WEBVTT 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:05.940 Good morning, church. I have the privilege of preaching this morning. 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:12.740 And on our, y'all notice that we tend to do books of the Bible and large passages, 00:00:12.740 --> 00:00:19.000 and we just go verse by verse by verse. So we've done part of Exodus, we've done Ephesians, 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:24.960 we're doing Psalm, I mean, Isaiah 55. And on the calendar, I've known this is a day 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:30.920 I was going to preach, and it said, choose passage. So I didn't have a direction. I'm like, 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:36.380 Lord, what passage do you want me to preach from? And, you know, we're so close to Thanksgiving, 00:00:36.380 --> 00:00:43.840 even though Thursday was Thanksgiving, in my mind, it's still proper to be looking at this concept 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:50.240 of being thankful to God. And so as I asked the Lord, where do you want me to preach from? 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:56.700 If He asked you that question, where would y'all preach from? How many of you would pick Deuteronomy? 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:02.420 So the Lord has laid on my heart to go back to the book of Deuteronomy, 00:01:02.579 --> 00:01:09.599 and take a look at what He says there. And it's my hope and my prayer that as we look at the Word there, 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:16.820 it leads our hearts to being full of thanks. That's the goal this morning, that as we look at His Word, 00:01:16.819 --> 00:01:23.159 at the end of it, that God would bring us to this place where our hearts are lifted up to Him 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:29.979 in thanks. You know, that's the way He's called us to live. I love the way Paul says it in the book 00:01:29.979 --> 00:01:39.459 of Ephesians. He says it this way, rejoice. And again, I say, rejoice. Rejoice in all circumstances. 00:01:39.459 --> 00:01:49.259 Give thanks. Do you find that difficult to do? You know, the weight of this world can be heavy, right? 00:01:50.459 --> 00:01:57.959 And it can lead us to take on some of that weight and to not be continuously thankful and rejoicing. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:04.299 The beautiful picture that I've shared with many is this picture of Paul and Silas. After doing exactly 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:08.120 what God told them to do, preaching the Word of God in the streets, they were arrested, 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:12.159 and they were beaten, and they were taken to the inner prison, they were chained to the wall. And 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:18.300 you know what they did that night? They worshiped God in the jail. They sang songs and the place was 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:26.740 shaken. That is the life of rejoicing. That's the life of recognizing that God is sovereign, 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:34.420 and He's always in control, and He always leads us to a deeper walk with Him. Do y'all believe it? 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:44.739 As His children, He's always leading us to a deeper walk. He's changing us into the image of Christ from one 00:02:44.739 --> 00:02:50.699 degree of glory to the next. And you know those roads often pass through enemy territory? 00:02:50.699 --> 00:03:01.019 glory? It's not that life is easy. It's that God's got a plan, and that plan always ends with our good and His glory. 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:08.899 It's always true for His people, His children. And so this morning, God has led me back to Deuteronomy 00:03:08.899 --> 00:03:14.079 chapter 8, and believe it or not, it's a summary of the whole of scriptures. This morning, we're going to cover the whole Bible. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:20.660 And so I've shared with a couple. I'm nervous that I'm going to be long-winded, so I'm going to do 00:03:20.660 --> 00:03:27.920 everything I can to shrink this thing down. And really, it is shrunk down for us in chapter 8 of 00:03:27.920 --> 00:03:33.140 Deuteronomy. So I'm going to ask if y'all will to open your Bible, and as Jonathan has shared with us, 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:38.060 and I totally agree, it would be beneficial to have God's Word in your hand. Isn't it something powerful 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:43.900 about holding the Word of God, and looking at the Word of God, and together studying the Word of God, 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:49.379 and hearing the Word of God preached? So I encourage you to open to Deuteronomy 8. If you hadn't been back 00:03:49.379 --> 00:03:55.800 there in a while, it's back toward the very first of the scriptures, fifth book, and it's Moses that has 00:03:55.800 --> 00:04:04.400 written the first five books of Pentateuch. And in chapter 8, I want to set in history where we are. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:11.400 And how do I do that? I sneak ahead to chapter 9. Because chapter 9, verse 1, tells us exactly 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:19.000 what's going on in the life of Israel. The moment in the history of Israel. So this morning, here's my 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:26.620 hope, is that we look at the history of Israel. We're going to take a look at the history of Israel, 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:30.740 and then we're going to look at the spiritual message that is woven into the history of Israel. 00:04:30.740 --> 00:04:36.220 Do y'all realize that all the scripture, when we read it, all of it gives us a spiritual message? 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:45.900 It's not intended just to be history. It's intended for us to see God in it. There's a spiritual 00:04:45.900 --> 00:04:52.019 message woven into the history of Israel, and that's what I hope we will see this morning. 00:04:52.220 --> 00:04:58.780 You know that pertains to you and me? We look back in time years and years ago to a nation that 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:04.079 that we've learned about, much about through the pages of scripture. But there's a message for you 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:09.699 and I this morning. And that's what I want us to hear. And it's woven into this history. So if we 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:17.819 look quickly at chapter 9, we will see exactly where we are in the course of things, in the life of the 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:23.439 nation of Israel. And then I'll back up and we'll do a little small, short, quick history lesson 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:27.639 about how they got here. But here's what chapter 9, verse 1 says, 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:33.300 Hear, O Israel, you are to cross over the Jordan today. 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:42.620 So where have they been? What has led them to this moment where they're getting ready to cross over 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:47.259 the Jordan? And you know what's on the other side of the Jordan River? It's the promised land. 