Address—Jim Hyland
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136.
Umm.
We didn't go happy in Jesus.
No shine with my grasp, your cantaloupe.
I know that the fire God described Sir, which made out continually throughout.
Reading my love.
Reading.
Forever I am.
I know I shall be in his beauty.
I can't do the word I need.
A good long thing. May God have my clothes and.
You have seen something in the night?
Umm, umm, forever.
Crying out?
OK. If someone has another one from either book, you can sing that as well.
241 Thank you.
Alright, let's go on to the next page of our UH handout. It's entitled The Rock and we're going to go for this to the 17th chapter of Exodus.
Again, we have a lot of material to cover this afternoon and we can only help to scrape out a little bit here and there, but with the Lord's help I trust it will be beneficial. I'm going to take the time to.
Well, actually, maybe what I'll do is I'll just read the first part of this chapter first. So we're going to start at verse one and all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeyings according to the commandment of the Lord.
And pitched in rapidum, And there was number water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why Chai Ji 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 the elders of Israel, and thy rod, wherewith thou smote us the river taken thine hand, and go, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock and Horeb, and 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 Masa and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel.
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And because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
Now just hold your finger here. I want to read a portion in Numbers 20.
Numbers chapter 20 and verse 7.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, And speak unto ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water. And thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock. So shalt thou give the congregation and their beast to drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock. And he said unto them, Here, now ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock. And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smoked the rock twice.
And the water and the water came out abundantly and the congregation drank, and there be Sultan. Now one New Testament portion before we make some comments in First Corinthians chapter 10.
Talking again about the children of Israel, we've been to this portion before, but let's pick it up at verse 4.
First Corinthians 10/4 and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Well, here we come to the rock. Now it's very interesting that the children of Israel now as they begin their journey, they come to this place called Rapidum and there was no water for them to drink. Now in the chapter before, as we noticed this morning, there was nothing for them to eat. You know, apart from air, we can't live without food and water. They are the two. They are too, essential things that man needs to survive.
So God gave them food, He gave them the manna, but now they needed water. But it's interesting that they came to refit them by the commandment of the Lord. Why does the Spirit of God record that? Well, I make this suggestion that sometimes we come to those places in our lives where there doesn't seem to be any refreshment. There seems to be some difficulty, and our initial reaction perhaps is we've missed the mind of the Lord in coming this way.
Now sometimes it is true we come to tough spots in our lives because we do miss the mind of the Lord, but not always. The Spirit of God is very careful to tell us that they came there by the commandment of the Lord. They did not miss the leading of the Lord in any way. And So what you say, why did the Lord allow them to come to this place? Well, as you often find in the wilderness journey, the Lord brought them to certain spots to do 2 Things.
To bring out what was in their hearts and to bring out what was in his heart. Because there's two great lessons that the wilderness teaches us. The first one is that the flesh profiteth nothing, that there's nothing good enough, naturally speaking. And the second one is that God is faithful. If we could sum up the wilderness in two statements. If those two statements, the flesh, profiteth nothing and God is faithful, and God often brought them to these situations.
To prove them, and more than that, to prove what his was in his heart and to prove his faithfulness to his people. Because young people, as you go on in your Christian life, and sometimes they'll be failure and things in your life that you look back and say you shouldn't have allowed. But don't be discouraged. Judge it, of course, but don't be discouraged if we don't abide faithful. It tells us In Timothy he abides faithful he cannot deny himself.
If we're not faithful, we have a faithful God, and we can always count on him. Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds, and so they come to this place by the commandment of the Lord.
And now we find that they start to blame Moses. They often did that during the wilderness journey.
Isn't that what our hearts are like? You know, we get into trouble, we come to some difficulty. We like to blame someone, don't we? I suppose it goes right back to the Garden of Eden, where after Adam and and disobedience had eaten of the forbidden fruit, he said to to the Lord. Well, the woman whom thou gave us me, she beguiled me. He passed it on to Eve. And when the Lord spoke to Eve, she said, well, it was the serpent. See, they just passed it on. In the end they really blamed God.
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And so we want to be careful when we get into difficulty we don't blame someone else you know we used to do a lot of driving across North America and uh in those early days my wife would be with me and uh if we got lost in a strange city and she wasn't reading the map I'd say why weren't you reading the map and if she was watching the uh or I say why if she was reading the map I'd say why weren't you watching the road signs and if she was watching the road signs I'd say why weren't you following the map.
