All right, take your Bibles, turn with me to
the book of Deuteronomy chapter 34. Deuteronomy
34, thank you so much for being here. It's a
joy to be in the house of the Lord, and truly
it's one of the joys of life. We are a Bible
-believing church, and that means we open up
the word of God, we read what the Bible says,
we understand it's God's holy precious word,
then we try our best. to have a ladder set up
right there. That's gonna be interesting right
there. But it's a joy to be around Bible believers.
We know God's words quick and powerful and sharper
than any two -edged sword. We've been in the
book of Deuteronomy. The book of what? Deuteronomy,
okay? The second giving of the law. You know,
Moses led God's children out of the bondage of
Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea of Destruction.
They were meant to go into the Promised Land.
They disobeyed God. And when you disobey God,
there's consequences. They ended up having to
wander in the wilderness for 40 long years. It's
the end of the 40 years. Moses is about to die.
He gathers the congregation of the children of
Israel together. He gives them the word of God,
instructions. He guides them, He directs them.
When you get to the promised land, when you get
to that land flowing with milk and honey, remember
these things, remember what God says, and wow.
And we get here, Deuteronomy chapter 34, this
is the last chapter. This is, you might say,
the servant of God, His final assignment. It's
Moses, the end of his life, and really, We're
gonna learn some things. You're gonna see some
things. We're gonna see that God's servant, Moses,
dies. God's servant, Moses, what? Dies. We're
gonna find that Moses dies. And the title of
the message, before I pray and we get into it,
it starts with when God's servant dies. Now I'm
not gonna give you the full title of the sermon.
But I'll tell you what, there's a lot in this
message in this chapter that I need. And by the
way, I believe you're gonna need in a tremendous
way and it's gonna help you. Before we go any
further, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear
Father in heaven, thank you Lord for your goodness
and your mercy. And Lord, we're changing things
up slightly this morning. The order of the sermon
Lord, but I pray that you help us to all focus
in on what your word says. help us all to decrease
in our hearts and our minds, and you to increase
in a great way. We do need you, Lord. We sure
do love you. We ask you to bless in a great way.
In Jesus' name, amen. Now stand with me, if you
will. We're gonna read the first five verses
together, all together in unison, Deuteronomy
chapter number 34, starting in verse number one.
Are you ready? And Moses went up from the plains
of Moab, under the mountain of Nebo to the top
of Pisgah that is over against Jericho and the
Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan
and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and
Manasseh and all the land of Judah unto the utmost
sea and the south and the plain of the valleys
of Jericho the city of palm trees unto Zohar
And the Lord said unto him, this is the land
which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed.
I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes,
but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses
the servant of the Lord died there in the land
of Moab according to the word of the Lord. And
wow, verse five. So Moses, the servant of the
Lord, what? Died. And the title of the message,
when God's servants die. If you will be seated
right there. I'm gonna take and try to describe
the picture of what's going on. Look at verse
number one, if you will. It says in Moses, and
who? Okay, some of you are here. I'm gonna come
back over and make sure we're all here together.
If we're not here, then we is in big trouble
this morning. It says, and Moses, and who? Okay,
Moses at the end of life went up from the plains
of Moab. If you could sort of picture where we're
at, we're gonna pretend that this right here
is the Jordan River. I will be here in Moab pretending
slightly to be Moab and Moses in the plains of
Moab and it says he went up from the plains of
Moab unto the mountain of what? Nebo. So Moses
went up the mountain of Nebo and began to climb
up the mountain of Nebo. It says to the top of
Pisgah and we begin to think of Pisgah. There's
this mountain called Nebo but at the top of the
mountain is a place called Pisgah, that's right
here. That's where I'm going to stand eventually.
No, that's a little bit too high. But Pisgah,
I went up to Pisgah. It's OK. You're OK. You're
OK. I'm OK. You're OK. OK. Look at this, if you
will. He went to the top of Pisgah. Pisgah is
that place at the top of Mount Nebo. And he begins
to look over into the promised land. And the
Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan.
