WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:09.820 Today's passage comes from Numbers 27, 12-18, and Numbers 33, 50-56. 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:17.059 Numbers 27 can be found on page 127 if you're following along on the church Bible. 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:26.600 Here then God's word to us today. 00:00:47.060 --> 00:00:50.700 Failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes. 00:00:51.300 --> 00:00:54.760 These are the waters of Meribah and Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. 00:00:56.040 --> 00:00:57.980 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 00:00:58.700 --> 00:01:04.000 Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.780 who shall go out before them and come in before them, 00:01:07.780 --> 00:01:10.900 who shall lead them out and bring them in, 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:15.500 that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd. 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:17.680 So the Lord said to Moses, 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:24.560 Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:34.740 Numbers 33, 50-56 can be found on page 133. 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:44.400 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:47.400 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.400 When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:54.880 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you 00:01:54.880 --> 00:01:59.580 and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images 00:01:59.580 --> 00:02:02.040 and demolish all their high places. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.860 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, 00:02:06.240 --> 00:02:08.680 for I have given the land to you to possess it. 00:02:09.180 --> 00:02:12.360 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.920 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:19.420 and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance, 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:23.180 wherever the lot falls for anyone that shall be his. 00:02:24.040 --> 00:02:26.460 According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:30.900 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, 00:02:31.380 --> 00:02:35.200 then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:36.840 and thorns in your sides, 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:39.620 and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:43.439 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them. 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:47.800 Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:51.360 Great. Thanks, Zoe. 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:54.020 Let me pray for us and then let's dive into this passage. 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:56.560 Father God, as we come to your word this morning, 00:02:56.640 --> 00:02:58.099 we want to hear you speak to us. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:02:59.300 We want to help. 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:03.280 We want you, God, by your wisdom, by your spirit, by your word, 00:03:03.480 --> 00:03:06.280 to help us live the lives that you've called us to. 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:07.740 Help us to be faithful to the end. 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:08.920 So God, speak to us today. 00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:11.520 We pray in your wonderful and gracious name. 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:12.420 Amen. 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:18.560 Friends, my job this morning is to help you die well. 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.439 To help you make it to the end. 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:29.060 Maybe another way of saying that is my aim this morning is to help us live as well as we can, 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.759 knowing that one day soon, all of us in this room are going to pass away. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:40.300 Friends, despite wonderful advances in technology and medical science, 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:43.860 the mortality rate for the human race is still 100%. 00:03:43.860 --> 00:03:47.000 100% of us are going to pass away. 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:49.479 And all of us in this room will die one day. 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:52.240 It may be next week or it may be 50 years from now. 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:56.000 But every one of us are one day going to pass away. 00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:01.039 If you are in youth or a teenager, I know that feels like a million years away. 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:03.800 And you think that I have no idea what I'm talking about. 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:06.560 But you too will one day be 42 years old. 00:04:06.579 --> 00:04:11.180 And you'll realize that your day of departure is sooner than you realize. 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:14.599 Friends, all of us, if we are to not waste our lives, 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:17.220 the one and only life that God has given us to live, 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:25.640 if we're not to waste our lives, we must learn to live here and now in light of that day that is coming 00:04:25.640 --> 00:04:28.400 as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow morning. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:32.139 We're going through the book of Numbers. 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:33.759 And we're in the final section. 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:37.299 And Zoe read just two portions of two chapters for us. 00:04:37.359 --> 00:04:41.199 But today we're going to look at the final nine chapters in the book of Numbers. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:43.459 And it's kind of the end of the story. 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:46.419 It's how the people of God, their story ends. 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.599 If you're new to Watermark this morning, 00:04:49.159 --> 00:04:54.000 the book of Numbers is this amazing book that tells the story of the people of God 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.240 and their journey of faith. 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:58.939 They're rescued out of Egypt, rescued from slavery, 00:04:58.939 --> 00:05:02.300 and they brought into the promised land, the land of Canaan. 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:05.540 But between Egypt and Canaan, the promised land, 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:10.759 is this journey of faith with all the ups and downs and the trials and the difficulties that they go on. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:15.379 And we've been saying over the last seven weeks that in many ways, 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:20.480 this is an apt analogy or picture for the Christian life, for the Christian faith. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:26.360 Christians know that we too have been saved from a slavery from which we could not save ourselves. 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:31.420 Not slavery to Pharaoh, but slavery to death and sin and Satan and hell. 00:05:31.840 --> 00:05:34.080 And God is bringing us to a new creation. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:37.259 But between those two, there's this journey of faith. 00:05:37.700 --> 00:05:40.439 A journey through the wilderness with all its ups and downs. 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.400 And so today we come to the final chapters, 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:46.500 the final stage of this journey of faith for the people of God. 00:05:46.840 --> 00:05:48.160 The final nine chapters. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.880 And I want to look at it under just two headings. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:55.240 Faithful promises and faith-fueled perseverance. 00:05:55.960 --> 00:05:58.480 Faithful promises, faith-fueled perseverance. 