One time she closed it all up and said who do you blame when I'm not along I said it's pretty frustrating and it is isn't it but that's human nature they were blaming Moses and really ultimately blaming God but it's very significant with Moses that when they did that he always turned to the Lord he knew where to turn in his extremity and that's where we need to turn when we come to those difficult spots in our lives and so Moses cried under the Lord?
Now it's interesting when they complained at the end of the 3rd verse they said you brought us you brought us that was bad enough but then they said our children our families and that was bad enough and then they said our cattle to apply it to ourselves that was their business they said it's bad enough you brought us out here but you brought our children as well because remember Moses was the one that said to pharaoh we're going to leave with our children and our cattle and we're going to take everything with us.
And so they said what about our families and as I know most of you here don't have families yet but the day may come when God gives you a family and remember when he brings you to a tough spot he's interested in not only you as an individual but he's interested in the blessing and welfare of your family then there's our business tough isn't it sometimes there's some real tough situations you say why does the Lord allow this in my life I've got to make a living for my family and so on?
Well the Lord understands that as well and so we find that Moses cries to the Lord and what does the Lord tell Moses to do.
Well in the 5th verse he says go on before the people and take with you the elders of Israel I find this very striking because the whole congregation had turned against Moses but they were God 's people and God loved them and God said I want you to go on with them go on before the people and take the elders the very ones that have spoken of stoning you because sometimes the tendency of our hearts is well I'm not I'm going to follow the Lord I'm going to go on for the Lord but I'm not going to go on with those people they don't appreciate what I've done.
They're rebellious against the Lord I'm just going to go on but I'm not going to go on with them now young people we never want to tolerate sin as I said yesterday God teaches us that sin is a thing that is not fit for his presence or for the presence of the people of God but you know I have seen situations arise in the local assembly and people leave because they're hurt they're disgusted they say well nobody appreciates me Moses could have done that easily.
And I suppose God would have taken care of him but he goes on before the people because these were God 's people he loved them.
And in spite of their failure and complaining he was going to bless them so he goes on before the people and he the Lord shows him this rock now I read in the New Testament because again it's one of those types that were not left in any doubt as to what it typifies that rock was Christ and he specifically talking about the rock that we have here in our portion that rock spoke of Christ and so often in scripture.
The rock speaks of Christ both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament but what was he to do he was to take his rod and he was to strike the rock this rod has an interesting history before pharaoh it was the rod of testimony we find when he lifted it over the Red Sea it was the testimony of power but here we find it's going to be in connection with atonement because he was to strike the rock what is typified by Moses striking the rock.
Well it says in lamentations prophetically of the Lord I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath it speaks of the Lord Jesus coming under the rod of God 's judgment in those hours of darkness when he bore my sins in his own body on the tree so sometimes we sing that hymn 1:37 in the little flock jehovah lifted up his rod oh Christ it it fell on thee.
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Thou was forsaken of thy God no distance now for me thy blood beneath that rod has flowed thy bruising healeth me and so it's a picture of the Lord Jesus coming under the rod of God 's judgment.
And then again and I know we've said it several times in these talks then and only then could the water flow out again the water is a picture of the spirit of God and if we were to go back to John 's gospel we would find that the spirit of God could not come until Christ had gone to the cross risen from the dead and was glorified at the right hand of God now I say that it's a picture of the spirit of God because we read in the in numbers.
Chapter 20 that there came a point when the water dried up why did the water dry up because sin had come in amongst the people of God and when sin comes into our lives individually or collectively we quench and grieve the Holy Spirit of God to grieve the spirit of God is to hinder the work of God in US to quench the spirit of God is to hinder the work of God through us and it's a result of sin in our lives.
This is what had happened in numbers 20 but you know it's interesting that it tells us in first Corinthians that that rock followed them.
Young people it was not the stream of water merely that followed them through the desert it was the rock that followed them it was with them the whole time and as long as the there things were in order the water flowed out Moses could still go to the rock they're in numbers chapter 20 we were talking about this one time and someone said well that was miraculous but the whole thing was miraculous and God can do what he does.
