broke the law. She loved him too much. 150 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,040 And so she hid him for three months. 151 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,120 She hit him for three months until she could hide him no 152 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,880 longer. And then when she could hide him 153 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:54,720 no longer, she created a plan. She made a little bed inside of 154 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,240 a tiny basket, just large enough for a baby. 155 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,400 And she set that basket along the Bank of the river, knowing 156 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:07,080 that this is where this is where the daughters of Pharaoh would 157 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,760 often times go to bathe. And so she set that down. 158 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,680 And sure enough, one of the daughters of Pharaoh came to 159 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:15,920 bathe one day. And there Moses was. 160 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,360 So as she uncovered him, he was weeping. 161 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,240 He was crying, as you can imagine. 162 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,760 And she had compassion on him. And her compassion changed the 163 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:32,600 entire world. So what happened is Moses had an 164 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:37,520 opportunity to be raised by his mother for a short time before 165 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:39,600 he was taken into Pharaoh's Kingdom. 166 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,920 And when he was taken into Pharaoh's Kingdom, he had every 167 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,800 opportunity given to him. He was a Prince. 168 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,480 All of the best education, all of the best training, everything 169 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,840 was at his fingertips. And yet, as he grew, he never 170 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,720 forgot who he was. He never forgot his people, his 171 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:59,600 family. And so one day as he went out to 172 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:03,720 see his people, as I suspect he usually did, he saw a slave 173 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:09,880 master beating one of his people in a fiery, burning anger and a 174 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:13,120 righteous anger for his people being mistreated. 175 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:19,200 He murdered an Egyptian. Well, we know Moses was always 176 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:20,960 an outsider. He was a Hebrew. 177 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,800 He didn't belong in that palace. And so he knew he had to run. 178 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,360 He knew he would no longer be accepted in the very place that 179 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,080 trained him and grew him. So he ran. 180 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,480 He fled to Midian. And there in Midian for the next 181 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:41,440 40 years, Moses would be, he would tend the sheep, he would 182 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,120 get married, he would be a husband and he would raise 183 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:49,040 children. And during that time he lived in 184 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,560 relative obscurity. That is, until, that is, until 185 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,440 one day God showed up. The great I AM showed up in the 186 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,920 mystery of the burning Bush, and changed Moses's life forever. 187 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,160 You see, The thing is, Moses believed that his life was 188 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,720 pretty much over. He was content to be unknown, 189 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,960 unseen, and relatively unimportant to the rest of the 190 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,480 world. But when God showed up, he 191 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,520 realized that his life was no longer his own. 192 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,840 He realized that his life had a purpose beyond himself. 193 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,680 And he realized that God was going to ask him to do the 194 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:30,200 impossible. God is going to ask him to defy 195 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,320 the very Pharaoh that he ran from with his tail tucked. 196 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,120 Not only to defy him, but to bring God's people out of 197 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:42,400 slavery, out of Egypt, so that they might worship God, so that 198 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,600 they might inherit the land that God had promised to Abraham and 199 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:49,160 Isaac and to Jacob, and so that they could rekindle their 200 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,160 intimate relationship with the Lord the way that all of their 201 00:12:52,160 --> 00:13:01,440 ancestors had. All of this had, all of this had 202 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,480 pretty much come to fruition in Moses, 120 years of life. 203 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:11,040 All but one thing. God looked at Moses and he said, 204 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:16,480 no, you don't get to go. You will die here on this 205 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,640 mountain. You will not touch that land 206 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,360 that I've promised you and your people. 207 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:30,560 Moses is survived by his nation. The people whom he served, whose 208 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,040 bloodline would go about, would go on to bring about the greater 209 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:39,040 mediator, Jesus Christ. This was Moses's life. 210 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,080 Now you might say to me at this point, pastor, that's all well 211 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,360 and good. Thank you for the history 212 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:54,920 lesson. Thank you for the obituary. 213 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,360 That was really fun in the suit and all the things. 214 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,640 That's really great fun theme. Good for you. 215 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,520 You might be saying that now, but what you might also be 216 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,440 saying is that there's something very wrong with this story. 217 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,560 Something does not sit right and you wouldn't be totally wrong. 218 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,520 Here's what shouldn't sit right for you. 219 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,440 Moses was a servant of the Lord. He gave his life to serve these 220 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,840 people who never really fully appreciate him, who never really 221 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:23,600 expressed the gratitude that they should have. 222 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:29,880 He worked like a dog and then God cannot do him this one final 223 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,240 kindness to bring him into the land that he fought so hard to 224 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,200 bring those ungrateful people into. 225 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,600 What is happening? This is ridiculous. 