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:52.800 It's the land that he said to them that they will inherit. He declared it. 00:05:55.959 --> 00:06:02.339 They've been in the wilderness for 40 years. But if we back up and look at the whole history, 00:06:02.459 --> 00:06:09.480 you know what we have to do? We have to go back to God breaking into the life of Abraham. And he said 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:15.500 to Abraham, back in Genesis, I tell you we're going the whole Bible today. So y'all just note that we're in 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:19.740 Genesis, okay? And then we're going to hit Revelation. So that's going to comprise all of 00:06:19.740 --> 00:06:26.259 Scripture, all right? In chapter 12 of Genesis, it says this, Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your 00:06:26.259 --> 00:06:32.220 country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I want you to leave 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:37.100 everything that's common to you, and I want you to go to the land that I'll show you. And I will make of 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:41.980 you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:47.439 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you, 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:52.660 all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So you hear the call? God says, while he's living 00:06:52.660 --> 00:06:57.160 in Ur, I want you to uproot yourself and your family, and I want you to go the direction I tell 00:06:57.160 --> 00:07:01.439 you to go. And I will tell you, I'm not telling you where you're going. I just say, follow me. Go 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:06.300 where I tell you to go. And he goes up to the Euphrates, and he wraps around, and he goes into the 00:07:06.300 --> 00:07:11.660 promised land, because God led him that way. And yet he says to God, 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:21.600 in chapter 15, fear not, Abraham, I am your shield. Though you are in this foreign land, 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:27.040 though you're not among your people, though you've left everything you know, I am your shield. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:35.600 But Abraham said, O Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless, and the heir of my 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:44.000 house is Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:51.720 household will be my heir. What did God say? God said, No, Abraham, this man shall not be your heir, 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:58.320 and your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside, and he said, Abraham, look, 00:07:58.400 --> 00:08:03.660 or Abram, look up. Look toward heaven and number the stars if you're able to number them. And he said 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:11.780 to them, So shall your offspring be. And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 00:08:11.960 --> 00:08:17.460 So you hear the picture, Abraham is traveling to exactly what God said. God says, Listen, I'm going to use 00:08:17.459 --> 00:08:22.959 you to bless the whole earth. Out of your loins, there are going to be born children, and it's going 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:29.579 to be a great nation. Y'all realize what that nation's pointing to? His church, his bride. 00:08:31.099 --> 00:08:35.559 But he says, Abraham said, But God, I don't have children, and I'm too old to have children. 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:41.600 I thought you promised you'd give me children. He says, Believe me, I will come through. I will do what 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.159 I tell you I'm going to do, and you're going to have a son. And we know that son to be Isaac, right? 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:50.799 It's the promised son in their old age when they were past childbearing. He had a son, Isaac, 00:08:50.899 --> 00:09:00.519 and Isaac had a son. And the passage was the promise that was given to Abraham was also 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:08.139 given to Isaac. It's not exactly the same, but he reminds Isaac. So the Lord appeared to Isaac, 00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:12.620 and he said to Isaac, Sojourn in this land, this promised land, this land of Canaan, 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:18.139 and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and your offering I will give all these lands. 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:27.879 I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham. I will establish the oath that I swore. I will 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:36.039 follow through on my promise. Is God good for his word? You know what he shared with Jacob? We know 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:41.320 this story when he has a dream, and he sees the ladder, and he sees angels ascending and descending. 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:49.360 In that dream, he says, Jacob, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. 00:09:49.540 --> 00:09:56.920 The land on which you lie, that's where he had his head on a rock, and he was sleeping. The land on 00:09:56.920 --> 00:10:02.379 which you lie, I will give to you and your offspring. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:08.140 you go and will bring you back to this land. Well, why did he need to leave the land? You remember there 00:10:08.139 --> 00:10:13.240 was a famine in the land, right? It was an incredible famine. As we read other parts of 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:19.759 scripture, we know that that famine lasted seven years. And over time, the food began to dwindle, 00:10:19.819 --> 00:10:25.960 and they weren't able to plant crops, and everybody was going towards starvation. But God had already 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:34.059 prepared in Egypt this vessel of his, Joseph, one of the sons. He'd sent him ahead. He'd seen the dream. 00:10:34.059 --> 00:10:38.779 He'd interpreted the dream. He had filled the barns with food. And what happened to the family 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:45.139 of Israel, the nation of Israel, which started with one man, Abraham, and his faithfulness that 00:10:45.139 --> 00:10:51.339 grew through Isaac and through Jacob to be 70 souls. And they went and they dwelt in Egypt. Why? Because 00:10:51.339 --> 00:10:58.519 God had placed Joseph in this position of authority. And he invited his family to come and live in this 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:04.919 land of Egypt. And for 30 years, they enjoyed that. And then after 30 years, they were placed in slavery. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:10.740 And in slavery, what happened to the nation of Israel? They grew, and they grew, and they grew, and they grew, 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:17.779 and they grew. They grew so large that what did Pharaoh think? Or what did Pharaoh share with his council? 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:26.539 He said, these people are too great. They're going to overthrow us. So let's make them slaves, 00:11:26.539 --> 00:11:33.019 and let's put a great burden upon them. And for year after year after year, and the Bible says they 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:41.019 were in slavery for 400 years. Can you imagine 400? That's older than the U.S. They were enslaved for 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:47.899 400 years. And finally, we read about this, and we preached about this in Exodus. You remember? 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:55.980 Finally, the people groaned. And they cried out for help. To who? To the Lord God Almighty. 00:11:56.379 --> 00:12:02.980 Because their burdens had become so great that it took them a long time to finally cry out to God. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:09.899 And what did God say? Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:16.240 Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their suffering, 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:27.500 and I have come down to deliver. Isn't that powerful? Wow. God heard their cry. Why did it 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:33.919 take them 300 plus years before they started crying out with this? But when they finally cried out, 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:39.219 God did it. You know what he said to Moses? Moses, I will send you. And Moses said, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.779 You got the wrong guy. I can't do that. He said, exactly. You can't do that, but I'll do it through 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:51.719 you. And what he did, he sent Moses to this place called Egypt, which by the way, in scriptures, 00:12:51.899 --> 00:12:57.299 whenever the name or the country or the place called Egypt is referred to in reference to the 00:12:57.299 --> 00:13:03.259 children of God, it always reminds them of slavery. The word of God declares, 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:08.879 they were in slavery in the land of Egypt, but God delivered. And so now we turn to our passage 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:17.779 in Deuteronomy. So real briefly before I read it, I will remind us of this, is that when they were 00:13:17.779 --> 00:13:24.159 in slavery, Moses came and he spoke to the Pharaoh. We had, they had 10 plagues. And on the 10th plague, 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:28.299 even the first night, he says, you cannot go. And on the 10th, you cannot stay, get out of here. 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:35.259 And they left and they crossed through the Red Sea. And then when the Egyptian army tried to do 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:39.379 the same thing, the Red Sea collapsed on them and killed the whole army. They were never the same. 00:13:39.459 --> 00:13:45.779 The nation of Egypt has never been a power since that day. It destroyed the army of Egypt and they 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:53.939 fled and they went to Horeb, the mountain where they received the 10 commandments. And ultimately they 00:13:53.940 --> 00:13:58.400 went toward the promised land, but because of unfaithfulness, they were not allowed to enter 00:13:58.400 --> 00:14:03.340 into the promised land. Remember? And how long did they spend on, Regina reminded me of this, 00:14:03.400 --> 00:14:07.540 because this is happening in the children's ministry. For 40 days, they went around the land 00:14:07.540 --> 00:14:12.120 scouting it out. And they came back and said, we can't do this. They're too big. They're too great, 00:14:12.540 --> 00:14:18.120 too powerful, too tall. We can't do this. And that's as they said to God, we don't trust that you'll 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:24.500 fight on our behalf. And so he said, for every day you spent there, you're going to spend a year 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:30.340 wandering in the wilderness. And they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. And every male, 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:36.120 excuse me, every adult that had seen the plagues in Egypt and had seen the crossing of the Red Sea 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:42.100 died in the desert. So that every child that was born, every child that was a part of the nation, 00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:46.620 when they stood here after 40 years in the wilderness, were born in the wilderness. They had never 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:55.600 seen anything but the wilderness. They'd never known anything else. All of the adults had died off. 00:14:56.860 --> 00:15:02.980 And he leads them up around Moab and Edom, and they come to the Jordan River. And in chapter 9, 00:15:03.060 --> 00:15:10.980 we read, it said, here, O Israel, you are to cross over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:17.740 greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:24.200 the sons of Anakim, who you know and of whom you have heard it said, who can stand before the sons of 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:30.500 Anak. Know therefore today that he who goes over before you is a consuming fire. 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:35.179 He is the Lord your God. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.460 And we turn back to chapter 8 with our text, starting in verse 7. 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:47.159 Read with me as I start in verse 7. It says this, 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:53.620 For the Lord your God, Moses speaking to the children, the day before or right before they're getting ready 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:58.200 to cross into the promised land. Forty years of wandering, they're getting ready to cross over. 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:03.500 And he says this to them, For the Lord your God is bringing you into, and I want to just emphasize 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:09.720 that word into. We'll come back there in a minute. He's bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks 00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:15.800 of water and fountains and springs, flowing out of the valleys and flowing out of the hills, a land of 00:16:15.800 --> 00:16:23.080 wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:29.879 you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, 00:16:30.180 --> 00:16:36.139 and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full. And you shall bless the 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:43.600 Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Take care, lest you forget the Lord your God by not 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:49.480 keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today. Lest when you 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:54.899 have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and your flocks 00:16:54.899 --> 00:17:01.259 multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be 00:17:01.259 --> 00:17:07.660 lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of, and I'll stop, out of, remember that, 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:13.640 out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through, remember that word through, 00:17:13.640 --> 00:17:20.020 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions 00:17:20.020 --> 00:17:26.660 and thirsty ground, where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinny rock, 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:33.340 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:37.879 and test you to do you good in the end. Let's pray. 00:17:41.679 --> 00:17:46.899 Father, this morning, I pray that you would open our spiritual ears that we could hear the powerful 00:17:46.899 --> 00:17:52.740 message of your word, that Father, you give us ears to hear. Father, you'd open our eyes spiritually 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:58.539 that we would see the truth that is declared in your word, and Father, you would give us an appetite 00:17:58.539 --> 00:18:04.119 for your word, that we would hunger for your word, which is food for our soul. 