And so the rock was still with them and what was Moses to do he was to go and speak to the rock because when sin comes into our lives what are we to do we're to go and speak to the Lord Jesus if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness but what happened well Moses lost his patience with the people of God you know after being out on the Sinai Peninsula 13 times.
I kind of smile at this because you know we shake our head and we say oh Moses lost his patience with the people of God I say just once in 40 years to me it was a pretty good record I don't think I would have made it much past Sinai but Moses was the meekest man in all the earth but they provoked his spirit so that he lost his patience here and he called them rebels but even more than that he disobeyed the Lord the Lord said to go and speak to the rock but when he got there he said ye rebel shall I fetch you out of water out of this rock and he smoked the rock twice.
Now Moses didn't understand that he spoiled the type Moses didn't understand that the rock was a type of Christ and what the rod signified and so on but he did understand that he disobeyed the Lord it's a very serious thing to disobey God 's word very serious and it was so serious that it caused the Lord to have to tell Moses he wouldn't be able to go in and possess his inheritance but there was something else very serious too.
He spoke I'll of the people of God he called them rebels were they rebels yes indeed they were rebels but it wasn't for Moses to say it was they were still God 's people and so it shows how careful we need to be young people of speaking I'll of the people of God you know there were children came out of Bethel one time and spoke I'll of a man of God and you know God caused bears to come out of the forest and destroy them that's how serious it was for them to speak of one of God 's servants and so let's be careful what we say.
In connection with the people of God now I believe it's in the psalms or at least in another portion.
Even though Moses struck the rock twice says the waters gushed out.
Here it says they came out abundantly why because the blessing didn't depend on Moses it depended as I said earlier on God 's faithfulness and God 's desire uh to bless his his people and so here we find them back in our chapter the waters come out initially and they're refreshed and they're drinking there and now we're gonna see another problem because young people if you think you're home free just because you get through one situation.
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Or independence on the Lord you have one victory in your life oh don't be fooled the enemy is always going to try in one way or another so back in the 17th chapter of exodus now we're going to read the next account and if you turn the page of your hand out you'll notice it's the battle with amalek.
So I'll read from verse 8 of chapter 17 then came amalek and fought with Israel in refitim.
And Moses said unto Joshua choose us out men and go out fight with amalek 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 there on.
And Aaron and her 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 nissi and he for he said because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with amalek from generation to generation so here we have this battle with amalek now amalek.
Was a powerful enemy that the children of Israel encountered in the wilderness?
I'm just going to sum up the enemies that the children of Israel encountered in various stages.
Of their history as we noted yesterday when the children of Israel were in Egypt it was pharaoh and the Egyptians and pharaoh and the Egyptians are a picture to us of Satan and his hosts seeking to keep individuals from coming under the good of redemption and deliverance and Egypt 's a type of this world if we were to jump ahead in the history of the children of Israel we find that later on they did cross the Jordan river and go into possess the land of Canaan their inheritance and the land of Canaan typifies to us.
That which we haven't can have an enjoyment of now it's that vast panorama of spiritual blessings that are yours and mine in Christ sometimes in some of the old hymns not ones we sing but in some of the old hymns the Jordan is referred to as death and and Canaan as something we enjoy after we leave this world in connection with heaven and so on but Cain and I believe pictures to us that which we can have an enjoyment of now it's everything we have been given in Christ.
And spelled out so very beautifully for us in the New Testament in the epistles.
In Canaan that's where the real conflict began they had quite a number of enemies as they went into possess the land and those enemies represent to us the work of Satan to keep us from enjoying what is rightfully hours in Christ and young people in the measure in which you seek to go on for the Lord in your Christian pathway in the measure in which you're reading your Bible enjoying the things that you are reading and walking with and for the Lord the enemy is going to be right there to discourage you because the enemy does not want you to have an enjoyment of the things of Christ.
As you go through this this world and so expect conflict in that way and that's really the conflict that you get in ephesians because ephesians brings before us those wonderful blessings and then we have the armor of God because we don't wrestle we don't fight against earthly enemies like they did we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and so on you know the verse very well but in the wilderness they had a another enemy and that was amalek amalek is a picture of Satan 's working on the flesh.
To keep us from to hinder our walk with God through this wilderness world.
That's what amalek tried to do he tried to hinder their progress in the wilderness and so as say again it's AP amalek is a picture to us of the enemy 's attempt to hinder our walk with God through this wilderness world it tells us the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and the 2 are contrary one to another and so we find that there was this battle with amalek but the secret of the battle.