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:01.100 Okay, so let's dive in and look at it. 00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:03.360 God's faithful promises. 00:06:04.020 --> 00:06:07.160 I don't know if you've ever seen a diagram, this picture. 00:06:07.440 --> 00:06:08.780 I used to have it in my office. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:09.420 There we go. 00:06:09.460 --> 00:06:10.200 It looks like this, right? 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:11.220 So the top picture says, 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:12.180 Your plan. 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:16.260 It's got a nice, neat, straight path from beginning to end, right? 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:17.360 And then it says, 00:06:17.599 --> 00:06:20.899 Your reality and the pathway goes through the worst of hell, right? 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:26.180 Shark-infested waters and razor wire and war zones and overhanging cliffs. 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:29.860 And you kind of somehow get out somewhere near the end line. 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:34.339 I love this picture because I think it describes life so very well. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:40.079 How many of us have ever had a plan for our lives or plan for our family or plan for our businesses? 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:44.459 You want to start a new business and you develop a business plan. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.699 Maybe you want to go on a family vacation or you want to do home renovations. 00:06:49.019 --> 00:06:52.800 Or maybe you want to further your studies or you want to start a new NGO. 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.000 What could possibly go wrong? 00:06:55.139 --> 00:06:56.539 How hard could it be? 00:06:57.979 --> 00:07:01.360 In many ways, the book of Numbers is a bit like this, right? 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:07.379 That God's people has been delivered out of Egypt miraculously by the sovereign God. 00:07:07.780 --> 00:07:10.960 And He's given them everything they need for the journey of faith. 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:13.280 And He's promised that He will bring them through. 00:07:13.580 --> 00:07:15.400 What could possibly go wrong? 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:16.939 How hard could this be? 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:20.759 And yet, as we've seen, a lot does go wrong. 00:07:21.900 --> 00:07:28.000 Disappointments, frustrations, open defiance, leadership crises, plagues, death. 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:30.259 One bad thing after another. 00:07:30.259 --> 00:07:36.079 And yet, the story of Numbers is not that these guys just stumbled across hardships. 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:40.139 Like they walked into a desert storm or some geopolitical conflict. 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:43.019 Actually, this is the consequences of their own doing. 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:47.219 This is their unbelief in God working itself out. 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:49.539 And so, Numbers has this contrast. 00:07:49.659 --> 00:07:50.740 These two generations. 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:54.879 The first generation that doesn't believe God or His Word or His promises. 00:07:55.219 --> 00:07:56.519 And they die in the wilderness. 00:07:56.519 --> 00:08:01.680 And the second generation that takes God's Word and promises seriously. 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:03.180 And they make it through. 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:05.399 And the whole book of Numbers has had this contrast. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:06.560 Which are we going to be? 00:08:06.979 --> 00:08:08.979 And now, the first generation has passed away. 00:08:09.039 --> 00:08:10.299 And we're in the second generation. 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:11.759 And they've made it through. 00:08:11.859 --> 00:08:13.259 And where are they now? 00:08:13.979 --> 00:08:16.219 They're right at the border. 00:08:16.719 --> 00:08:20.379 They're on the brink about to step into the promised land. 00:08:20.379 --> 00:08:22.259 They've just got to cross the river. 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:25.360 And they are right home where God has promised them. 00:08:25.719 --> 00:08:28.399 Where 500 years before, God said to Abraham, 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:32.399 I will bring you and your descendants into the promised land. 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:34.080 They are right there. 00:08:34.980 --> 00:08:36.740 430 years slaves in Egypt. 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:38.919 40 years walking through the wilderness. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:40.659 A couple of other years in between. 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:45.100 500 years later, here they are about to get into the promised land. 00:08:46.059 --> 00:08:49.220 God has been faithful to His Word. 00:08:49.220 --> 00:08:52.660 I don't know if you traveled during COVID. 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:55.040 Most of us didn't. 00:08:55.160 --> 00:08:57.279 And we didn't for most of it. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:00.300 But right at the end, we went back to South Africa at the end of COVID. 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:02.580 And Claire's dad had passed away. 00:09:02.660 --> 00:09:04.300 And we went to go and see the family. 00:09:05.019 --> 00:09:07.960 And it was one thing getting into South Africa. 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:09.860 But getting out was another story. 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:13.720 This is right as that Omicron variation was blowing up. 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:18.139 And if you remember, there were all these reports saying Omicron started in South Africa. 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:20.360 So nobody wanted to be flying out of South Africa. 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:23.460 And so we went and we were with family. 00:09:23.620 --> 00:09:29.799 And then to come back, remember you had to do all these PCR tests 48 hours before your final flight. 00:09:30.319 --> 00:09:31.259 And then there was that thing. 00:09:31.319 --> 00:09:34.220 I don't know if you remember where any airline coming into Hong Kong, 00:09:34.299 --> 00:09:37.960 if they had more than four cases, the airline was banned for like three days. 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:42.900 So you had to time your flight perfectly because you knew, okay, these three flights are going to be banned. 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:45.780 So we've got to get on the first one before it's banned again. 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:47.940 And so you time your flight perfectly. 00:09:48.040 --> 00:09:48.600 We did that. 00:09:48.900 --> 00:09:50.100 Then you get to the airport. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.920 You're there eight hours while they're doing PCR tests for the whole plane. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:58.039 And then you get on the quarantine bus and then you go into quarantine for three weeks. 00:09:59.199 --> 00:10:05.360 Friends, that day when we got out of quarantine into that taxi and drove home, 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:09.860 and as we pulled up to our apartment block, it felt like freedom. 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:14.000 It felt like we never thought this day would arrive. 00:10:14.819 --> 00:10:15.639 But here we are. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:16.319 We're home. 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:17.759 We're home. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:19.419 We've made it. 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:23.419 And that's what it's been like for the people of God in the book of Numbers. 