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:13.240 Father, feed us this morning with the truth of your word, and I pray that you would fill us this 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:20.920 morning with rejoicing, with this thankfulness, a continual thankfulness, where we lift up our 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:25.659 hands and praise to you. Father, open your word this morning that we might see the incredible 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:32.540 truths, and I pray in your name. Amen. Did you notice the three words that I stopped and I said, 00:18:33.620 --> 00:18:41.360 out of, through, and into? Out of, through, and into? And I want to just make this note, 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:46.860 it's true for you and me, just as true as it was for them. We'll talk about the spiritual part of this 00:18:46.860 --> 00:18:51.640 in a few minutes. I want to talk about the historical part of it. Continue with the history for a minute. 00:18:51.640 --> 00:19:00.100 It says, he took them, in verse 14, the Lord your God brought you out of, out of what? Out of slavery. 00:19:01.520 --> 00:19:07.900 The Lord your God brought you out of slavery, out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:19:08.140 --> 00:19:14.380 We've already talked about that. This house of slavery, there for 400 years enslaved, 00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:21.460 and they were forced to do manual labor, and we know through the times of the plagues, it got worse, 00:19:21.540 --> 00:19:25.540 and worse, and worse. They had to go find their own straw to make the bricks that were building the 00:19:25.540 --> 00:19:35.500 kingdom of the Egyptians in slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness. 00:19:36.300 --> 00:19:40.560 You know, you and I don't have any idea what it's like. At least, maybe y'all visited. I've never 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:47.700 visited, and actually stayed in a desert place for any length of time. And it's my understanding 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:53.940 that the Sinai Peninsula, that part of the world, was really barren. Matter of fact, 00:19:53.940 --> 00:20:05.839 in Numbers 20, after the children of Israel had left Egypt, and just a note here, when they're in 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:14.939 Egypt, you know they had beds, and you know they had food, and they had a level of comfort, 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:21.740 a level of protection. And when they left, and they crossed the Red Sea, and they're on their 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:30.779 own in the wilderness, you know they have no beds, have no food, have no water, and it gets bad. It gets 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:39.799 bad real quick. And they're at the waters of this place called Meribah, where they finally had three 00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:45.399 days with no water, roughly, and they arrive at this place that has water, and they go to take of it, 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:53.079 and the water's bitter. They can't even drink it. And it says this, and why have you made us come up out 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:58.779 of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It's not just talking about Meribah, it's talking about the 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:06.339 whole of the wilderness, this evil place. It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, 00:21:06.419 --> 00:21:15.699 and there's no water to drink. This picture of the desert is this barren place that men can't survive 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:22.880 for long, in this place that God has led them. You know, they come out of being redeemed. They're 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:28.480 redeemed out of the land, and where do they go? Into the wilderness. Out of redemption into the 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:34.580 wilderness. That's the path of God's people. He led them there. And then it's interesting, you know, 00:21:34.660 --> 00:21:40.660 David, when he had to flee from Saul, he found that he had to hide in caves, and he was wandering 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:45.380 around in desert places, trying to stay away from Saul so he wouldn't get caught and killed. 00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:52.819 And he writes this Psalm 63, and it gives us a picture that he was acquainted with this type of 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:58.500 land, and here's what he says, oh God, you're my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. 00:21:58.840 --> 00:22:04.539 My flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. You know what? If there's 00:22:04.539 --> 00:22:14.420 no water, there's no life. If there's no water, there's no life. If there's no water, there's no grass, 00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:19.640 there's no flour, there's no produce, there's no fruit, there's no trees, there's no life. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.560 And God led his people into this realm where there's no water, there's no life. 00:22:29.560 --> 00:22:35.060 Not in the wilderness. But you know the beautiful picture of what he did? We read it. 00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:43.259 Back in Deuteronomy 8, it says this. He led you through the great and terrifying wilderness 00:22:43.259 --> 00:22:48.419 with its fiery serpents and scorpions. Not only is there no water, there's danger. 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:57.200 The potential to get attacked by snakes or serpents and scorpions is the possibility of death. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:05.740 And God led them that way. It's like, God, what are you doing? Why would you not send us right to the 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:11.559 promised land on the coastal highway that everybody goes that's really, really short? Why did you send 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:15.559 us all the way down and our backs up against this body of water, open the water, and we're crossing? 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:20.779 And now we're in the middle of this barren place with nothing. And by the way, if you were to see a 00:23:20.779 --> 00:23:25.299 picture of what Mount Horeb looks like, you would be like, oh man, I don't want to visit there. I believe I'm 00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:30.440 going to stay up in Jerusalem. I'm not coming down here. It's just barren. And yet, here's what the 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:38.259 word God says, that even in this place, this wilderness where the ground is thirsty, I love 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:44.240 how it says that, and there was no water who brought you water out of the flinty rock. You know what God 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:51.500 did when they were in the wilderness? He showed himself strong on their behalf. He gave them what the 00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:58.359 world, what this wilderness could not give them. He gave them water. He sustained them in this place 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:04.319 called the wilderness. And not only that, he fed them. He fed you in the wilderness with manna 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:13.359 that your fathers did not know. This thing, this only happened once in the span of all of creation, 00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:19.180 is this time when he fed them for 40 years with manna. It says their shoes didn't wear out, 00:24:19.180 --> 00:24:24.019 their clothes didn't wear out, they had water to drink out of the flinty rock, and they had manna to 00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:28.940 eat. They were sustained in this place that does not give life for 40 years. 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:43.380 And with that in mind, this nation had never, ever tasted anything else save Joshua and Caleb and Moses. 