Our scripture reading for this evening, to which I invite you to turn with me at this time, is found in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, the 31st chapter. It's the fifth book of the Bible, the last book of the so-called Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. And it's built on two Greek words, deuteros nomos, deuteros meaning second and nomos meaning law. It's the second giving of the law. The first generation of Israelites having perished in the wilderness. Deuteronomy chapter 31. Deuteronomy 31, we read the first eight verses of that chapter. And those eight verses, brothers and sisters, will in fact constitute our text for tonight. Deuteronomy 31, beginning in verse one, hear the word of the Lord. Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel. I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, you shall not cross the Jordan. The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them. For the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him, in the presence of all Israel, be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them. And you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Thus far, the reading of God's Holy Word. And as always, brothers and sisters, I ask and urge you to keep your Bibles open and handy as we look to God's Word together this evening. Dear congregation of Jesus Christ, in a certain sense, in a certain sense, One of the most moving passages in all of scripture, I believe, is recorded for us in Genesis chapter 49. And if you would care to turn with me, flip back with me, please, to Genesis 49. If you want to just listen, that's okay. But otherwise, please turn to the first book of the Bible, the 49th chapter. Because here we find, in effect, what amounts to the patriarch Jacob's last will and testament. In Genesis 49, we find the patriarch Jacob blessing each of his sons uniquely and individually shortly before his own death, before his own passing away. And so, for example, in Genesis 49 verses 1 and 2 we read, Then Jacob called for his sons and said, Gather around, so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to your father Israel. Then if you will skim over the next verses with me, you'll see in verse 3 that he first of all addresses Reuben. Down a little further on in verse 5, secondly, he addresses Simeon, and then thirdly, Levi. Down in verse 8, fourthly, he addresses Judah. Over in verse 13, he addresses, fifthly, his son Zebulun. In verse 14, he addresses his sixth son, Issachar. And then over in verse 16, he addresses Dan. In verse 19, he addresses Gad. In verse 20, he addresses 9thly Asher. In verse 21, he addresses 10thly Naphtali or Naphtali. In verse 22, he addresses Joseph. And then you may need to flip a page all the way down to verse 27, he addresses finally his 12th son, Benjamin. And then in verse 28 we read, all these are the 12 tribes of Israel. And this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him. And then if you look at verse 29, he says, then he gave them these instructions. I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my father in the cave in the field of Ephron, the Hittite, et cetera, et cetera. He's basically giving his last will and testament to his sons. Now friends, I share this passage with us because, again, in a certain sense, back in the words of our text in Deuteronomy chapter 31, we find what is essentially part and parcel of the last will and testament of the great lawgiver, Moses. And as we work through this portion of Scripture, Deuteronomy 31 verses 1 through 8, we find ourselves being greatly encouraged and comforted by the fact that just as Moses said to the Israelites generally, And then to Joshua personally, specifically, that just as the Lord God had been with them so faithfully in the past, so too He will be with them just as faithfully throughout their future. By the grace and mercy of God, through faith in the name of Jesus, and by the person and power of His precious Holy Spirit, that is the same promise which God gives to each and every one of us as well. He gives that promise to the church corporately, But He also gives that promise to each and every Christian individually. And God is saying to us tonight, in effect, you can live and die, you can rest and rejoice in the assurance of the promise of My presence. You can live and die, you can rest and rejoice in time and for all eternity in the assurance of the promise of My presence. Think about that. Now friends, interestingly enough, as we begin to work our way through our text in Deuteronomy 31, 1-8, we find that God first of all gives this promise of His presence to the laity. That is, He first of all gives this promise of His presence to all the people of Israel, corporately or generally. For example, look at verse 1 of Deuteronomy 31 with me, if you would please. Here we read, Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel. He's speaking to all the people generally, corporately. Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel. I am now a hundred and twenty years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. Now friends, let's stop here just for a moment and reflect upon what Moses is saying. First of all, he notes that at this particular point in time, he is 120 years old. Now I want you to stay with me for a bit of a chronological history. And if you're taking notes, you may wish to jot down a couple of these texts. In Acts chapter 7 verses 23 and following, Acts chapter 7 verses 23 and following, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, the first New Testament martyr, is given a sermon. He's given a speech before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. And in Acts chapter 7 verses 23 and following, Stephen notes that Moses was 40 years old when he killed that Egyptian that he saw beating an Israelite in the land of Egypt. And because he had committed murder, Moses needed to flee to Midian. He needed to flee to the Sinai Peninsula. If you're taking notes, you may wish to jot down further that in Acts 7, verse 30, Acts 7, verse 30, Stephen indicates that Moses settled in the Sinai Peninsula after he fled Egypt. He settled there for 40 years. So he was 40 when he killed the Egyptian. He stays in Midian for 40 years, so now he's 80 years