Old Testament in a Year: Numbers 31-Deuteronomy 4

So imagine if you would spending months building your dream house. Not just buying a house, but building one. You picked the land, you drew the plans. You decided on the layout and spent hours dreaming of ways to bring those blueprints into existence. In your mind, you walked through it when it was just wood and nails.

You saw yourself writing Bible verses all on the framing. As the walls went into place, you could almost feel the plush green grass that would tickle the bottoms of your feet. In your front yard, you chose where the light would come in from. You pictured the kitchen, the living area, all the bedrooms, their unique elements to each one. And you imagine the conversations that would take place around the dinner table, the belly laughs you would experience after your toddler shot peas out of his nose.

You envision the porch where you'd sit at the end of a long day to take a breather. You could see your life there, your kids growing up there, family dinners, holidays, memories. And you begin to walk through every room as it becomes complete and the excitement of begins to mount. You can't wait. You've put so much time into it.

And you stand in every doorway and you look out over everything you've built as you remember the agony of the process, the endless decision making, the setbacks you had to overcome. And after months and months of work and sacrifice and planning, it was finally done. Everything's complete. And now imagine that you are informed you can never live there.

You can walk right up to it. You can see it, but you will never stay there. The disappointment nearly consumes you. Your heart breaks into a thousand pieces as you grieve what should have been.

So what do you do? What about all the effort? What about the dreams? You just walk away from it? Or do you make sure that your children get to live in it and experience the fruit of your toil?

This is exactly the type of feeling and situation that Moses had as he's about to pass the torch to Joshua. The title of my message today is the Assignment isn't over. Diligence through your disappointment. Again, if I haven't met you yet, my name is Andrew Riddle. I'm the men's pastor and the young families pastor here at the refuge.

I also want to welcome, for those watching online and those who are viewing us on the Pando app, our incarcerated brothers and sisters all around America. Can you guys give it up for those who are watching us today online? We love you. We remember you. You are not forgotten.

So if you're new to the refuge, we are on a journey to read through the Entire Bible. Over the course of these next two years, 20, 26 will be the Old Testament and 27 will be the New Testament. Now we have these Bible reading plans available in the concourse at the info desk. It's also on the app that's basically every quarter a day. Every single quarter.

Pardon me, A day. Every single. A new one. Every single quote. I'm get this out eventually, and you can follow along with us if you want to, even if you've missed a few days.

Jump right in with us. And we're reading through it. So today we have been in the book of Numbers for a couple of weeks, and today we're closing out numbers and stepping into the book of Deuteronomy. So numbers, chapters 31 to 36. I'm gonna read all the chapters right now.

I'm kidding. You'll be home like 4, 30. No, just kidding. So those chapters chronicle the final stages of the wandering that the people of Israel have been experiencing for four decades after they came out of slavery in Egypt. If you're not familiar with the story, the people of Israel were on the precipice of going from slaves in a foreign land to a free people in their own land that they would occupy.

And they would be the ones who live there. They would take possession of it. But after fear and rebellion had its place in numbers, chapter 13 and 14, the journey that should have just taken a couple of weeks to travel from Egypt into the promised land turned into an absolute horrible nightmare. 40 years. And we're gonna unpack today a little bit about what we do in the wilderness and how it will have an impact on our legacy.

So in your Bibles, if you would turn to Deuteronomy, chapter one. If you don't have your Bible, your device, the verses will also be on the screen as well. I'm gonna ask everyone to stand as we read these verses to honor the word of God.

Deuteronomy, chapter one. Starting in verse one, these are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban and Hazruth and Dezahab on the other. Normally, it takes only 11 days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. But 40 years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the 11th month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say.

We have some declarations we're going to make today that we say every single week about Scripture, it'll be up on the screen. I encourage you to join in with me. Ready? Go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God.

This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. And I am confident of this that he who has begun a good work in me will complete it in Jesus name. You may be seated.

I don't know about you, but whenever we say the declarations, whenever we get to the part that is. And I'm confident that he who has begun a good work in me, I'm always like, he who? The word salad. You know, I don't know. That's how I. I'm just real today.

