Address—G. Hayhoe
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Enriffed him and there was no water for the people to drink.
Wherefore the people that chide with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink. Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this, that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us, and our children, and our cattle with thirst?
And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel thy rod werewith thou smoteest the river. Take in thine hand, and go, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb. Thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of the.
Elders of Israel, and he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
Then came Amalek and fought with Israel and refit him. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out man, and go out fight with Amalek, and tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek, and Moses, Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side.
And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
And Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nessie. For he said, because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Well, as I remarked before.
I believe that in what we had before us this afternoon, we have particularly brought before us the believers standing. That is, every believer has been brought into this perfect standing before God. Not only our sins forgiven, but God sees us in Christ and He tells us to reckon the old nature dead. He tells us how we can be happy even though we have that old nature within us and still unimproved.
We might think, Well, if I thought that that old nature was better, I could be much happier. But as we were noticing, God has told us that it can't be improved. He Himself has condemned sin in the flesh, but He has brought us into that position before him that He looks upon us in Christ. Then He would have us to rejoice in this.
But you know, even after we have laid hold of this truth, then we find that temptations come and we might wonder, how can I get the victory over these temptations? How can I go on to please the Lord? And I believe we have in the 17th of Exodus brought before us in a typical way, the way that Israel had. The victory over Amalek is the victory that we can have.
Over that old nature which is within us.
Which is ever ready to pop up and display itself.
We know that even with the children of Israel, they have been sheltered under the blood in Egypt. More than this, they had been brought out of Egypt and they sang because they knew of that new position they had been brought into. But here we find in the 17th chapter, in an experimental way, that there was a conflict with Amalek. And so I believe we can say that it's a beautiful picture brought before us of the way of victory in the.
Christian's life.
Notice how the chapter begins. It says, and all the children and all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin, after their journeys according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in rephidim.
And we might wonder why it was that the Lord brought them to this place where there was number water to drink.
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Well, you might have thought that it was through some planning of their own that they came to this place, but it tells us distinctly here that it was according to the commandment of the Lord and in God's ways with us too. He sometimes brings us to a place where we can see no human resource, we can see no outlet. The spot seems so difficult.
That we just feel like the children of Israel when they came here to refit them.
All there was number water to drink. What a distressing feeling. And above all to think that it was the commandment of the Lord that brought them there.
Well, in all 1 is often said that there are two lessons for the children of Israel to learn in the wilderness, and that was their own utter helplessness and God's all sufficiency. And we have to learn those two things in our wilderness journey. We have to learn our own utter helplessness, our own insufficiency, but we also learn that God is faithful and that all our surprise come from Him.
Just as in the chapter before.
The man who came from heaven when they were hungry. God rained the manna down from heaven when they were thirsty. Why, God caused them to have that drink from the smitten rock in the end of the 15th chapter. When they came to Maryland where the waters were bitter, there was no way that they could make those waters sweet. But when God told them to cast in a tree into those bitter waters, than the bitter waters became sweet.
No doubt a beautiful picture.
Of the Cross. For if we bring in the cross into the bitter waters of life, it can make them sweet. How often we find that in the trials and difficulties, when everything seems so bitter and sad, that when we turn to the Lord Jesus, and think of his love in going to the cross for us, why we find him nearer in the trial than if we had never come to that place.
So we can see that all their resources were from above.
There was no water for the people to drink.
But the people didn't appreciate the fact that this was ordered of the Lord at 1St. Instead of that it says the people did chide with Moses and said give us water that we may drink.
Well, don't we often do the same when we come to some trial in our lives?
Some difficult spot.
We want some person to blame and we say well it was so and so and we find someone that we can blame instead of accepting the circumstance as from the Lord. Reminds me of a man who left the meeting and some years afterwards he said to a brother in the meeting. He said, you know I'd still be in the meeting if it wasn't for so and so.
And this brother said to him, well, God put that brother there. Well, he said, I'd still be in the meeting if it wasn't for him. Well, he said, God put that brother there.
