Well, you don't need me to remind you, of course, that we are virtually at the end of 1984. Very, very close to the end of the year. It doesn't seem that long ago, does it, that we're all saying, oh, it's 1984. It's the year of George Orwell. And now it's gone. So it's natural for us, I suppose, to look back and to survey the year. that has now virtually receded into history. It has gone never to be reclaimed. And as we seek a message from the Word of God this morning, as we desire to hear God speaking to us from the Word, from the Scriptures, I want to direct you in fact to the words of a great man of God, I've already intimated who that was, Moses. the great leader of Israel, and I want to direct you to words in the 33rd chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, if you'd turn there with me this morning. Words which are uttered by Moses as he looks back, not just over one year, but over a very long life. We are not only at the end of Deuteronomy, chapter 33 and 34, but we are at the end of the life of Moses, and what a life it had been. An extraordinary life, full of interest and adventure and excitement, an amazing life. And now he looks back here, over that life, and he utters some tremendous statements for us. These are, in fact, I think, the last words recorded of Moses, and what he's doing in chapter 33 is pronouncing a blessing upon the tribes of Israel. He begins with a sort of a prologue in verse 2, describing in poetic and wonderful language how God came down upon the mount in giving his law to his people, and then he begins at verse 6 to pronounce his blessing upon the tribes. Reuben in verse 6, Levi in verse 8, Benjamin in 12, Joseph and so on he goes. And having blessed the tribes of Israel, Asher in verse 24 being the last of them, he then in verses 26-29 makes this kind of concluding statement to the benediction and to his words. And I say these are virtually the last words of Moses. And they're great words, I want to read them, follow them from verse 26. This, he says, there is no one like the God of Jeshurun who rides the heavens to help you and in his excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will thrust out the enemy from before you and will say, destroy. Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone in a land of grain and new wine. His heavens shall also drop dew. Happy are you, O Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty. Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places. Now I want to suggest to you this morning that we might crystallise this last statement of Moses as he looks back over the year, over the 120 years of his life, these many years, to crystallise these last verses in this expression, that he is presenting to us here the blessings and the privileges of the people of God. He really, as it were, is crystallising that. He's giving expression, as he looks back, as he blesses the tribes, to the sense that he has of the blessings and the privileges of the people of God. And as we look back over the year now gone, I think it's fitting for us to consider together that theme. To think about the blessings and the privileges of God's people. And if we are those who know something of repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ, so that we are counted amongst the people of God, I think that we'll be blessed as we ponder Moses' words this morning. Let me bring out for our study and for the message four elements in these verses that give to us the essence of this statement. The blessings and the privileges of the people of God seen first of all in this, that their God is unique and glorious. He says in verse 26, there is no one like the God of Jashurin. Now this word Jashurin is only found four times in the Bible, in the Old Testament. And it is always applied to Israel, it means Righteous One or Blessed One. It is a poetical name that is used for the nation of Israel. And if anyone had a right to pen words like these opening words of verse 26, it was surely Moses. There is no one, he says, like the God of Israel. like the God of Yeshua. He had a right to pen such words because his life had been, as I said a moment ago, an extraordinary life in which he had seen the evidences of the uniqueness of Jehovah and the might and the glory and the power of Jehovah. Just glance with me at the last three verses of this book of Deuteronomy. The last three verses of chapter 34 says, since then There has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel." There was never a man like Moses. in terms of his relationship to God, in terms of that which he had wrought by the power of God, in terms of that which God had wrought through him, and indeed in terms of that which he had seen God do simply without any human agency whatsoever. God had wrought wonders, and he could look back over these wonders. He could remember how God had parted the waters of the Red Sea, and led his people through. When all seemed to be disaster, when there seemed to be no hope for them, when everything seemed to be at an end, God performed the unknown, the unimaginable, imparting the waters of the sea, so that the waters stood in great heaps. He led through this nation, newly delivered. Never would that be forgotten by Moses or any who saw it. He remembered, of course, that God was the God who had brought water out of the rock. And this is mentioned in a number of Psalms. It was something that the Israelites were very much impressed by. God bringing water out of the rock, turning the desert into a place flowing with water. He remembered how God supplied manna in the wilderness. and meet quails for the people in an extraordinary way. He remembered, of course, how God had come down in awesome manner on Mount Sinai, those never-to-be-forgotten scenes when the very mountains seemed to