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Were 2 Things first of all there was a hidden quiet work that was going on on the mountain nearby because as we read Moses went up on the mountain and he's a picture of the Lord Jesus gone on high to fill all things he's a picture of the Lord Jesus living for us now and 2 men came and stayed up his hands till the going down of the sun now on the one hand there was Aaron now young people I realized that Aaron had not yet been officially put into the priesthood I understand that?
But I think we get the picture very clearly Aaron pictures to us one of the offices that the Lord Jesus is fulfilling today for you and me at the right hand of God because Hebrews develops the fact that the Lord Jesus is living for us there as our high priest it tells us we have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are.
Yeah without sin and so the Lord Jesus is living for us as our high priest to preserve us in the path of faith and service if you and I fail in the path of faith and service it's because we haven't availed ourselves of the Lord Jesus praying for us every hour of every day isn't that a tremendous thought to think about you know we think about praying for one another we pray for for our own needs.
But isn't it wonderful to realize that the Lord Jesus is praying for us he's there and he knows every need of every person every person is an individual you know sometimes we pray in a general way for people and for our our brethren and for our families but the Lord Jesus is praying for each one of us as an individual in the Old Testament the high priest had a breastplate and there was a separate stone for every one of the 12 tribes of Israel?
Teaching us that we are all individuals on the heart of the Lord Jesus.
And so there he is he's praying for us and remember this 2 young people the Lord Jesus as our high priest does not just sympathize with us he empathizes you know to empathize is something far deeper than sympathizing to empathize with someone you have to go through a similar circumstance you know last afternoon when Tim cell was hurt I sympathized with him.
But I didn't empathize I've never dislocated my shoulder and I've never broken a bone.
I sympathize but I really didn't enter into what he was going through but the Lord Jesus it says he was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin in other words there is nothing that you will ever go through in the path of faith and service that the Lord Jesus as a man hasn't felt the Lord Jesus knew what it was to grow up as a boy in this world he knew what it was to be a young person he knew what it was to be reproached it says reproach has broken mine heart.
He knew what it was to suffer physical physically he knew what it was to be thirsty to be hungry to be weary with his journey he could say all my bones are out of joint the Lord Jesus empathized with Timothy with Tim yesterday I couldn't because I've never had a similar experience but the Lord Jesus knows what everyone of us go through you can never say no one knows or understands it may be true from an earthly perspective.
But just look up when you're going through something that you feel you can't share with anybody that no one understands just look up and realize that the Lord Jesus says your high priest is there living for you another thing just quickly in connection with this high priestly work and there are many things but one other thing I've enjoyed is that that high priest as we mentioned I think the other day his priesthood doesn't change.
We never have to start out over with the Lord Jesus he has an unchangeable priesthood he knows us through and through he knew us before we were formed in the womb we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world he knows our down sittings and our uprisings he knows our thoughts are far off and so on well how wonderful to have one who's living for us so Aaron on one hand represents to us the high priestly work of the Lord Jesus.
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But there was a man on the other hand and his name was her and I believe that her represents to us the advocacy of Christ there's another office that the Lord Jesus is fulfilling for us today at the right hand of God so if I can put it this way his high priestly work is to preserve us in the path of faith and service his advocacy is to restore us and so it tells us we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous.
Now I just want to mention a couple of things in connection with the advocacy of Christ.
Because there are certain contrasts or differences between his priesthood and his advocacy we don't have time to mention them all but a cut just a couple his high priestly work is in connection with God because that's power but his advocacy is in connection with the father because that's relationship and young people I believe this is one of the clearest scriptures on eternal security I know you have Christian friends who through mist teaching.
We'll try to tell you that when you sin you lose your salvation that you're no longer a child of God.
If it said we have an advocate with God we might well wonder but it doesn't it says we have an advocate with the father?
Showing that when I sin, in no way is the family relationship broken, but I do have to do with my father. So any of us who have had children understand this. When they disobeyed or went against us, we didn't bring them up to the court of law and disown them. But they did have to do with us in the family circle as parents. And so we have an advocate with the Father. And then it says, I'm quoting from First John, it says Jesus Christ.