Well, in all, God sometimes allows these things to come in our lives so that we would be tested and so that we might turn to Him. And we'll never learn the full resource that we have in the Lord until we learn also to take every circumstance from Him. As long as we're blaming somebody else, we'll certainly not take it from the Lord.
We find when Paul was in prison, he didn't call himself the prisoner of Mural, he called himself the prisoner of Jesus Christ. That is, he accepted the whole thing as from the Lord that you and I do that.
The people didn't hear and they said to Moses, give us water that we may drink and how often too. We say, well there's there's not much in the meeting, there's not very bright ministry and things aren't as happy as they should be and we're looking to some person instead of looking to the Lord.
While Moses said unto them, Why charge you with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?
Moses asked them why were they blaming him? Because actually in Moses case, Moses hadn't done anything but good for them. He was the one who had been used of God to lead them out. And Moses must have felt sort of badly at this time that he was being blamed. And perhaps we feel badly sometimes when we're blamed for something, especially when we don't feel that we were really at fault.
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And yet Moses here, when he was falsely accused, and when he was blamed, notice in the fourth verse. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.
And when you and I are falsely accused, when we're blamed and we don't feel that we are really to blame, do we try to justify ourselves? Or do we give up and say, well it's no use, what I do isn't appreciated? Or do we just turn to the Lord and ask Him what He wants us to do? God allows such circumstances so that we too would turn to Him.
Because we may not realize how much of self there is even in our finest service. And God allows criticism so that even in service we would be cast upon the Lord, that we would find Him the resource and our only resource to continually continue faithfully in seeking the good and blessing of the people of God. So here we find that Moses.
When he was confronted with this situation, he asked the Lord.
What shall I do unto this people?
And what was the Lord's answer? And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people.
Well, has someone falsely accused you?
Do you feel discouraged that what you have sought to do wasn't appreciated?
Well, listen to this word. I think it's a good word for all of us to bear in mind, to repeat to ourselves often in our Christian life.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people. That is, don't give up what you're seeking to do for the Lord. Seek to go on in faith and faithfulness and leave all these things, even false accusations. Leave them all with the Lord, because you know the Lord.
Always has everything properly recorded above.
You know, through the conflicts of David, there was a man who had a great deal of prominence named Joab.
He seemed to get the credit for many victories in David's army, but when David recounted his mighty man, we find that he doesn't mention the name of Joab, but he does mention the name of Joab's armor bearer. That is that Joab had got all the prominence before men, but when?
David recorded his mighty man. He spoke of a man that had never been mentioned.
For David, I mean Joab's armor bearer.
And so, you know, perhaps someone else has got the credit and you feel it's not quite fair that they should get the credit for something that you had done or remember, God has the record down properly.
He isn't going to make any mistake, he knows what each one of us have done for him and it's all properly recorded in his book. Jonathan led the people in a great victory in First Samuel 14.
And at the end of the chapter, we find Saul taking all the credit himself. He was even going to put Jonathan to death.
But Jonathan was content to leave it all with the Lord. Or may we be content too, and seek to go on in the path of faith and faithfulness, loving the people of God, serving the people of God because they're dear to Him.
And so the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel. And I rod were with thou, smotest the river, taken thine hand and gull. That is, he was told to go on and serve the people.
And he was told to take this rod where he had smitten the river. Well, I believe this rod is a figure to us. No doubt of thee what the Lord Jesus had to go through upon the cross. Because we know that rod was brought down on the river to make a way so that the people could go through. It makes us think of a little hymn that we sang this morning.
Jehovah lifted up his rod. All Christ, it fell on thee.
Thy open bosom was my ward. It bore the storm for me. On what ground, on what basis can God go on with a poor, failing people like ourselves? All because the rod was lifted up upon Christ, because He took up that question at the cross for us, and settled the question of sin. And now God can come out.
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In all the riches of his grace and bless a poor failing people like ourselves.