226 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:46,440 Now, if you think then that God is being unjust or unfair, I 227 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,200 want you to consider this one very true fact. 228 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:55,520 God is unchangeable. He is absolutely unchangeable. 229 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,880 And the fact is, we need Him to be just like that. 230 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,160 We need him to be unchangeable. Otherwise all of us will be lost 231 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,560 forever. Here's what I mean by that. 232 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,320 If you go backwards a little bit into Numbers chapter 20, what 233 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,640 happened was Moses was with the people, and he had once again 234 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,200 LED them into a place where there was very little water. 235 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,760 So the people did what they always did when things got a 236 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,760 little dicey. They grumbled and they grumbled 237 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,760 and they complained. And it usually sounds like this. 238 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:35,840 Moses, you're just the worst. You're the worst leader. 239 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,880 You have no navigational skills. You always end up bringing us to 240 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,880 these places where we're going to die of hunger or thirst. 241 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,600 What is your deal? What you should have done was we 242 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,320 should have probably died in that plague that God had. 243 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:54,040 Or better yet, we should have died in Egypt where we had like 244 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,560 food and water and we worked like dogs. 245 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:01,240 But that's fine. Typical, very typical. 246 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,680 They have, they have memories like goldfish. 247 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,640 Well, Moses then and Aaron, they did what they normally do in 248 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,480 this, in this situation, which comes about far too many times, 249 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,440 they go to the Lord and they ask, they appeal to God and they 250 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:20,000 ask him to intercede because these maniacs are going to kill 251 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,400 us. And so God does something. 252 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:23,960 He says, all right, here's what we're going to do. 253 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,760 Moses, I got a plan for you. You are going to go before the 254 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,160 elders and before the people, and you're going to go to the 255 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,640 rock as you have previously, and this time you are going to tell 256 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:39,080 the rock to let out its water, that the livestock and the 257 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,520 people may drink and be satisfied. 258 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:46,400 And then and then I will be glorified amongst the people 259 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,080 because they have heard my word and my word is the thing that 260 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:54,040 has watered them. Well, what does Moses do? 261 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,560 Moses goes and in the midst of the people he takes his staff 262 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:03,200 and God bless Moses. He was probably so angry. 263 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,920 So what he does is instead of telling the rock, he takes the 264 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,240 staff and and he says to the people, you want us to bring 265 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,839 water out for you? Sure thing. 266 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,359 Bam. And he hits the rock twice. 267 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:20,920 Do you see what happened there? Do you see what the problem is? 268 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,440 There's a major problem that just occurred, and the major 269 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,200 problem is this. All of the eyes of the people 270 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:35,920 went from God to Moses. Moses is going to get the credit 271 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:37,080 for that. Do you see it? 272 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,520 Moses is the one who in his great anger and his fiery 273 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,720 frustration that we've seen him play out in other times in his 274 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,440 life, in that anger and his annoyance with those people, 275 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,120 instead of doing what God told him, instead of God getting the 276 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,880 glory and the praise, Moses is going to get the glory and the 277 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,560 praise and he's going to and he's going to make sure people 278 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,120 know he's serious. Because that's the thing. 279 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:04,120 He's so frantically bothered by their, by their ingratitude and 280 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:08,120 their unwillingness to to really put their faith in God that he 281 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:13,440 is going to let his anger flow. But the problem is God doesn't 282 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,280 get the glory. It's not his word that does the 283 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,680 work. Then it's Moses and his power 284 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,520 and his anger and his staff. Now a greater problem to all 285 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:25,120 this is Moses is a mere human. He's a mere human. 286 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:28,760 He's not God. He will not be with those people 287 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:29,640 forever. He can't. 288 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:35,440 And so God, knowing that, wanted to make sure that the people 289 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:37,480 knew who was really taking care of them. 290 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:44,080 And Moses blew it. Now, were God changeable, he 291 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,000 would have probably said, you know what, Moses, you were 292 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,240 right. They were being jerks again. 293 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:50,960 They're kind of the worst people. 294 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,240 I mean, they're really, they're really terrible. 