The Death of Moses

In the early hours of the 1st of January 1919, a British ship called the Lallaire, which is Gaelic for eagle, was carrying sailors home from the First World War, called the Great War, 1914 to 1918.

So this happened on 1st of January 1919. The ship was taking them back to their home island, the island of Lewes, a part of the western islands in Scotland. And you can imagine the anticipation and the excitement of these men as they approached their home. They were almost ashore. They were anticipating being united with their wives, their fiancés, their mums and dads, their brothers and sisters, their friends and their grandparents. But within sight of the lights of their home, in fact only 50 yards from shore, the ship hit treacherous rocks and 201 of these men were lost. Yes, in sight of their home. In the morning many of their bodies were seen as they were washed ashore. The toys and gifts that they were bringing for their parents, for their children were seen washed on the shore.

In one case, one young man was found and there was an engagement ring in his pocket. It's a remarkable, poignant story of men who travelled a long distance, of men who had fought for their country and were now just about to come home. In fact, they could see the very lights of their home and they died right there.

The tragedy was called the crowning sorrow of the war. And I thought of that story, a story I'm sure very few of you have heard. I thought of this story when studying for this concluding message in the series of the life of Moses. Here is one of the outstanding men of the Bible. This is the man, Moses, who had led the children from Egyptian slavery. This is the man who had celebrated the Passover, who had led them through the Red Sea.

This is their leader, their wonderful leader, who in spite of the people's grumbling had led them through the wilderness for 40 years and had brought them right to the very edge of the Promised Land. And he dies within sight, we might say, of the lights of the Promised Land. Moses was never to go into the Promised Land. The bones of Joseph, if you know your Bibles, remember Joseph as he was dying had instructed that his bones would be taken out of Egypt and would be buried in the Promised Land as indeed they were, but not so for Moses. Moses sees the Promised Land, but he never enters it. And his body is not burned, is not cremated.

He has a unique burial as we're going to read. He's buried by God east of the Jordan near Mount Nebo. Some of us just a few years ago as we went to the Holy Land, we went into Jordan and stood there, stood there where Moses and the children of Israel would have been and there you can see right into Israel, right opposite Jericho, there the Jordan Valley. And we looked and we could see so much of Israel.

In fact, it was said on a clear day you could look north and see the magnificent mountain range of Mount Hermon. I want to read with you the last chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. Now I know if you're at home you're pretty comfortable, but if you've got your Bible I want you to get it. We're going to read a lot of scripture because this is a remarkable story.

This is a remarkable man. And I want to read first of all the divine commentary on the life of Moses. Here it is in Deuteronomy 34. Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land. This is the Promised Land.

Gilead as far as Dan, that's the way to the north. All Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, that's the Mediterranean. The Negev and the plain, that is the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to him, this is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

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 a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor. But no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died.

His eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

None like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and for all his mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. The divine commentary summarising the life of this remarkable man, Moses. Not permitted however to enter the Promised Land.

We're going to read about that. Why God didn't allow this mighty man, this great man, man who knew God face to face, how he didn't allow him to go into the Promised Land. And then I want us to look at a couple of themes from the life of Moses.

Now let's go back to Numbers. Numbers chapter 20, and we're going to see why Moses is not permitted to enter the Promised Land. Numbers 20 verse 1.

And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zinn in the first month and the people stayed in Kadesh and Miriam, Moses' sister, died there and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation and they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron and the people quarrelled with Moses and said, would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord. Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place?

There's no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates and there's no water to drink. And notice verse 6. Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that's the tabernacle, and fell on their faces and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron, your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield his water. So he shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.

Moses took the staff from before the Lord as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock and they said to them, hear now you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice and water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not believe in me to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I've given them. These are the waters of Meribah where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord and through them he showed himself holy.

Isn't this remarkable? Here are the children of Israel quarreling with Moses and questioning why he had led them from Egypt they say to this evil place and there's no water. And Moses does, first of all, as the Lord instructs him. He's told to take his staff and to tell the rock to yield its water. But as we read, Moses instead of speaking to the rock in his anger, in his frustration with the people, he strikes the rock twice in direct disobedience to the Lord.

However, the Israelites still receive water. Verse 11, it says, abundantly God is gracious. Even when we disobey him, people can still be blessed by our actions. The actions of Moses were an unbelief, an attack on the holiness and the glory of God. Direct disobedience and for this reason he's not going to bring the people into the Promised Land.