And so the Lord was really saying to Moses, go on before the people and remember that the way I can go on with this people is because of that which figures, the cross of Christ. And may we too remember this as we look at God's people, as we hear their murmurings, as we hear them perhaps saying things that hurt us and discourage us, may we realize that the Lord loves his people. He's proved his love to them at the cross.
And he's not going to give them up, because it says He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall He not with him also freely give us all things?
And so the Lord said, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb.
It's as though the Lord said to Moses, and don't look at the elders of the people, put your eye upon me.
I'll stand before you, Moses, and that's what we need to do sometimes. The Lord said, I'll stand right in front of you, Moses, and you look at me. If he had looked at the people, why, perhaps he would have been occupied with the things that they were doing and saying. But instead the Lord said, just look at me, I'll stand right there before you.
And thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.
Well, we know, as we remark, that the Lord Jesus was smitten. He bore the wrath and the judgment of God.
And because of this, refreshment and blessing comes to you and I.
We know that on another occasion when the people were thirsty, Moses was sent to get water for them. But on this other occasion he was told speak to the rock, not smite the rock, but speak to the rock because the rock didn't need to be smitten twice. The one the smiting of the rock once was enough and the Lord Jesus.
So glorified God and so subtle the whole question of sin.
That He never, He never will have to bear sin again. That question has been settled once and for all. And now, when we come to difficult spots in our lives, we can speak to the rock. We can talk to Him as one whose love has been made known to us. We can talk to God as our Father. We're in a relationship to that precious Savior. Indeed, we can say that we are members of His body.
Saw that the second time Moses didn't need to smite the rock. We know that. Alas, he didn't smite the rock. He lost his patience with the people. And sometimes we too might lose our patience. But if we do, we fail to sanctify the Lord as He did. We fail to display His feelings toward His people when we lose our patience with them because He loves them, and His love has never changed or altered by our failure.
And so Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And now this refreshing water flows down so that the people might drink.
Well, I'd like to connect this passage with John Chapter 7, if you'll turn to it.
Please.
And the 37th verse.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me is the Scripture hath said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
Well, I believe from this passage in John seven that we could connect the water here with the with the Holy Spirit of God.
And also with that verse in Galatians that says the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
That is, when one is into all by the Spirit of God, then there is a terrible conflict that is set up because the flesh, that solemn nature within us that we spoke about this afternoon, once had control of these bodies.
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But when we're indwelled by the Spirit of God, we have a new power so that we can walk to please God. And the flesh doesn't like this. And so there's a conflict. And so just here as the children of Israel had had a drink of that water that flowed from the smitten rock, then outcomes Amalek.
Amalek was a figure to us in the Old Testament of Satans power over us through the flesh. That is, we have this fallen nature that we talked about this afternoon and Satan always.
Appeals to us through the fallen nature within.
That is, when Satan brings a temptation to us, we have that nature within that responds to the temptation.
But we also have the Spirit of God indwelling us. We also possess a new life that delights in pleasing God.
And so if we if we allow Satan to.
Work upon the fallen nature within us, then we sin.
But if we allow the Spirit of God to lead us and to occupy us with Christ.
Then there's victory instead, and so we can see here.
A picture that is brought before us.
Of a believer and how we have that old nature within us, but we also have the new life and we're indwelled by the Spirit of God. And so there's this conflict.
Well, now we notice here that there are three men that are brought before us.
And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out man, and go out fight with Amalek.
While Joshua is a figure to us of the Lord Jesus and the power of the Spirit of God. Because Joshua was the one who led the people into the Promised Land, and the Spirit of God would seek to lead your soul and mine into the enjoyment of our heavenly blessings. He would seek to lead us above things of this world and so fill our souls with the enjoyment of Christ.
Just like the people enjoying this water that flowed from.
Me smitten rock. He would seek to lead our souls into the enjoyment of what we have in Christ so that we are given strength to go on, because one who is enjoying Christ has power to go on. But if we lose the enjoyment of Christ, then we're liable to fall prey to the temptations that Satan brings.