I don't mean to give you a little bit of a geography
lesson, but on the other side of Jordan, up to
the north over there is the region of Dan. Around
Dan, there's a mount called Mount Hermon. And
Mount Hermon, if you're in Israel, you look up
to Mount Hermon, has snow on there. In the spring,
the waters of Hermon begin to melt. They go to
the region of Dan. They eventually travel into
the Jor. Dan River, the Jordan River, the waters
from Dan, and begin to flow down into the Sea
of Galilee, into the Dead Sea right there. Continue
on, if you will, and look it with me in verse
number two. and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh
and all the land of Judah under the utmost sea.
He looks out into the promised land. He sees
Judah down there where brother Andy is over there.
He sees where Jerusalem. He looks to the back
of the room over there. If you see the white
wall right there, that's the end of the land
of Israel. That's where the Mediterranean or
the utmost sea. And God gives him the ability
not to go into the promised land, but to see.
the promised land. And wow, in verse three, and
the south and the plain of the valley of Jericho,
oh, look at Jericho right there where Miss Rhonda
is. And Jericho, remember, eventually Joshua's
gonna get there and Joshua fought the battle
of Jericho, the city of palm trees under Zohar.
And the Lord said unto him, this is the land.
Look at verse four, everybody look at this. And
the Lord said to him, this is the land which
I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob,
saying, I will give it unto thy seed. And it's
referring back to God promising Abraham, promising
Isaac, promising Jacob. This land, that land
over here, we call it the promised land. It's
a land flowing with milk and honey. And this
gets to the first part of the sermon. It's very
important for us to understand. And I'm gonna
read from my notes to make sure I don't, the
promised land. God makes promises, and God's
promises are true. Okay, Moses goes up. And he
shows them the land right there, and he all of
a sudden begins reading, hey, though I don't
get to go over to the promised land, boy, when
I see the promised land, praise God, the promises
of God are true. Okay. I shouldn't treat the
Bible maybe like that, Brother Alec Gray, but
the Bible, it's God's holy precious word. God's
word's a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my
path. God's word is quick and powerful and sharper
than any two -edged sword. And that from a child,
thou has known the holy scriptures which are
able to make thee wise into salvation, which
is by faith through Christ Jesus. God's promises
are true. I'll give you a story. We had many
people in our church graduating. Miss Grace graduated,
and just many of the young people, 10 graduates.
There was a graduation on Thursday. It's a busy
day. Danny and Emi Solano and I wanted to go
is at seven o 'clock, but we have a men's outreach,
a men's soul winning time. And I didn't want
to miss that. So I prayed, I said, God, I got
a very little time, but I'm going to go to the
men's soul winning. God, open a door where I
can tell somebody about you. And so I went there,
we got on the bus, we drove over to the shopping
center. I got out of the bus. Brother Joel is
with me. And almost immediately, there's a car
in the parking lot, there's a man sitting there
in the car, and he's got a disgruntled look on
his face, and I went up and I said, hey, I'm
Pastor Matt. I'd like to invite you to Grace,
to Chesapeake, it used to be Grace Baptist, to
Chesapeake Baptist Church right there, and he
just reached out his hand, didn't say much, he
said, and he took it. And I said, what are you
doing right here? And it's interesting, he was
on his way, His car overheated, and he didn't
want to be in that parking lot at all, but he
was waiting for his car to cool down. He just
pulled in there, and I said, you got some time
where I can talk to you. He said, I have some
time. Now, he wasn't too happy about it, but
he had some time. So I began to give him the
good news about Jesus Christ that you can know
for sure that when you die, you go to heaven.
Now make a long story short, I showed him how
we're sinners, and I showed him how we need a
savior, and how Jesus loves him and died on the
cross for his sins, and I showed him that. And
at sort of the end, I gave him my testimony,
but I said, do you believe the promises of God?
