Podcast: BaptistBasics.org

Monuments 

Joshua 4 

Our text today we find two monuments erected. 

The nation of Israel had been delivered by God from slavery in Egypt 40 years before this. 

God had told them that if they would trust Him that He would lead them to the land promised to Abraham. 

Of course, Israel proved unfaithful and refused to enter the first time they came to the borders of Canaanland. 

God let them wander the desert for forty years, but the day had finally come for them take possession of the Promised Land. 

Moses has been taken to heaven, and Joshua is the leader of the nation. 

Aaron has been taken to heave, and Eleazar his son is now the high priest. 

A new generation was set to experience the blessings the previous generation had failed to grasp in faith. 

In chapter 1 verse 11 to get ready – in three days they were going over Jordan. 

In chapter 3 the day comes. 

Joshua lines out the plan. 

The priests and Kohathite Levites would lead them, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. 

I like the detail in vs. 4 that there was a space of 2,000 cubits – that’s 3,000 feet or over half a mile – between the Ark and the people. 

Everyone got to see what was going to happen. 

Now, Joshua sort of buries an important detail in chapter 3 verse 15. 

The Jordan River has flooded after the spring rains. 

Back in 1993 there was terrible flooding on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. 

It is still one of the most devastating floods in American history. 

That summer, we spent some time with my grandparents in Missouri. 

They took us to see the flooding. 

I had a cheap little 35 mm camera and took a bunch of pictures. 

I was fascinated. 

We went down to the St. Louis Arch and the water covered much of the riverfront parks and walkways. 

We went to Washington, Missouri, and went out on the old Washington Bridge.   

I saw on the north side of the bridge farmland flooded for what seemed like miles. 

It all left quite an impression on me even if I was only ten years old. 

That is where my mind goes when I read this passage.   

According to the internet, which we know is never wrong, the river in that area is usually about 100 feet wide and maybe ten feet deep. 

Maybe it was two or three times that, we can only guess. 

It is also very turbulent. 

It would be hard enough to cross in normal times, but it was especially dangerous when Israel came to it. 

Joshua gives the priests the command that they are to carry the Ark into the river. 

I preached a sermon about them, I think I was in high school or maybe college. 

Think about the faith they had! 

Joshua said, “Just march right out into the flooded river – God’s gonna take care of it.” 

I can hear them now, “You want us to do what?” 

Maybe someone said, “Look, Joshua, if you want that Ark carried into the middle of a flooded river you can do it yourself!” 

But they did not do any of that  

They followed God’s command through Joshua and the water stopped when the feet touched it. 

The water just piled up as if it were held back with an invisible dam. 

I think it just might have been the very hand of God. 

The water river emptied itself downstream and the multitude of Israel crossed over without incident. 

In my opinion, this miracle does not get the attention it deserves. 

We like to talk about the parting of the Red Sea, but this is just as amazing. 

Now we are finally getting to what I want to talk about. 

If you read this passage carefully, you will see that the Israelites take the time to erecte two monuments. 

The first is in vs. 9 – twelve stones set up in the Jordan riverbed to mark where the priests feet touched the water and it stopped for them. 

To be honest, I thought they set them in the middle of the river – but they are set on the eastern shore at the highwater mark of the flooded Jordan. 

Today those that location is lost, but they stood there for some time. 

The second is described in vs. 1-8 but not erected until vs. 20.   

These were twelve stones taken from riverbed and placed at the location of their camp at Gilgal. 

The reason for the stones is given beautifully in vs. 21-24. 

It was to be a history lesson for the coming generations. 

Think of how every true Texan must make a trek to San Antonio to Remember the Alamo. 

They would take their kids to Gilgal and say, “see those stones?  Those came out of the Jordan River when God brought us into the Promised Land.” 

They were a testimony to the mighty power of God and His great care for His people. 

They reminded people of everything God had done to bring them to the land they enjoyed living in. 

I am a sucker for historical stuff. 

I do not care for a lot of these modern entertainment destinations like Disney World. 

It is plastic, fake, shallow, and most importantly EXPENSIVE. 

Give me a Civil War battlefield any day. 

One that stuck with me is at the Antietam battlefield in Maryland. 

There is, and I kid you not, a monument to President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. 

In 1903, they dedicated a monument on the spot where, and I quote from the text of the monument: “Sergeant McKinley Co. E. 23rd Ohio Vol. Infantry, while in charge of the Commissary Department, on the afternoon of the day of the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, personally and without orders served hot coffee and warm food to every man in the regiment, on this spot and in doing so had to pass under fire.” 

Yes, a monument to serving coffee. 

Anyway, monuments are important. 