And so here we find that the children of Israel had a leader, Joshua, and he led them out against Amalek. Well, I believe this brings before us a very important thing too.
That sometimes we get into difficulties and into temptations because we don't seek the Lord's guidance.
Reminds me of a story that I heard of a man over in Scotland many years ago and he wanted to hire a coachman to drive his horses and so he he had many who came to apply for this job and he asked each one the same question.
He said there's a very steep hill.
On the road coming to this house, as you know, and he said. I'm very much concerned that I have a man that can really handle horses to drive the coach up this steep hill because it's very narrow and there's a dangerous precipice off the side.
And so he wanted to know how much experience they had, and he wanted to know how.
How close they thought they could go to the edge of the rod and still haul the horses steady.
And so some of these men had had quite a bit of experience and they were quite sure that they could hold the horses steady. Even if they came very close to the edge of the roll, they felt confident that they could hold the horses steady.
But there's one man who came along and his, his thought about it was entirely different. And as soon as this man asked him about how well he could handle horses, why, he said, Sir, I'd keep as far away from the edge as I could because he said the horses might give alerts or something. And then he said it would be too bad. No, he said, I I'd stay right away from the edge. Oh, he said, you're you're the man I want.
Well, you know, sometimes.
We're like Peter. We're so confident in ourselves. We think that we can go along with a certain measure of the world, we can do a certain number of things in the world and that we know just how far to go and that we wouldn't be tempted. And so we're so sure of ourselves. We're like Peter who said that he wouldn't deny the Lord.
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But Peter had to learn his own weakness, and if we're confident on ourselves, the Lord may have to let us learn through a fall how very weak we are.
And so if we're going to walk to please him, we need a leader. And who is that leader? Well, I say again, it's the Lord Jesus who leads us in the power of the Spirit of God. And so I'd like to say to each young person here tonight, if you're going to do anything, don't say, well, I'm quite sure that I wouldn't do this or I wouldn't do that.
Or I can go along with the world part way, but I.
I wouldn't be tempted to marry an unconverted boy, but I could enjoy a nice evening with him. Be careful, you might be. You might be LED astray. You might do what you didn't intend to do. Many others have because they have trusted in the flesh.
And so here we find Joshua was the leader. And before you go out to any evening, or before you undertake any plan in your life, get down before the Lord and ask him if it's His will, and then ask Him to keep you.
So here we find that when.
The people went out, they had a leader.
And then on the top of the hill, Moses went up, saw that there was not only a leader leading them in the conflict below, but there was also one who was up on the top of the hill holding up his hands. Well, how beautiful this is, because if you and I go to the Word of God in dependence upon Him, well, then we can ask Him to keep us, keep us from the snares and pitfalls of life.
But I say again.
And the only promises to keep us in the path of obedience, he doesn't promise to keep us if we get out of the path of obedience, because that's really trusting our own hearts. And it says he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. Wasn't Peter thoroughly sincere when he said he wouldn't deny the Lord? Yes he was. But did he deny him? Yes he did. And with alls and curses he didn't think he would. But.
He trusted his own heart and he found out how weak he was.
Well, he was restored after, that's true, But I'm sure that to his dying day, he never forgot how weak he was in the presence of those little maids. How weak he was when temptation crossed his path. And he was in a place that he shouldn't have been. He shouldn't have been warming himself at the fire with those ungodly people. He shouldn't have been following the Lord afar off. No, he ought to have been near the Lord many ought to have shunned.
Company of those whom he knew had no love for his Lord. So we find here that they went out with Joshua as the leader, and then, as I say, Moses went up on the top of the hill.
Now it tells us here in this 11TH verse. And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand.
That Israel prevailed.
And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
I'd like you to turn with me over to.
Hebrews, chapter 4.
I'd like you to turn with me over to.
Hebrews, chapter 4.
And verse 14.