old. And the Bible, boys and girls, young people, says that it was then that God appeared to Moses before the burning bush and called and commanded and commissioned him to lead the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt when he was 80. Well, Moses made some excuses at first, did he not? He sort of resisted doing what God wanted him to do. And is it not true that you and I can tend to be Moses in that regard? The Lord lays something on our heart. He wants us to say something. He wants us to do something. He wants us to go somewhere. He wants us to give something. He wants us to consecrate a portion of our time, talents, or treasures in some way, and we could be resistant just like Moses was. But ultimately, he obeyed. And then they ended up going into the wilderness for how many years? How many years were the wilderness wanderings? Forty years. Do you know that that's a significant number according to why God picked 40 years? Why didn't he send him into the wilderness for 30 years? Why didn't he send him into the wilderness for 50 years or 70 years? Does anybody know the answer to that question? Well, again, if you're taking notes, you may wish to jot down Numbers 14, verse 34, because in Numbers 14, verse 34, we learn that God sentenced them to 40 years of wilderness wanderings because he sentenced them to one year for each day that they had explored the promised land and then refused to go up and take possession of it. That's why we came up with 40 years. God said, you're gonna be sentenced to a year in the wilderness for every day that you had spied out the promised land and then refused to go up and to take it. But anyway, if you take the 40 years when he was killing the Egyptian, and then 40 years in Midian, and then 40 years in the wilderness, well, 40 times 3 comes up to 120. So Moses is 120 years old now. And notice what he says to the people. He says, I am no longer able to lead you. I am no longer able to lead you. Some of you may have a version of the Bible which reads a little more literally. Literally, the Hebrew says, I can no more go out and come in. I can no more go out and come in. And in my study this week, I discovered that that's sort of a Hebrew expression. It's sort of a colloquialism in Hebrew, which means I can no longer engage in my day-to-day work or duties the way I used to do. That's what it means. I can't do what I used to do on a day-to-day basis. And so the NIV kind of puts it together and says, Moses says, I am no longer able to lead you. Now, friends, if you're familiar with the Old Testament, and especially the book of Deuteronomy, that may have raised a question in your mind as it raised a question in my mind. Why did Moses say, I am no longer able to lead you, or I can no more go out and come in, or I can no longer engage in my day-to-day duties the way I used to, when in fact, if you'll flip over several pages with me please, in Deuteronomy, and even if you don't normally turn, if you're in Deuteronomy, just turn a few pages, it's very easy, it's right in the neighborhood. In Deuteronomy 34, look with me at verse seven, here we read, Deuteronomy 34, seven, Moses was 120 years old when he died, notice, yet, His eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone. Interesting. Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone. That's what the Bible says. Now, we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, and we go back to our text. We say, well, why then, if that's true, and it was true, why did Moses say, I am no longer able to lead you? Interpretive question. Well, how do you think you would feel if you were 120 years old? And how would I feel if I was 120 years old? Moses, you know, generally speaking, I think we can say, and it's a bit of a tough one, but I think generally speaking, we could say that for a guy 120 years old, his eyes were not weak and his strength was not gone, and yet he was 120 years old. And remember, the Israelites are about to go into the promised land, and they are going to face incredible warfare. They are going to face intense testing. They are going to have to conquest the land. And he's 120 years old. And in God's providence, he said, it's not going to be you, Moses. It's going to be somebody else. It's going to be somebody else. We'll get to that in just a moment. But if your spiritual antennae are up tonight, brothers and sisters, you're also thinking about some other reason why Moses was not able to lead the people into the promised land. And again, if you're in Deuteronomy with me, just flip a page or two back or forth, depending on where you are. Look with me, if you would, please, at Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32, verses 48 through 52. Deuteronomy 32, verses 48 through 52. Here we read. On that same day, the Lord told Moses, go up into the Aberim range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hoar and was gathered to his people. I read a great quote by a don't lose your place, I read a great quote by a commentary the other day, says God buries his ministers. And he goes on with his work, he buries his ministers and he goes on with his work. None of us is indispensable to the kingdom of God. He buries his ministers and he goes on with his work. Aaron dies and he's buried and now Moses is about to die. Look further with me at verse 51. This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the water of Meribah, Kadesh, in the desert of Zin. And because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites, therefore you will see the land only from a distance. You will not enter the land I'm giving to the people of Israel." Now what's God referring to there about the waters of Meribah? Well again, if you're taking notes, You may wish to jot down Numbers 20 verses 1-13. Numbers 20 verses 1-13. Because they're boys and girls, young people, God had commanded Moses to speak to a rock and water would come out. And he would be glorified, magnified in the eyes of all the people. But Moses was frustrated. In fact, he became very angry. And he says to the people, in fact, you rebels, you need water from this rock. And he struck the rock twice. And he disobeyed God. And it was because of that disobedience that God said, you can lead them to the promised land, but you cannot lead