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:50.360 Not another soul saw the miracles of Egypt. Not another soul remembered the events in Egypt. 00:24:50.560 --> 00:24:55.320 They heard them as stories. They never experienced them. They'd only known the wilderness. And here's 00:24:55.320 --> 00:25:00.880 what Moses says as they're getting ready to cross over. Think about this in light of the wilderness. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:03.580 He says this to them. 00:25:05.940 --> 00:25:10.220 For the Lord God, this is Moses speaking to the children of Israel who'd never seen anything but 00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:15.440 wilderness, who'd never eaten anything for the most part besides manna and a few quail that flew in, 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:24.000 right? We remember that. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, out of slavery, 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:30.980 through the wilderness, into the promised land. Into a good land, a land, listen to this, 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:39.740 a land of brooks, of water, of fountains and springs flowing out in the valleys and flowing out of the 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:45.700 hills. Think about this. They'd never seen water except this water that's provided by God, 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:47.660 that's coming out of this flinty rock. 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:55.019 And they're walking around and they come to this, and there's this promise. Over there, 00:25:55.960 --> 00:26:02.440 there's water galore. You know what water does? It gives life. It gives life to flowers and fruits 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:13.000 and vegetables and trees. It gives food for the herds and the... This was foreign to them. This was 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:20.440 strange to them. And it says, a land of wheat and barley. Can you picture just fields full of wheat 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:27.279 when you're out in the Arab desert, in the Sinai Peninsula? Not a chance. They'd never seen a field 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:36.319 of wheat and barley, ever. A land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, 00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:42.119 and a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity. Can you imagine 00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:46.779 they've been picking up manna every day and they've been eating it? They can only keep it one day, 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:52.799 except on Saturday they can keep it too, by the grace of God. They can't even imagine eating loaves of 00:26:52.799 --> 00:27:00.459 bread without scarcity. In which you will lack nothing, a land who's... And I could go on. 00:27:01.979 --> 00:27:08.519 But I want to make this point, you shall eat and be full. You shall eat and be satisfied. You shall never 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:16.779 lack. You hear the picture of what Moses is telling these people? That there's something 00:27:16.779 --> 00:27:22.039 right ahead. There's something right over there. You be faithful to follow the leading of God. And 00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:26.900 the Almighty God is going before you. And though those nations are greater than you and stronger than 00:27:26.900 --> 00:27:32.440 you, He's going before you. He will clear the path for you. You go and obey and you take possession 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:37.799 of this beautiful promised land that He's promised to Abraham when the nation began. 00:27:39.660 --> 00:27:44.299 Y'all hear the history? The beautiful history of the Old Testament, what God has done. 00:27:45.460 --> 00:27:50.920 And they're stepping into the promised land. This is the gift of God. Now I want to share with you 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:57.080 the spiritual story that's woven into this history. I suppose y'all have already seen this. You've 00:27:57.080 --> 00:28:01.820 already heard it before. But it's my hope that this morning when we finish telling this story, 00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:07.679 there's going to be something welling up in you with excitement about the promised land that God's 00:28:07.679 --> 00:28:15.240 talking about here. Let me just share with us, it's not foreign to us that there was a time in each of 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:22.259 our lives that we were in slavery. So spiritually speaking, do you realize this refers to every child 00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:29.960 of God? That there's a time, Christian, when you were in slavery. You know how the Bible articulates 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:37.259 that? That we were born in sin. And in this condition of sin, we're separated from a holy God. 00:28:38.600 --> 00:28:46.559 We're enslaved. According to Romans 6, we're slaves to sin. And the only way we cannot be a slave to sin 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:51.640 is by the mighty hand of God. And isn't that true of the children of Israel? How is it that they were 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:57.440 delivered from slavery? It's the mighty hand of God. And we saw it in 10 plagues. We saw it in what He did to 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:04.920 open the passageway for the children of Israel through the water. And when they got on the other 00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:10.360 side, He said, stand and see what God's going to do. And He watched and He destroyed the enemies. 00:29:11.660 --> 00:29:19.740 He delivered them. He did it all. They were just led by Him. And you know what's true of you and I, 00:29:19.799 --> 00:29:25.539 that we were in this condition called sin with no hope? You know that this condition of sin leads to hell? 00:29:25.539 --> 00:29:38.819 Well, there's no hope for us who are in sin but God. But God. God sent His Son, Christ, to deliver us 00:29:38.819 --> 00:29:49.059 from sin. How much does that move us? Has that become such a common thing that it's so common that it 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:57.899 doesn't stir us anymore? Listen, do you often think about your tendency still to sin? You know what God's 00:29:57.899 --> 00:30:04.240 doing? He's doing a work in each of our hearts to try to show us His glory so that we look at His glory 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:13.619 and go, wow. In the sin that kind of throws itself at us, we look at that and say, no, look at His glory. 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:22.859 Wow. I don't want anything to do with that. This is what I want. I want the Father. I want Him. 00:30:26.539 --> 00:30:34.779 Is that true for you and me? Do we recognize the ugliness of our sin? Do we recognize what He's done on our 00:30:34.779 --> 00:30:43.680 behalf that He sent His Son to come and dwell within us? It is powerful to see what He's done. 00:30:44.339 --> 00:30:48.379 Now, I want us to understand this wilderness that we're in. Spiritually speaking, do you realize 00:30:48.379 --> 00:30:55.099 that once He delivered us from sins, once He took us out of slavery and gave us life, He delivered us 00:30:55.099 --> 00:30:59.799 from sin? You know where He sent us? Right to the wilderness. Do y'all realize that right now we're 00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:05.299 walking in the wilderness? That we're not home yet? You know there's multiple passages that say, 00:31:05.659 --> 00:31:11.859 you're not home yet. You are actually Christian and ambassador of another kingdom. What is an 00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:16.460 ambassador? It's a representative of another kingdom that tells people about the kingdom. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:21.940 Y'all realize that right now we're not home yet? That we're sojourners in a foreign land? 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:29.259 That we're aliens and strangers in this life? Let me just stop and help us to try to grasp the 00:31:29.259 --> 00:31:40.920 reality of this. You know what the enemy wants us to do? The enemy wants us to turn our eyes off of 00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:48.660 Him, off of Christ, off of His glory, and turn our eyes onto the things of this world. He says, 00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:53.420 look how good this is, and look how good this is, and look how happy this will make you. Why don't you 00:31:53.420 --> 00:31:58.440 go do this, and why don't you do that? You know what? The enemy would love for us to set up camp here, 00:31:58.440 --> 00:32:03.960 would love for us to forget about the promised land, would love for us to forget about the Lord, 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:09.259 and would love for us to make our home here and begin to crave the things of this wilderness. 00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:11.900 You know how ludicrous that is? 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:19.400 Think about how ludicrous that is in the life of the Israelites who are in the desert, this evil place 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:23.960 where there's no water and no food. Do you realize that spiritually speaking, there's nothing here for you? 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:32.000 Do you realize in this wilderness that we're walking, there's nothing redeemable? There's nothing 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:39.299 that is going to lead us to life. Now, there's pictures of it all around. I look and I see the 00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:45.980 creation. What do I see? God, God, God, God, God, God, God. I see Him everywhere. Creation shouts His glory. 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:51.039 But you know, just seeing it's not going to give us life. You know what it does? It points to the 00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:56.880 one who gives us life. And God uses that to move our hearts to desire Him. He opens our eyes that we 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:02.059 can see our need of our Savior, and we bow our knee, and He brings us out of slavery, and He takes us 00:33:02.059 --> 00:33:07.779 into this wilderness. Why would He do that? Well, Deuteronomy talks about why. 00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:14.880 It says, who fed you in the wilderness with manna. You know that right now in this wilderness, 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:21.000 the only way you and I are going to get fed is right here. It's the Word of God. You realize 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:28.420 that He will feed us until we're so full and satisfied with Him we can't imagine. He's feeding 00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:33.980 us here. There's something better. We're going to talk about the better in just a second. But He's 00:33:33.980 --> 00:33:38.600 feeding us with His Word. And you know that He's quenched our thirst. You know how He did it? With 00:33:38.600 --> 00:33:43.700 the person of the Holy Spirit who's come to live within us, and life has come to dwell within us, 00:33:43.700 --> 00:33:49.460 and we now are transformed from the inside. He's given us life. He's given us this love for Him. 00:33:51.259 --> 00:33:56.400 He's transformed us. Even though we walk in the wilderness, even though we're not home, 00:33:56.539 --> 00:34:04.840 God hadn't left us to die. He's feeding us His Word. And He's feeding us the living water of His Holy 00:34:04.840 --> 00:34:10.980 Spirit that sustains us here, spiritually speaking. But you know the most beautiful part of all of this 00:34:10.980 --> 00:34:20.159 is what He said to the children of Israel, this nation that had only known the wilderness. And by 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:26.960 the way, you know what? That's all we've known here is the wilderness. I just want to help us to see 00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:34.219 the stark contrast between the wilderness that they walked around in for 40 years, lived in, 00:34:34.219 --> 00:34:38.259 dwelled in for 40 years. And the stark contrast of what He says is right over that river. 00:34:39.439 --> 00:34:44.659 This land that I've promised you is this land that's flowing with milk and honey. You know what 00:34:44.659 --> 00:34:50.759 it is to be flowing with milk and honey? You know how beautiful that picture is? In flowing with milk 00:34:50.759 --> 00:34:57.000 and honey, five words. You know what it communicates? A whole lot more than five. In order to have milk, 00:34:57.079 --> 00:35:02.599 you have to have something that produces milk. In order for the goat to survive and produce milk, 00:35:02.599 --> 00:35:09.059 they've got to have grass in abundance. They've got to have food. And so if it implies these lush 00:35:09.059 --> 00:35:18.759 valleys that are full of grass and so full of grass and food for these flocks, these herds of goats and 00:35:18.759 --> 00:35:24.619 milk-producing creatures, that it's flowing. The milk is flowing. It's not just a bottle of milk. It's 00:35:24.619 --> 00:35:31.799 flowing. It is so great, it's like rivers flowing. And honey. Now that's the substance. The milk is, 00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:37.220 in essence, the sustenance. But the honey is the abundant luxury. 00:35:39.400 --> 00:35:42.740 In order for there to be honey, there has to be something to produce honey, right? 00:35:44.180 --> 00:35:52.160 And it was known about that nation that figs were abundant. The date trees with the figs on, 00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:57.680 I mean, excuse me, the dates and the figs were abundant. Fig trees and date palms. And they dripped 00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:02.519 the sweetness of honey. And bees, in order for them to produce honey, what do they have to have? 00:36:02.779 --> 00:36:09.739 Flowers. And what does a flower grow on? That which gives vegetables and fruit and the grass. And it's 00:36:09.739 --> 00:36:17.679 just this picture of this incredible lushness. Now, I share all that to make this point, 00:36:18.279 --> 00:36:21.239 is that the land you and I are living in right now is like the wilderness. 00:36:21.239 --> 00:36:26.979 And you know what he's saying? There's a kingdom coming that you can't possibly imagine. 00:36:28.539 --> 00:36:32.639 I'll tell you about it. And I'm going to end with the story about what's coming. 00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:38.379 But for you, each of us Christians, there's something so amazing on the other side of the 00:36:38.379 --> 00:36:41.559 river you can't possibly imagine. It says, 00:36:41.559 --> 00:36:54.900 The promised land is so lavishly great, we can't even dream it up. It's just like being in the 00:36:54.900 --> 00:36:59.480 wilderness all your life and never having seen a fig, and never having seen a vine of grapes, 00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:04.299 and never having seen a pomegranate, and never having seen a spring of water that's springing 00:37:04.299 --> 00:37:07.920 out of the land. You can't even imagine. It's just a story to you. 