So. The Ark of the Book of Deuteronomy is very, very interesting. The book is 34 chapters. Because there's so much information in it, it would be easy or maybe even understandable to assume that those chapters unfolded over months or even years. But the reality is that the book of Deuteronomy, as far as a timeline, it unfolds in less than 30 days.

This is Moses final speeches to the people of Israel. Imagine this. You have spent so much time with these people on an assignment, wandering, waiting, and you're reaching what will now be what you know is the last dance. I am indeed a coach. I coach rec league, flag football, and sometimes baseball and basketball, and I kind of fall around on those because I'm short and not very coordinated, but I can do flag football.

But I don't know how many times I have had these moments of pep talk with my teams where we're either getting crushed in the halftime. You're doing a great job. Yeah, we're going to. We're going to get killed. Or, you know, keep the foot on the gas.

No matter what the score is. We were saying on my team that the score is always zero, zero, no matter what. It actually is. So the reality is that Moses is having one of these pep talks with the new generation that was coming into fruition that had grown up in the wilderness. Can you imagine?

The kids like our children, my wife and I, our son Micah, he was born July 30th of 2020, smack in the middle of COVID and he has no idea what Covid is. And we were like, man, what is going on? But can you imagine for a second when the reality of back to normal life and someone had to break the news to him that, hey, kid, you gotta wear pants with a waistline today. I'm really sorry. And not every meal can be hot.

Sorry. So this is the reality of a pep talk that Moses is giving. So in chapter one of Deuteronomy. Moses is retelling the story of how this new generation got to this point on the edge of the Promised land. Now, beginning in verse 19, I'm going to read a decent chunk of scripture today.

I want you to follow along with me. This is going to set the stage for what's about to be unpacked today. So Deuteronomy 1, verse 19 in the NLT version says this. Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us. We left Mount Sinai and.

And traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness. As you yourselves remember, you headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. And when we arrived at Kadesh Barnea. I said to you. You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites.

That the Lord our God is giving us. Look. He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it. As the Lord God of your ancestors has promised to you.

Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. But you all came to me and said, first, let's send out some scouts and explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take. And which towns we should enter.

Didn't God say, all of it belongs to you? So all of a sudden now the opinion of man has crept in and is more important.

This seemed like a good idea to me. I can almost hear Moses sarcasm. This seemed like a good idea to me. So send out. I chose 12 scouts, one from each of your tribes.

They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported the land the Lord our God is giving us. Is indeed good land. But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.

And you refused to go in. You complained in your tents and said, the Lord must hate us. That's why he has brought us here from Egypt. To hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. Where can we go?

Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us the people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are. And their towns are larger, with walls rising high in the sky. We even saw giants there. The descendants of Anak.

But I said to you, don't be shocked or afraid of them. You hear Moses coaching them. You hear this? The Lord your God is Going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt.

And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child now. He's brought you to this place, to this moment, to right now. But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give to your ancestors.

And except for Caleb, son of Jephunneh, he will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give it to him and his descendants, some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission. And the Lord was also very angry with me, Moses. He said to me, moses, not even you will enter the promised land. Instead, your assistant, Joshua, son of nun, will lead the people into the land.

Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession of it. I will give the land to your little ones, your innocent children. You were afraid they'd be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it. And as for you, turn around now and go back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.

There's so much you can unpack in that one stretch of scripture. So over the next 17 hours, my plan today is to unpack a few things.

The realities that we're going to explore today have to do with loss, leadership, and legacy. The sobering truth about sin is that it often has consequences that are long lasting. It's not a super popular topic to talk about long lasting sin consequences in church settings across America today, if you realize that. But we believe in preaching the full counsel of scripture at the refuge cover to cover. We all want a faster solution to our problems.

We all want the newest workaround. We all want AI to problem solve our life equation at warp speed. But again, the truth is that your decisions carry weight. They carry weight. And sometimes the pain of experiencing the consequences of our decisions can be immensely sharp.

Immensely sharp. I am not speaking to you today to browbeat. Please hear me. There are many people in this room, myself included, that have experienced a dark night of the soul because they wish they could have got that one back. If I could just get that one back.