Quickly, I want to give you a few monuments every person should have in their life. 

I am not necessarily saying that these need to be physical monuments, but you are welcome to do so. 

I. The Stele of Salvation. 

Yes, I used a strange word for artistic reasons. 

A stele is upright stone slab that has been inscribed on. 

The ancient world was full of these. 

But it is not about the type of stone used in the memorial, it is was that memorial itself stands for. 

There is no great event in human life than that moment you accepted Christ. 

You heard the words of the Gospel. 

You knew you were a sinner, condemned by the righteous judgment of God. 

But you learned about the Savior, who died and paid that price for you. 

You put your faith in Him and in Him alone. 

In that moment something that I believe shakes all eternity. 

A soul is born again! 

Fix that point in your mind. 

Put up a monument there. 

Go back and visit it often. 

Remember that you a sinner saved by grace. 

When the Devil comes along and tries to rewrite your history, just drag him over there and say, “If I am not saved, why do I have this monument?” 

Friend, there is no greater, no more important, no more sacred monument you can have in your life than the stele of salvation. 

II.  The Pillar of Answered Prayer 

Every Christian ought to be able to go to a place in their life and say, “here is an answered prayer”. 

Frankly, you ought to have numerous of these. 

Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  

Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  

There are two primary reasons why prayers are not answered. 

First, because we are not making prayers. 

Sadly, that is the single biggest reason – we just don’t prayer. 

Second, because we ask amiss –  

Jas 4:3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.  

Friends, I do not count myself a great prayer warrior by any stretch, but I can tell you times the only explanation for something happening is God answered prayers. 

There are folks here today that are walking monuments to the power of prayer. 

Christian, there is no excuse – get busy praying and then praising God for the answered prayers. 

III. The Obelisk of Overcoming. 

Ok, I am showing off – an obelisk is “a tapering, four-sided shaft of stone, usually monolithic and having a pyramidal apex.” 

Think about the Washington Monument. 

Which by the way is 12 feet shorter than the San Jacinto Monument. 

This monument is one you place on a site of a great victory. 

We see this in I Samuel 7:12 after Israel defeated the Philistines in battle 

1Sa 7:12  Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.  

Ebenezer means “stone of help”, saying that they only won because of God’s aid. 

As a side note, I hate it when they take the word Ebenezer our of the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” 

It robs the song of a deep Bible reference that adds so much to the lyrics. 

Have you seen God move in your life where the only explanation is that God intervened? 

If you do not, it is probably because you are not paying attention. 

Oh, it may not be a flooded river parting for you to cross, but it may be that check that came just time or the opportunity that came out of seemingly nowhere.   

God is active in the lives of His children. 

We should be active in praising Him for what He has done. 

CONCLUSION 

1. Be ready to share those monuments with others. 

1. Let them know how God has been to you. 

2. Encourage others to set up their own monuments. 

1. Many do not understand the importance of memorializing the greatness of God in our lives. 

2. Celebrate with others – rejoice with them that do rejoice. 

3. Check up on your Stele of Salvation. 

1. Get one if you don’t have one. 

2. Keep yours well visited and cared for. 

The Old Landmarks 

Deuteronomy 19:14 

A while back, when we were looking at putting in the new entrance and driveway here at the church, we ran across a little problem. 

We did not know where the property markers were along the highway. 

Nowadays, you pay a surveyor to go out and mark the corners of your property. 

It is usually a metal stake and sometimes they can get buried. 

We tried metal detectors with no luck. 

We finally dug and found them. 

We marked them with pain on the east entrance and bricks on the west entrance. 

You don’t need to know where they are at most of the time, but there are times like when you are doing construction work or putting up a fence that you need to know where those boundary markers are. 

If you go down to the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco, they have a display about how the early Rangers helped guard the surveyors that laid out the original land grants in Texas. 

When we went there the first time I thought that was one of the least exciting parts. 

I think I understand better now. 

It is important to correctly survey property and accurately mark its boundaries. 

I was told about a little country church here in our county. 

It’s been there since the 1870s. 

There are fences around the church house that have been there as long as anyone can remember. 

One of the neighbors was preparing to sell their property and had a surveyor come out.   

Turns out not a single one of those fences were in the right place. 

Half of the church’s well house was not on church property! 

I believe they were able to come to an understanding about it, but it goes to show you the importance of knowing where your property boundaries are. 

That is what our text is talking about. 

When Moses gives them this law, they are just about to enter the land of Canaan. 

The tribes would have territory allotted to them, and each tribe would divide their territory into tracts of land for each family. 

There were already leaders put in charge of this in Numbers 34:16-29. 