Do you believe what the Bible says? And that
moment he stopped, he says, well, I don't know
if I really believe that. I don't know whether
I believe the promises of God. Now, this is very
important for the sermon this morning, because
this is very important. These are the promises
of God. There is a God. God created us. God gave
us life. God gave us breath. But God also gave
us an instruction book, a guide book, a command
book, a book filled with exceeding, great and
precious promises. That decision for that fella,
by the way, he said, I don't know if I believe
that. I'm having a hard time believing that.
And that's OK. I understand that. But I said,
can I pray with you? And I prayed with him. I
bowed my head. I got on my knees. And I said,
God. Show this young man that your promises are
true. Show him that, and I begged with him, by
the way, afterwards to read the Bible, but I
prayed and said, God, show him clearly, soon,
that these promises are your word and that he
needs to live by them and that the Bible shows
him the way to heaven. And I remember praying
that right there, but here's the truth. I can't
force anybody to believe the promises of God.
They are true. The promises of God are true,
but you have to make a decision for yourself.
And that man right there at that moment, if he
chooses not to believe the promises of God, it
takes him on a certain path. By the way, that
path, according to the Bible, is a path of destruction.
But if all of a sudden he chooses to believe
the promises of God, live by the promise of God,
it takes him in a path of blessing. It takes
him in a path of where God helps and guides him
right there. I want to say again, God's promises
are true. God's promises are true. God's promises
are true. God's promises are true. You believe
the Bible, trust the Bible. It's an amazing book.
Get you a copy of the Bible, read the Bible,
believe the Bible, live by the Bible. Amen. Okay,
now we skip forward just a little bit if you
will, and I want you to notice point number two.
Go to verse number five. Verse number five. So
Moses, remember he's up there, Mount Nebo. and
he'd been up there to Pisgah, sees the promised
land, the promises of God. So Moses, the servant
of the Lord, what? Died. There in the land of
Moab, according to the word of the Lord. But
before we go into Moses dying, I want you to
notice the way it words it. So Moses, the servant
of the Lord, the servant of the Lord. Say that,
Moses the. Servant of the Lord. Okay. An illustration
I think will help you. I was sitting there, I
don't know if you've ever liked that, but sometimes
I have a hard time going to sleep, and you're
sitting there in your bed, and you're trying
to go to sleep, but your mind is like going a
million miles an hour, and you're thinking about
things. Anybody else ever like that? Anybody
else like that? Okay. We're thinking about things,
and I was thinking about how good God has been
to me. I was thinking about, man, God, you know,
I've... I've had the privilege of preaching really
all over the world. And I thought about it, you
know, when I was in the Navy, I got to have a
Bible study, and I'd preach all over the Mediterranean,
the Persian Gulf, and we'd stop in Bahrain or
different places right there. And I got to preach
the Word of God. What about I got to preach for
a missionary in the Philippines and in Italy.
I got to preach all over America in so many different
ways. And then I thought about, and as I was
sitting there, I was thinking about it. There's
sometimes awkwardness when I'm invited to preach
at a church and the pastor will get up and say,
today we are blessed to have the man of God,
Matt Nettishime, or the segundo would say, Dr.
Matt Nettishime. And all of a sudden I begin
to roll my eyes. The man of God, Matt Nettishime,
Dr. Matt Nettishime, the illustrious Matt Nettishime.
In reality, none of that is true. None of that
is true. I know some of you are nodding very
quickly at that point. None of that is true.
But here's what we all, all should be striving
for. Here's what we strive, not to be the great
illustrious so -and -so or the wonderful so -and
-so, but Moses, the servant of the Lord. That
could be the greatest title you could ever have.
Servant of the Lord is one who belongs to God
and lives to do his will. God's servant belongs
to God and obeys God. Servant of the Lord, Moses'
greatness was not in that he parted, by the way,
Moses parted the Red Sea. Well, actually, no,
he didn't, God did. Well, Moses confronted Pharaoh.