Seeing them that we have a great high Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Now the 7th chapter in the 24th verse.
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But this man, because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God, by him, seeing He ever liveth, to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us who is holy, harmless, unbefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.
Now this one hand of Moses that was held up, and while it was up Israel prevailed, and when it went down then Amalek prevailed. This brings before us the Lord Jesus Priestly work for us on high.
And just as Moses went up under the top of the hill with a rod of God in his hand, so the Lord Jesus as the one who has accomplished redemption, who has borne the judgment of God for us while he's gone up there, and what is his present work for us now?
At one time this rod was lifted up to open a way through the Red Sea, but now Moses is up in the top of the hill, holding up his hand with the rod of God in his hand.
Well, this was saw that the people might have strength for the battle against Amalek, that they might be victorious instead of being overcome. Well, the Lord Jesus is up there in heaven now as our great High Priest, and it says we have a high Priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.
And do we have a conflict with Amalek? Do we find that Satan comes and tempts us in some particular way? Is there some situation that we're meeting in our life and we just feel as if Amalek was coming out against us? Well, I'm sure we all have those experiences in our lives.
And we say, well, I have sought the Lord's guidance, but Amalek's still very strong.
Yes, they had a leader, Joshua was leading them, but Amalek was still very strong. But there was another, I say, and that was this one who was up on the top of the mount, Moses with his hand up. And it tells us in the end of the 4th chapter of Hebrews, There let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Do you and I feel our weakness?
In the presence of these temptations and situations that we have to meet day by day. Oh, I'm sure we do. I'm sure every one of us say, oh, this is so true to life. It's just what happens over and over again in our Christian life. All that there's one who's up there on high and he wants us to turn to him in every time of need. And in that lovely passage that I read there in the 7th of Hebrews, it says he is able.
Also to save them to the uttermost.
You know, some connect that verse with the salvation of a Sinner, but that isn't really what it refers to. Although it's true that he's able to save the vilest Sinner. But if you read in the 5th chapter of Romans, you'll read this verse it says.
If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
After we're reconciled, we're saved by his life. And so to be saved to the uttermost is just like as if the Lord should say, are you placed in a very trying situation? Does it seem so difficult that you just wonder how you can honor the Lord in it and be faithful to Him?
By the Lord looks down and says the situation isn't so difficult, but that I can supply you the grace to help in time of need.
He is able to save to the Iron Mosque.
Perhaps you get up in the morning and you have a headache and on top of that, everything seems to go wrong through the day. And you say, well, I just couldn't help being impatient. I couldn't help saying things I shouldn't. I felt so miserable and everything seemed to go wrong. And the Lord looks down. He said, oh, if you'd asked me for help, I would have supplied all that was needed, all that was needed.
He's able to save them to the uttermost. And so no matter how strong these forces of Amalek were that came out and drove after drove of them must have come out against Israel.
But.
As long as Moses was up there with his hand up, Israel prevailed.
And all the reason that we fail is because we don't look to the Lord for help.
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We excuse ourselves, we say, oh, I couldn't help it, I couldn't help it, but the Lord is able to save to the uttermost. And when it says such a high priest became us, who is wholly harmless, unbefiled and separate from sinners, I believe it brings before us just this.
That sometimes when such situations arise, we might go to another Christian and we might tell them about how trying life is and how miserable we feel. And that other Christian might sympathize with us and say, well, I don't blame you when I feel like that, I say things that I shouldn't too. And so you feel kind of comforted, you know, that after all, it wasn't so bad because other Christians did it too.
But that Christian didn't help you. That Christian just encouraged you to do what's wrong. That Christian just gave you a little bit of comfort to go on and be somewhat irritable when things went wrong. But the Lord, he's holy, He's harmless, He's undefiled. And so it's as though he said, well, I have given you a new life and I'll give you the power. And instead of getting impatient and saying things you'll be sorry for.