The righteous when I sin it's just as if the Lord Jesus in the presence of the father says I paid for that sin that's how he can be a righteous advocate there's never compromise in connection with sin on God 's part or the Lord 's part how can he be a righteous advocate he went to Calvary and he bore my sins in his own body on the tree so let me try to illustrate it this way.
If I go against society and I'm brought up to the judge and I get a good lawyer or I'm a fast talker I might get off the judge might let me go but if I'm guilty he's not a righteous judge but if the judge says now Jim I know you're guilty and the penalty for going against society is thus and so but I'm going to pay the penalty now so you can go free now he's a righteous judge because the claims of society have been met and the Lord Jesus has met all the righteous claims of God?
Against sin because of his grace and because I have by the grace of God availed myself of that mighty mighty sacrifice so again we have these 2 offices represented by Aaron the high representing the high priest on one hand.
Her on the other hand and hers name means purity or righteousness so he's a picture of our righteous advocate and so they held up his hands till the going down of the sun.
Because young people as long as we are here in the valley of conflict as long as we're here in this world.
The Lord Jesus is going to be living forth praying for us as our high priest and as our advocate just one other comment I believe this.
In the measure in which we avail ourselves of the high priestly work of the Lord Jesus in that measure we won't need his advocacy you know the Lord said to Peter I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and if Peter had only availed himself of that resource he never would have denied the Lord 3 times with owes and curses thankfully there was restoration for Peter full restoration but he had a resource that could have spared him that bitter experience.
Well then we find out in the valley there was this very real conflict because as I say we have very real enemies and I don't want to stand here as an older person and minimize what life is in a world like this and I know the enemy is busy perhaps like never before and I know the enemy is putting things in front of you to tempt you and draw you away perhaps like never before I don't understand everything that you're going through you're going through things in your life today.
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And in the world we live in that I never had to face, there's a spirit in this world. There's a, there's a an agenda in this world that I didn't have to face when I was a teenager or in my 20s. But I know this, The Lord is sufficient. He hasn't changed. And again, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And so we find down in the valley there was Joshua. Now, generally speaking, Joshua.
Speaks to us. But let me make one other comment about the rod of Moses. We've commented on it several times in this. In this instant, it becomes the rod of intercession. So as I said earlier, it was the rod of testimony in Egypt. It was the rod of power in separating the Red Sea. It was the rod of atonement in connection with the rock. Here it's the rod of intercession. So just a little parenthesis. But here we find Joshua. Now Joshua is generally a picture.
Of the Lord Jesus and his name means Jesus. He's generally a picture of the Lord Jesus in the aspect later on where they went in to possess the land. He's the captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory. But you know, often the man in scripture is also a picture of the Spirit of God, and I suggest that's what we have here. We have Moses up on the mountain interceding with Aaron and her. He's a picture of the Lord gone on high to fill all things.
The Lord Jesus seated at the right hand of God. But here we have Joshua with a sword in his hand and he is the one that fights for the children of Israel or leads the battle, I should say, because there was conflict, and there is conflict for you and me. But he's the one that leads the battle with this sword and will speak of this sword in a moment. I suggest he's a picture here of again what the Lord said, what before he was about to go away and leave the disciples.
He said I will not leave you comfortless, we will come to you. In other words, he was going to send the Spirit of God.
That's the other Comforter. Why is it another Comforter? In John's Gospel, the Lord was the comforter when he was here. You know, when the disciples were burdened about the death of John the Baptist, why they went and told him all about it. He drew them into a desert place to rest while he was their comforter and sustainer all through his public ministry as they walked with him. Now he was physically going away, but he said, I'll send another comforter. He'll be with you and in you He'll abide with you forever. And so on. Because young people, as long as we're here, the Spirit of God is here.
He doesn't leave till we leave. That's one of the unique things about the Christian era. That's why at the end of your Bible it says the Spirit and the bride say come. Why? Because he doesn't leave till we leave. He's going to be here as long as we are here. And so we have Joshua here and he leads this battle. And notice verse 13. And Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people. And I want you to notice this with the edge of the sword. Now the sword in scripture often speaks of the word of God.
It speaks of the word of God being sharper than any two edged sword. Even in the coming day when the Lord Jesus comes to judge there's going to be a sharp sword go out of his mouth and so on. So it's the sword is often used in connection with the word of God. It's the sort of the spirit. This is just a little parenthesis. But remember this, it's not our sword, it's the sword of the spirit. You know sometimes I hear people say having their Bible in hand, I've got my sword with me, it's not my sword.