He was actually pretty scared and God protected
him and put a hedge around him. And he was just
doing the will of God. And it was actually God
who did all the miracles. God did that. Well,
he's the one that had water come from a rock.
Well, actually, no, he trusted God and God gave
him from the rock. And so we're all equals, in
other words, we're all just servants of the Lord.
And one of the greatest things you could ever
seek to be is a servant of the Almighty God.
A servant belongs to God, a servant obeys God.
Jesus, when he came, the Bible says, for the
Son of Man came not to be ministered unto. but
to minister, that's being a servant, and to give
his life a ransom for many. You know, the apostles,
we think of Paul or Timothy, it'll say like this,
Romans chapter one, verse one, Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter one, verse
one, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus
Christ. Wow, we oughta seek to be what? Okay,
whoa, that's two people. You guys don't like
that. You wanna be the illustrious. No, no, no,
that's not gonna help you. Don't worry about
that. Be servants. Miss Marty, Cave, I like you,
I like you. And I'm excited that this Saturday,
she wants to serve the Lord by leading a group
to write little letters. And that is absolutely
phenomenally great and wonderful because doing
that, you are serving the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. Could you imagine if Miss Marty said,
Pastor, I would like to do this ministry, but
make sure you put doctor of divinity, of illustrious,
Miss Marty Cabe is gonna lead this. Gloria, I
would look at her and I'd say, whoa, no, no,
no, no, no. That's not what you want. You wanna
be, hey, Miss Marty, the servant of the Lord.
Miss Marty, the servant of the Lord. There's
nothing better than that. Somebody say amen.
Servant of the Lord, servant of the Lord. Now,
if I could add in some things, church is a great
place if it's filled with servants. And we need
to, as a church, remind ourselves to be like
Christ is to be a servant of the Most High. And
the last shall be first and the first shall be
last. We gotta try our best to serve the Lord.
Go back to this, if you will, in verse number
five. So Moses, the servant of the Lord. This
was verse five. So Moses, the servant of the
Lord. What happened to him? Okay, and this is
where we're getting to the message. And I think
it's a very important part of the message. And
really, I think it's gonna help some of you.
Remember the sermon's title, Win God's Servant.
Win God's Servant. dies, okay? When God's servant
dies, okay? So we get to the servant of the Lord,
Moses. He died there in the land of Moses. And
this is an important part of us. You and I, the
fact of life is we are going to one day die.
And you could describe that in a lot of different
ways. You could say one day you're gonna croak.
One day you're gonna die. One day you're going
to, Bible description, fall asleep. One day,
you can describe it any way, but the fact of
the matter is appointed unto us once to die,
and after that, the judgment. There's that song
about only one life, so soon it will pass. Only
what's done for Christ will last. Only one chance
to do his will. So give to Jesus all your days.
It's the only life that pays when you recall
you have but one life. Now think with me, just
a second, go back to the verse five. Look at
verse five again. Look at this. Oh, how do I,
I look at this without seeing this. You really
need to see this. So Moses, the servant of the
Lord died there in the land of Moses, according
to the word of the Lord. And he buried him. By
the way, he buried him. God buried Moses. Him
in the valley. in the land of Moab over against
Bethpior, but no man knoweth of his sepulcher
unto this day." Okay, so God buried Moses in
the valley there in Moab, verse seven, and Moses
was 120 years old when he died. His eye was not
dim nor his natural force abated. At that point
in his life, he had good eyesight. He was actually
strong. But the point is, it was God's timing
for his death. God allowed him to die. It was
his point to die. And the point being, he died.
OK, got that. Boy, that's really brilliant there,
Pastor. I know. Pastor, I'm talking to God. God,
that's really brilliant the way it's worded.
But God knows what we're trying to get here.