Now what do you think about that? Do you think the Lord was rather harsh? But such was the importance of the leader of God portraying the holiness of the Lord to the people and doing as God commanded Moses that he doesn't enter the Promised Land. As you read the book of Deuteronomy, it's interesting to note that three times Moses says he will not enter the land and in each case he blames the people.

For example in Deuteronomy chapter 4, Deuteronomy 4 verse 21, we read this, furthermore the Lord was angry with me because of you. He's blaming the people and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, the Jordan River that you are to cross to get into the Promised Land, that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, for I must die in this land. I shall not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and take possession of that good land. Moses is in no doubt that God had told him definitively Moses because of your actions you're not going to go into the Promised Land. And so he sees as it were the lights of the land. He sees the beauty of the land.

God reveals it to him in that wonderful vantage point looking over the Jordan Valley, but he doesn't enter it. Now as we conclude the series on the life of Moses, I thought it would be good to think of themes, I selected four of them that I think are emphasized in the life of Moses and as he teaches them to the people. The first is the theme of remembrance. Over and over again in the book of Deuteronomy the people are told to remember, not to forget. They were always to remember the Lord's guidance. They were always to remember the Lord's provision. And most important of all, they were never ever to forget that once they were slaves in Egypt.

They were always to remember the redemption from their slavery. And the redemption of Israel from slavery and their deliverance through the Red Sea is the pivotal event of the Old Testament which is referred throughout scripture over and over again particularly in the Psalms and it is memorialized in the Passover feast. For example, Deuteronomy 15 verse 15, you shall remember, he's Moses to the people, that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you, therefore I command you this day. Chapter 16 verse 3, you shall eat no leavened bread with it.

Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. Verse 12, you shall remember, Deuteronomy 16, you shall remember, notice the word remember, that you were a slave in Egypt and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. Chapter 24 verse 18, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. Verse 22, you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, therefore I command you to do this. And in the, you might say, the religious year of Israel, right to this day there is a Passover so that they would never forget two things. Once they were slaves in Egypt and secondly God had redeemed them.

This would keep them humble. This would make sure that their focus is on God, that it was the Lord who had led them out of Egypt. Now if the pivotal event in the Old Testament is the redemption through the Red Sea, what's the pivotal event in the New Testament? Well it's obviously the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The whole of Scripture is pointing forward to our magnificent Lord Jesus Christ.

And in the New Testament our Lord institutes a feast, not the Passover, somewhat similar to the Passover, but he institutes what we call communion, the breaking of bread, the Lord's supper. And Paul, as he deals with it in 1 Corinthians 11, what does he say from the lips of our Lord? This do in remembrance of me. We have in the life of the church this ordinance so that we would never ever forget the cross, that we would never ever forget that once we were under the bondage of slavery. Nathaniel has told us his own testimony that even as a little boy he knew he was wrong.

He was in bondage. He was a sinful little boy and he has never forgotten the remarkable grace of God which reached down to a boy in Jamaica and in his grace has saved us. But notice the focus of communion, this do in remembrance of me. Great as our individual salvation is, the focus is on Christ. It is what Christ has done through his death on the cross as our substitute, through his burial and as we were singing with that living hope, that song, that he has been raised from the dead and we are eternally united with him.

We must never forget our Savior, the theme of remembrance. Secondly, Moses emphasizes in Deuteronomy the theme of obedience even though he is going to be disobedient. Deuteronomy chapter 4, you still got your Bibles there. Deuteronomy 4, chapter 4 verse 1, here's Moses to the people, and now O Israel listen to the statutes and the rules that I'm teaching you and do them that you may live and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your Father is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it that you may keep the commandments of the Lord, your God that I command you. Chapter 10 verse 12, and now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord which I'm commanding you today for your good. Chapter 30, Deuteronomy 30 verse 19, getting good use of your Bible, Deuteronomy 30 verse 19, here's Moses again to the people, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse, therefore choose life that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him for he is your life and length of days that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob to give them. Notice this, you see Deuteronomy is the second reading of the law, the law is originally given, you remember back in Exodus 20 at Mount Sinai, they've gone through the wilderness and now they're about to enter the promised land but before they go into the promised land, Moses is giving them a reiteration of the law, he's emphasising the law over and over again so that they will know the law, that it will be impressed on their hearts, that they'll write it on their doorposts, that they will teach it to their children so that they will obey the Lord. Moses knew the cost of disobeying the Lord. And the word here, Hebrew word Shema, occurs 30 times in Deuteronomy and the word obey or sometimes translated keep occurs 100 times.