00:10:24.019 --> 00:10:30.120 Here they are after 500 years of slavery in Egypt and Pharaoh and getting through the wilderness 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:33.959 and then dying and death and all these things, despite everything going wrong, 00:10:34.299 --> 00:10:41.799 despite all the setbacks, God has brought his faithful ones home, just as he said he would. 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:46.799 And the point is as unlikely and as impossible as it seemed, 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:49.339 at times it seemed a distant pipe dream, 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:52.659 God has done what everyone thought would never happen. 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:54.779 He's brought his people home. 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:59.879 And friends, the Bible's point is that if you will trust the Lord Jesus 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:05.179 and hold on to him and not be people of doubt and faith, 00:11:05.319 --> 00:11:10.459 the same sovereign God that rescued Israel out of Egypt will rescue you and I, 00:11:10.459 --> 00:11:16.279 not from Pharaoh, but he will bring us not into Canaan, but into our forever home, 00:11:16.719 --> 00:11:19.059 into the promised land of the new creation. 00:11:19.419 --> 00:11:21.479 What is the promised land for Christians? 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:24.099 It's not Canaan in Israel, obviously. 00:11:24.839 --> 00:11:28.139 It's not a successful career or business opportunity. 00:11:28.339 --> 00:11:29.479 That God never promises. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.939 Friends, it's not financial wealth or stability or retirement at 45. 00:11:34.179 --> 00:11:35.659 God never promises that. 00:11:36.219 --> 00:11:39.860 It's not that you're going to find the perfect spouse and have the perfect kids 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:41.759 and have the perfect house and the perfect setting. 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:43.439 God never promises that. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.800 What God does promise is that if you hold on to Jesus, 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.240 he will bring you to the new creation, 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:52.920 the new heavens and earth, the place where God and man will live as one. 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:55.800 So listen to how Revelation describes it. 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:58.000 In Revelation 21, John writes, 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:08.519 Verse 3, 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:10.759 I heard a loud voice from the throne of God saying, 00:12:11.079 --> 00:12:13.379 Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. 00:12:13.819 --> 00:12:16.659 He will dwell with them and they will be his people. 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.259 And God himself will be with them as their God. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:22.799 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:24.620 Death will be no more. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:28.240 Neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore, 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:30.100 for the former things have passed away. 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:32.600 And he who was seated on the throne said, 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:36.879 Behold, I am making all things new. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.480 Friends, where are we now if you're a personal faith? 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:41.820 We're in the desert. 00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:43.539 We're in the wilderness. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:45.980 But oh friend, we're almost home. 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:49.299 Despite the many things that are going wrong and the many setbacks, 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:52.039 God will bring his faithful ones home, 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:53.899 just as he said he would. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:58.639 And so often in life, we never get to see how the story ends. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:02.679 We're busy living our story, but it's hard to see how does the story end. 00:13:03.179 --> 00:13:05.460 You pray prayers, but it's hard to know. 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:06.960 What happens to those prayers? 00:13:07.060 --> 00:13:08.280 You never see the fruit of them. 00:13:08.780 --> 00:13:12.019 Or maybe you witness and you're sowing lots of gospel seeds. 00:13:12.180 --> 00:13:14.000 Or maybe you're trusting God. 00:13:14.420 --> 00:13:17.900 And you may or you may not see the fruit of those things in this lifetime. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.060 You may die and be buried before you see the fruit of those. 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:26.259 But one of the great things about Numbers is it shows us how the narrative arc ends, 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:27.680 how the story ends. 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:31.200 And what we see here is that God is faithful to his covenant promises. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.320 He does bring his people home. 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:38.140 We're in the wilderness, but God will get us to the promised land. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:40.900 God is faithful just as he said he would. 00:13:41.800 --> 00:13:44.680 And the Hebrew word for this in the Bible is the word chesed. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:48.900 It means God's covenant faithfulness or his steadfast love. 00:13:49.680 --> 00:13:51.740 And throughout the Old Testament, whenever God says, 00:13:52.060 --> 00:13:54.520 Remember me, remember me, don't forget about me. 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:58.560 He always says, remember my covenant faithfulness, my steadfast love. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.260 Remember how I'm faithful to my word. 00:14:01.259 --> 00:14:03.080 The Psalms talk about this all the time. 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:05.740 One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 107. 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:10.120 It's a Psalm about how God rescues people who are in deep trouble. 00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:12.519 They cry out to God and he rescues them. 00:14:12.939 --> 00:14:14.919 And then four times it says, 00:14:15.439 --> 00:14:18.519 Let them give thanks for his steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:24.240 And then the final verse, the very last verse of Psalm 107 says this. 00:14:24.939 --> 00:14:26.319 Whoever is wise. 00:14:26.939 --> 00:14:28.220 That's a great phrase, isn't it? 00:14:28.819 --> 00:14:30.179 You want to be a wise person? 00:14:30.179 --> 00:14:32.819 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things. 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:36.979 Let him consider the steadfast love of the Lord. 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:39.500 Friends, do you want to be a wise person? 00:14:39.959 --> 00:14:41.319 Do you want to get through the wilderness? 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:48.500 The wise person is the person who knows how to think about life and live their lives and make decisions 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:53.299 based on the steadfast faithfulness of the rock-solid God. 00:14:53.299 --> 00:15:02.279 Friends, the absolutely critical thing about life, the one thing that makes all the difference, how we live and how we will die, 00:15:02.740 --> 00:15:08.000 the one thing that will determine your destiny, both in this life but even more so in the life to come, 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:11.879 is what you make of God and his promises of faithfulness. 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.580 Is he trustworthy or is he not? 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:17.799 Is he faithful or is he not? 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:21.379 Will you trust him or will you not? 00:15:22.340 --> 00:15:26.559 What you do with that determines absolutely everything about your life. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:34.559 Because soon, very soon, maybe not next week, but in light of eternity, very soon, Jesus Christ is going to come back. 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:40.000 And he's going to bring about a new creation, a brand new world in which there will be no more darkness, 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:49.259 no more doubt, no more suffering, no more evil, no more pain, no more unbelief, no more abandonment, 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:54.059 no more broken families, no more crying, no more addiction, no more curses. 00:15:54.539 --> 00:16:00.840 Very soon, heaven and earth are going to be joined together and those who know him will be one with him in the new creation. 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:05.399 And so friends, that leads us to ask a very important question. 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:09.720 And the question is, will you be there with him? 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.259 Will you be there in the new creation? 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:18.460 One of the main points of the book of Numbers is that God is faithful to his word. 00:16:19.179 --> 00:16:21.320 He will bring his people through the wilderness. 00:16:22.100 --> 00:16:22.799 But which people? 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:24.500 It's not all people. 00:16:25.220 --> 00:16:26.379 It's those that have faith. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:28.639 It's those that have trusted in him. 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:31.039 It's those that have put their hope in him. 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:36.120 And as we said, there's many things about life from which we don't know how the story ends. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:41.179 But there's one thing the Bible wants us to be absolutely rock solid certain in. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:43.480 That Jesus Christ will come again. 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:48.039 And he will come and judge the living and the dead and bring about a new creation. 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:55.919 And those who have believed and trusted in him will rise to perpetually live the life that never ends with him forever. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:17:04.839 And those that have rejected him will rise to die the perpetual death that never ends apart from him forever. 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:11.599 And so friends, we don't want to be a Bible-thumping church that threatens and scares people into salvation. 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:12.960 But we also want to be honest. 00:17:13.899 --> 00:17:14.940 Will you be with him? 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:16.940 Will you know him? 00:17:17.619 --> 00:17:19.759 Will you love him in that day? 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:49.740 Will you be with him? 00:17:49.759 --> 00:18:19.740 Will you be with him? 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:20.519 Will do this. 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:24.259 And then God does it and says, well, you know, maybe, maybe. 00:18:24.879 --> 00:18:28.680 Actually, God's people are to be faithful with their words that they speak. 00:18:28.879 --> 00:18:30.480 They're meant to honor their vows. 00:18:31.059 --> 00:18:32.740 But why put that in numbers? 00:18:32.879 --> 00:18:34.259 What's so important about that? 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:35.700 But can't you see? 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:37.980 God has been faithful to his vows. 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:40.799 And if God is faithful to his word, 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:44.160 his people are the people that will be faithful to their words. 00:18:44.879 --> 00:18:48.140 God's faithfulness leads to our faithfulness. 00:18:48.140 --> 00:18:55.160 God's faithfulness to his promises fuels our faith to be faithful to God in response. 00:18:55.860 --> 00:18:58.960 God's people are to be those who live like God himself. 00:18:59.800 --> 00:19:03.220 And so God's faithfulness then fuels our perseverance. 00:19:03.220 --> 00:19:07.140 And so the question then is, how then should we live? 00:19:08.140 --> 00:19:14.039 Friends, if eternity is coming very soon and your day of death is coming very soon, 00:19:14.299 --> 00:19:18.380 how should you live now in light of that impending day? 00:19:18.380 --> 00:19:21.380 How should we live in this life now? 00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:23.060 How should we think? 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:26.840 How should we prepare for the fact that one day soon we will leave this world? 00:19:27.840 --> 00:19:30.760 Well, notice the big theme in these passages. 00:19:31.560 --> 00:19:39.760 In these passages here, God is wanting to prepare his people to prepare and anticipate for living in the promised land. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:42.839 If God is going to be faithful to his word and bring them in, 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:50.140 they are to be people who prepare for that and anticipate that and live now in light of how they're going to live then. 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:54.140 And if you think about it, we do this all the time in our own lives as well. 00:19:54.859 --> 00:19:55.879 Maybe you're in high school. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:57.500 Let me say this. 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:02.619 I remember when one of our kids was in grade five, I think it was at school. 00:20:02.619 --> 00:20:09.159 Okay, so in grade five, and I remember going to the parent-teacher day at the start of the year, 00:20:09.219 --> 00:20:15.359 and the teacher said this, said, you know, grade five is a tough year because we've got to really prepare them for grade six. 00:20:15.479 --> 00:20:18.059 Grade six is a big step up, and so they're going to work hard. 00:20:18.139 --> 00:20:22.239 They're going to get a lot of homework because we need to prepare them for grade six to be ready for grade six. 00:20:22.719 --> 00:20:23.759 I thought, okay, that makes sense. 00:20:24.299 --> 00:20:25.439 They're going to work hard this year. 00:20:25.859 --> 00:20:30.519 And then we got to grade six, and the teacher said, you know, next year they go to high school in grade seven. 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:33.339 Grade seven is a big year, so we need to prepare them for next year. 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:36.839 So they're going to work hard this year in anticipation for high school next year. 00:20:37.700 --> 00:20:40.119 And then you get to grade seven, and what do you think the teacher said? 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:44.339 Grade seven is a big year because next year and then grade eight, it's a big year. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:47.379 It's a big jump up, and so we need to prepare them for next year, right? 00:20:47.740 --> 00:20:49.700 And eventually I'm like, hang on, I'm getting on to you. 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:51.619 You just want to work the kids hard, right? 00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:53.700 But we all do this. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:58.819 Or maybe you're in high school, and in your final year of high school, you're going to go off to college next year. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:00.500 What do your parents say? 00:21:01.059 --> 00:21:05.299 Your parents say, listen, next year I'm not going to be here to look after you, to take care of you. 00:21:05.379 --> 00:21:08.700 You're going to have to grow up, and so you need to start taking care of yourself. 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:10.500 You're going to go off to college next year. 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:15.480 Or I remember when I was a teenager, and Claire is forever grateful for this. 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:20.400 My dad once said to me, my bedroom was a bombshell. 