tremble and shake, when God's presence was accompanied by lightning and thunders. The people were absolutely overwhelmed, you remember, absolutely amazed. They begged that God would not speak to them. because of the awesome, majestic, holy presence of this infinite God who had come down now to this mountain to give his law to his people, to enter into covenant with his people. Never would that ever be forgotten. The God of Jashurin coming down in such an awesome manner. Moses' life had seen things like that. He had witnessed and observed things like that. And it's no wonder then that he writes, as he begins these final words of his, there is no one like the God of Israel. He is unique. He is glorious. And blessed is that people who know such a God. And more than that, more than the fact that he had seen these great events, you remember that Moses was a man who was conscious of the creating power of God, because It was Moses, remember, who wrote the creation account. Now we sometimes forget that. We sometimes forget that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. But we believe it is so, in spite of the denials of modernistic authors. We believe there is good ground for believing the traditional view, and the view endorsed by the New Testament, that Moses wrote the first five books, in fact, of the Scriptures. So he wrote the book of Genesis. In other words, it was revealed to him how the world was created. For no one, obviously, was present when God made the world. No one was present at creation. No human being. And so if human beings were to know how the world came into being, The only way they could possibly know it is by God, who was the only one present, revealing it to them. By God making it known to them, miraculously, supernaturally. And that, of course, is what we have in the Scriptures. We have in the Scriptures God's revelation of things that could never be known by man, simply by his reason, and certainly not by being an eyewitness that they were there. We have this tremendous revelation, beginning, you remember, with the opening words of our Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, Moses wrote that. Moses received that revelation. Moses was the organ of revelation. And it's no wonder then, I'm sure, that that majestic revelation being in his heart and mind, he having given it to the people of God. It's no wonder I say that he should write like this. There is no one like the God of Yeshua. Unique and glorious. And he enlarges on this uniqueness and on this glory of God in verse 26 in poetic language he says that God rides the heavens to help you and in his excellency on the clouds. And these poetic words are conveying the might of God, and the ability of God, and the supremacy of God. He is the Omnipotent Lord. He is the Exalted Jehovah, to use the expression that Moses himself uses in verse 27. He is the Eternal God. The Eternal God is the God of Yeshua. This Infinite Spirit, in whom we live and move, and have our being. To be able to say, He is my God, is to say words of enormous significance. To be able to say, I am His and He is mine forever, when you're speaking about this God, this God who is the only true and the living God, that's saying something like that. And the blessing and the privileges of God's people lies very much here. that hers is the God who is unique and glorious. Such a God is the God of His people. And I suggest to you that Moses would say Amen if we were to suggest that the people of God today, as opposed to those who comprise the people of God in His own day, The people of God today, perhaps in this age, can even go beyond Moses and enlarge even more than Moses could in terms of the uniqueness and the glory of God. Moses, I think, would say amen to that, because we know even more about God than Moses knew. We know him now not only as the God of creation, not only as the God of Egyptian deliverance, not only as the God of the miracles of the wilderness, We know him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the title of the New Testament author's delight to use again and again. Because that was saying the most significant thing that you could possibly say. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know him as the God of Calvary. Moses didn't know him in that sense except through type and vision. Except darkly, as it were, you see. From a distance, so to speak. But we know him as the God of Calvary with the veil taken away. We know him as the God of Pentecost. We know him as the God of Grace. The God of the Gospel. Paul delighted to say that he preached the Gospel of God. We know him as the God who is not merely the God of one nation, Israel, but who is the God of a people comprised from every kindred, tribe, tongue and nation. all over the world. We know God, I say, even more gloriously than Moses even imagined. And what a privilege it is for us if we look back over this past year, and we're able to look back over the year having known God, having been able to say and being able to say this morning, yes, He is my God. He is my Lord. I am in relationship with Him. I know Him and He knows me. I walk with him, have fellowship and communion with him. What a blessed thing it is, my friend, to say that. An enormous privilege, because this God is a unique and glorious God. And I wonder if you can say that this morning, and if that is true of all of us this morning, to be able to say, He is my God, and I am His. But let me suggest that the second element here we see is this, that the blessing and privilege of the people of God lies in the fact that their God is pledged to sustain them and to protect them. See, he's not only the unique and glorious God. He might be able, as it were, to put on these tremendous displays of power, and we might be constrained to look up into