Afterwards, why, he said, I'll give you all the grace that you need. Or isn't that the kind of help we need? Isn't that the one we should turn to? Oh indeed it is. And it says that he has an unchangeable priest to it. Or it could be translated and intransmittable priesthood. That is, it isn't one that passes from one to another.
Well, this is very comforting too, because perhaps you've had a doctor.
The doctor has known your family well and you just feel that he he knows all about the family and you can talk to him as a friend.
But the Doctor dies.
Or he retires and you say, oh, now I'll have to find a new Doctor and he just will never understand like that old one did because he knew all about our family. Well, isn't it wonderful, beloved brethren, that the Lord Jesus up there, he knows all about us from our very childhood. He knew our father, He knew our mother, He knew our family traits. He knew our family weaknesses. He knew all about the setting of our family life, everything's.
Known to him, he has an intransmittable priesthood, a priesthood that will continue through our whole lifetime. And we can just come and talk to him as the dearest friend, one who knows us, who understands us, who loves us perfectly. Oh, what a high priest we have. And it's connected, as we read in these passages, with our infirmities.
I want to mention that the priesthood of Christ is not for our failures, it's for our infirmities.
That simply means that if we if we have some particular weakness, physical or something of that nature, why then we need a special supply of his health, and the Lord can give that special supply.
But if we read here more carefully and read on, we'll find that Moses didn't just have one hand, he had two hands.
And at first, it seems that he just held up one hand.
But then the other hand went up, and the other hand never came down.
It says it says in the 11TH verse.
When he held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But then it tells us that Aaron and her were on each side, and they held up his hands, and they were steady till the going down of the sun.
While the one hand speaks of his priesthood and I believe the other speaks of his advocacy, his advocacy and his priesthood is to keep us from failing. His advocacy is after we have failed.
And the reason the other hand never went down is because although we may fail to ask the Lord for help like we should, although we may not ask Him for help and saw Amalek prevails, blessed be his name. He is always our advocate before the Father, so to speak. That hand never goes down. And now if you'll turn with me to.
First John, chapter 1.
I'd like to just read a few verses in this passage.
First John, chapter 1.
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Verse 8.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in US. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in US.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Now this 2nd chapter in first verse says that we have an advocate with the Father. And it doesn't say in this verse if any man confesses sin, we have an advocate with the Father. It says if any man's sin, we have an advocate with the Father.
Because the Lord Jesus as our Advocate is continually there before the Father, and He is there in all the acceptance of his finished work, and we are accepted in Him. And sin in the believer's life never changes the believer's standing. Our standing is always maintained in all its perfection because our standing is in Christ and He is up there on our behalf.
Well, we say then what does confession have to do with it? Well, confession May is now.
Terry saw that we would be restored to communion, but his advocacy goes on continually. He is always there. So when Amalek prevailed, the other hand was up. That is, the Lord Jesus is there as our advocate continually before the Father. If it weren't for that, if you sinned and then the Lord came before you confessed it, then you would be out of your standing before God.
But all it's not so.
The Lord Jesus is always there on our behalf before the Father and it says if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father. Does this excuse us or encourage us to sin? No, it says He wrote these things that we would sin not.
Because the more you and I lay hold of His love, the more we enter into what He has done for us and the perfection of that blessed work in our standing, the more we'll desire to please Him.
There's no such thing in Christianity as being forced into pleasing God. No, it's always the outflow of love in return for what He has done for us. We love him because he first loved us. If he loved me, keep my commandments, the Lord said to that poor woman in the eighth of John, Neither do I condemn thee.
Go and sin no more, he didn't say if you don't sin anymore.
I won't condemn you now. She went out from his presence knowing there was no condemnation. And this now was the power for her to live to please him. Go and sin no more. So I say that the whole of our Christian life is founded upon what the Lord has done for us. We don't get it by attainment.
But we can allow sin in our lives and lose the enjoyment of it. But we can never lose our standing, beloved brethren.
And so how lovely it is to see that one of those hands never went down. But now just to speak a little bit about confession here.