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:13.519 But when they walk in and see it, they're going to be overwhelmed with how 00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:18.039 incredible the gift is. You know, for us, we're walking in this world, 00:37:18.139 --> 00:37:19.960 you know, we think heaven's going to be like this. 00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:30.000 Oh, Christian, this is nothing. This is nothing compared to what heaven's going to be like. 00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:37.400 This is a barren wilderness where it will not even sustain life apart from the gift of God. 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:42.619 You know what? In this world, you're not going to be fed unless you're fed with this. Our souls 00:37:42.619 --> 00:37:48.360 will dry up and shrivel away without the feeding of the living water of God in the Word of God. 00:37:50.039 --> 00:37:53.119 And he says, what's coming is this beautiful thing. 00:37:55.200 --> 00:38:01.400 I want you to hear it from the Word of God. The promised land is for you and I, Christian, 00:38:01.400 --> 00:38:07.480 and we know it is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. And we don't know how great it is. 00:38:07.720 --> 00:38:13.019 But if we had any idea how great it was, you know what? It would help us to fix our eyes on Jesus and 00:38:13.019 --> 00:38:14.180 never take them off. 00:38:19.099 --> 00:38:23.700 I'm reminded of the story that C.S. Lewis writes when he writes about the screw tape letters. 00:38:24.039 --> 00:38:27.619 And he says, Christian, I want you to walk and I want you to keep your eyes straight. Don't look to the 00:38:27.619 --> 00:38:32.019 left. Don't look to the right. And the demons are up in these buildings in this really narrow lane 00:38:32.019 --> 00:38:36.259 and they're screaming out, come do this. Come do this. You need this. You've got to have this. 00:38:36.299 --> 00:38:40.739 This is so great. Come on. And the Christian's been told, don't look. Don't look. You keep your 00:38:40.739 --> 00:38:48.759 eyes fixed on what is the... You know, that's what happens to us if we keep our eyes fixed on the 00:38:48.759 --> 00:38:53.619 promised land and we know the great gift of God that's coming. This time frame we're in is like a 00:38:53.619 --> 00:38:59.819 blank. It's like a... It's like a vapor. It passes so fast. Why does it captivate us so? 00:39:01.659 --> 00:39:05.099 Why does the world and the things of this world captivate us so? 00:39:09.519 --> 00:39:15.019 1 John says the world's passing away. Why do we cling to that which is passing away that's 00:39:15.019 --> 00:39:23.699 going to be burned up? John 17 says this. Lord Jesus, he says, he's praying to the Father. 00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:27.539 We get a glimpse of his prayer life here and here's what he says. I do not ask for these 00:39:27.539 --> 00:39:32.719 only, that is the 12, the disciples. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who 00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:37.980 will believe in me through their word. That is us. He's pointing forward in time to the 00:39:37.980 --> 00:39:45.260 Christians that will accept Christ as Lord and Savior. And he says that they may all be one just 00:39:45.260 --> 00:39:53.039 as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us. Do you think that Jesus was 00:39:53.039 --> 00:40:00.219 enamored with this world and wanted to stay? You know what Jesus did? He would go into the mountain. 00:40:00.340 --> 00:40:06.519 He would spend time with the Father. He would pray all night long. He has eyes fixed on the Father. 00:40:06.519 --> 00:40:09.940 Whatever the Father said, he said. Whatever the Father led him to do, he did. 00:40:11.480 --> 00:40:17.320 He wasn't distracted by this world. Why? Because he knew what heaven was like. He knew what this was 00:40:17.320 --> 00:40:25.639 like. This fellowship, this closeness, this spiritual relationship that is more powerful and more grand 00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:30.739 and more great and more blessed than you and I can possibly imagine. We have a taste of it now. 00:40:30.739 --> 00:40:38.199 But now we see through a glass dimly. But then, that is on the other side, we're going to see him 00:40:38.199 --> 00:40:43.879 face to face. We're going to be in the presence of Almighty God and there's going to be nothing that 00:40:43.879 --> 00:40:50.939 hinders us experiencing him and seeing his face. You know what the word God says about seeing his face? 00:40:50.940 --> 00:40:57.420 No man can see me and live because of the holiness of who I am. No man in this life can see me and live. 00:40:57.480 --> 00:41:01.659 But you know when we're on the other side, we're going to be able to see him just like this. Not only 00:41:01.659 --> 00:41:07.240 are we going to see him, the word of God, here's what Christ prays, that we may be one, that they may 00:41:07.240 --> 00:41:14.800 be one just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us. There's something 00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:20.599 mystical or mysterious is a better word. There's something mysterious about how this could possibly be true. 00:41:20.940 --> 00:41:26.380 Being in him and him being in us, there's a fellowship that we don't quite understand, 00:41:26.659 --> 00:41:31.340 but it's spoken of here in the promised land. That's what it's going to be like. He says, 00:41:31.480 --> 00:41:36.500 the glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one. 00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:42.720 That they may be one. Christian, you and I, brothers and sisters, don't we already feel it? 00:41:43.360 --> 00:41:48.000 When we're gathered together and we're lifting up God's word, do you sense a closeness here? 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:53.619 Do you sense a family? Do you sense fellowship? Where two and more are gathered in his name, 00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:59.519 there is he in the midst and there's this deep fellowship. You know, in the second chapter of 00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:03.639 Acts, it talks about they ate bread together and they listened to the word of God together 00:42:03.639 --> 00:42:10.500 and they prayed together and the place was shaken. The power of the presence of God, 00:42:10.820 --> 00:42:17.260 it was tasted by the first century church in a most powerful way. And you know, when we're in heaven, 00:42:17.260 --> 00:42:21.380 there's going to be no hindrance to that on an ongoing basis. We're going to be in the presence 00:42:21.380 --> 00:42:27.560 of almighty God. And he goes on to say that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know 00:42:27.560 --> 00:42:32.880 that you've sent me and love them even as you love me. Father, I desire that they also whom you have 00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:40.280 given me may be with me where I am. Let me just make a statement here. Oneness, unity, glory. 00:42:40.280 --> 00:42:48.660 Jesus is praying that you and I have oneness, unity, and glory. And listen to it in Revelation. 00:42:48.659 --> 00:42:57.099 Have you all ever thought what the wedding supper of the Lamb is going to be like? 00:42:58.319 --> 00:43:05.299 Have you ever wondered just how powerful a time that's going to be? When the bride of Christ, 00:43:05.559 --> 00:43:14.599 who's been waiting, receives the groom who comes back and he takes us into this place he's made and 00:43:14.599 --> 00:43:19.279 built for us, this place called heaven, this place called his kingdom, the kingdom of God. 00:43:19.779 --> 00:43:24.319 And here's what the word of God says in Revelation 19. It pictures us so beautifully. 