So Moses is saying to people, listen up, this is important, hear O Israel and give ear O earth, listen, this is God speaking, hear it and obey the Lord over and over again. Obedience is key. You could read the book of Deuteronomy and see the importance of obeying God.

Difficult for us, isn't it? Are you an obedient child of God? As you're listening, you say I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, are you obedient? Jesus says if you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14 verse 12. John 14, 21, He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. My love for my Savior is demonstrated by whether or not I'm obedient. Not what I say, not what I profess, not what I sing about, not what I even I teach or preach about, but whether I am humbly obedient to the Lord. John 14, 23, if anyone loves me, he will keep my words. And in Matthew 28, as Jesus commissions his disciples to make disciples of all the nations, he says to them, teaching them, you believers in discipleship making, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. What does Jesus want? Instant obedience, total obedience. I said this morning as we began the service, the importance of this book, the word of God at Calvary.

We're tempted in difficult circumstances to follow the world, to listen to so-called contemporary wisdom, to be on the right side of history, so-called. But as followers of Jesus Christ, in every situation, we turn to this book and say, what does God say? Not what you say, not what I say, not what some group says, not what some politician says, not what the president says, but what does God say? And to know the word of God and to keep it. This pleases our Heavenly Father.

If you're a father or a mother, you know you're pleased when your children obey you, and our Heavenly Father is pleased when we obey Him. And so this is a theme of Moses over and over again, the theme of remembrance, the theme of obedience, and then choice, choice. Moses was a man who made a wise choice. Yes, he made the mistakes, but he made a wise choice.

Yes, I believe in God's sovereignty, but I also believe in human responsibility and human choice. At the age of 40, remember, Moses had a very important decision to make. He's raised in the palace of Pharaoh. He had all the pleasures and treasures of Egypt at his disposal, but we read, he refused to be called the son of Abram, sorry, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the great reward.

I'm quoting from Hebrews 11. He made a choice, 40 years old, brought up in Pharaoh's palace with all of the pleasures, with all of the treasures of it. He had it made, he had it all, we would say.

What more could a man of 40 want? No, he says, I'm going to identify with my people. I'm going to make a choice to follow the Lord. Have you made the choice?

Have you? I have decided to follow Jesus. Jesus said, if anyone comes after me, let him deny self. Take up his cross and follow me. Have you made the choice to follow Christ in total commitment? So many people dabble at the Christian life. They want a little bit of Jesus, but they also want a little bit of themselves and a little bit of the world.

No, that's not how it works. Make a decision to follow Christ. We read from the Sermon on the Mount earlier today that Jesus said, you can't serve two masters.

So who are you serving? Jesus says, come follow me. Are you going to respond as Moses responded with the life of following the Lord?

Remembrance obedience choice and faith of course. Moses lived by faith and for that we turn to the great chapter on faith in Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11 23 and notice the references to faith. Hebrews 11 23, by faith Moses when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king's edict. His parents lived by faith. By faith, here it is, Moses when he was grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt not being afraid of the anger of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept to pass over and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land but the Egyptians were drowned when they attempted to do the same and so on. By faith, by faith. Here is a man who knows God.

A man who lived by faith in remarkable circumstances, delivering the people, going through the Red Sea as we read, living by faith. In Deuteronomy 34 which I read it said of Moses that the Lord knew him and he knew the Lord face to face. That's a close relationship isn't it? To know someone face to face.

If you speak to someone face to face and we miss this with the COVID-19 when we're isolated and we can't do this, Zoom is not the same, but if I said I spoke with so and so face to face that's talking about a close relationship isn't it? A deep friendship. Not just knowing someone but Moses knew the Lord face to face. In fact you may recall the situations where his sister and brother were jealous of him because the Lord was speaking through Moses rather than them.

But Moses was the only one that the Lord spoke to face to face. A man of faith. A man who knew God.