He died. OK, he died. What? OK. Verse 8. And
the children of Israel wept. OK, the children
of Israel wept. Okay, for Moses in the plains
of Moab, they've wept for Moses in the plains
of Moab 30 days, so the days of weeping and mourning
for Moses were ended. Okay, where are we going?
How do you react when someone you love dies?
How do you react when a leader in your life dies?
How do you react, it could be even not in death,
But what would happen if maybe Pastor Matt Nettesheim
moved on from being the pastor of Chesapeake
Baptist Church? Now, I do believe the Lord wants
me to stay here till I die, almost. I think that,
and so I'm not planning on leaving or anything.
But understand, what happens when your leaders
pass on? And I'll give you a story to illustrate
this. Not long ago, I was talking to a very seasoned
former pastor, man of God. And if I said his
name, you would know him. He's preached here.
Not long ago, he preached here. And he worked
for a great man of God for 30 years. And I said
to him, I said, why didn't you ever write a book
about this man of God's life? You knew him very
well. You worked with him very well. Why didn't
you write a book about this great man of God's
life? And he said, well, I wanted to. He said,
but his daughter was the one that was going to
write that book. His daughter told me that she
was going to write the story of his life. And
I said, well, why didn't she? And all of a sudden
in the story, he began to tell me, he said, well,
after that man of God died, she couldn't handle
it. She couldn't take it that her dad, that her
man of God, that her leader died. She began to
say, I can't move on from this. My dad, my leader
in my life, he's died. I can't make it without
my dad. I can't live without my dad. I can't
function without my spiritual leader. And she
began to go spiral down into, you might just
spiral down in her mind. And she eventually,
she wouldn't get out of bed. She lived depressed.
And in her mind, she kept saying, why God did
you take him? I can't live without him. I can't
function without him. He was my leader. He was
my God. He was my strength. I can't make it.
I can't live. And she began to maybe get out
of bed for a church service every once in a while.
But he began to spiral down. And she got to the
point where I can't take anymore. And she took
her life. And I heard that. I was like, what?
What do you say? My heart sunk. Now here's where
we're getting at, and this is the sermon, okay?
And this is really, when God's servant dies,
remember we started that? When God's servant
dies, God's work is not done, okay? When God's
servant dies, God's work goes on. How can I move
on? How can I make it? Well, here's how you can.
You have to realize that though the servant of
God is dead, the great God that we have is not
dead. God is still on the throne. He's still
living. He's still able. And our faith was not
in a man. Our faith is in the great God that
we serve. Okay, this is very important. I do
have some amens here, but I tell you what sometimes
people and and this is Bible This is very important
for understand They all of a sudden they have
a dad or a mom or a loved one who was close who
was great who's wonderful But it was their time
to pass on in eternity But God's plan for your
life is not to live a life of depression Yeah,
God's plan for your knife is not to woe in your
misery God's plan for your life is to see his
will and do his will And our trust and our faith,
God's given you a reason to live and a reason
to get up in the morning. He wants you to serve
the Lord God Almighty. And too many people through
the years live lives of depression, they live
lives of misery because how did God allow that
to happen to me? And they look at their circumstances
rather than the great God that they have. And
it's a very important point right there, very
important. How can you move on? How can I make
it? Well, look to God, look to Jesus as the author
and finisher of your faith. He did not say, by
the way, he said, Moses, my servant is dead,
but God did not say, my promises are dead. The
promises of God are not dead. They're from this,
by the way, can I just explain? So it's shocking,
but Moses died. Do you know who replaced him?
Joshua. Do you realize he died too? Do you realize
that those judges that we look toward, like Gideon,
he died? Do you realize like David, he died?