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:21.759 It was like a war zone. 00:21:21.879 --> 00:21:27.779 And my dad once said, son, one day you're going to get married, and you better not make your wife live in a bedroom like this. 00:21:27.879 --> 00:21:30.359 You better learn how to take care of yourself and get neat. 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:41.279 We know that we need to live life now in light of and in preparation, anticipate what life's going to be then, right? 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:43.920 That's what Moses is doing here. 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:53.180 God gives these people all sorts of instructions saying, in light of eternity, in light of heaven, in light of the world to come, how should we live now? 00:21:54.060 --> 00:21:55.360 And so look at these chapters. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:57.840 I want to just highlight three things for us to think about. 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:05.759 Firstly, how should we live now in light of the fact that Christ is going to return, and those of us that are people of faith are going to be with Him forever? 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.160 Firstly, be wary of seduction. 00:22:10.340 --> 00:22:13.259 In chapter 32, if you've got a Bible, you are welcome to look there. 00:22:13.740 --> 00:22:15.200 We won't read it necessarily. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:21.019 Firstly, in chapter 32, there are two tribes, the tribes of the Gadites and the tribe of the Reubenites. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:24.680 And what happens is they come to the edge of the promised land. 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:26.120 They're right on the other side of the river. 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:29.640 All they've got to do is just cross the river, and they will be in the promised land. 00:22:30.100 --> 00:22:32.360 And they've wandered through the wilderness 40 years. 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:34.360 They're right here on the brink. 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:37.420 And two tribes say to Moses, they look around them. 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:38.880 They say, you know what? 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:41.300 This land here is actually pretty good. 00:22:41.840 --> 00:22:46.500 We think we'll just stay on this side of the river and not cross over into the promised land. 00:22:47.180 --> 00:22:50.340 Now, the reason they do that is they look around them. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.300 They see that the land is fruitful and abundant and good for their flocks. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:01.860 And Neil showed me this week the overtose here of Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve look at the fruit, and it looks appealing to them. 00:23:02.360 --> 00:23:03.700 And they're seduced by it. 00:23:04.260 --> 00:23:06.300 And so Moses hears this, and he freaks out. 00:23:06.300 --> 00:23:08.380 He says, you band of sinners. 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:09.980 Look what he says, verse 14. 00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:17.800 Behold, you've risen in your father's place, you brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:20.820 He says, you are acting just like your fathers. 00:23:21.340 --> 00:23:23.000 You're being just like the first generation. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.320 How dare you doubt God's promises? 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:29.960 And the people, the Gadites and the Reubenites say, no, no, we will go into promised land. 00:23:30.040 --> 00:23:31.140 We will fight the battle. 00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:32.880 We will defeat their enemies. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:35.480 We will make sure that the rest of the Israelites come over. 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:38.260 And once it's all settled, we will come back and dwell here. 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:41.680 And Moses is a bit unsure, but he compromises. 00:23:41.780 --> 00:23:43.580 And he says, okay, okay, verse 23. 00:23:44.120 --> 00:23:50.480 But if you will not do so, if you don't come back, if you don't go and fight with your brothers, you have sinned against the Lord. 00:23:50.540 --> 00:23:52.520 And be sure your sin will find you out. 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:55.680 And so here are two tribes. 00:23:55.980 --> 00:24:02.059 They're still part of the people of God, but they never go into the promised land and inherit the promised land. 00:24:02.119 --> 00:24:07.039 The land that God swore to Moses, to Abraham 500 years before, they never partake of it. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:09.500 And it's kind of like they're half-half. 00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:13.039 They're part of the people of God, but they're also outside of it. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:16.779 There's one foot in and there's one foot out. 00:24:17.099 --> 00:24:20.879 Because they've seen what's around them and they want to live there. 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:26.720 And friends, these people, they compromise and they never quite inherit the promised land. 00:24:26.839 --> 00:24:29.859 Forever and ever they are outside of the land that God promised. 00:24:29.859 --> 00:24:38.039 And many hundreds of years later, when the Assyrians come and attack Israel and take them off into exile in judgment, 00:24:38.479 --> 00:24:44.419 these two tribes are the first to be attacked and taken into exile as a sign of God's judgment. 00:24:45.399 --> 00:24:46.299 And what's the point here? 00:24:46.399 --> 00:24:50.919 Friends, the point is, if you're a follower of Jesus, you and I face the same temptation. 00:24:51.639 --> 00:24:56.000 The seductive power of the things of this world, we can easily look around us and say, 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.359 Yes, heaven's good, but I want a bit of earth now as well. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:02.319 And we can be half-half, one foot in and one foot out. 00:25:03.159 --> 00:25:05.819 And Paul writes in the New Testament to the Colossians and he says this, 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:13.000 Since you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:19.539 Set your mind on things that are above, not on the things of this earth, for you have died to the things of this world. 00:25:19.959 --> 00:25:22.039 Your life is now hidden with Christ and God. 00:25:22.439 --> 00:25:26.639 And when Christ appears, you also will appear with Him in glory. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:29.520 Friends, don't settle for the things of this world. 00:25:29.960 --> 00:25:33.820 Don't set your heart and mind now at the expense of what God wants to give you. 00:25:34.360 --> 00:25:39.860 Friends, don't live one foot in, one foot out, and find out that actually maybe you never make it to heaven. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:44.920 No, set your heart, set your mind on the things of this world rather than being seduced. 00:25:45.100 --> 00:25:48.880 Sorry, the things of heaven rather than being seduced by the things of this world. 00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:51.080 Be wary of seduction. 00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:53.779 Secondly, be warring against sin. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:55.879 Be warring against sin. 00:25:56.019 --> 00:25:57.019 What do I mean by warring? 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:00.220 I mean pick up your sword or your shotgun and fight. 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:01.220 Fight. 00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:02.220 Get some fight in you. 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:07.579 Get some, as Christians we're very gracious and we like to be kind and that's good, but sometimes you need a bit of fight in us. 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:09.299 Be warring against sin. 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:14.179 In chapter 31, there's a difficult chapter for us to read. 00:26:14.180 --> 00:26:24.120 And the reason is because God commands the Israelites to go and make war and destroy a tribe of people called the Midianites just near them. 00:26:24.600 --> 00:26:28.820 And of course we read this in our modern culture and we say that is so wrong, that's so unjust. 