But as we'll see today, even in our failures, God continues to show up. He continues to Provide for us. He continues to show us that he can turn a season of wandering into purpose and legacy if we'll let them. So I want to present four realities that Moses was faced with during these 40 years of wilderness wandering. The first reality.

Number one. Moses was going to have to walk this thing out.

He would have to walk it out. In numbers 13 and 14, we see the full story of how the people of Israel ended up with this consequence of wandering in the first place. And they fully sided with fear and rebellion full on. They had heard the dreadful report from the scouts, and the murmuring became so intense. Look at this.

The people said in Numbers 14, Verse 3, why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Can you hear the accusation against God? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder. We just know it. Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?

Then they plotted among themselves. Let's choose a new leader and go back to Egypt.

What?

The absolute lack of faith in God here is staggering. These are the same people that just saw the Red Sea split apart, and they walked safely on dry ground into freedom. And here we are, just a few days later, and they're like, you know what? This is too rough. I'm done.

I'm out. I'm done. Brought us all the way here. Now we're dead. They watched as God tormented Pharaoh in Egypt with plague after plague and then supernaturally liberated them.

Now God says, look, I've brought you here. Go take the land. I'm gonna go before you. It's yours. And they're like, no, we're not doing that.

It's too scary. I don't know what's more scary than walking between two giant walls of water. I don't know. That seems pretty scary to me. But they did it.

So instead they said, you know what we're gonna do? We got it. We're gonna have an election and pick a new leader who would take us back to slavery. That's what we'll do.

That doesn't make any sense. In this situation, fear was louder, and it took control of the people. Faith had completely lost its way. So the consequence. 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

One year for each day that the scouts had explored the land. 40 days, 40 years.

And now we see that God doesn't change his mind about the consequence because the people realized the gravity of their error and tried to muscle their way out of the situation. So check this out. Numbers, chapter 14, verse 39. When Moses reported the Lord's words to all the Israelites. The people were filled.

That's an understatement. Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. Let's go. They said, we realize that we've sinned. Yeah, you did.

But now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us. I think they realized, man, the Lord just brought the heavy and we got to figure some things out. But do you understand one thing? The opportunity to obey had been wasted. The people then attempted to take the land in their own strength against the Lord's guidance to do so.

And the result was devastation and defeat. In other words, a giant butt whooping happened. So now the people must walk out this new reality. And Moses was told, you have to lead these people as they wander aimlessly in the wilderness. I have to do what?

They're not even gonna reach the promised land and I still have to lead. Just kill em now. That's just me. I don't know.

Most times in life, just because you can't change the outcome doesn't mean you're excused from obedience.

Obedience is still required. Even in the heavy. Moses kept showing up. He kept leading. He kept serving.

Last week, Pastor Jay did a phenomenal teaching about moments like these where Moses repeatedly interceded on behalf of a stubborn, stiff necked people who were just primed for rebellion. That seems like at every single turn. And Moses continued to intercede on their behalf. Moses remained faithful to his assignment because faithfulness is proven the most. When the outcome no longer benefits you.

Can you still show up even though you won't get the perk? Can you still be faithful even though you won't be the one that receives the great Job?

Are we looking for the approval of man or the approval of God?

Talk about Christian maturity for a second. Is it about us, Church? Or is it about him?

As we move into Christian maturity, going from level to level to level, the road only gets narrower, Church. That's the reality of that. But the outpouring the Holy Spirit gets becomes more intense as you obey his word above our own word always. So remember this as well. All the people who were served a severe consequence for their own rebellion.

They were still tasked with teaching their children how to avoid the same errors. God still has purpose for you. Even in a place you did not plan to be. He still has purpose for you. But can you imagine what those conversations must have sounded like between those parents and those kids?

Why are we still in the wilderness? Why are we wandering Around. Are we there yet? Oh, my God. They were probably.

Are you there yet? Them to death. It's been 46 years. I don't know. It's like it's been.

Can you imagine what those parents must have felt to have to relay to their kids? It's so important that you obey because only you will inherit the land and we can't go with you. It's a sobering moment, which brings us to reality number two. Moses had to raise up the next generation. The Lord spoke to the people of the old Generation in Numbers 14, Verse 31.