A friend of God. I recently called a friend of mine who lives away in the Northern Islands, the Shetland Islands and I spoke to his wife and she just handed the phone over to my friend and I didn't have to announce who I was. He knew my voice because many years ago we spent a lot of time together. We spoke face to face. We communed.

Someone I trust, someone who trusts me. There's a deep, deep friendship. Do you have that friendship with God that comes from faith? You see without faith it's impossible to please God.

Have you seen God work in your life in the past that you've stepped out in faith, that you believe God has asked you to do something and you've trusted him. You haven't been sure how it was going to turn out but you've trusted God and you love spending time with God in his Word, in prayer. Jesus spoke, speaks in John 15 that I haven't called you servants now.

I've called you my friends. That's how I would like to live. I know that's how you would like to live if you're a follower of Jesus. To live this life of faith day by day following Christ. Becoming more and more like Christ so that Jesus would say of you, this is my friend. Have you had that experience?

A friend of yours has introduced you to someone and said now this is my friend. That's a wonderful commendation isn't it? To be a friend of God. Well here in Deuteronomy 34 as we get back to the last chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses is 120 years old.

That's old. He's about to die. But God has his purposes and plans and God's purposes and God's plan don't die with his servants. God has been preparing a successor for Abraham, for Moses rather, for many years. I mean who's going to take the place of Moses? He's special.

No one can fill his shoes. But Moses has an assistant, a young man called Joshua, the son of Nun. And way back in Exodus 33 we read that this young man didn't depart from the tent, the tabernacle. Today we would say that Moses had been mentoring Joshua. And in Numbers chapter 27, we won't read it but you can read it there, there's a remarkable incident where Joshua is commissioned by Moses. Where Moses puts his hands on Joshua and realises that great man although Moses was, he's not allowed to go into the Promised Land. But Joshua, this younger man, this man who had been in battle against the Amalekites you may recall, he is going to be the successor of Moses and he's going to lead the people into the land. We see here in Deuteronomy 34 verse 9, Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom for Moses had laid his hands on him. You think you'd be a little scared to follow Moses? Turn over the page, the next page is Joshua 1.

What do we read? Joshua 1 verse 5, no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life just as I was with Moses so I will be with you. Isn't that wonderful? You saw all I did with Moses, just as I was with Moses I'm going to be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you, be strong and courageous for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do, here it is again, according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you, do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth for you shall meditate on it day and night.

Isn't this wonderful? That God's servants die but God's plans and purposes continue and God has raised up and has prepared this man Joshua, fills him with his spirit, commissioned by Moses and go forward into the land. There's going to be enemies Joshua, I want you to be strong and courageous and remember don't depart from the law of the Lord.

I want you to know the law. I want you to meditate on it day and night. I don't want you to depart from it. Don't think you are wiser than the law of God.

Don't part from it to the right or to the left but keep on straight and you'll have great success Joshua. How wonderful. See Moses' mission of bringing the people to the promised land is fulfilled. God's servants die but God's work continues and Joshua is going to lead the people into the promised land. We at Calvary believe very much in what we call the next generation. We train Pastor Pierce who gave his testimony is very strong in this and rightly so in discipleship making that we are equipping others, other leaders, other teachers. Pastor Hathaway in our worship ministry worked with so many like Ben who led us this evening preparing others so that God's work will continue when we have gone.

That's the biblical process. It's said of Moses that he endured as seeing him who is invisible. You see Moses fulfilled his mission in life.

He had a full life. He experienced opposition in Egypt. He experienced opposition from the people of God in the wilderness but he endured. He didn't give up.

Moses didn't know anything about retirement. Here he is at 120 in Deuteronomy 34 and we read that his eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. I think this is marvelous of Moses that he continues serving God right to the end until he dies.

Isn't that what we all want? To endure? To keep on serving the Lord? Sphere of ministry may change but as long as God places us here on earth we're going to live for his glory. Well I've lived with Moses now for a few months.

I began this series on September 8, 2019. And on this last message as we think of his death, I think of him dying, Moses dying. This is so poignant, this man who had done so much. He dies seeing the very lights as it were of the promised land. You see Moses saw the land that had been promised. Moses knew that God through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob had given this covenant. That he was going to give them a land and that you Moses are going to have the privilege of leading the people right to the edge of the promised land. And God is always true to his promises and Moses fulfills his ministry and comes right to the edge of the land. No he didn't enter the promised land but in a sense something greater happened to Moses.