00:26:29.340 --> 00:26:31.400 How can I tolerate this? 00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:32.880 And we have a point, right? 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:33.740 This is brutal. 00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:36.519 And the ancient world often was brutal. 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:47.000 But the reason why God tells the Israelites to go and conquer the Midianites is not because of land expansion or racial genocide or colonialism or anything like that. 00:26:47.000 --> 00:27:02.799 The reason is because previously back in chapter 25, the Midianites had come into Israel and had seduced them, sexual perversions, maybe kind of sleeping with cult prostitutes, worshiping other gods, other idols. 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:10.759 And the Israelites stopped worshiping God and they stopped following the God of the Midianites and 25,000 of them are killed in a plague. 00:27:11.919 --> 00:27:18.480 And God says to the nation of Israel, He says, either you take them out or they're going to take you out. 00:27:19.220 --> 00:27:22.099 If you tolerate them, they will destroy you. 00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:25.259 And so they take them out. 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:28.519 And of course we struggle with this because many people die. 00:27:28.859 --> 00:27:31.480 And sorry to say, that's how it was in the ancient world. 00:27:31.480 --> 00:27:32.220 It was ruthless. 00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:33.059 It was brutal. 00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:34.140 It was horrible. 00:27:34.660 --> 00:27:35.620 That's how it was. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:43.079 And yet, friends, don't you see, the seductive power of sin is no less dangerous for us in our lives. 00:27:43.819 --> 00:27:45.860 Friends, it's no less powerful for us today. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:50.920 We face the consequences of the same dangers. 00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:55.480 Friends, we tend to think, oh, we modern people, you know, we're as primitive as those people. 00:27:55.579 --> 00:27:57.039 We've got a handle on things in life. 00:27:57.099 --> 00:27:57.860 We can control things. 00:27:57.960 --> 00:27:58.680 No, no, no. 00:27:59.259 --> 00:28:00.759 Sin will destroy you. 00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:05.039 John Owen famously said, be killing sin or sin be killing you. 00:28:05.779 --> 00:28:06.619 And there's a battle. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:07.319 There's a war. 00:28:07.420 --> 00:28:13.059 There's a ruthlessness that God wants us to take up against the things that seduce us and draw us away from God. 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:16.640 And so God says to His people, you are my set-apart people. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:19.039 Live now like you're going to live then. 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:23.119 Live in this world like anticipating what the will to come. 00:28:23.619 --> 00:28:27.059 In preparation for there, live as my set-apart people. 00:28:27.059 --> 00:28:31.279 In the New Testament, the book of 1 John, John writes this. 00:28:31.339 --> 00:28:34.000 He says, Beloved, sorry, I don't know if it's a bit small. 00:28:34.099 --> 00:28:35.960 Beloved, we are God's children now. 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:38.519 And what we will be has not yet appeared. 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:45.099 But we know that when He appears, when Christ comes, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. 00:28:45.099 --> 00:28:50.619 And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:54.359 Friends, when Jesus comes, we will be made spotless. 00:28:54.459 --> 00:28:57.379 We will see Christ and sin will be horrible and disgusting. 00:28:57.719 --> 00:28:59.399 And we will want to be like Jesus. 00:29:00.379 --> 00:29:01.240 That day is coming. 00:29:02.059 --> 00:29:04.839 So why don't we live now in light of that day that's coming? 00:29:05.700 --> 00:29:09.640 Anyone who sees Him, who hopes in Him, purifies himself as He is pure. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:11.220 And so imagine this. 00:29:11.660 --> 00:29:14.599 Imagine it's a few days before your wedding, right? 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:16.000 You're about to get married. 00:29:16.120 --> 00:29:18.500 You've been planning for months and months and months. 00:29:18.779 --> 00:29:20.700 You've got the guest list. 00:29:20.940 --> 00:29:22.980 You've got the wedding banquet all signed up. 00:29:23.660 --> 00:29:24.620 Everybody's in place. 00:29:24.619 --> 00:29:26.259 It's just a few days before. 00:29:26.739 --> 00:29:31.599 And family have flown in from overseas, come all across the world to be at your wedding day. 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:34.799 And you've just done the wedding rehearsal with the pastor. 00:29:34.879 --> 00:29:36.079 And it's all gone well. 00:29:36.239 --> 00:29:37.919 And everything is looking amazing. 00:29:38.699 --> 00:29:43.579 And your fiancé, the bride, needs to go and do a final last thing with her bridesmaids. 00:29:43.659 --> 00:29:44.819 It's two days before the wedding. 00:29:45.199 --> 00:29:46.399 And you've got some free time. 00:29:46.859 --> 00:29:47.859 And so what are you going to do? 00:29:48.439 --> 00:29:54.099 And so you think to yourself, let me go to one chai and just hang out in the bars and see who I can pick up, right? 00:29:54.619 --> 00:29:59.279 Or maybe you think, I wonder if there's anyone on Tinder. 00:29:59.459 --> 00:30:00.619 It's the last few days, right? 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:01.699 It's my last chance. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:03.099 Last hookup. 00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:05.500 Friends, isn't that ridiculous? 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:07.339 Isn't that disgusting? 00:30:08.399 --> 00:30:10.000 Isn't that the dumbest thing that you could do? 00:30:11.159 --> 00:30:17.559 Why jeopardize 50 years of beautiful relationship for a stupid thing like a one-night stand? 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:21.319 Why give up what is waiting for you just around the corner? 00:30:21.419 --> 00:30:23.219 You're on the brink of your wedding day. 00:30:23.860 --> 00:30:30.059 Why give up something like that for something so temporary, something so fleeting, something so shallow and superficial? 00:30:31.339 --> 00:30:34.759 Friends, we've got all eternity to glory with God. 00:30:35.339 --> 00:30:38.079 Why give it up for something as silly and stupid as sin? 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:43.199 And God says here to His people, you're on the brink of the promised land. 00:30:43.740 --> 00:30:44.399 Be warring. 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:45.139 Be ruthless. 00:30:45.339 --> 00:30:46.519 Don't tolerate that sin. 00:30:47.019 --> 00:30:48.960 Be killing sin before it kills you. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:53.859 Fight against it and live in light of what you're going to live then. 00:30:54.139 --> 00:30:55.159 Live in light of that now. 00:30:56.419 --> 00:30:57.699 So how do we defeat sin? 00:30:58.279 --> 00:30:59.599 Well, there's two ways to do it. 00:30:59.859 --> 00:31:04.259 The first way is to confess it, to bring it before God and say, God, this is who I am. 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:05.960 This is how I think. 00:31:06.039 --> 00:31:07.039 This is how I behave. 00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:09.440 Friends, I had to do that recently. 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:15.740 There's an area of my life that probably wasn't an outright terribleness, but there's something that's got a hold of my heart. 00:31:16.740 --> 00:31:19.319 And I was fighting and struggling, and I couldn't defeat it. 00:31:19.319 --> 00:31:23.920 And a few weeks ago, in confession and worship, during worship, I said, God, I don't like this. 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:25.700 I don't like what a hold it has in my heart. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:26.920 I need you to change me. 00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:31.079 God, this thing that's got a grip in me, I don't want it to have a grip in my heart. 