the heavens and say, like David said, when I consider your heavens, The sun and the moon, the works of your fingers, what is man? It may be for us to see that, but you know, if God is just a God out there, as it were, it doesn't do us too much, does it? But God doesn't leave it there. He doesn't only say, I am the unique and glorious Jehovah. But Moses goes on to say, the eternal God is your refuge, verse 27, underneath of the everlasting arms. So he says, this God is pledged to sustain and protect his people. How beautiful that verse is, verse 27. I've seen that on more plaques hanging on more Christians' homes than perhaps many another. Eternal God is your refuge, underneath are the everlasting arms. Magnificent, encouraging words. But you know, he doesn't just stay there. He goes on, he doesn't stop with that. He goes on, Moses, in his comments here. He says, He will thrust out the enemy from before you. He will say, Destroy! Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in the land of grain and new wine. His heaven shall also drop to you. God is going to protect you, he says. God is going to sustain you. Now you know Israel, in the wilderness of course, what they didn't have was a valley. That's exactly what they didn't have. They were vulnerable. They were open to attack. And they got attacked. You remember how the Amalekites came down. Attacked them from the rear on one occasion. They had no walled cities. They had no fortresses. They had no embankments to get behind. They were open and vulnerable. And yet, you see, to this people God comes and says, yes, but don't be alarmed. The Lord himself, the eternal God, is your refuge. How reassuring that is. And underneath, he says, are the everlasting arms. Arms that never tire. Arms that will never be withdrawn. Now mums and dads know what it is to have very frail and human arms, right? Sometimes, when you've been out for the day with your children, when maybe they're two or three, and they're just that age when they can't walk too much, but boy, they're beginning to weigh plenty. You know, and you walk around the zoo or whatever, carrying this two or three year old or whatever, and you feel all the aching arms. You know your weakness. But Moses says underneath you, you people of God are everlasting. They never know anything of the ravages of disease or old age. The ongoing of time means nothing to them. You remember, I ask you to notice Psalm 90 in particular. Remember how Moses began that Psalm? From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. And so not human arms, which though sincere and loving, they have eventually to fail and to be withdrawn. No, everlasting arms, says God, are sustaining and undergirding the people of God. He is their refuge. He sustains. And he protects them. Now I want you to notice something here that we ought to underline. I want you to remember that here as Moses speaks, Israel is a nation in conflict. They're in the midst of war. In the midst of battle. And Moses' words reflect this. Look at the words he uses for instance. He talks about shield, and sword, and enemy, treading down and destroying. It's a reflection of the situation they were in, you see. It was a military situation. And so when God's Word comes to them in terms of protection and sustaining, it does not mean that they are going to be kept from battles and conflict. No. It's not teaching that, not conveying that at all. In fact they are here in Deuteronomy 33 on the verge of a tremendously fierce military campaign. Because once Moses had died and Joshua had took over, they were led into the new land and they were constantly battling and fighting. It wasn't easy. They were in the midst of conflict. Now that's very relevant to the people of God this morning. Because the fact that we're here on earth, if we are Christians at all, the fact that we are here on earth, you see, means that we are part not of the Church triumphant, but of the Church militant. You know how the writers have used these expressions, and I think they're rather good expressions. The church triumphant, that is all of the people of God who have finished their course and fought the good fight and laid down the sword, as it were, and now they're in glory. They're with Christ. Where I am, says Christ, there shall my servants be. They're with Christ. They are now no longer in the battlefield, it's the church triumphant in glory. Yes, but we're not there. We are part of the church militant. The church down here, in this world, on this earth. This is where it's at for us, as we say. And that's part of the church militant. It's the church in battle. And we must never, ever expect to be free from conflict and battle and opposition and enemies while we're in the church militant. Well, now we sang this not too long ago, did you mean it? Chosen to be soldiers in an alien land. I almost stopped, you know, and said, you know, you're not singing this really as though you're really very soldier-like this morning. I don't know whether it's all the turkey or all the Christmas cake or too much or what. But did we really mean it? Chosen to be soldiers in an alien land, chosen, called and faithful, for our captain's band? We have been, if we are Christian people. We have been called to be soldiers of Jesus Christ. We must always accept a battle to rage against sin, against error, against unbelief, against evil. In this world we must never forget that. We're under arms. We're part of God's army. But it's in that setting that the word of encouragement comes to the people of God. He's pledged to protect and sustain us. The eternal God is your refuge. Underneath are the everlasting God. And the same word comes to his people today. And so we must look to him when things are difficult, when the battle is hard, when things are pressing against us. Look to him. He has grace for our needs. He has strength in our weakness. He has victory in our defeat. He has ability in our impotence. Look to Him! For He is able, says the Word of God, to do exceeding abundantly above all that you can ask Him, or even think. And He pleads for sustenance and support. And thirdly, notice this, that the people of God are blessed and privileged because their God is the God who has bestowed salvation upon them. Look at the tremendous exclamation, that's what it is, in verse 29. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you? A people saved by the Lord. That's a great exclamation. That's a wonderful statement of Moses. A people saved by the Lord. And when Moses says that, he's undoubtedly thinking about that deliverance from Egypt. That of course was a crucial part of the history of Israel. There they were in bondage, and they'd been there 400 years. Bondage. It's all that they knew. They knew nothing else but slavery and bondage. And they'd hear the stories of their patriarchs and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and so forth, and how God was their God, and as we were saying even last week, in the time of Before Christ's birth, when Romans were occupying the Holy Land, I suppose that back then when the people of God were in Egypt, the same problems were there. Well, where is our God? Can all these things really be true? And then God comes to them and raises up Moses and Aaron and leads them out and displays his power. And the Exodus, as we call it, of course, is a crucial thing in the history of Israel. So crucial that a regular feast was instituted, the Passover. to commemorate the coming out of Egypt. And it was said, do you remember, that when they were to do all these things in the feast, inevitably the children would say, Dad, why are we doing this? And that was the signal for the father in the house to speak to the children and tell them of the deliverance of God of his people from Egypt. Very, very important. And so undoubtedly Moses has this in mind here. a people saved by the Lord. Deliverance from Egypt. But when we see this from a New Testament perspective, we see that the deliverance from Egypt, that these things were, though historical realities, were but pictures of that which in the spiritual realm God was going to do at a more profound and significant level. For the Passover lamb, was none other than Jesus Christ the Lord. The Lamb slain in Egypt was a picture of the Lamb slain outside the city of Jerusalem. And the deliverance from political bondage, that physical deliverance from the land of Egypt, was but God's foreshadowing of that spiritual deliverance from the kingdom of the devil and kingdom of darkness. The spiritual deliverance of all those who are born again by the Holy Spirit and come to faith in Jesus Christ. So the people of God today can read these words of Moses with that deeper understanding and more profound and glorious significance. Happy are you, O people of God, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord. Oh, how privileged we are, dear friends, if we are amongst the true people of God. If today we know that we have a heart that is repentant toward God, A heart that beats in tune with God. If we know that we have faith in Jesus Christ, if we know that we love Him, we really love Him, that we are obedient to Him, that we are walking with Him, that we are in fellowship with Him. If we know that, happy are we, blessed and privileged are we. Think of this today. Give thanks today, my friends. If you are amongst the people saved by the Lord, give thanks for that. Give thanks that God has bestowed salvation upon you, and salvation at the infinite trust of the royal blood of Jesus. Give thanks for that. Give thanks today that God has saved you by His grace alone, when He has left others to perish in their sin. Why was I made to hear thy voice, said Isaac, whilst we sing his wonderful hymns? And well we might. Why was I made to hear thy voice? And to come and partake of the gospel feast whilst multitudes perish in their sins? Give thanks today, my friend, if you're a believer in Christ. Give thanks to God for his salvation. Give thanks that he's made you to become precious in his sight. You who once were objects of his wrath and righteous indignation, you who deserve nothing in yourselves but wrath and hell, give thanks today through grace and through the blood of Christ. You're precious in the sight of Almighty God. Oh, if you can look back over this past year and look back at being one who was a child of God and is a child of God, a people saved by the Lord, praise him for Praise Him. We are all together too ungrateful. We are all together so often taken up with all of our woes and things, and we so often do complain against God. Praise Him this morning. Let us all praise Him for His great salvation, if we are indeed partakers of that grace in Jesus Christ. Happy are you, O Israel, He said. Who is like you? A people. saved by the Lord. And notice this finally, that the blessings and privileges of God's people are seen in that their God promises them great victory. Great victory. You see how he puts it in verse 29? Your enemies shall submit to you and you shall tread down their high places. Victory! You see, being protected and sustained is wonderful, but there's more than that, isn't there? If you're in a military campaign, it's grand if you're able to operate a successful defence. But you've got to have more than that. You've got to have more than that. Winston Churchill reminded the British nation after this amazing evacuation of Dunkirk in the early part of the Second World War, when disaster was averted in a remarkable way. But he reminded them in the House of Commons, he said, don't forget that glorious though this evacuation