Do you realize that Solomon, he died? Do you
remember Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
They died. Do you remember Paul, he died, Timothy,
he died, and generation after generation, but
God's promises do not die. The next generation
needs to stand, and we're gonna get ahead of
myself right here, but this is important right
there. Hey, when God's servant dies, God's work
is not done. Hey, God's work's not on, God's
work goes on. So look at verse number nine. Look
at verse nine, and Joshua, Joshua, The Son of
was full of the Spirit of wisdom. Okay, the work
of the Lord, this is the point, I'm gonna try
to elaborate on this because I think this is
gonna be very helpful. But Moses did die, but
the work of the Lord moved on and the work of
the Lord did not die with Moses. God in his infinite
wisdom had the next generation ready to step
up. and get busy for God, get busy for him, get
busy for doing the work of the Lord. And I want
you to notice it, Joshua the son of Nun, it says
was full of the spirit of what? Okay, are you
seeing that? You gotta see this. This is very
important. Young folks, okay, young folks, look
at me over here, this section. Some of you, young
folks, teenagers, children, folks that are in
their 20s, early 30s. Over here, young folks
right there, I'm looking at you, you're in 20s,
30s, couples, young couples. Over here, young
people, you young men back there, you're probably
in your 20s right there, full of life and zeal.
Now look at this over here, young people, young
children, all of this. The servant of God, I'm
in my 50s. If I live to be 80 or 90, that's just
a vapor. It's just a moment in time away, and
the work of the Lord. needs to continue. So,
what was Joshua full of? Full of the spirit of
wisdom. Now, this is part of the sermon, wisdom.
He was not, and this, hard to explain it without
being mean to you, okay? But think about your
life. What are you full of? And I'm not meant
to be funny or derogatory or anything like that.
I'm just, the world may use that in a bad way,
but I'm saying many of you are full of not wisdom,
but you're full of video games. Well, pastor,
there's nothing wrong with video games. And all
of a sudden you're like, I did to the 257th level
of the third game or third season of this game.
Whoa, you're full of it. I don't know if that's
a good way to say it, but I'm not meaning to
say it like that, but you're full of something,
okay? You're full of something. And the reason
Joshua could be used was he was full of wisdom,
okay? By the way, just a side note. Proverbs
chapter three, the book of wisdom says, happy
is the man that gets to the hundredth level of
this video game. No, it says, happy is the man
that findeth wisdom, and findeth wisdom. Proverbs
four, verse seven, wisdom is the principle thing,
therefore get wisdom with all thy get understanding.
Proverbs eight, verse 11, for wisdom, wisdom
is. Wisdom is better. Wisdom is better. Wisdom
is better than rubies. And all the things that
may be desired are not to be compared to it.
All the things that you might desire can't be
compared to getting wisdom. Joshua was full of
wisdom. Now what is wisdom? Okay, I wanna just
talk about that. Wisdom, think with me. Wisdom
is knowing Wisdom is knowing what God says and
doing what God wants. Wisdom is knowing what
God wants, you might say. Wisdom is using what
you know to please God with your life. Wisdom
is truth, the truth found in the word of God,
put into practice in the fear of the Lord. Wisdom
is knowing what is right and doing it God's way.
Wisdom is having knowledge and using your knowledge.
in a way that, in the fear of the Lord, you might
say. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore
get wisdom. Now, I could ask, what are you full
of? Young people, that young section right there,
what are you full of? We need some young people
that are full of the spirit of wisdom, full.
Your plum. filled up to the brim, you understand
what God says, you understand what God wants,
and you're living a life obedient to doing the
will of God. Joshua just didn't need courage,
he needed wisdom. He didn't need to just know
how to lead people. He was gonna face battles,
he was gonna make decisions, but what he desperately
needed was to be full of the spirit of wisdom.
Wisdom is not just being smart. A man can be
smart and still ruin his life. Okay, wisdom is
knowing what's right and then doing right God's
way. Wisdom listens to God. Wisdom fears God.
Wisdom obeys God. Wisdom knows the path God wants
you to take and you choose to take it. That's
what this next generation, that's what we need.