In the eighth verse it says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
We were talking a little bit about that this afternoon. The old nature is not removed. If I stood here and told you I didn't have any fallen nature, I'd only be deceiving myself.
I know I have it, others know I have it too. And so if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Or if, as in the 10th verse, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar. And we were to say that we have never sinned since we were saved, all this wouldn't be true either. But God has made provision for failure in the believer's life, and the Lord Jesus is up there as our advocate. And when we confess sin?
It is simply availing ourselves of his advocacy. And the confession of sin, let me say again, has nothing to do with our standing. It just has to do with our state, or shall I say, with the enjoyment of our standing.
And so this verse says, if we confess our sins.
Now perhaps some believers might say, well, I always ask the Lord to forgive me when I do something wrong.
All as believers were not to ask for forgiveness. As believers we are to confess.
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Well, the difference is just this.
That if I did something wrong to you, then I came and said, will you forgive me? Am I not raising the question about whether you're going to say yes or no?
But if you said to me, well, I have already forgiven you in my heart, that I would like you to say you're sorry.
Now when I come to say I'm sorry, I have the confidence that you're going to show that forgiveness that's in your heart toward me as soon as I say I'm sorry.
Well, beloved brethren, we don't ask the Lord to forgive our sins. We're told to confess it.
The believer is to come to the Lord and realizing that we have sinned against such love.
That we have grieved the heart of the one that died for us. We come not to be restored to our standing, but feeling that the saddest thing that could take place in our lives is to lose the enjoyment of communion with God, we come and confess it so that we might be restored to communion.
And I'd like to say too that in connection with this.
He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The reason it says He is faithful and just is because that sin was settled long ago at the cross and God is faithful and just in manifesting that governmental forgiveness to us because it was all settled there. Sin will never be raised against the believer, but it does have to do with the enjoyment of the family relationship.
But he's faithful and just to forgive, because I say again, the whole question of sin and sins was settled at the cross, and the confession has to do with restoration to communion.
But now this little expression, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I won't take time to turn to the 19th chapter of Numbers.
But in that chapter we have about a man who was defiled.
And it says he was sprinkled on the third day and then he was clean on the 7th.
Well, when it brings in the thought of the third day, it brings in the thought of what it costs God to put away sin.
That is, the cost of putting away sin was the work of the Lord Jesus upon the cross, and so unless the man was sprinkled on the third day, it says he wasn't clean on the 7th.
That is, there wasn't a real restoration.
And I believe, if one might speak in a very practical way, that very often as Christians, when we confess sin, there isn't a proper sense in our souls of how the Lord has been dishonored, how we have grieved his heart, and the result is we confess him too lightly.
We don't enter into the thought of the third day, so to speak, and so there isn't a full restoration.
There is only perhaps we might say, a partial sense of how we have dishonored the Lord.
Now let us suppose that when we confess a failure in our lives, that is just as though we were looking at the Lord Jesus dying for us, and we saw him in that agony in those three hours, and He were to tell us that He was suffering this for the very sin that we were confessing. Oh, do you think we could have a light idea of that sin? Do you think that we would just say, well?
It wasn't so serious other Christians sometimes.
Pale too. And so we look on it kind of lightly. Oh no. I'm sure that if we confess sin in the realization of what it costs the Lord to put away the sin, then there would be a real restoration, and we would find that the Lord would deliver us from things that perhaps are all too habitual in the Christian's life.
I I believe we could say that isn't normal, that a Christian should go on with something continually breaking out in his life. It's because there hasn't been a true sense of what the sin is before God. It hasn't been confessed in the reality of what it is against God, and therefore the result is that there isn't a full restoration.
And I might also mention that in the ashes of the heifer in the 19th of numbers there, there was also cedar wood and scarlet and Hesse.
You know the cedar wood speaks of man's greatness.
How the scarlet speaks of human glory. What we often call glamour. That which we we like to be looked up to.
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Attract the attention of others.