He says, you said your children will be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. Oof. And your children will be like shepherds wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.

And in this way, they will pay for your faithlessness until the last of you lies dead. The wilderness Parents, your decisions affect your kids every day. Every time, what you do or don't do, they are watching you. They are paying attention to you. And you are modeling for them what is okay and what is forbidden.

We're in the middle of a three week series on Wednesday nights. We started this past Wednesday on Intentional Parenting. My wife and I oversee the Young families ministry, which is a great honor and a joy. Our team is phenomenal, and we're talking about, how do you parent on purpose? And you know what?

I don't know. I have no idea. All I know is this. This has got to be the reason why we do it.

But we're talking through how to get on the same page as spouses and how we truly intentionally help to guide our kids because the stakes couldn't be any higher, guys.

The wilderness wasn't just punishment, though. It was preparation. And I've seen this time and time again. God will use the seasons that absolutely broke you to build somebody else.

And you're standing there thinking, God, why have we been doing this in the world? It feels like the darkness will not end. Maybe it's not about you. Maybe it's about who's coming after you. Maybe it's about making sure that they know how to stick with it when it gets really hard.

Moses implores the people in Deuteronomy 4, verse 9. But watch out. Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live, and be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, summon the people before me and I will personally instruct them.

Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live. And they will teach their children to fear me also. Teach them the next generation. Here's the reality about being taught and teaching. They are watching.

Whether you think you're teaching or not, they're learning.

So why not let your scars be turned into stories of hope and redemption? Instead of hiding in shame and hiding in despair, why not say, maybe there's a better way to do this? I know that in a room this size and for those watching online, there are plenty of missed opportunities that have led to intense pain in your life. I want to encourage you three things. Number one, don't waste the season of wandering.

Number two, don't hide from your mistakes. And number three, don't pretend that they didn't happen. Learn from the seasons that broke you. And to the men in this room specifically, I am a men's pastor. And whether you like it or not, men, I'm going to provoke you and poke you and prod you because you're leaders.

Perhaps some of you men may feel like you've blown it in your faith journey over and over again. Or perhaps you've pursued selfishness instead of sacrifice concerning your marriage or your family, and it has cost you. Number one, learn from it.

The wilderness is only wasted if nothing is learned.

Humility is the greatest indicator of heart change. If you still think you got it all together, brother, you ain't learned nothing. I'm telling you right now, I need Jesus every single day, every single minute. There's not a day that goes by that I feel like I've got it all. If you ever feel like you arrived, you're further than you've ever been.

Second thing is this. Men allow God to use your scars. You may not personally reach all of your dreams and your ambitions, but you can help prepare others to reach theirs. You can. Your greatest legacy is not what you build.

It's who you built when they will far outlive you, your children and grandchildren. So two opportunities that are here with the refuge for men to get into community and accountability. Number one is this Friday night, the 24th and 25th. Friday and Saturday is a men's bonfire and campout. It's happening in China Grove.

A piece of property that we've got that a person is letting us so graciously utilize. It's for men single and married. It's for young boys. It's for their sons, 24th and 25th. The tap tag's in front of you.

There's a registration for it. You can tell us you're going to come beep right there. I want to encourage you men, show up, challenge your sons. Bring them the second thing which might be less popular. It's called the Men's Challenge Saturday, or MCS.

It's May 16th at 6:30 in the morning. All men are encouraged. I don't care if you're a dad bod or a gym rat or something else in between or you're a computer keyboard warrior, whatever you are. All men are encouraged to join. It is a physical challenge that will push you.

But you know what? Nothing of lasting value happens without struggle.

Boys age 10 plus are encouraged to join the challenge Saturday. You can kind of view it as a rite of passage. I want to encourage you men jump in, use the tap tags, register, come and be a part of a culture changing situation at the refuge. I am tired of popcorn and hot dog. Men ministry.

I will not do that here. That is not who we are. Men are called to a higher standard because you are leaders and I love you so. Smile. So there you go.

Reality number three. Moses was going to have to pass the mantle man.

Even Moses struggled with this reality.