00:43:25.319 --> 00:43:30.380 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of the great multitude, like the roar of many waters, 00:43:30.659 --> 00:43:37.059 and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out, hallelujah, the Lord God, for the Lord, 00:43:37.059 --> 00:43:44.079 our God, the almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory for the marriage supper of 00:43:44.079 --> 00:43:50.539 the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. You know what's happening in this wilderness 00:43:50.539 --> 00:43:55.519 while we're here? That God's doing a work in our lives. You know what he's doing? He's humbling us. 00:43:57.299 --> 00:44:02.099 He's testing us. You know what it means to test? You know faith is not faith unless it's tested. 00:44:02.659 --> 00:44:09.279 It's just a concept. You know what he's doing? He's blessing us with these circumstances in our life 00:44:09.280 --> 00:44:17.740 that calls us to be one humbled and calls us to see if our faith is real. You know, we watched Abraham 00:44:17.740 --> 00:44:21.900 put his son, promised son Isaac, on the altar, and he was willing to trust God that much, 00:44:22.900 --> 00:44:27.040 believing that the almighty God was able to raise him up even after he died on the flame 00:44:27.040 --> 00:44:33.280 on an altar. That type of faith is what he's working in each of our lives. We believe 00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:40.380 he is who he says he is, and we believe he'll do what he says he'll do. And here it is. It says, 00:44:40.480 --> 00:44:45.519 this time has come. The bride has made herself ready. It was granted her to clothe herself in 00:44:45.519 --> 00:44:49.740 fine linen. You know what that is? That's the righteousness of Christ. We will be clothed with 00:44:49.740 --> 00:44:54.640 the righteousness of Christ. Bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 00:44:54.700 --> 00:44:59.640 And the angel said to me, write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the 00:44:59.639 --> 00:45:07.539 lamb. When it says blessed, it means beyond your wildest imagination. Let me ask each of you, 00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:12.179 have y'all been invited to the wedding supper of the lamb? Do you know for sure that you're his, 00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:18.679 that you're called by his name? Do you know for sure that he's called you and drawn you into his 00:45:18.679 --> 00:45:25.699 kingdom and he calls you his son and his daughter? If that's true for you, this is true for you, 00:45:25.699 --> 00:45:30.639 that you and I will be at the wedding supper of the lamb. And listen how beautiful it is. 00:45:31.439 --> 00:45:34.460 And talking about the new heavens, the new earth, and we'll close with this. 00:45:37.439 --> 00:45:43.239 And this is John, the revelation that God gave him. And in this part of revelation, 00:45:43.399 --> 00:45:46.519 the end of Bible, I told you we're going to make it all the way, right? Genesis, you know, 00:45:46.579 --> 00:45:50.079 we read out Genesis. I pointed that out and we're reading out of the end of Revelation. We're 00:45:50.079 --> 00:45:54.219 actually going to hit chapter 22. It's the last chapter. So we're doing the whole Bible here today. 00:45:54.219 --> 00:45:58.859 Y'all with me? Let's rejoice together in the beautiful picture of the new heavens and new 00:45:58.859 --> 00:46:04.119 earth. Listen to what it says. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, 00:46:04.539 --> 00:46:09.599 the beginning and the end. To the thirsty, I will give from the springs the water of life. Here it is 00:46:09.599 --> 00:46:17.659 again, water without payment. Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb coming down out of 00:46:17.659 --> 00:46:24.879 heaven from God. Having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel. And I saw no 00:46:24.879 --> 00:46:31.440 temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the lamb. And the city has no need of 00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:38.299 the sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives us light and his lamp is the lamb and his 00:46:38.299 --> 00:46:43.980 gates will never be shut. There's no need to shut the gate when there's no danger. 00:46:43.980 --> 00:46:47.320 It's perfect peace forever. 00:46:51.320 --> 00:46:57.619 Then the angel showed me the river of what of the water of life, brightest crystal flowing from the 00:46:57.619 --> 00:47:02.500 throne of God and of the lamb through the middle of the streets of the city. Also on either side of 00:47:02.500 --> 00:47:08.159 the river, the tree of life with its 12 kinds of fruit yielding its fruit each month. No longer 00:47:08.159 --> 00:47:14.559 will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and the lamb will be in it and his servants 00:47:14.559 --> 00:47:22.599 will worship him. They will see his face. Church, there's a time coming when the veil will be taken 00:47:22.599 --> 00:47:30.099 away. We will be in the presence of the maker of all things, the creator of all things, the glorious, 00:47:30.299 --> 00:47:36.199 majestic, holy God. And we'll be able to see him face to face. Let's pray. 00:47:36.199 --> 00:47:48.159 Amen. Oh, Father, I pray that you would open your veil a little bit, God, and you would give us a 00:47:48.159 --> 00:47:54.239 glimpse, a bigger glimpse of your glory. It's like Moses prayed, show me your glory. And Lord, I realize 00:47:54.239 --> 00:48:00.039 that we can't see the fullness of your glory and live because of your holiness and your purity and 00:48:00.039 --> 00:48:05.840 because of the sin that can, that resides deeply in our lives. And God, I know you're doing a work to 00:48:05.840 --> 00:48:11.699 purify us. I know you're doing a work to purge us of the flesh and the tendency to walk by the flesh. 00:48:11.840 --> 00:48:14.099 And God, you've called us to walk by the light. 00:48:16.699 --> 00:48:21.980 God, you said you're doing a work to change us from one degree of glory to the next, to change us 00:48:21.980 --> 00:48:27.079 into the image of your son, Jesus, that you're purifying your bride so that your bride will be 00:48:27.079 --> 00:48:32.699 without spot and without blemish in order that we might see you face to face. God, I thank you for your 00:48:32.699 --> 00:48:40.639 righteousness. Lord, we confess before you we have no righteousness of our own. But as the scripture said, 00:48:40.719 --> 00:48:49.380 just filthy rags, God. That our clothes are dirty, Father. We're covered with sin. We're full of sin. 00:48:49.380 --> 00:48:55.900 And apart from your gracious work, that you would provide living water for us to taste and see 00:48:55.900 --> 00:49:02.640 that you are good, God. To be born again by your work in our lives, God. We would be lost forever. 00:49:04.260 --> 00:49:12.519 But Lord, you've chosen to give many of us, if not all of us, life. God, to bring us in your kingdom to 00:49:12.519 --> 00:49:21.460 save us. And Father, you've told us there's a day coming when you'll step onto the other side. You'll 00:49:21.460 --> 00:49:27.739 step into the eternal kingdom. And when you do, there will be living water everywhere. 00:49:29.739 --> 00:49:37.840 There will be fruit, continuous food. You'll be satisfied with you. Lord, it's a picture of being 00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:42.800 satisfied fully in you. You, we will be in you and you will be in us, God. I can't imagine, 00:49:43.400 --> 00:49:48.579 I can't imagine what that's like. But I know how great it is because when Christ was on the cross, 00:49:48.640 --> 00:49:54.720 I remember him saying, my God, my God, why have you turned your back on me? The greatest of all losses. 00:49:55.500 --> 00:49:59.600 And I'm thankful that Lord Jesus, you'd be willing to do that, that we might know you, 00:50:00.300 --> 00:50:06.280 that we might be in the eternal kingdom with you, that we might be with you where you are 00:50:06.280 --> 00:50:12.980 in the heavenly kingdom. And God, we give you thanks. We praise you in the name of Christ. Amen.