One day I'm gonna die. And the work of God is
gonna continue on, but it's gonna continue on
with people that are filled with wisdom. We don't
just need young people that are edumacated or
young people that have talent. We need young
people that have wisdom from on high. We don't
just need young people that have ability. We
need young people that will surrender to the
will of God. We don't need young people that's
filled with confidence. We need young people
that have the fear of the Lord. Oh, it's important.
And I begin to think about this and man, the
next generation. I'm looking at some right here.
Man, God wants you to be, I have no doubt, 100%,
the will of God for your life is to be full of
wisdom. Full of wisdom. God wants you to know
what he wants and then God desires for you to
do what he wants. Young married couples, oh yeah,
you're so smart. You're brilliant. But so many
of you brilliant young people, young couples
have zero wisdom. You're so adjudicated and filled
with knowledge, but you don't understand that
knowledge needs to be have, you need to use that
knowledge of the fear Lord. And let me get irritated
for a second. Okay, I am irritated. You're so
smart, you're so edumacated, you can dot every
chi and cross every T, but you don't submit to
the will of the Lord. You have no wisdom, no
wisdom. And what you need to do is quit showing
your brilliance, showing your edumacation, get
in the Word of God, humble yourself to the Word
of God, study the Word of God, get on your knees
to the God Almighty and say, God, Lord, What
wilt thou have me to do? Can I just tell you,
by the way? He wants you to be a servant. Wants
you to be a servant. Servant. What does a servant
do? A servant knows the will of God and does
the will of God. Well, I won't get a lot of pats
on the back. Is that what you're living your
life for? And man, Pastor, this is not like a
Sunday morning service. This is a... More like
a Sunday night story, and it is. Because we desperately
need wisdom. Desperately need wisdom. Look at
this, if you will. Verse number nine, there's
another side to it. And Joshua the son of Nun
was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had
laid his hands upon him. And by the way, the
children of Israel hearkened unto him and did
as the Lord commanded. It's hard to skip over
this. Moses had laid his hands upon him. laid
hands upon him. And really, Moses passed the
torch to the next generation. It's not a study
for this, but you see it in Acts chapter number
13, where they're sending out Paul and Barnabas.
Paul and Barnabas, it says, separate me, Barnabas
and Saul, for the work whereunto I've called
them. And when they had fasted and prayed and
laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Now let's talk about the other generation, not
the young folks, but the older folks that are
gonna die. Okay, we're sooner to death, okay?
We're working and busy as servants of the Lord,
but we have to realize that we need to lay hands,
pass the torch to the next generation, allow
the next generation to do something for God.
Okay, this may not mean much to you, but sometimes,
okay, in your house, I have no doubt there are
moms in this house. You're very particular. You've
got children. And whoa, you would have the children
help you, but they don't do it quite right. So
you'd rather just do it yourself. Eh, I'll just
do it. Dad, you got a job to do. And if you allowed
your son to do it with you, he might make a little
bit of a mess. He might make a scratch or something
like that. Say, whoa, whoa, I'll just do it.
Just go away. You're in too much trouble. But
listen, the trouble is you're missing an opportunity
to pass the torch. to lay hands on them and give
them an opportunity. Now, let's apply this to
our church. Praise God for the Sunday School
teachers we have. I love our Sunday School teachers.
I love our choir. I love our orchestra. But we
desperately, desperately need the next generation
to step up, and we as a church need to lay hands
on them. In other words, pass the torch and allow
them to do something for God. One in particular
that I was thinking of, and it applies to many
different angles, but I was thinking about our
Sunday School classes. And after the early birth
service, I had a young teenager come up to me
and he said, pastor, I for a long time, I've
desired to be a Sunday school teacher. I just
wanna let you know, I desire and want, basically
he said to lay hands or you to pass the torch
or give me the opportunity to be a Sunday school
teacher. Wow, but teenager, young couple. There
needs to be some of you that soon come up and
say, Pastor, one day I want wisdom, be filled
with wisdom enough where you allow me or God
allows me to teach a Sunday school class. And
there's something inside of you that has a hunger
and a thirst for God. Vitally important, and
it's not late yet, yet, yet. But young generation,
I pray after this message today that I have teenagers
come up and say, Pastor, one day I'd like to
preach. I would love to have some young people
say, I'd like to teach. I'd like to be a soul
winner. Let me be a soul winner for Jesus. The
next generation, the next generation. Boy, somebody
say, I'd like to drive a bus. Brother, Noah over
there. We're on there Thursday night. You know,
it rejoiced my heart because you have an opportunity
to get a bus license. We desperately need bus
drivers. There's so much of our ministry is picking
up people and helping people. And Noah said the
other day, he said, Pastor, I basically said,
I would like to drive the bus for the church.