Eleazar the High Priest and Joshua were in overall command of the project and a leader from each tribe was named to oversee their own territorial divisions. 

The tracts were to be distributed by lot 

No favoritism, leaving it up to God. 

You can jump forward into Joshua and see this happen. 

Jos 14:1  And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.  

Jos 14:2  By lot was their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.  

Jos 14:3  For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and an half tribe on the other side Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them.  

Jos 14:4  For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance.  

Jos 14:5  As the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land.  

What follows are descriptions of the territory given to each tribe, until you read this conclusion in Joshua 19:51: 

Jos 19:51  These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country.  

By the way, how did the Israelites know how to do this? 

Well, they had just come from Egypt, who had been surveying land for over a 1,000 years before this. 

The Egyptians had to resurvey land frequently because the Nile constantly flooded and changed courses. 

I don’t completely understand how they did it, lots of math and geometry, maybe a little witchcraft, I don’t know. 

I don’t completely understand how they do it now. 

Anyway, as the Israelites surveyed each tract they placed markers to designated one lot from another. 

Like I said, today we use metal rods, but back then they used large rocks. 

These were probably marked in some fashion to identify them.   

I don’t know of any that have been identified from Joshua’s time, but hundreds of them from the days of the Greeks and Romans have been found.   

Why have this command about moving those markers? 

Before we get into this, I want to acknowledge that this is a theme throughout the Old Testament, so it must have been a real problem. 

Job is the oldest book to mention it, maybe 200 years before Moses spoke about it. 

Job 24:2  Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.  

It is repeated in the strongest terms possible in Deuteronomy 27:14 

Deu 27:17  Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.  

Solomon writes about it Proverbs, about 450 years after Moses. 

Pro 22:28  Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.  

Pro 23:10  Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:  

The prophet Hosea even talks about it over 700 years after Moses: 

Hos 5:10  The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.  

So, why was this a big deal? 

That’s what I want to speak about this morning, and I hope to draw some conclusions that we can apply to our own lives. 

Why would someone go out and move the markers around their land? 

What would happen is that someone sneak out in the night and move the boundary marker to gain a little more land. 

If they were patient, they would move it only a few inches at a time so that it was not obvious. 

Why would someone do this? 

I. It is evidence of Covetousness. 

Someone who did this was not satisfied with their own property, but sought to gain their neighbor’s land. 

Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.  

I know it is tempting to say this is the Eighth Commandment – Thou shalt not steal – instead of the tenth. 

But the theft started with covetousness. 

You did not do this to pick up worthless desert or swamp land. 

No, you would slowly encroach on someone’s farmland.   

Someone once said that there are two ways to be rich: 

Have all you want 

Want all you have. 

Illus. – Someone asked John D. Rockefeller how much was enough –  “just a little bit more”. 

That is never enough! 

Human greed is a bottomless pit. 

You may say, “I just cannot be happy until I have __________” 

That will last for a few moments, days, months, maybe even years. 

Then the excitement wears off and you have got to have more. 

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.  

1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  

1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  

II. It shows dissatisfaction with God’s care. 

God gave the land of Canaan to Israel. 

It was so promised it Abraham. 

Remember that the land was divided by lot – that is not just trusting to chance, it is letting God decide. 

In that thinking, the land your family received was the land God wanted you to have. 

And not just you, your children and their children and so. 

You could not sell the land because every 50 years at the Year of Jubilee it reverted back to the original family – see Leviticus 25. 

That land was your family’s. 

You were to tend it, till it, keep it. 

Through that land God was blessing you and caring for your needs. 

So, that being the case, to seek out and take more land is the same as telling God that His care is not enough. 

Godliness and Contentment go hand in hand – we just read that in I Timothy 6:8. 

True blessing does not lie in abundance, but in acceptance. 

God saw it fit that I was not born a millionaire. 

I am sure it would have ruined me. 

Someone said that if money can’t make you happy, then they would take just enough to be slightly miserable. 

There are countless verses we could look at here – from Proverbs to the Sermon on the Mount. 

We should always be thankful for God’s generous care and blessing in our lives. 

III.  It hurts others. 

One of the easiest ways to tell if something is right is to ask if it harms or takes advantage of someone else. 

Not only would moving landmarks be a crime against self in covetousness and a crime against God in thankfulness, it is a crime against our neighbor. 

By the way, remember these are family tracts – your neighbor could be a close relation, especially a few generations later. 

I gave you six verses including our text that talk about moving land markers.   

If you pay attention to them and look at them in their surrounding context, there is something interesting you will observe. 

Lets look at a couple: 

Here is the passage in Job with some context: 

Job 24:2  Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.  

