Be Strong and Courageous

to be received this day as an acceptable sacrifice as you, the true God, have predestined, revealed to me, and now fulfilled. I praise you for all these things. I bless you and glorify you along with the everlasting Jesus Christ, your beloved son. To you with him through the Holy Ghost, Be glory both now and forever. Amen. This is a testimony of great strength and great courage. He refused to deny Christ. He remained steadfast in his confession of faith and in his hope that Christ had died. Christ had risen from the dead. that was eternal life awaiting, either an eternal fire of judgment or eternal hope in the resurrection. Why does he not fear death and forsake Christ? Go home and look up the story of Polycarp, it's short. But this morning I asked, why wouldn't he choose to live? Simple word, forsake Christ and you get to live. It's simple. He feared God more than death. He feared God more than death. His courage was built on the reverence that he had for Christ. Something I wanna challenge you with this morning. This amazing moment of courage and strength was something that had grown and developed over those 86 years. This didn't just happen all of a sudden. This demonstration of courageous and strong faith was the outcome of thousands upon thousands of days where he chose will commit to serve and love Christ over and over and over again. He had been faithful every day in what we would call the mundane to build him up for this moment to be a testimony for the church for hundreds of years, for us today. Be strong and courageous in your faith in Christ. He was willing to die for Christ. So I ask you this morning, church, what are you willing to die for? What banner do you march with? What or for whom are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice? This points to what we fear most, what we have the most reverence for, what we love. This morning, we're going to hear a call to be strong and courageous. We're going to hear a call to be strong and courageous, and it's a very specific kind of strength and courage. We're going to hear the call to be strong and courageous because of Christ and for Christ. Because of Christ and for Christ. The courage we must have as believers is built upon that rock. because of Christ. The courage we have is not in our competency, but in the fact that He is Almighty God. He died for us. He rose again. He ascended. He is our strength. The courage we're supposed to have as Christians is beyond our competence. It's a faith in His. Secondly, not just because of Christ we have strength and courage, we have strength and courage for Christ. We boast in Him. He is our banner. This morning, we're looking at the end of Deuteronomy. We're concluding our study through this last book of the Pentateuch, the second giving of the law. If you wanna turn with me, I'm on page 173, if you're using a Pew Bible. Deuteronomy 31, if you didn't have a Bible, please take that with you. That is our gift we would love to give you. We'll be going through Deuteronomy 31 through 34. Let me walk through the big picture of why these things are connected. We see in chapter 31 the final commission to the Levites, to the Israelites, to Joshua. The nation is going to be called, be strong and courageous, go in the land, I'm with you. Joshua's going to be called, lead these people, Moses is going to die, be strong and courageous, God is with you. And the Levites will be handed over the word of God to teach God's people. Chapter 32, we hear the national anthem of Israel. In order to teach Israel, God's going to give them a song. Chapter 32 is the final song of Moses, the song that's supposed to teach Israel throughout the generations of who they are and who God is. Chapter 33 is the blessing on Israel. This is fairly unique. The only time we see a blessing like this for Israel is when Israel, Jacob himself, blessed them. Moses is functioning like the father of the nation. He's going to bless each tribe. And then finally, We see the death of Moses and the end of an era. These all come together because there's a final commission that has a song that's supposed to teach them about who they are and what they're going to do. We hear the blessing of hope and the death of Moses so that this generation Israel will be led into the promised land by Joshua. If you look to chapter 31, I want to walk through very just the simple, different, shorter messages. Deuteronomy, if you've been with us, was composed of four longer messages, four different kinds of, four different longer sermons. Chapter 31, six different commissions. Very quickly. Verses one through six, Moses commands Israel to trust God in battle. Verses seven to eight, Moses commissions Joshua to lead Israel in battle. Verses 9 through 13, Moses commissions the Levites to teach the law. Verses 16 through 23, the Lord commissions Moses to write a national anthem. Verses 14 through 15, and then verse 23, the Lord commissions Joshua to lead Israel. And then verses 24 through 29, Moses again commissions the Levites with the law. A few things bring all of these chapters. Really different genres. There's the commissioning, there's the song, there's the blessings, there's the historical narrative of the funeral. All of these things are brought together first with that great covenant declaration. I will be with you, God says. Therefore, be strong and courageous. I will never leave you or forsake you. Even though you are going to forsake me, I will never leave you or forsake you. I am your God. You are my people. I am with you. Be strong and courageous. I am with you, I will not leave you. He says this to Israel, chapter 31, verse 6. He says it twice to Joshua. Verse eight and verse 23. Be strong and courageous. Same verses. Verse six for Israel, verse seven and 23 for Joshua. These things are connected. Israel's courage is based upon God being with