Saul, When Saul sinned, he said, I have sinned yet honor me now, I pray thee, in the presence of the elders of my people.
He knew he'd done wrong, but he said I don't want to lose any human glory by this failure. I want everybody to think as much of me after I've confessed it as they did before.
Well, he didn't really enter into the burning of the Scarlet, the end of that human glory.
We find a different thing. When David confessed his sin, he said, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Ah, David had a sense of how he had dishonored the Lord, and he truly judged it. And then what about the hyssop, you say? Well, the hyssop, surely that's an insignificant thing. Isn't it a good thing to be humble?
Well, we can get occupied with bad self. We can get occupied with our own littleness. Some people, when you talk to them, they're always occupied with how they can never do anything right and there's no use for them to try and all that kind of thing. And it's just self in another form. It's just self that displays itself in what the world calls inferiority complex.
Itself in another form. And so we're to judge all.
Those things and so we find that when a man was sprinkled with this water of separation, there were the ashes of the heifer that speak of the death of Christ being the end of all that we are in the flesh before God. And when we judge it, we think of what the Lord had to suffer to put an end to all. We were our sins and also what we were in that old Adam standing and so there's a true.
Self judgment before him.
Well, this is for our restoration to communion. And I say again, beloved brethren, there's nothing sweeter on earth than to walk in communion with the Lord. There's nothing sweeter on earth than to go on from day-to-day in the conscious company of the Lord Jesus. You can never be lost. As I said this afternoon and I mentioned again this evening, nothing can interrupt the believer's standing, but God wants.
To be in the enjoyment of it, he not only wanted the people to know that they were on the victorious Bank of the Red Sea, but he also wanted them to be in a place where they would not be overcome by Amalek, but where they would walk in his company and have his blessing along the wilderness journey.
And so here we find that in our chapter.
It says in the 12TH verse in Moses hands were were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat there on an Aaron and hers stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
And so here we find a complete victory, and the Lord would have us to realize that He's made full provision for us. Provision saw that there would be victory in our lives, provision for restoration when we have failed so that we might go on in communion with Him. And now it was said here that this was to be written in a book and rehearsed in the years of Joshua.
Because even though we know these things, we're very likely to forget them.
We need to be constantly reminded of them, and over and over again we need to get down on our knees before the Lord and pray the prayer of the first verse of the 16th Psalm. Preserve me, O God, for indeed do I put my trust.
No matter how long we have been saved, if we put any confidence in the flesh, we will fail again. So this has to be constantly brought before us. There is not, there is no victory through strength of character. It's not because we've been saved for a long time. I heard a brother say one time, well, I've been in the meeting for I think he said 50 years and I've never missed a meeting if I could possibly help, but I've always been there.
And in less than a year he was out of the meeting and never restored all. We can't do any boasting, brother. We can't do any boasting. This has to be rehearsed in our ears over and over again. Only the Lord can keep us. But then there's a bright ray at the end. It says the Lord will.
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Utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. There's a time coming when we'll never have such conflicts anymore. The old nature will be gone. We're not going to carry it to heaven. It'll be gone forever. And in that blessed home above 1 is often thought how lovely it'll be. I believe when we get there, there'll be the joy of seeing the Lord. But shall I say, there'll also be the joy of just relaxing and saying this is home.
There'll be absolutely nothing.
Within or around, but what we can just enjoy to the fall and the conflicts will be over forever, but as long as we're here, the Lord said to Moses.
That He would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. And so as long as we're here, the old nature will not improve. But God has not only told us of the place that He has brought us into so that we can enjoy Him in this place, knowing that He has put us before Him in Christ, but He's even told us how we can have victory and how we can be restored when we have failed. Oh, what a gracious Savior we have.
May the Lord grant that we walk in the joy of these things more and more, because I say again, there's nothing sweeter on earth than to walk in the conscious sense of the Lord's company. And if we allow anything in our lives that hinders us, why we we rob the Lord and we rob ourselves of this blessed portion.