00:31:31.539 --> 00:31:32.500 I confess this. 00:31:32.579 --> 00:31:35.160 Jesus, I need you to break the power of this in my life. 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:35.680 And you know what? 00:31:35.700 --> 00:31:36.900 I really feel like He has. 00:31:37.559 --> 00:31:40.620 I really feel like the last three weeks, I've been walking in a freedom and a joy. 00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:42.620 So one way is to confess it. 00:31:42.619 --> 00:31:45.299 But the other way is to be worshiping Jesus. 00:31:46.179 --> 00:31:48.559 Because all sin is actually a form of worship. 00:31:48.699 --> 00:31:50.539 It's saying, this thing is beautiful to me. 00:31:51.299 --> 00:31:52.659 And so how do we defeat sin? 00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:54.159 We worship the Savior. 00:31:54.779 --> 00:31:57.859 And that's the third thing we see in this passage, in our chapters today. 00:31:58.079 --> 00:31:58.899 Worshiping the Savior. 00:31:59.139 --> 00:32:01.459 Friends, what should we do to live now in light of eternity? 00:32:02.099 --> 00:32:03.659 Be wary of the seduction of sin. 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:05.359 Be warring against sin. 00:32:05.419 --> 00:32:07.500 But finally, be worshiping the Savior. 00:32:07.500 --> 00:32:13.960 In chapters 28 and 29, there are all these chapters about worship. 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:14.700 About worship. 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:18.599 And one of the things, if you look at it, look at what the worship is like here. 00:32:18.680 --> 00:32:21.019 They offer daily sacrifices and offerings. 00:32:21.339 --> 00:32:23.799 They offer weekly sacrifices and offerings. 00:32:24.059 --> 00:32:26.920 They offer monthly sacrifices and offerings. 00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:31.480 And, yes, you guessed it, annual sacrifices and offerings. 00:32:31.619 --> 00:32:36.079 Four times a year, they gather together and they offer sacrifices and offerings. 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:37.980 Some of them are for two weeks long. 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:39.039 These festivals. 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:42.179 And the offerings that they offer are not sin offerings. 00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:43.720 It's not to atone for their guilt. 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:45.259 God has already forgiven them. 00:32:45.639 --> 00:32:47.000 These are burnt offerings. 00:32:47.259 --> 00:32:49.059 It's a way where they bring the whole animal. 00:32:49.179 --> 00:32:50.179 The whole thing is consumed. 00:32:50.339 --> 00:32:54.559 And it's a way of saying, God, all that I am and all that I have, I give myself to you. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:00.419 These people are a community that worship extravagantly. 00:33:01.439 --> 00:33:01.839 Radically. 00:33:02.099 --> 00:33:04.779 All of life is worship for them. 00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:08.259 Every day, every week, every month, every year. 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:12.220 These people are worshiping God extravagantly. 00:33:13.819 --> 00:33:19.420 To worship God does not mean to go around singing Christian songs all day at the office. 00:33:20.059 --> 00:33:24.460 It doesn't mean necessarily playing Christian music on Spotify all day long, though that may not be a bad thing. 00:33:24.460 --> 00:33:33.500 It is to do everything you do with one eye on what I'm doing and one eye on heaven saying, God, does this please you? 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:39.400 Do you delight in what I'm doing and my thoughts, my attitudes, my motive of my heart here? 00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:47.380 Father, what I'm doing, the way I'm thinking, does this shine a spotlight on your grace or am I feasting on the things of this world? 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:51.260 Friends, do you find it hard to worship? 00:33:52.060 --> 00:33:53.800 Do you find it a bore, a duty? 00:33:55.180 --> 00:33:59.060 Could it be that the loveliness of Jesus has become no longer lovely to us? 00:34:01.120 --> 00:34:04.360 Each Sunday, as Oscar reminded us, we say the New City Catechism. 00:34:04.500 --> 00:34:07.960 The Catechism is this ancient tradition of reciting the truths of Scripture. 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:10.619 And the New City Catechism is only about 20 years old. 00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:11.599 It's a very modern one. 00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:14.280 The most famous one is called the Westminster Catechism. 00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:15.960 It's about 400 years old, written 1647. 00:34:16.820 --> 00:34:21.960 And listen to the very first question and answer of the Westminster Catechism. 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:25.980 What is the chief and the highest end of mankind? 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:32.539 Mankind's chief and highest end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. 00:34:32.539 --> 00:34:41.599 Friends, your and my greatest purpose in life is not to make enough money so that we're comfortable and convenient. 00:34:42.300 --> 00:34:49.820 It's not to be able to retire early, to get married and have many children, or to travel and see the world. 00:34:50.340 --> 00:34:52.219 As wonderful as all those things are. 00:34:53.079 --> 00:35:01.699 Friends, your greatest purpose, my greatest goal in life, is to give my life knowing, loving, delighting, 00:35:01.699 --> 00:35:11.619 enjoying, ravishing in, adoring, prioritizing the most magnificent being, satisfying, praiseworthy being in the whole of existence. 00:35:12.219 --> 00:35:15.399 The only sovereign and truly self-sufficient being. 00:35:15.759 --> 00:35:17.219 The one that we call God. 00:35:18.319 --> 00:35:23.319 And so what would it look like for you to live all of life radical worship? 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:26.279 Friends, what would it look like to raise your kids? 00:35:26.279 --> 00:35:31.379 Not simply to go to the best university, but that they know the Lord Jesus and they trust Him. 00:35:31.699 --> 00:35:32.719 And they love Him. 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:35.960 And they are people of character and maturity and contribute to society. 00:35:36.759 --> 00:35:41.299 What it would look like to make money and invest money in a way as an act of worship. 00:35:41.539 --> 00:35:44.439 Seeking to push back darkness and advance God's kingdom. 00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:48.359 To end poverty and injustice and injustice in this world. 00:35:49.219 --> 00:35:53.460 Friends, what would it look like to be a teacher and teach in the classroom as an act of worship? 00:35:53.460 --> 00:35:57.760 Loving and caring and developing the children that are in front of you. 00:35:58.380 --> 00:36:03.780 Helping them to see that their identity is not in their grades, but in what the sovereign God says about them. 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:07.820 Friends, what would it look like to build apps or to develop technology? 00:36:08.380 --> 00:36:14.500 Or to develop AI programs that glorify God and contribute towards human agency rather than taking human agency? 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:17.380 That create jobs rather than destroy jobs? 00:36:17.380 --> 00:36:24.700 Friends, what would it look like to worship God in your pain, in your suffering, in your agony? 00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:28.019 What would it look like to honor your parents? 00:36:28.059 --> 00:36:32.820 Not just out of filial piety, but out of worship of God, your heavenly Father. 00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:36.579 Friends, what would it look like to plan your wedding day? 00:36:37.099 --> 00:36:39.780 So that the spotlight doesn't just shine on the bride or couple. 