them. That is the source of Christian courage. God with us. The second thing we see that ties these things together and that has tied all of Deuteronomy together, God's people need God's word. God's people need God's word. It's necessary. Israel needs to hear the word from the Levites, Moses hands the law to them to teach it. It's kept in the most sacred place, the ark, verses 24 to 26. And then they're going to hear the word through a song. The national anthem given. The third thing that ties these things together, that also is tied all of Deuteronomy together. God is loving and unlovely people. They are a rebellious nation. They rise up and they whore after other gods. They're stubborn, they're inclined to evil. They have not cut off their love for idols. These are the people God has said are my people. They're supposed to be straight. And they're crooked. And fourth, God fulfills His promise. He's taken them out of Egypt. He's delivered them from slavery. He's going to put them in His promised land. What He says He will do, He does. Here is our sermon outline. First, Have the courage to trust God. Have the courage to trust God. Secondly, be strong in God's word. Our strength is in what he says. Have the courage to trust God. Secondly, be strong in his word. Third, have the courage to repent. Have the courage to repent. Fourth, be strong in God's salvation. Be strong in God's salvation. And finally, have the courage to enter God's rest. Let's begin. Will you pray with me? Father, we praise you that you have spoken. You have not left us in our rebellious ways. You have not left us with just that treason that poisons all our love, but you have stirred us so that we might love you. We thank you. that you've created us to worship you. We thank you that you've not left us worshiping this creation, but you've redeemed us to be your people who worship you, our creator, our savior, our father, our beloved. Change our hearts, oh mighty God. Cure us of this poison, tie us to that rock. Help us to build our lives upon the sure foundation of your word so that we are more faithful to worship you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. The background, my last chance to go through all the background of Deuteronomy. If we go back to Genesis 12, 15, 17, we see there that God called Abraham and he said, in chapter 15, In 400 plus years, your people are going to come back to this land. They're going to go away, they're going to be enslaved, they're going to another nation, but I'm going to bring them back. Here we see God keeping that promise. 400 years he waited for the Canaanites to repent of their sin and they would not. So Israel's going to go in and wipe them out. A just judgment from God. Israel waited in Egypt where they multiplied and they grew and they grew so much that Pharaoh became scared of them. Look how numerous the Israelites are. So he enslaved them. He punished them. So they cried out and God sent Moses to redeem them. That final redemption was the 10th plague where they were supposed to shed the blood of a lamb and wipe it over the doorpost so that when God's judgment came by, He did not judge the houses of Israel, but He took the firstborn of every household of Egypt. And so the whole nation cried out, get out of here. After He destroyed Egypt over and over and over again. And then finally, that clear declaration at the Red Sea where he crushed them under the waves of the ocean after Israel walked through on dry land. Israel was delivered by the death of the firstborn of Egypt. That's why they have the Passover year after year. That's why we have the Lord's Supper before us. We are celebrating the death of God's only beloved son. who delivered us from the domain of darkness so that we could be children in his kingdom. God took them out of Egypt through the Red Sea onto Mount Sinai where he declared to them, you are my people, you are my treasure possession, you are my holy nation, here's my commandments. And while God has given them instructions, they murmur, they complain, they build a golden calf. Moses intercedes so that God does not crush them. that first generation that was delivered out of Egypt. They were known as murmurers. All they did was complain about what God had not done for them. To the point where God says, go in the promised land, they go in after he just crushed the greatest nation of that time. God, there's giants over there. But they refused. They refused God. I'm not going to go in that promised land. We're too scared of those giants, which says we don't fear you, God. And so God had that generation wander in the desert for 40 years until they were all dead. Now we have the second generation out of Egypt. We have the second giving of the law. That's Deuteronomy. Moses is preparing these people, the people he's loved, cared for, led, fathered, pastored, prophesied for, interceded for, getting them ready to go and to do what he's not allowed to do. Take the promised land. Enjoy the blessing of the promised land. Out of slavery into the promised land. Out of bondage into blessing. And the charge we see after he's given the law, he's told them what God is expecting them to do. He's even warned them, when you fail, this is what you do. Now we turn to chapter 31. Moses begins to give his last words, his last instructions, his final commission. The first thing we see here is a call to have courage to trust God. Look with me, chapter 31, verse one. So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, you shall not go over this Jordan. Notice he begins with saying everything that God is going to do. He will be the champion. He will bring victory. Verse five, and the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. God is going to be the one who does the work. He's the one who's going to empower whatever they commit to obeying. All they're asked to do is trust God's word, fulfill