Because it's only when it's used in communion with the Spirit of God that it has the power.
You know, Peter had a sword in the garden and Peter used it. Peter had a real desire to defend his Lord, but he used that sword without the sanction of his Lord and what he did. And he only added to the problem, he didn't help it. As someone has said, he only ended up giving the Lord more work to do and so we always want to use it in the power of the Spirit. And I know we've gone over this several times in several of the meetings, so we won't develop it again. But we notice here that Joshua type of the spirit of God.
He has the sword here. It's the word of God and the power of the Spirit. And we're going to notice this evening when we speak again of the the temptation in the wilderness. We'll develop this a little further because we see the perfect example with the Lord Jesus. He answered Satan always in the wilderness temptation by quoting the a verse of scripture with the power of the word. It was the word of God in the power of the Spirit. But you notice too that they didn't. They never annihilated or really overcame Amalek.
00:45:22
They discomforted Amalek or Joshua discomforted Amalek with the edge of the sword. Why? Because you and I will never be done with Satan's working on the flesh as long as we're here in this world. Again, I will quote from Galatians the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And the two are contrary, one with the other. And we're not going to be done with the flesh. We're not going to be done with the wilderness. We're not going to be done with the Amalek character of Satan.
Until we get home to glory and then we will leave it behind forever. There's going to be, as it says here, war with Amalek from generation to generation. But Joshua did discomfort him with the edge of the sword. Then we find that Moses was to write it in a book. They were to never forget how the Lord had undertaken for them. We find 2IN verse 15 that Moses built an altar. There was worship and he called the name of it Jehovah Nissi.
Or if you notice your your margin, the Lord is is my banner. You know this is a illustration from olden times when they had the battles. Sometimes in in the olden days when there were walled cities that were miles apart and they were feuding one another, they had those battles out on the on the plains, sometimes quite a ways off from where the uh the city was. And they would have Watchmen and those Watchmen would be on the city walls looking in the direction that the battle was taking place.
And what were they looking for? They were looking to see the whether there was a victory or not. And there would be a runner, or there would be someone on horseback. And they would come and they would have a banner, often with the colors of the city, and that banner would declare that there was victory in the city. And so you and I, while we will never be done with the Amalek aspect of Satan, as long as we're here in this wilderness world, we can, through Christ and in the power of the Spirit, have victory.
Again and again and again and again we can overcome through the resources that that we have. And so there was this altar Jehovah Nissi, the Lord is is my banner. Now we won't turn to it. But you'll notice on your handout I have a couple of verses printed. I'm just going to read them that make a comment about this battle that we don't have in Exodus Chapter 17.
Just notice under the picture here it says, remember what Amel Amalek did under thee, by the way, when you were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smoked the hinder most of thee when thou was faint and weary and he feared not God. This is that quote of course, from Deuteronomy chapter 25. So we have this little comment that Amalek smoke behind her, most of them in other words.
He smote those that were farthest from the captain, those that were farthest from Joshua. And what do we learn from this young people? We learned that if we're not walking close to the Lord, the enemy is going to get a victory. In our lives. We find that there were those who were faint and weary. I believe that one of the great attempts of the enemy today is to weary the Saints of God, to just wear us down, and it's not necessarily with wrong things.
It's just the daily grind of life. Don't you feel? Sometimes at school or work, you're just treading water. All you can do is keep your head above water. You're really not getting anywhere. We live on a treadmill of society that's being pumped up faster and faster all the time. And I don't know how you young people do it at school and at work. It was fast enough when I was your age. It's a lot faster today. The enemy's real work today, I believe, is to wear down the Saints of God.
You can look it up and it's a little different context because it's talking about a future day, but in the book of Daniel it says of of the man of sin. In a coming day he will wear out the Saints of the Most High.
Isn't that what's happening today, is we're just getting worn out? Now, Scripture always has a present application, and you know, we often quote the verse in First Peter. Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. And usually when we think of that aspect of Satan, we think of persecution and violence against believers. And that's certainly right and many of our fellow Christians in other parts of the world today.