On the Mount of Transfiguration we read in Matthew 17 that when our Lord was transfigured there were two characters with him. One was Elijah and the other was, yes, Moses. Moses is the prophet. The Lord says here there has not been a prophet since in Israel like Moses.

He's a prophet. In Deuteronomy 18 Moses tells of another prophet coming, a greater prophet than him and he said it is him you shall listen to. And now on the Mount of Transfiguration Moses is in the promised land. He's with the greater prophet, our Lord Jesus, who not only is a prophet but is also a priest and a king, fulfills all of the ministries and the offices of Israel, the prophet, the priest and the king. And on the Mount of Transfiguration God says of his son, something he could never say of Moses, this is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased listen to him. In the Sermon on the Mount we've been learning that Jesus is the interpreter of the Mosaic law. He is the fulfillment of the Mosaic law.

He is the prophet, the priest and king. You know we have going on right now about whether or not statutes should be removed. So in the idea of kingdom that there's a movement to take down the statue of Churchill because some of his views are quite wrong. Well, Churchill is someone I know a little bit about and of all the criticisms that I've heard over the last few days none of them come as a shock to me. His views on India, his views on different things is well known over the life of this man, particularly in the pressure of war he dictated literally thousands of memorandum and I'm sure there are things as people go through them that they say well this is terrible that this man did and it is true. They want to take down his statue, they want to call him a racist.

Well, what do you think? Why is it that there's not a statue to Moses? You see God buries him and no one knows where Moses is buried. And as you think throughout history of all of the great men and women who have lived, yes some of them have statutes raised to them or whether you think of the great characters in Scripture like Moses, over every single one we could write failure.

I was in our cemetery yesterday for a funeral and Goodney and I walked around and looked and read some of the names on the tombstone. Many of them have passed since I began to pastor here and I know many of them, some I don't know, but for every single one I know I could point out something wrong with the person. But over their imperfections I could write saved by grace, saved by grace. I don't care who you select in biblical history or in the history of the world, whoever it is, even the greatest of the prophets like Moses, even this great man, this man of God who performed miracles, who was a friend of God, who spoke to God face to face, who went up the mountain and received the law of God, written with a finger of God.

Can you imagine a man like that and over his life we can write failure? And Moses you're not going to go into the promised land because you sinned, every single one of us. That's the point of the stories of the Bible. And every single one of them is saying, sinned, you want to take Abraham, you want to take King David, you want to take Peter in the New Testament, you want to take Paul, you want to find fault with him, yes you'll find fault with him. You want to take Pastor Pierce, Pastor Hathaway and Pastor Monroe and look at our lives and say, is there anything wrong with these men?

And the answer is yes, there is much that is wrong. But this is why our Lord Jesus Christ came, the perfect Christ, the beautiful Christ, the one who is the greater prophet than Moses, the one who is the greater priest than Aaron, the one who is David's greater son, the greatest of the kings of Israel, our magnificent Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. And He's the only one who can forgive your sins. He's the only one who can take you to God.

He's the only one who is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. That's why in heaven, who are we praising? We're not praising Churchill. We're not praising Moses. We're not even praising Abraham.

We're not bowing down to any man. Listen to the words, the magnificent words. John says, I looked. Here's in heaven. And I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, were they?

Whose were they? Were they as the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing? And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. And the living creatures said, Amen.

And the elders fell down and worshiped. We have only one God. There's only one we worship. There's only one perfect man, the man Christ Jesus, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know Him? If not, will you fall down and admit that you're a sinful person and look to the cross and receive forgiveness? If you are forgiven, may you pursue Christ and love Christ more and more and join and look forward to that great day when with all of the redeemed we will sing, were they as the Lamb that was slain. Meantime, we are to live by faith. We're to be friends of God, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. Our Father and our God, we thank you for the life of Moses, this great man, this great prophet, this incredible leader, this man of faith who spoke with you face to face and yet he failed and so didn't enter the promised land. And I have failed and we have all failed and we thank you that our Savior came not to condemn us but to save us and to deliver us from a slavery greater than Egypt. And may we by faith look to Him. He says, look to me, all the ends of the earth and be you saved. May each person know what it is to be saved by faith and to live by faith, we ask it in Christ's name, amen.