the commandment. Verse six, be strong, courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them like your parents. Do not fear or be in dread of them. For it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him, in the sight of all Israel, be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people to the land that the Lord your God has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Here is a bold and courageous call to faith. You are going to go into this land. Joshua, you're going to lead Israel. Israel, do not be like your parents. Do not be afraid. Why? Be strong and courageous. Why? Almighty God is going before you. He is with you. Have the proper reverence for God, who is the almighty warrior champion. He fights for you. He's with you. How could we possibly be afraid? When you go into battle, You want to make sure that the people next to you are as committed to the cause as you are. Those brothers who are going to go into battle with you, you want to know that they're fighting with you and for you. You want to know that the chain of command, everybody's committed to this victory. Everybody's committed to this cause. There's a plan, we're committed, we're fighting with one another. Notice Israel is not called to trust the brothers next to them. They're called to trust the God who goes before them. They're called, as people who were slaves, who have no military training, who have been wandering in the desert for 40 years, to now go up and beat the giants. They should be afraid. There was a real fear because apart from God, without God, they don't have a chance. There's a real threat to their lives because there's giants on the other side of that Jordan. There's a bunch of slaves. They're called to not fear those giants more than they fear God. They're called to trust in the undefeatable warrior king Almighty God, who's already demonstrated, I am the one God, I will destroy any nation that stands against you. Therefore, go, be strong and courageous, for I, your God, am fighting for you. I, your God, am with you. They must trust God beyond their competence. They must trust God beyond what they can do. They must trust God in what He says He will do. Be strong and courageous. I ask you, when you think of yourself as strong and courageous, what are you strong in? What are you courageous for? Is it in what you feel competent to do, or do you actually say, God, I'm going to trust you to do something that is out of my power? I'm going to have courage in what you say I should do. Are we only courageous in our competencies, or are we actually courageous in trusting the promises of God? I just want to point out something here that I hope is hopeful for some. We're all fearful. There are real fears. There's a real fear here. They're giants. They should be afraid. But what God is saying here is trust me. He's not denying that they really should be afraid. He's simply saying, fear me. Have a reverence for me. I love you. I will not forsake you. We need to see something here and it's that courage is not a lack of fear. Real courage is not a lack of fear. It's fear properly placed. Real courage is not saying, I'm not afraid of anything. That's foolish. That's a lack of self-awareness and a lack of the real threats out there. Real courage sees danger, but they see, a Christian has courage because they see that God is greater. Real courage sees there's a real threat, there's something really to be afraid of. They recognize God is greater. Christian courage fears God and seeks to find strength in Him. Friends, there is a New Testament parallel to this command. It's the Great Commission, Matthew 28. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Jesus says. Therefore, make disciples as you go, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. Lo, I am with you always. Be very natural for him to continue to say, be strong and courageous. All authority is in our head, Jesus Christ. Therefore, go make disciples. I want to challenge us this morning that what we are called to do beyond our competency, is to make disciples. We are to be about the business of courageously making disciples. And there's two ways we make disciples. First, sharing the gospel with non-believers. That is one way you make a disciple. That is one way you're about the business of making disciples. You go out and you proclaim the gospel. Jesus Christ died for sinners so that we would no longer be held accountable for our sin. We'll be forgiven because he takes the wrath of God upon himself that we deserve and he's risen so that we have new life. Believe in this, it's our only hope. The second way we make disciples, the first is to share the gospel with non-believers, the second is to share the gospel with believers. The first way we are about the business of making disciples is to share the gospel with non-believers. The second way is to share the gospel with non-believers, like I just did. Because your hearts should have been stirred with the confidence that we have to gather in Christ, the one who died for us. I am forgiven. I want you to notice in the Great Commission, it's something you do as you go. The best translation would say something like this, make disciples while you're going. It's not something you just choose to start doing one day. You don't go out and make disciples. As you're going, you're supposed to be making disciples. We are with people, and therefore, when we are with people, we're supposed to be making disciples. Whomever you are with, you're supposed to be thinking, I am about making disciples with these people. In your home, at work, in your neighborhood, in your church, wherever you go, when you are with people, you are supposed to be courageously making disciples with your actions, with your words. Be strong and courageous. Christ is with you. Now it's intimidating to share the gospel with somebody who you know