Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The tribes of Israel were each allotted an inheritance. their own share of the promised land.
Well, all except for the Levites. They were people set apart to minister for the Lord. The Lord would be their inheritance and their provision. Pastor Rich unpacks God's expectations for the treatment of the Levites and the way Israel would receive knowledge about the future. not through Spiritism like the other nations around them, but through the Lord's prophets.
Now, I imagine very few of us listening are Levites. But Deuteronomy eighteen has a message for all of us. Entrusting ourselves to He is enough. Let's listen to this message titled, The Lord Has Chosen Him to Stand and Minister. This is part two of a message first preached on September 1st, 2024.
You don't come to the throne room of God and say, Am I allowed to come in here? You enter in. humbly, with deep gratitude and worship and awe. But with confidence, why? Because you are in Christ.
He has made that sacrifice. Where the Lord said, It is there that I will meet you.
So, the priesthood that we are. The Lord is our inheritance, and we have the confidence. Based on the finished work of Jesus. Listen to this: to enter into the very presence of God. Isn't that awesome?
God provides that for us. Do you know that is the significance when Jesus died? In the middle of the day, it turned dark, and what happened in the temple? The curtain was torn. Int.
in two. What did that curtain represent? It represented the separation between holy God. an unrighteous man. And what does Romans say?
But now the righteousness of God. appears apart from the law. Why? because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Yeah.
So we are priests. access to the very presence of God himself. He is our portion. As the psalmist writes, He is my chosen portion. What a beautiful thought that is.
So we We take that now from the Old Testament where The tribe of Levi, they were provided for by God's people through the offerings, but they were the ones that stood to minister in the presence of the Lord. As do you and I. We are now a priesthood. with Jesus Christ being our high priest. There is another part here to Deuteronomy chapter 18.
And this part I'm going to call the sufficiency of God's Word. The first part was the provision for those who serve. And the second is the sufficiency of God's Word. He says, when you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. What are those abominable practices?
Well, here's one of the worst ones. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination. Isn't that awful just to think of that? But that's what religion, that's what false religion can drive people to do.
Now, why is it that they would do something like that? because they wanted to be right with their idea of God or the gods. They wanted to hear from their deities. They wanted to appease them. And so they did whatever they felt was necessary.
to do this. And of course all of that is from the domain of darkness. God had promised his people Israel to a land. That they would go into this land, and it would be their land, and they would be his people in this land. Why?
Because that's where Messiah would come. That's why. That's where Jesus would be born and live and minister and die and rise again. And he will come again. There.
That's the promised land. That's why all of this is important. You have to keep Messiah in view. God is going to give them this land. And so, what he is saying in this portion is: you're going to go into this land, there's going to be all kinds of things that might have a tendency to distract you.
And this portion of Deuteronomy chapter 18 is the call of God's people to trust God's. promised Purpose and blessing. Don't get distracted by all the stuff around you. You trust what God has said, His promised blessing. On their obedience.
Trust his purpose. God has made his purpose known to you.
Okay, I will bless you as a nation. But he provides a warning here because of what could potentially distract them. And the warning is for them to be careful not to demand. foreknowledge. Because we are spiritual people, aren't we?
We like to have foreknowledge. Why do you think so many people go to the horoscope? Right? Why do you think there are laws against insider trading? Because we love foreknowledge.
Because foreknowledge gives us a sense of control over our circumstances. And so in our Desire to want to be in control. We have this driving, nagging sense of, I have to know.
so that I can be in control of what happens next in my life. by whatever means. And the people of the land, the pagan people of the land, We were involved in some very awful things and flirting with the domain of darkness. And the people, and God's people going in there, they can say, you know, these pagans, they seem to be in touch with a spirit world. Maybe we can try that, and God can maybe shed a little more light on what's coming next in our lives.
Flirting with and inquiring from the domain of darkness. And what does God say about this? He says, it's an abomination to me. Why would God say that? Because abomination means this is a horrible thing.
A horrible thing, that's how you can translate the word abomination. It's a horrible thing. There's a lot of things that the Bible says are horrible things to God. This is one of them. Another one is a proud look.
Let's be careful how we categorize all these sins, right? But it's a horrible thing to God for his people to want to seek some kind of foreknowledge so that they can. have some measure of control over their lives. Why is it a horrible thing to God? Because it's a lack of trust.
God has spoken, God has led his people, God has redeemed his people, God has communicated his purpose, God has provided for his people. Why do you need foreknowledge? Why do you need to be in control? You are God's people. He has redeemed you.
He's guided you. He's provided for you. Are you not trusting him? Why do you need foreknowledge? Why do you need to be in control?
This is why it's a horrible thing to God. Not only is it a lack of trust, but these things become a substitute for his faithfulness.
So You marginalize the faithfulness of God. And that's why he calls it a horrible thing. God also says, This is the reason why I'm driving out the nations that have occupied this land before you. Because they were nations that were characterized and controlled by superstition and oppression. God says, I don't want that for my people.
And so, what he calls them to do is, he says, be blameless. Be blameless before the Lord. Be blameless before the Lord, he says. What does that mean? Be blameless before the Lord.
Let me recommend this, suggest this. To be blameless before the Lord just simply means this. As the prophet Habakkuk said, and Paul repeated, the just. shall live By what? Faith.
What is faith? Faith is taking God at his word. Faith is taking God. at his word. And if you know God's word, his character, and his purpose, what he has done, what he has said he will do, and you Trust that and you therefore Commit your, entrust yourself to that and commit to that.
That will bring a peace in your life. that you can live at peace. And when you can live at peace. your life. will be a life of joy.
Because you don't have to be in control.
Now I recognize I'm talking to a whole room full of recovering control addicts today. And I'm one of them. Listen to God calling us today to trust Him and take Him at His word. Let's make sure that we don't get sidetracked and distracted by all the stuff that's out there and available to us. to try to be in control of what our future looks like.
We need to trust God. This is what he calls us to. I'll never forget when We still had kids living at home and My son Corey, second son, he was in classical conversations up in Greensboro. And Corey knew my reputation was one of punctuality. Like punctuality.
I think it's a matter of respect.
So he knows I like to be punctual.
Well, there was one day going up to Greensboro, you know how things can go. There's a little too many cars on the road. or something happens, right?
Well, I got Behind. Corey didn't have a cell phone yet. And he was waiting for me. And others around there were saying, Your dad's always here today. How come he's not here?
Are you sure your dad's coming? Corey said, He said he would. always on time. If he's not, that means something happened. He told me this when I picked him up.
He was calm, cool, and collected. He was not worked up. Because he knew I was coming. I told him I'd be there. He trusted me.
Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission. To help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good. and your deepest satisfaction in him.
the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