them into the promised land. And that makes the whole study in itself about that strike in the rock twice. You go, well, why would God get so mad at just something like that? We don't have time to go into it tonight, but it makes for a very interesting study. Brothers and sisters, it may very well have to do with the fact that who is the rock? Christ is the rock. 1 Corinthians 10 talks about that. How many times is Christ crucified? He was crucified once for all to pay the penalty for the sins of his people on Calvary's cross. And many Bible scholars believe that by Moses striking the rock twice, he was in effect violating the once and for all sacrifice of Christ. I'm not gonna comment on that further, I'm not gonna nail that down as my theme for tonight by any means, but just know that it makes for a fascinating study. But that is why Moses was not allowed to ultimately lead the people into the promised land. And so now look back with me again at Deuteronomy 31, one through three, we'll pick it up again, look with me please. And Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel, I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, you shall not cross the Jordan. The Lord, Yahweh, your God, Elohim, Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do, future tense, to them what He did, past tense, to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom He destroyed along with their land. Now what's the deal here with Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites? Well, turn with me, if you would please, to Deuteronomy chapter two. If you're taking notes, or if you'd rather not turn, it's Deuteronomy two, verses 31 through 34. Deuteronomy two, verses 31 through 34. Here's what we find happened with Sihon. Deuteronomy two, starting in verse 31. I'll be reading this passage. Moses says, The Lord said to me, See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land. When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz, the Lord our God delivered him over to us, and we struck him down together with his sons and his whole army. At that time, we took all his towns and completely destroyed them, men, women, and children. We left no survivors." And then concerning Og, again, if you're taking notes, just jot down concerning Og, Numbers 21, verses 32-35. Numbers 21, verses 32-35. If you want to look with me, we'll read that at this time. Numbers 21, starting in verse 32. Here we read, after Moses had sent spies to Jazir, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan. And Ah, king of Bashan, and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edri. The Lord said to Moses, Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. So they struck him down together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors, and they took possession of his land. And friends, if you're taking notes and you want one passage that kind of combines those two historical accounts, that is recorded for us in combination in Deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 26 through chapter 3 verse 4. Deuteronomy 2 verse 26 through chapter 3 verse 4. But let's look back in our text again now and pick it up in verse 5. Deuteronomy 31 verse 5. God continues. The Lord, Moses says, will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them. Why not? For or because the Lord your God goes with you. And notice, not only does He go with you, Moses adds, and He will never leave you or forsake you. He will go with you, and He will never leave you or forsake you. Friends, it is that verse, he will never leave you or forsake you, ring any New Testament biblical bells with you. That text is exactly quoted in Hebrews 13, verse five. Now think about that. The Hebrews were a scattered people. They were a persecuted people. And God said to them in the New Testament just what he says to them in the Old Testament. He says, I will never leave you or forsake you. Why did God say that? Why do you think God, he's speaking to the people through Moses, why do you think he brings up Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites? Why do you think he even brought it up? Why do you think he told Moses to speak to the people about them? To remind them of them? Why do you think he did that? I think God wanted his people to be confident for their future because of the way he had been faithful to them in the past. That's what I think. I think God wanted them to realize and be assured of the promise of his presence in the future just like he had promised and had in fact been with them in the past. That's what I think. And that begs this question, does it not? Who or what are the Sihons and Ogs in your life or mine? Who or what are the Sihons and Ogs in your life and mine? In other words, what are the struggles? What are the sorrows? What are the sufferings? What are the trials? What are the tribulations? What is it in your life or mine? As we look back, we can see for a fact that God brought us through. He saw us through. He was with us all the way. Who are the Sihons and Ogs in your life or mine? What are the Sihons and Ogs in your life or mine? Well, brothers and sisters, whoever or whatever they may be, we need to remember them and we need to rejoice in them and we need to rest in them because they remind us of the fact that God has promised his people his presence. Corporately he has promised all of us together all Israel all the Church of Jesus Christ corporately They remind us it has promised us his presence Let's go back to the words of our text in Deuteronomy chapter 31 where we're secondly and finally we find that have God having promised his presence to the laity to all the people generally and He goes on to give that same promise of his presence to their leader personally. In this case, the leader is Joshua. Look at Deuteronomy 31 verse 7 with me, if you would please. Here we read, Then Moses summoned Joshua, and by the way, did you know that Joshua means the same thing as Jesus? In fact, in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, this reads, Jesus. Both names mean Yahweh is salvation, Jehovah is salvation, or the Lord saves. Interesting. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him, in the presence of all Israel. Why do you suppose Moses didn't speak to him just privately, personally? Why do you think he said this to Joshua in the presence of all Israel? Well, personally, I believe that Moses wanted the people to understand that this was the next leader. This was the next man. This is the one God had chosen to carry them on. He says to Joshua, in the presence of all Israel, look with me, be strong and courageous. For you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. And again, not only so, not only will He be with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Friends, in case Joshua didn't get the message, if you'll flip over several pages to the right with me, please, and turn to Joshua chapter 1 with me. Notice that in Joshua 1, first of all, 1 and 2, and then 6 through 9, we read this. Joshua 1, 1 and 2. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' aid, Moses, My servant, is dead. And friends, I don't know about you, but that strikes me kind of like a matter of factly. I mean, this was Moses, the great lawgiver, the great miracle worker by the power of God. And God just kind of says it as a matter of fact. Why? because he will build his church. He is the head of the church. He is the king of the church. He is the one in charge of giving his people victory over their foes. And so he says a kind of matter of factly, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them, to the Israelites. Drop down to verse six, please. Again, it's virtually verbatim from our text. God says to Joshua, be strong and courageous. Because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." And young people, listen to these next couple of verses because they are a great theme for living. We were talking in the catechism class this morning. One of the girls made an excellent comment about Sola Scriptura. And she said, you know, she said the reason we have to profess and believe and live according to Sola Scriptura is because there's no other foundation worth building your life on that your life is not going to come to a crashing end. It's the Word of God. And so young people pay attention especially to this. Verse 8, do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. And then verse 9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. And throughout Old Testament redemptive history, God gave signs time and time and time and time again that He was with His people. And brothers and sisters, is it not true that God makes that same promise to us and proves that same promise to us, the promise of His presence in the New Testament era as well? In fact, turn to the Gospel of John with me just for a moment. John chapter 14. The Gospel according to John, the 14th chapter. I'm going to begin by reading verses 1 through 6. John 14, verses 1 through 6. Christ is about to go to the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of His people. His disciples know that He's going to be crucified. They know that He's going to be leaving them, and they are terrified. And so in John 14, beginning in verse 1, Jesus says to them, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we don't know where You are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. And then if you'll drop down to verse 15 with me please. Jesus continues, verse 15. He says, If you love Me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, another Paracletos, another Paraclete, another Comforter, another Counselor. And Jesus is saying, beside Myself, I will give you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, notice, and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Before long the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live." I think I shared with you several weeks ago on that text, Because I Live, You Also Will Live. I read a book by Ravi Zacharias, From East to West, and he shared his testimony. And some of us may know that Ravi Zacharias, once in despair while he was a young man growing up in India, he made a suicide attempt. And they didn't even know if he was going to live, and he was in the hospital. And a Youth for Christ director, interestingly enough, that knew him, came and gave his mother a Bible to give to Ravi. And when she opened the Bible, she happened to turn to John chapter 14. And she just started reading to him on his hospital bed. And when she got to the verse, it said, because I live, you also will live. He said, who said that? And she said, Jesus did. And it put Ravi on a search for the true God, and he came to faith in Christ. And now we know he's an internationally renowned apologist for the cause of Christ. It was that verse, because I live, you also will live. And so, brothers and sisters, is it any wonder that we as God's people love to sing, because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives. Oh, my dear, dear friends in the Lord, like the Israelites of old, as you and I go forth into this new week and into each new day and each new month and each new year with all of its unknowns and all of its uncertainties, let us rest assured of the fact that the God who was with the Israelites in the past was with them in the future. And the God who has been with us in the past will be with us in the future. He will drive out all of our enemies. He will bring us safely into the fullness and the completion and the consummation of our spiritual inheritance in Christ, solely by His grace, solely through faith, and solely in the name of Jesus. And He has promised that to all the leaders of His church. And He has promised that to the lady of His church in both, again, Old and New Testament times. And that is the way We need to face the future with the promise of His presence. Amen. Let's bow our heads and our hearts in prayer together. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them. For the Lord, your God, goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Oh, Lord, our God. Whatever work you would have us do. And whatever foes you would have us face as we. Wind our way toward the fullness of our inheritance in your heavenly kingdom. And whatever promises you would have us claim and possess either individually or corporately, oh, Lord. By the power and person and presence of your Holy Spirit, we pray that you would fortify our faith and calm and quiet our fears by means of the promise of your presence. In Jesus' name, alone do we pray. Amen.