rejects God and is not living for God. It's intimidating, and in many ways I believe it's intimidating because we feel this pressure, I need to convince them. Let me go ahead and assure you, it is beyond your competency to convince anybody of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. That is beyond any of our competency. We're incompetent to convince somebody of the gospel. If somebody had that power, everyone would be saved. It is within our grasp, it is within our competency to declare the gospel faithfully. That's where we have the courage that God will do what we cannot do. He will save sinners when they hear the gospel. Be strong and courageous, knowing that it's not your cleverness that will convince anyone of the gospel. Be strong and courageous, and if you're faithful, he will bear his fruit. To prepare you better, be prepared to be denied by man while you expect God to be glorified by your faithfulness. Expect God to be glorified. Expect God to bear fruit. But be prepared to be denied. I also wanna challenge you that it's not just a parallel with the Great Commission. Christ heightens this. Christ heightens this command. Joshua and Israel, they were told, go, be strong and courageous, Defeat your enemies in battle by wiping them out. Church, you are called to go and be strong and courageous by loving your enemies. That's harder. To wipe them out, that's easier. To love them is harder. To take the sword and bring God's vengeance and justice upon them, that's easier. To be willing to submit to the sword, to be a seed of the gospel, that's harder. Our commission is harder. We are called to love our enemies. We are called to proclaim the gospel to even those we love. We are called to love the unlovely. And let me bring this into the church. We're called to love the church, which is unlovely. Sometimes it's the most difficult. We are called to love the church, not because it's lovely, but because Christ loved the church and loved us as part of the church and causes them to love the other members of that church. The fact that the object of love does not respond properly does not give you the excuse to stop loving. That's a nice rule for marriage. and the church. Christ says to love as he loves, not as you find lovely. That's just incredibly uncomfortable, isn't it? Think about it. Love as Christ loved, regardless of how unlovely, regardless of how they respond, that's uncomfortable. There's a great amount of discomfort, but you were called to have courage beyond your competency. You must have courage in Christ to love one another. We're called to have courage to make disciples. Not only sharing the gospel with non-believers, but with believers. There's two ways I want to encourage you to think about discipleship and making disciples. Corporately and concentrated. Corporately and concentrated. Corporately, congratulations, you are corporately gathered as a church. We're here making disciples. You have been about the business of making disciples this very moment, this very morning, because we've been about the business of Christ. We've read Scripture together. We've sung the praise of God to one another, to Christ. We've joined together to encourage one another. This is the way we corporately make disciples. We're present. There's something a little bit beyond present. We must be intentional. To gather corporately and make disciples, we must be present, we must be intentional. Were you actually conscious that you were making disciples this morning? The way you're encouraging other brothers and sisters, the way you're encouraging the children who are among us, watching you, they're watching. You're making disciples. Are they gonna look more like you or Christ? That's where the intentionality comes in. I pray as you look like Christ, they will be made more like Christ. Our gathering, Sunday morning, Wednesday night. These are the two times that we try to gather together for word and prayer, a total of maximum five hours. I say maybe maximum five hours. There's some concern about how long the sermons go. Maybe five hours. If only that were recorded. For the record, someone said too short. Sunday morning, Wednesday night, we gather. And let me challenge you with something. You may say, you know, this gathering, it's not for me. Courageously seek to be present and be intentional for the purpose of making disciples. God doesn't call you to be a consumer. to say, what's good for me? God calls you to be a courageous disciple that says, what's good for the body? Christ didn't come to be served. He came to serve. That's our model. I want to encourage you, be a courageous disciple that seeks to be present, that seeks to be intentional. The second way to make disciples is concentrated. sharing your burdens and your joys, not with maybe the whole body, but with the specific members of the body. Figure out, who can I invest in? Be specific, be focused. If being corporate is being present and being intentional, being concentrated, be specific, be focused. There are some very clear principles in scripture. Older men and older women, please invest intentionally. Concentrate your efforts on the younger men and women. The Bible commands it, we need it. The Bible commands it, we need it. Teach us the word of God. Teach us by modeling hospitality, graciousness, forgiveness. Younger men and women, we need to pray for the humility to listen and to accept help. I wanna encourage all of us. Be strong and courageous. Teach the children. Be strong and courageous. Take up Children's Sunday School. Be strong and courageous. Work in the nursery. Be strong and courageous. Care for the children. Commit to being a courageous discipler. Commit to pursuing the glory of Christ in our corporate worship and by concentrating your energy and time towards other believers. Secondly, be strong in God's word. Be strong in God's word. We've already seen in verse five, you shall do them according to the whole commandment. It's God's word. We see in verses nine through 13, Moses gives the law over the priest. Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, at the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booth, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of his law. And then the children who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. Major theme throughout Deuteronomy is God's word. I wanna give you an acronym, SCAN, S-C-A-N, SCAN. God has told Israel, do not add to this word, do not subtract from it, because it's sufficient. The Word of God is sufficient. It equips us for every good work. We just saw last week that it's not too hard. The Word of God is with you, obey it. It is clear. It's clear. What you need to believe, what you need to do, it's clear. The Word of God is sufficient, it's clear. Lastly, every single one of these commands, listen to God's Word, keep God's Word, do God's Word, obey God's Word, it's authoritative. It's sufficient, it's clear, it's authoritative. It is God's Word for God's people. We don't question it. We listen, we keep, we obey. Finally, It's necessary. This is our food. It's necessary. We cannot live without it. It's sufficient. It's clear. It's authoritative. It's necessary. I want you to notice that there's a very specific call for the assembly. The Levites, they're given the law, they're supposed to be teaching it regularly, but they're supposed to have this big assembly. And everybody's supposed to be there. Notice the emphasis on the children. Verse 13, and their children who have not yet known, they must hear it so they can know it. The Levites were supposed to assemble everybody. There's a couple of principles we can learn here. One, the children need to be with the assembly to hear the Word of God. The children need to be with the assembly to hear the Word of God. Secondly, the children need to be taught God's Word by God's people. The children need to learn, they need to be taught God's Word by God's people. They're supposed to be in the assembly. Church, we have a great responsibility The children, what do they see? What do they hear? Deuteronomy 6, 4, if you go back, notice that command is for all of Israel. The command to teach the children wherever they are, wherever they go, it's for the entire nation of Israel. It's a commitment that all of God's people are supposed to have for all of God's children in our midst. Church, we need to be students of the word so we can teach it. I'm going to give you a principle. Every child needs a parent and a pastor, and they're not supposed to be the same person. From Leviticus, you need Levites who are going to be teaching the law. You have your parents who are teaching the law. Every child needs a parent and a pastor, and it's not the same person. We as elders, we want to emphasize the teaching of our children because we pray they are the future of this church. We believe it is a responsibility of the church to be teaching the children. Church, do we recognize this as our responsibility? Parents, recognize that you have the responsibility to teach your children. You're with them. You're making disciples of them. You're with them. You're making disciples of them. Secondly, parents, recognize you have the responsibility to have your children with the assembly. Again, we just read here that principle, the children need to be with the people of God to hear the word. I want to narrow in here a little bit. One, the children need to make sure, we need to make sure the children aren't distracting while they're here with the assembly. We have nursery, we have training room. Please train your children at home so they're not distracting while we are seeking to hear the word of God. Secondly, The children need to be listening. I wonder what we're teaching our children when they're just simply being distracted while the word of God is being preached. There's nothing sinful about distracting. My children are probably doing coloring books right now. But is that the best thing? Because what I see is a pattern where children are learning to be distracted while the Word of God is being preached, then teenagers are being distracted while the Word of God is preached, and adults are being distracted while the Word of God is preached. Is this the best thing? Yes, they need to learn to sit quietly. But are we teaching them to play at church? Church, recognize we have the great responsibility to teach our children, to teach the children. When I was a youth pastor, I know as discipling youth, there was two major walls that we would come up against. One was the child would see their parents weren't keeping what they saw as clear teaching in the Bible. Two, they would see the church wasn't keeping what we saw as clear in the Bible. These were two barriers that kept the child from growing. It led to confusion, it led to doubt. We must be committed to being the church of Christ so that that does not become a barrier for them. Are we building up the cornerstone or are we building stumbling blocks? Praise God we have parents who are seeking with all seriousness to train up their children. We as a church with all seriousness need to seek to train up the children. Let's look at the courage to repent. Have the courage to repent. These are awkward sections. Moses for 80 years has been, he's been laboring. He's been, with great effort, interceding for these people, loving them like a parent, like a pastor. He's been loving them. And hear what God says to him about these people. And the Lord said to Moses, these people that you have suffered for, behold, you're about to lie down with your fathers Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering. And they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them. and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. Now