He had faithfully led the people to this moment and he was still grappling with the reality that he wasn't going to be permitted to enter the promised land.

You ever had your kid come to you and say, can I have this or that? And you tell them no. And they come back in two minutes and think that your mind might be changed. Or better yet, they go to the other parent and they're like, yeah, dad said it's totally great. You just gotta sign off on it.

You know what I'm saying? So Moses pleads his case before the Lord. Deuteronomy 3. 23. At that time, I pleaded with the Lord and said, oh, sovereign Lord, you've only begun to show your greatness and strength for your hand, for me, your servant.

Is there any God in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you? Man, he's laying on thick, isn't he? Man, oh my goodness. Please let me cross the Jordan river to see the wonderful land on the other side. The beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.

But the Lord was angry with me because of you. And he would not listen to me. That's enough. He declared, speak of it no more. But go up to Pisgah Peak and look over the land in Every direction.

Take a good look. But you may not cross the Jordan River. Sin has consequences. We cannot ignore this part of scripture.

It feels like such a heavy and harsh moment. He's been so faithful to God. He's led all these whiners and complainers all this way. 40 years. Just give him a hall pass, you know, I'm like, sure, that's fine.

You know, what's one more? God is holy and he requires obedience. There's no other way to say that. But look what God tells Moses next. The next verse, verse 28.

Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him. For he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession. Father's in the room. Your sons don't need you to endlessly criticize them about how bad things are doing or what they haven't done.

They need you to get behind them and push them forward.

We don't need to sit here and lambast the next generation because you're on your phone too much. You're doing this too much, or this, you're that. All those things may be true. What we need to do is say, but you've got what it takes. You have to do this.

God is with you.

What a moment that Moses experiences there. Moses had been carrying this assignment with him since he was 80 years old, at the burning bush on the backside of the desert, just tending to sheep. And God called him to this. God has sustained him in this journey. And God had anointed him for this task.

He had already buried his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam. He had watched countless people die in the wilderness and attended an untold number of funerals. He had fervently interceded for these people and watched their children grow up under his leadership. And now they. The time had come to take the mantle that he'd been carrying so diligently.

The responsibility, the calling, the leadership. It was time to encourage the new generation to continue to obey without him.

You'll go, but I can't.

Moses did not drop the mantle.

He didn't try to cling to it selfishly. If I can't go, none of you jokers are going. No. He passed it and he said, this is bigger than me. It's so much bigger than me.

The mantle isn't proven by how long you hold it, but rather how well you release it.

This leads us to reality. Number four. Point number four. Moses had a God given responsibility to charge the new generation to obey. And in Deuteronomy 4 Moses indeed charges the new generation to operate with more conviction than their parents did.

He gives the new generation a pep talk in chapter four that can be summarized in three main ideas. A, B and C, letter A. Don't forget about the miracles of God.

You may not have two pennies to rub together today, but didn't he bring you here when things were worse? When you were destitute, considering ending your life, broken, ashamed, and now who you are? It may not be perfect yet, but God has kept his faithful promise to you. How about the miracles that happened in your life? The things you should have never been entrusted with?

The realities of the wife or kids that you've got, the spouse you have, the grandkids that you thought you'd never be able to have. Has God not been faithful to you? The miracles in your life, the sickness or disease that was supposed to take you out. And here you are today.

Don't forget about the miracles of God. Deuteronomy 4. 9 says, but watch out, be careful never to forget what you yourselves have seen. You've seen it. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live.

Don't allow yourselves to drift as point B. Don't allow yourselves to drift away from God.

We cannot spend time numbing out, drifting away.

We have to stay steadfast and focused. Deuteronomy 4, 5, 6 says this. Look, I teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you will obey them in the land you're about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. The third item, letter C. Don't try to replace God.

Deuteronomy 4:23. So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, including iPhones, for the Lord your God has forbidden this. The Lord your God is a devouring fowler. He's a jealous God.

If there's something sitting on the highest throne of your heart and it isn't God, you, you're out of line.

Whether it's materialism or money or the promotion or the extramarital affair or the iPhone or some other thing that you care about more than you care about your relationship with God, things are backwards.