295 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,920 They're really ungrateful. So Moses, you go ahead and blow 296 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:00,440 off some steam, that's fine. In which case, if that's true, 297 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,080 God probably would have looked at Moses and like, hey man, I 298 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,880 remember that whole deal with the murder in the Egyptian 299 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,600 thing. He was kind of a jerk too. 300 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,600 So he had it coming. Murders, fine, it's fine. 301 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,200 Don't even worry about it. And on and on and on. 302 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,920 God could make excuses for himself and his people if he was 303 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:27,600 changeable, but we need God to not grant concession to 304 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,320 temporary feelings. If God starts granting 305 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,080 concession and truth to temporary feelings, the world 306 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,320 will be lost and will be lost with it. 307 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,600 I don't know if you know this, but feelings change pretty 308 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:44,480 quickly. Let me give you an example 309 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:48,520 that's really relevant. When I walked on this stage, I 310 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,440 saw from my angle a lot of you go. 311 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,640 Is the suit really that bad? Geez, guys. 312 00:19:58,040 --> 00:19:59,840 Just surprising. I know. 313 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:03,120 Normally I'm just a sloth and a slouch. 314 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:05,240 I'm sorry. I'm sorry. 315 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:07,760 Really. It's the elders fault. 316 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:09,840 They told me I had to dress this way from now on. 317 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:11,920 Thanks, Wayne. You're the best. 318 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:15,800 It's not true. It's not true. 319 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:22,160 No, but we we need God to not grant concessions to temporary 320 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,400 feelings. They change too fast and based 321 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,720 on our feelings. The law seems to change in our 322 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,880 own land and it's not based on a moral or good ethical anchor. 323 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:37,480 It's based on I feel, I feel we need God to be unchangeable. 324 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:40,520 He has to be that way or we will not survive. 325 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:45,720 Now, if I have not made that case thoroughly enough yet, I 326 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,880 want to prove it to you like this. 327 00:20:53,800 --> 00:21:04,000 Don't you think that God's heart broke when His Son knelt down in 328 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:09,480 the garden and prayed for any other way for judgement to be 329 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,200 satisfied? Don't you think that was 330 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:18,000 heartbreaking to Him? And don't you think that he was 331 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,320 inconsolable? He's a father looking at his 332 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,240 son, knowing that his son was going to be brutally tortured 333 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:27,960 and beaten and mocked and spit on. 334 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,200 Don't you think he got in his heart was inconsolable? 335 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:41,880 And don't you think that God was miserable and downcast, knowing 336 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:47,520 that if he was just willing to change, His son wouldn't have to 337 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:59,940 endure hell? But he didn't change. 338 00:22:02,020 --> 00:22:06,460 He wouldn't change. And the reason why God refused 339 00:22:06,460 --> 00:22:10,340 to change is because if he changed, you would be lost 340 00:22:10,340 --> 00:22:14,780 forever. He would never have you. 341 00:22:17,660 --> 00:22:21,460 You could not be his son and his daughter if God changed. 342 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,920 God doesn't change. Now knowing that God doesn't 343 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:32,200 change, let's be honest, sometimes that's going to lead 344 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:37,240 to our short term pain and discomfort and disappointment. 345 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:42,280 I have the very real sense that although Moses had peace with 346 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,800 God, there was a high level of disappointment that he did not 347 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,880 get to go to the land that he fought so hard to bring his 348 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:59,720 people into. And he's dead now. 349 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,360 Lest I make you believe that's the end of Moses's story, I 350 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,400 don't want to leave you there because that's not the end of 351 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,360 Moses's story. There was more that God had for 352 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:14,320 him to do. And you say that's weird because 353 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,320 he's dead, but it's true. There was more that God had for 354 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:25,280 him to do because God is just as faithful in life or in death as 355 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,720 He is in life. And here's how we know that. 356 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:32,440 If you have your Bibles and you want to flip to Matthew 17, I'm 357 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,480 going to read a short passage from that and we're going to see 358 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,840 what life looks like for Moses after death. 359 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:48,640 Just the first couple verses out of this, out of this text. 360 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:54,440 Matthew 17. Now I got the sniffles. 361 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,880 It's terrible. Nobody wants to hear that in a 362 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,880 microphone. I'm trying to hold it back. 363 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:07,400 Matthew 17 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and 364 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,920 James and John his brother, and LED them up a high mountain by 365 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,000 themselves. And he was transfigured before 366 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,360 them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became 367 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,840 white as light. And behold, there appeared to 368 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,120 them Moses and Elijah talking with him. 369 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:33,120 And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for the for us to be 370 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,360 here. If you wish, I will make 3 371 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:40,760 tents, one for you and one for Moses, and 1:00 for Elijah when 372 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,080 he when he was still speaking, when behold, a bright cloud 373 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,400 overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, This is my 374 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,440 beloved son with whom I am well pleased. 