therefore write this song." and teach it to the people, put it in their mouths so that the song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give their fathers and have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring. For I know that they are inclined to do even today before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give. So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel." Notice in verse 24, Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book at every end. He commanded the Levites, And he assembled the elders and he tells them in verse one, for I know that after my death, you will surely act corruptly and turn aside the way that I've commanded you. This is awkward because Moses loved them. He's led them, he's brought them now to the promised land and God is saying, they're going to play the whore. They're going to love other gods. They're going to forsake me, I will take them out of the land as I promised. But they can be reconciled, they can be renewed, they will be brought back if they repent, when they repent. Verse 27, Moses speaks to them, you're inclined towards sin. This is something that we have to be courageous enough as Christians to talk about. That's something that's pretty amazing about the gospel is it gives us the courage to talk about sin. We all have to recognize we're sinners in order to be Christians. The gospel gives us the courage to recognize our hearts, they're poisoned, they have treason. We must recognize and be able to confess our sins, knowing God is able to forgive, knowing that the church is able to comfort and counsel. We must fear God more than that shame. of confessing sin. I want you to notice that the action of God is to write a song. They're going to reject me, they're going to go after other gods, so Moses, write a song. That's kind of peculiar. It really shows the importance of music. If you want to notice and recognize someone's theology, what they prioritize, it's what they sing about. The best way to teach theology is in song. That popular saying, let me write the songs of the nations, I care not who makes the laws. The songs that we sing, they influence us, they impact us. Be careful of what kind of songs go into our ears. Church, let's be careful of what kind of music we're singing together, what kind of words that we're gathering together to sing. the song becomes the national anthem. And this has got to be the strangest national anthem in the history of national anthems. Usually a national anthem declares how great the nation is, some great battle, some great victory. This national anthem tells the people how horrible they are. This national anthem is, look how crooked and foolish you've been. The national anthem does do what all national anthems do. It says what's truly great about a nation. What's great about Israel is God. What's great about Israel is God and God alone, and so this song is focused on that truth. I'll let you read the passage later, the song later. It breaks down into four parts. Verses one through four, it acknowledges God's perfections. Verse four, the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice, a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. The first thing this song is supposed to acknowledge is God is perfect. The second thing, verses five through 18, the people are imperfect. The people are imperfect. Verse five, they have dealt corruptly. Verse 13, but Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked, and grew fat, stout, and sleek. Then he forsook God, made him, and scoffed the rock of his salvation. I want you to notice something up here. Jeshurun, it means straight. God has named them straight because that's who he's called them to be. The problem with this nation, they're crooked. They're not who God called them to be. Verses 19 through 35, it's acknowledging God's justice. And then 36 through 43, it's treasuring God's compassion. It's treasuring God's compassion. What unites this song together? Rock. Rock. God is the rock. This isn't a bowl, this isn't a pebble, it's not a rock you can pick up, it's more like spy rock. Have you ever been hiking at spy rock? It's a huge massive rock the size of this building. It's like humpback rock, it's something you can stand upon and it's secure, it's strong, it's immovable. That is the kind of rock God is. so that you can stand and be strong and courageous. It's established. It's trustworthy. Psalm 18 says the same thing. I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock. Notice how embattled this is. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies. We call upon this rock when we're in danger because he's perfect, he's just. Church. We so often call things that are rocks that are not the rock. Christ calls this building your house upon the sand instead of the rock. We are so prone to building our lives upon things that are not God's. They're pebbles. They're sand. They are not established. They are not true. They're lies. They're idols. Christ says, build your house upon the rock, the established truth of God. This will keep us from being that crooked generation that will keep us from wavering away from God. Be strong in God's salvation. I wanna just look at one simple verse from the blessing. Verse three. He loved his people. He loved his people, speaking of God. One of the great themes that has driven throughout Deuteronomy is he loves the unlovely. He loves those who are not in any way lovely. God loves us. Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. That's the most profound truth you will ever confess with your lips. He loves us. I wanna think about this briefly. There's a difference between understanding love and knowing you're loved. There's a great difference in understanding God loves people and knowing He loves us. And as I've talked to numerous people and I've wrestled this myself, there's two reasons there's a distance One is when we say, I want God to love me for me. That keeps us from knowing he loves us. When we say, I want God to love me for me. The second one is this, I know he can't love me because of me. You see that first confession, it does not recognize how sinful we are when we say, I want God to love me for me. That second one does not recognize how loving God is. I know he can't love me because of me. They both share the same problem, thinking it's about me. God's love is on us, but it has nothing to do with us. If we want to know God loves us, We look to his son whom he did not spare. That's how we know he loves us. It's not about if he loves me for me. It's not about if he can love me because of me. It's the very fact that he loves us by sending his son. That's where we see the height and weight. See, after somebody gives you so much stuff, it starts to feel awkward. Have you ever been with somebody who's so generous, you start saying, As enough, it starts to feel awkward, because I feel like I need to deserve something. We have to recognize we deserve wrath, but we receive love in Christ. As we conclude Deuteronomy, let me read this very sad ending. Chapter 34, then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to the mountain of Nebo to the top of Pisgah, which is opposed to Jericho, opposite of Jericho. And the Lord showed me all the land, Gilead, as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah, as far as the Western Sea, the Negev and the plain, that is the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zor. Then the Lord said to me, this is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, It's God's promised land. I will give it to your offspring. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Beor. But no one knows the place of this burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, his vigor unabated, and the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days, then the Lord. Then these days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. Moses doesn't get to go in the promised land. He gets to get up, he gets to see it. But because he sinned, he was presumptuous with the power God gave him, he doesn't get to go over. He has to trust God that he's going to take these people over. He doesn't get over. Notice something quickly here, verse eight. They wept for Moses. This is what's supposed to happen when someone dies. We're not supposed to call this event when we gather to remember somebody's life and recognize their death. Please don't call it a celebration of life. It's a funeral where we're supposed to mourn and weep and let the true sadness of death sink in so we recognize the value and importance of life. We recognize the pain of death so that we can cling stronger to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everyone should think about what their funeral should look like. What songs? What scripture reading? How are we gonna comfort each other with the words? It's the funeral is one of the blessed times to really be pressed, to think about life, how quick it comes to an end. Do not have a celebration of life ceremony. Have a funeral so that we can rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 11, beginning of verse 10. And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses. Now remember, Deuteronomy 18. Somebody's gonna come who's like Moses. Here we have, at the end of the book, no one has risen like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. None like him, all the signs and wonders the Lord sent to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to the servants and all of his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of Israel. There was nobody like Moses. He is the great prophet of the old covenant. What we see here is a sad event, not just the death, but this man who loved these people, he saw the land, he couldn't take them into it. He saw the land, he did not get to take them into it. God designed this for us today. Because we need to recognize we have someone who is greater than Moses. Jesus Christ, who's not just a prophet, he's the word of God himself. Jesus Christ, the great high priest who made the perfect sacrifice once for all, he takes his people into the promised land. he is able to complete the task God sets before him. Listen to Hebrews 3. Listen to this contrast. Therefore, holy brothers, that's us, you who share in the heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who is faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also is faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself, for every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify the things that were to be spoken of later. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting and our hope. Moses died and remained buried. Jesus died, was buried, and he rose again. He is the greater prophet. He is the greatest high priest. He is the leader of God's people so that we can be strong and courageous in worship. We're not going into a land, in the name of Christ, We can go into the very presence of God and worship Him face to face. That's beyond our competency. But it's something we're called to do boldly and courageously in the name of Christ because of what He has done for us. Friends, Are we bold and courageous in our worship? Are we setting aside all those sins that hinder us? Are we repenting so that we can go further and deeper into the love of God, knowing He loves us? In the name of Christ, who takes us into true worship. He's with us. He'll never forsake us. He's leading us to worship. Will you pray with me? Father, we praise you that we can think of your word, we can see life, we can see death, we can see hope. Help us to hear the call of Christ, to be bold and courageous because of what you have said and what you have done. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.