Moses was prepping. This new generation was prepping their mindset for when they would no longer be a desperate, wandering people. Their biggest spiritual threat in the promised land would eventually become an apathetic heart. We just don't care, because the life is Good. To be clear, it's often not the wilderness that ruins people.

It's what happens when they get too comfortable. In the promised land.

We drift. So what's the bottom line here?

This equipment case represents your promise, your future, the life that God has for you. It's real, it's right there. It's visible, it's available. But you don't step into it just because it exists. You need a key because at this point, all that God has for you has to be accessed with what he says the proper key is.

You cannot conquer all the giants of your life and access true peace in Christ without this one key. And this one key to opening up everything in your life that you need is obedience.

Obedience is the key to remaining in God's blessing. Sure, he might bring you to the land, but what if you forget about God? What if you forget about what he said? What if you forget about what he wants you to do? How to raise your children to carry on the next generation?

Obedience is what allows you to remain in the land. Because your next assignment might be one that requires you to fight for your future.

Ephesians 6:17. Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. You will never slay the the giants if you remain in disobedience to His Word. You won't have access to this unless you obey this. His Word remains to be the final authority.

Obedience to the word of God is what will propel you to success in your next assignment. Joshua, chapter one, verse seven. Be strong and very courageous. And be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave to you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left.

Then you'll be successful in everything you do. Study this book of instruction. Continually meditate on it day and night, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. And only then, church, will you prosper and succeed in all you do. Half hearted obedience is full disobedience.

You don't win the future with good intentions, Church. You win it by obeying the word of God. You don't redeem the time by murmuring and complaining about how hard the punishment is for your sin. You redeem it by saying, I'm humbling myself before the Lord so he's the one that gets glory. Remember, obedience doesn't create the promise.

God creates the promise. But obedience is what allows you to live in the promise. God gave them the land, but obedience determined whether they kept it. Obedience to His Word. Years and years ago, almost 20 years ago, I was just a kid actually still at this church.

And I had one of the most important meetings that I had ever had with one of my favorite people, which is Dard Draper over there. And she said something in that meeting to me that has stuck with me all these years. She said, andrew, there are only two things that last forever. God and the people that he made. So invest in those two things.

I am the fruit of other people choosing to pass the mantle, choosing not to drop it. Thank you. Darn. I'm the fruit of people like Pastor J and Pastor Nathan pouring into my life. My mom and dad refusing to let go and say, no, you gotta learn what the Word says.

The reality today is that we church, we need Jesus every day. There is no other name by which a man can be saved. And the beautiful part about the Old Testament in Scripture is how it foreshadows what will be fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. Romans, chapter 8, verse 34. Christ Jesus is the one who died, and more than that, who was raised.

Who is at the right hand of God. Who indeed is interceding for us. Man, that sounds familiar. A bunch of people who are just trying to figure out this thing. And Jesus is interceding for us, much like Moses interceded for the people that God would want to say, I'm done with them.

He says, no, no, you promised you'd take them in. You promised them a future. You did. Lord, don't do this for your own name's sake. And Jesus, he interceding for you when you don't know how to move forward.

Jesus is already praying for you. Now he's cheering you on, encouraging us in our faith journey. And in full submission, Jesus also petitioned the Father to remove the cup of suffering from him, the cross. We see that in scripture. But the will of God, the will of the Father was that his own son would become the final sacrifice and Jesus himself would take us into the promise of eternal life.

He is the greater Joshua, Jesus, he is. He defeated death. He defeated hell. He defeated every sickness and and disease in your body. Every dart of the enemy, every lie has been defeated on the cross.

And the resurrection of Christ Jesus, he took away our sins and he's calling us to cling to him. He's patient and merciful church, and yet he is just and righteous. He will not tolerate half hearted allegiance to his name. I don't see anywhere in scripture where the Lord condones fence writing. I don't see that we cannot live a lifestyle of casual mixture with sin.

And expect to experience God's blessings. Expect for the thing that needs to be opened to open. If we won't take his word seriously, friends, it doesn't work that way.

We must respond to his invitation to His Holiness with repentance and obedience to his word.