00:36:39.780 --> 00:36:45.160 But on the God who made male and female in the first place and brings two and makes them one. 00:36:46.100 --> 00:36:50.019 Friends, what would it look like to walk into the office tomorrow morning thinking, 00:36:50.640 --> 00:36:53.160 not how can I get ahead of my colleagues this week? 00:36:53.600 --> 00:37:02.720 But rather, how can I use my gifts, my talents, my skills to serve and to love and to build people up and to glorify God? 00:37:03.500 --> 00:37:06.480 Friends, what would it look like to live all of life, 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:13.619 all of life marked by radical, Christ-centered, joy-filled, faith-fueled love for God? 00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:17.699 You know, heaven is not going to be a sitting on clouds playing harps. 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:20.420 Heaven is going to be a city, a new creation. 00:37:20.579 --> 00:37:21.440 It's going to be ingenuity. 00:37:21.619 --> 00:37:22.460 There's going to be interaction. 00:37:22.579 --> 00:37:23.240 There's going to be people. 00:37:23.340 --> 00:37:24.039 There's going to be community. 00:37:24.199 --> 00:37:24.860 There's going to be work. 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:25.579 There's going to be life. 00:37:25.940 --> 00:37:32.199 And every aspect of it will be marked by glorious worship to the praise of His glorious grace. 00:37:33.000 --> 00:37:36.280 So how are we going to live now in light of that will to come? 00:37:37.099 --> 00:37:39.740 Friends, be wary of the seduction of the things of this world. 00:37:40.340 --> 00:37:41.679 Be warring against sin. 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:43.619 Be worshiping the Savior. 00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:51.320 As we come to a close, many years ago, a lady called Florence Chadwick was a legendary American swimmer. 00:37:51.719 --> 00:37:52.800 You might know the story. 00:37:53.260 --> 00:37:59.460 She was the first lady to swim across the English Channel from England to France twice, both ways, and broke the record. 00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:08.400 And one day in 1952, she wanted to do a swim called the Catalina Channels between the island of Catalina and the mainland of California. 00:38:08.699 --> 00:38:11.179 It's 26 miles across the way. 00:38:11.260 --> 00:38:12.639 It's about 45 kilometers. 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:14.719 And she had been training for this. 00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:18.500 And so one day she decides she's the first woman to ever attempt to do it. 00:38:19.059 --> 00:38:22.299 And she decides to do this 26-mile swim. 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:24.719 And so she's got all the support boats. 00:38:24.940 --> 00:38:27.079 There are tens of boats around her. 00:38:27.099 --> 00:38:30.319 They've got guns to shoot the sharks in the water in case they come a bit close. 00:38:30.739 --> 00:38:32.199 Her mom is on one of the boats. 00:38:32.199 --> 00:38:36.919 And she enters into the water to swim the 26 miles across the channel. 00:38:37.659 --> 00:38:39.739 But it's a bitterly cold day. 00:38:40.219 --> 00:38:40.879 There's cloud. 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:41.559 There's fog. 00:38:41.919 --> 00:38:43.379 The water is freezing cold. 00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:45.039 But she goes. 00:38:45.139 --> 00:38:49.919 And after 15 hours in the water, she feels like, this is too hard. 00:38:49.980 --> 00:38:50.919 I can't keep going. 00:38:50.980 --> 00:38:52.199 And so she wants to tap out. 00:38:52.279 --> 00:38:54.879 But her mom, who's in the boat, says, come on. 00:38:54.919 --> 00:38:55.480 You can do it. 00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:56.699 You've done 15 hours. 00:38:56.819 --> 00:38:57.659 Don't give up now. 00:38:58.179 --> 00:38:59.899 And so she figures, okay, I'm almost there. 00:38:59.939 --> 00:39:00.879 And she keeps on going. 00:39:01.740 --> 00:39:03.039 But she goes another hour. 00:39:03.180 --> 00:39:06.700 And after 16 hours in this water, a thick fog comes in. 00:39:06.740 --> 00:39:07.860 And she can't see anything. 00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:09.900 And she feels like, I'm done. 00:39:09.960 --> 00:39:11.320 If I do anymore, I'm going to drown. 00:39:11.420 --> 00:39:12.680 I cannot keep on going. 00:39:12.760 --> 00:39:13.559 So she taps out. 00:39:13.640 --> 00:39:14.700 They pull her into the boat. 00:39:15.160 --> 00:39:17.340 They put some towels around her, get her something to eat. 00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:21.940 And a few minutes later, the fog lifts. 00:39:22.840 --> 00:39:23.780 And what does she see? 00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:27.440 The shoreline is right in front of them, half a mile away. 00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:32.760 Friends, for 16 hours, she'd been swimming 25 and a half miles. 00:39:33.260 --> 00:39:36.880 And at half a mile to go, and gave up just before the end. 00:39:37.659 --> 00:39:40.579 In the interview later on, she says this, I'm not excusing myself. 00:39:41.139 --> 00:39:45.960 But if I had just seen that land, I know I could have pushed on and made it. 00:39:46.019 --> 00:39:47.220 I could have persevered. 00:39:47.219 --> 00:39:50.159 And so two months later, she decides to swim again. 00:39:50.319 --> 00:39:51.179 Same conditions. 00:39:51.439 --> 00:39:52.259 Icy cold. 00:39:52.659 --> 00:39:53.480 There's a fog. 00:39:53.799 --> 00:39:54.539 It's freezing. 00:39:55.199 --> 00:39:56.959 But this time, she makes it. 00:39:57.019 --> 00:39:58.039 She can't see the shoreline. 00:39:58.119 --> 00:40:01.599 But in her mind's eye, she's got a picture of where she needs to get. 00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:06.339 This time, she smashed the record set by the fastest man by over two hours. 00:40:06.659 --> 00:40:08.099 And she made it to the other side. 00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:11.119 Friends, Christ is faithful to His Word. 00:40:11.519 --> 00:40:12.339 Faithful He has been. 00:40:12.899 --> 00:40:13.799 Faithful He will be. 00:40:14.660 --> 00:40:15.720 What does that mean for us? 00:40:16.560 --> 00:40:20.480 Christ's faithfulness means we can live with faith-filled perseverance. 00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:25.420 Friends, Jesus Christ is the one who lived and died and rose again. 00:40:25.560 --> 00:40:27.539 Gave everything for us. 00:40:28.060 --> 00:40:30.140 So that now we can give everything for Him. 00:40:30.900 --> 00:40:34.019 Friends, Jesus Christ radically gave all for us. 00:40:34.100 --> 00:40:37.180 He did it so that we can know Him and be with Him for all eternity. 00:40:37.600 --> 00:40:40.720 So that we can get through the wilderness and come into the promised land. 00:40:41.420 --> 00:40:43.260 Friends, Jesus died in our place. 00:40:43.260 --> 00:40:48.940 So that when you and I die, we will pass through death into life forever. 00:40:49.680 --> 00:40:50.900 Jesus rose again. 00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:54.480 So that we too can be sure that we will rise with Him forever. 00:40:55.220 --> 00:40:56.220 So hold fast. 00:40:56.820 --> 00:40:59.780 In the ups and downs of the wilderness journey, don't give up. 00:41:00.300 --> 00:41:01.440 He is faithful. 00:41:02.160 --> 00:41:03.380 Keep on persevering. 00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:08.620 Let His faithfulness fuel our faith and perseverance in Him. 00:41:09.320 --> 00:41:11.520 Let me pray for us as we come to close. 00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:15.559 Lord Jesus, faithful you have been, faithful you will be. 00:41:16.519 --> 00:41:20.860 Lord, thank you so much for the book of Numbers that shows us how the story ends. 00:41:21.480 --> 00:41:26.960 That God, if we can simply trust you, simply hold on to you, you will bring us through. 00:41:27.699 --> 00:41:34.019 God, help us to live lives of such faith and confidence that we hold on to you in the midst of the wilderness. 00:41:34.019 --> 00:41:38.480 Help us to get through, Lord, knowing that we are almost home. 00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:39.920 Lord, we pray. 00:41:40.380 --> 00:41:41.559 We need you. 00:41:41.900 --> 00:41:45.980 When the storms of life come, when difficulty come, help us to be worshippers. 00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:48.960 Help us to be wary of the seduction of this world. 00:41:49.619 --> 00:41:52.739 Help us to war against sin and to hold fast to you. 00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:54.599 In your great name we pray. 00:41:54.599 --> 00:41:55.940 Amen. 00:41:56.460 --> 00:41:56.739 Amen.