has been, marvellous though it is that we've saved most of our army, wars aren't won by evacuations, wars aren't won by retreats, they're won by victories. And that was very necessary and very wise advice. It's great that we are protected and sustained, but we want more than that. We need more than that. We want victory. And God not only says to his people, I will protect you. The eternal God is your refuge. He says to them, destroy. Go out and win the battle. Your enemies shall submit to you. You shall tread down their high places. Victory is promised to the people of God. Ah, friend, it's one of the great blessings of God's people in every generation that ultimate victory is promised to them in the battle, this great battle between light and darkness, truth and error, good and evil, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God's dear Son. In this tremendous battle, you know, it often seems to us as though the wrong side is the winning side. It often seems as though it's turning out badly. And at certain periods in history it seems as though darkness is prevailing. Error seems to be overwhelming truth. And the people of God seem to be in a disaster where they're going to be wiped out and the testimony of truth is to be wiped out and nothing is to be left. There have been many periods in history when that has seemed to be the case. The battle was going badly. And maybe we're living in such a day today. Maybe that's the way it seems to be to us today. All standards rejected. Sacred things despised. Precious truths denied. Ridiculed. Iniquity abounding. Things that people would never even have believed should be granted as permissible thirty, forty years ago, now not only permitted but promoted. And sometimes the people of God say, man, the tide has turned and the tide of evil and darkness and iniquity is rolling over us and it's going to finish. But our Lord Jesus Christ says, no, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. I will build my church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The battle may be violent, it may sometimes seem to be going against God's people. But I shall not only protect them, I shall not only sustain them, I shall lead them to victory. And they shall tread down the high places, and the enemy shall submit. The Christian then, dear friends, should never be possessed with a spirit of defeatism. Never. We must repudiate that. And I'm preaching to myself, you know, as well as you. We all get this way, don't we? We all get down. We all get discouraged. We all say like David, oh, that I had wings and I might get away from here and fly with the wings of a dove. We all get like that. Don't pretend you don't. I know you too well. You know me too well. My family does anyway. You can find out from them if you like. We all get that way. But we mustn't give way to that spirit of defeatism. Our God promises victory. Not in ourselves, of course, because of His grace. Remember the promises of God. Remember His ability. who can, as he put it back in verse 26, ride the heavens to help you in his excellency on the cloud. God is in. He is our great commander. See how Moses puts it in verse 29. He is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty. He is not only the defensive weapon, he is our offensive weapon. He is not only our shield, he is our sword. Victory is ours. and you know whatever victories we have here in this life are but a little foretaste of that ultimate victory that God's people shall enjoy when our captain returns or when Jesus Christ comes again what a victory celebration then we shall enjoy how the shouts of triumph will rend the earth then on that great final day my friends listen on that day you'll want to be found clothed in armour and with his sword in your hand you'll not want Jesus Christ to say well that fellow wasn't in my army I've never seen that woman fighting my battle you'll want that saviour to say yes indeed he's one of mine I trust that you'll share in that great victory celebration when Jesus comes. Hear then, friends, as Moses looks back over his life, and as we look back over the years, hear surely of the elements of the blessings and privileges of God's people, that theirs is a God who is unique and glorious, that theirs is a God who is pledged to sustain and support Theirs is a God who bestows salvation upon his people, and theirs is a God who promises them victory. What a wonderful thing it is to be part of the people of God, to belong to that nation. Is it true of you? You listening to me this morning, whoever you are now, is it true of you? Really, sincerely, honestly? Have you really enlisted beneath the banner of King Jesus? Have you really pledged your allegiance to Him? The Captain of our salvation is 1985 going to be such a person. One who is committed, committed to the Captain. May God grant that you may share in the blessing and the privilege of the people of God. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for those blessings and privileges that belong to those who know the King. They may not be very important in this world view, For God has chosen the foolish things, and the base things, and the things that are despised by this world. They may not be rich in this world's goods, but they are rich in faith and urge of the kingdom. Oh, we thank you for the privileges bestowed and the blessings bestowed upon your people. And we pray, Lord, that everyone gathered here this morning might find a place in that holy nation in that kingdom in that people of God through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through being born of the Spirit and washed in the blood of the Savior we pray that they might indeed be part of that happy nation whose God is the Lord hear us we pray for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.