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Are really suffering physical persecution? Many are in prison being tortured and facing martyrdom, and scripture encourages us to remember them and pray for them. But there's got to be an application for you and for me here in the Western world. We're not afraid this afternoon of the government busting down the door and coming in and shooting us or arresting some of us for having a Bible camp here. No, But what is the application of the roaring lion for us? I believe it's weariness and discouragement.
That's what Satan is walking about seeking to do to you and me. You ever notice a cat with its prey? You know, a cat doesn't usually kill its prey right away. We've had cats, and I grew up in the country, and there were cats. And we, I would notice that that cat would catch that bird or that mouse or that mole, and it would play with it. And then it would let it go and it would run a few feet, and then the cat would pounce on it again, and then it would play with it again. And when that little creature was so absolutely tired that it dropped with exhaustion, then the cat would come in for its kill. And isn't that again what Satan's doing? He can never rob us of our salvation.
But he's like that cat seeking to weary us and wear us down. And so they were there were those who were weary. But what? Why were they weary? Why did Amalek get an advantage? Because they were, as I say, the farthest from the captain. You know, I really believe that was Peter's problem that led to what he did in denying the Lord. You know, Peter, there was a progression of things. It's interesting if you follow through the different accounts and the different gospels.
We find that first of all Peter followed afar off. He followed the Lord, but he followed afar off. Sometimes I do that there are I want to follow the Lord, but there are certain things I want to keep for myself, certain things I want to do for myself. So I keep at a distance. Peter followed afar off that in one of the Gospels that says he went in and stood by the fire, and then another gospel, it tells us he sat down by that fire.
With those who had no love for his Lord. You see it was a progression of walking, standing and sitting. You get the progression in, uh, the counter of it, in the first Psalm, where it says, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, or standeth in the way of sinners or sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Peter did all three. He walked in the council, the ungodly he stood, he stood where he shouldn't have been, and he sat in the seat of the scornful. And we all know the sad results. And so I believe we learn here from Amalek that we need to keep close to the Lord.
You know, young people, that's really what he wants. He wants us to follow him and to walk closely by his side, the Psalmist said. Thou hast hold in me by thy right hand. Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. To have be conscious of someone holding your hand, you have to be right there with them, right there beside them, just about the last words the Lord said to Peter.
Before he left this world, where follow thou me, You know, it's a lot easier to follow someone than just have them give you directions. And God has given us infallible directions and guidelines in His word. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And then he goes before says he goes before his sheep hear his voice and they follow him. I remember one time years ago, we were in a strange city and my wife and girls were with me and we got lost. I'm a person that's absolutely directionally challenged.
And so you can spin me on my backyard just about, and I get lost. But you know, something within us doesn't like to admit it and we don't like to stop and ask for direction. So finally, after being remonstrated by my with by my wife several times, I stopped at a gas station and there was a lady there and she just filled up her car with gas. And so I asked her for directions and she said, well, you go down the street three blocks and when you get to the light, you turn left.
And when you, you go about a half a mile and you'll turn right and then you'll come to a fork. It wasn't exactly like that, but something like that. And when you come to the fork in the road, go this direction and you'll come. And by that time she knew by the look on my face, I wasn't taking all that in. She said, you know what, I'm going that direction. Just follow me. And it was a lot easier to follow her than just have her give me directions. God has done both for us. He has given us the directions in his word. And then he goes before.
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And all we have to do is follow him. Well, I realized in these three talks that we have been able to share together, we have run a lot of information by us. But let me just remind you, Brother Tom here has been kind enough again this year to come and to do the recordings. Those recordings will be available, some of them are already available, but they will be available very shortly on those gathered.com. And so perhaps you can go back over them, you can take.
Take your notes. But more than that, even get your Bible out and search these things as like the Bereans. You know it's not enough for you to come to meetings like this. That's good, wonderful. We're thankful you're here, thankful there's been good attention in the meetings, and I see a real desire to get something and to take notes. But that's not enough. You never have something until you search it out for yourself. Search it out for yourself and you'll have it. The Bereans were more noble than those of Thessalonica. Why?
You know, the Thessalonians were noble too, because they listened to the oral ministry of the Apostle Paul. But the Bereans were more noble because they didn't just take Paul's word for it. They went home and got out whatever portions of the word of God they would have had available in their day. They wanted to make sure what Paul was teaching didn't conflict with any part of the word of God. They searched it out for themselves. And so I want to encourage you to do that.