He said, I'll do that. I said, glory be to God.
But we need not just one Noah, we need some of
you who maybe have a CDL license and say, hey,
I'll drive a bus for God. Okay, now go back to
verse number one with me. Pastor, before I get
to verse number one, group hug. You will be okay.
You'll be okay. You'll be okay. You okay? Okay,
good. I hope so. I hope so. I hope so. I hope
so. Look at verse one. went up from the plains
of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo to the top
of Pisgah. That is over against Jericho, Pisgah.
And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead.
And this is the last point of the sermon. In
your song book, song 391, it uses that term,
Pisgah. It's the very top. I'm not gonna do it,
I'm not gonna do it. I want to, I really want
to. I really want to. But I'm gonna be on my
almost best behavior. Verse three, sweet hour
of prayer, sweet hour of prayer may I by consolation
share till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height I
view my home and take my flight. It's talking
about the end of somebody's life. He's looking
over into the promised land. which is a generality
or a picture of eternity, heaven. He looks over
there, so I view, from Lafayette, I view my home
and take my flight. This robe of flesh I'll drop
and rise to seize the everlasting prize and shout
while passing through the air, farewell, farewell,
sweet hour of prayer. The end of it, and this
is the end of the sermon. In the book of Deuteronomy,
Moses, Yes, a prophet, God honored him, but in
Deuteronomy chapter number 18 says this, the
Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet
from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like
unto me, unto him shall ye hearken. And the book
of Deuteronomy was pointing to a prophet, his
name is Jesus. We all have a problem. And our
problem is we're sinners in need of a savior.
Jesus came to seek and to save that which is
lost. And if you're here today, and you don't
know for sure that if you were to die today,
you'd go to heaven, the Bible desperately, I
don't wanna use that word, the Bible desires
you to be gloriously saved by the blood of Jesus
Christ. And Jesus will save you. for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Your works, your goodness do not get you
to heaven. Jesus will save you. We're at the
end of the sermon. I'm gonna be short with this.
First of all, I desire you to understand the
promises of God. Today, maybe make a commitment
to read the Bible this week, study the Bible,
live by the Bible. Number two, realize death
comes. It's a part of life. And I beg you, some
of you have been maybe here today, You've been
stuck because of death. Listen, death is not
the end, amen. God's promises live on and somehow
become that servant of God. Servant of God that's
full of wisdom, full of wisdom. Next generation,
make sure that we lay hands or we allow the next
generation to live for God. Last if you're here
and you're not saved, please get saved. Let's
pray. Dear Father in heaven. I think I exhausted
the congregation. God, I'm sorry. I just believe
the next generation, we desperately need people
full of wisdom. And this world is so saturated
with so many other things. And I pray that the
Christians that are here today say no to maybe
some things that are not bad, but say yes to
wisdom. They learned the Bible, the promises
of you. They devote their life to be filled with
wisdom. And then, Lord, they take their wisdom
and learn to become not a master or a Lord, but
learn to be a servant of you, Lord. I pray also
that we'll have the older generation be willing,
moms and dads willing to allow their children
to do some things. The older generation of the
church allowing some newer people to do some
things. And I pray that you give us wisdom and
help, Lord. We love you. We need you in Jesus'
name, amen. Stand with me if you will. In a moment.