375 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,480 Did you catch it? Did you see it? 376 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,560 If you haven't realized what just happened, God is faithful 377 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,960 even in death. The very place that God told 378 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,480 Moses no, after a lifetime of work, God placed him in the very 379 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,920 center of it and the very apex of it. 380 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,760 That's where Moses is standing. When he is standing and speaking 381 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:23,080 with Jesus, he's standing in the promised land at the very top of 382 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,600 it. God is faithful in his promises 383 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,920 even in death. Now, what's more interesting I 384 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:35,640 think about this that we need to make sure we get is this Moses, 385 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:41,000 when he died in at the beginning of his natural life, God, he 386 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,280 took him up. Nobody, as far as we know, 387 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,320 nobody went with Moses to the top of the mountain. 388 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:50,520 So Moses climbed to the top of the mountain during his life so 389 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,760 that the Lord could take him up and bring him to his real home. 390 00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:01,920 But here's the thing, as Moses and Elijah and Jesus meet on the 391 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,240 top of the mountain, Jesus climbed a mountain in the 392 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,320 promised land, in the land that Moses was promised. 393 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:12,000 And he climbed that mountain not to be taken up by the Lord, but 394 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:16,600 to get his marching orders. Jesus went to the mountain to 395 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,920 get his marching orders from his Father and from Moses and from 396 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,920 Elijah himself. And what were those marching 397 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:24,760 orders? Those marching orders were you 398 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,280 don't get to stay on the top of the mountain, you don't get to 399 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,240 live here, you don't get to be here. 400 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:31,000 You need to go down the mountain. 401 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:35,760 You need to descend and when you descend you are going to go up 402 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,840 again, but this time it will not be a mountain you will ascend, a 403 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:44,080 cross you will climb across. And as you climb that cross you 404 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,760 are going to be fixed to it by nails. 405 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:51,200 Those nails being the very sins. They will hold you fast to that 406 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,760 cross because they are the very sins that my judgement is 407 00:26:54,760 --> 00:27:00,120 putting on you so that so that my children aren't lost forever. 408 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,400 This was Jesus's mountain that he climbed. 409 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:11,480 It was the cross at Calvary. But because he climbed that 410 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,520 mountain for you and for me, we are not lost. 411 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:19,640 We have assurance of life. We have assurance that even when 412 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,480 things don't go our way, even when we're disappointed, even 413 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:27,200 when God says no, His ultimate answer is always yes. 414 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,000 His final answer is always yes to you because of what Jesus 415 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,440 Christ has done on your behalf. Do you believe that? 416 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,520 Do you believe it? Because if you do, not even 417 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:45,640 death, not even death itself, will stop you from worshiping 418 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,760 the Lord. You will worship Him and all the 419 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,800 more as you get closer to that day. 420 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,480 Because as you get closer to that day, you draw closer to the 421 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,120 glory of God. The very thing that Moses went 422 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:02,120 after with all of his energy and all of his heart, you draw 423 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:04,680 closer to it. Don't be afraid. 424 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,280 Don't be afraid. Jesus climbed the cross so that 425 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,200 you could be on top of the mountain with God. 426 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:14,280 Amen. Amen. 427 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:20,720 Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you 428 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:25,480 for your servant Moses. Thank you for instilling in him 429 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,920 a faithfulness that we celebrate today. 430 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,360 But Lord, we don't just celebrate Moses your servant. 431 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,320 We celebrate the one who Moses looked to, Jesus Christ our Lord 432 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:42,280 and our King, our King that took the cross instead of the throne 433 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,360 so that he could defeat death forever and sit rightly on his 434 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:51,400 heavenly throne. Father, you are good beyond 435 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,840 measure. Your steadfast love endures 436 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:58,280 forever and we thank you for it. I pray now, Lord, that anybody 437 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,360 in this room or listening that has not understood the gospel 438 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,960 until this moment, Lord, would you open up their hearts to 439 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,640 believe? Would you give us the faith of 440 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:13,080 Moses? Lord, we know you're capable, we 441 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,720 know you're able, and we know you're faithful to do it. 442 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,360 So we pray all these things in Jesus name and all God's people 443 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:25,360 said Amen. Thanks for listening to ERC 444 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,840 Sundays. To support the work God is doing 445 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:29,440 at Emmaus Rd. Church, visit 446 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,400 emmausrdonline.org/giving.