Job 24:3  They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.  

Job 24:4  They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.  

Here is the passage in Proverbs 22: 

Pro 22:26  Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.  

Pro 22:27  If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?  

Pro 22:28  Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.  

Pro 22:29  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.  

See a pattern? 

Moving landmarks is linked with theft, shady business dealings, and abuse of the needy. 

The theft of land was literally taking food out of children’s mouths. 

It hurt not only the present generation, but generations to come. 

In this it is as heinous a crime as you can find. 

Friends, if getting ahead in life means putting others down it is not worth it. 

In God’s economy we all work together and help each other and celebrated the Lord’s blessings on those around us. 

We should wish not ill on others, nor should we seek it. 

CONCLUSION 

1. Are we truly satisfied with God’s provision? 

2.  Are we harming others in our quest to improve our lot. 

There is nothing wrong with getting ahead, so long as the cost is worth it. 

3.  One landmark that you cannot move is the Old Rugged Cross 

You cannot move it. 

It  will always divide the saved and the lost. 

Water in the Wilderness 

Psalm 78:12-20 

Our text this morning is from the remarkable 78^th Psalm. 

This Psalm is a history lesson for the nation of Israel. 

It rehearses many of the events of The Exodus and the Wilderness Wanderings of Israel. 

I would highly recommend keeping it handy when you read those historical accounts. 

It acts like a commentary on them, and you can gain fresh insight and additional details from it. 

The portion of it that we read a few moments ago is about the time period I want to discuss today. 

We are reminded of the mighty displays of God’s power as He brought His people out of Egypt. 

We see the Red Sea divided and Israel’s escape through it. 

We see His presence and direction for them with the pillars of cloud and fire that went before them. 

Then we are reminded of something God did on three separate occasions that we know about. 

He gave the people water in the wilderness. 

You do not have to be geography expert to know that that part of the world is an arid wilderness. 

The Israelites had left the fertile delta of the Nile River, overflowing with abundant, life-giving water. 

Now they are in some of the driest places you will find. 

Now, you may be able to find a lonely stream or spring in places, but remember we have a few million people travelling with Moses. 

Ask any doctor and they will tell you that if you must withhold water or food from someone, you can go a lot longer without food than water. 

We need water to survive. 

I want us to look at these three occasions where the Israelites found themselves without water. 

I want us to learn from the circumstances and details from each. 

I. The Demand for Water 

Here you will need to turn to Exodus 17 to follow with me. 

This is shortly after they crossed the Red Sea. 

I think that is important to remember. 

They had just witnessed the Ten Plagues, the Red Sea Parting, and the Daily provision of Manna. 

They are near to Sinai, camped at Rephidim. 

Here is what the Scripture says in Exodus 17:1 – “and there was no water for the people to drink.” 

What do the people do? 

Do they sit down and wait for God to provide just like He has been doing with the manna? 

No, they go to Moses and made a demand. 

Exo 17:2  Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink…. 

Moses tries to warn them, tries to tell them not to try the Lord’s patience. 

Continuing… 

Exo 17:3  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?  

There are two things they are short of there: memory and faith. 

The God that sent the Plagues and parted the Sea would have no trouble at all supplying water. 

Think about it – did God do all of that just to watch them die of thirst? 

No! 

Are we not the same if we are not careful? 

We lose sight of the goodness of God 

We forget His benefits that he loads us with every day. 

We feel that He does not care for us. 

We turn to God and make demands of Him. 

“God, You had better heal my loved one!” 

“God, You need to treat me better!” 

It is an act of pride and rebellion to do so. 

We refuse to humble ourselves to His will and His way, demanding that He jump at our command. 

Yes, things may get dry and we may thirst for things we do not have at the present. 

But rein in your heart in that day. 

Humble yourself before the Lord. 

If you keep reading God will threaten to wipe out the people of Israel many times, but He acts in mercy here. 

Moses goes up to the rock of Horeb, smites it with his staff, and waters gush forth. 

It is a picture of Christ, who was smitten for us so that His salvation could flow to all. 

Did we deserve that?  No! 

Did the Israelites deserve water?  

I don’t think so. 

It is like arguing with a toddler – my one rule is I will win. 

Aren’t you thankful this morning that God is good to us even when we do not deserve it? 

Next, we are going to turn to Numbers 20 and see another similar event that was around a year later. 

II. The Despair for Water 

This event takes place after Isreal heard the report of the twelve spies and refused to follow God into the Promised Land. 

That’s in chapters 13 and 14. 

In chapter 16 a man named Korah leads a revolt against Moses and Aaron. 

God destroys these rebels and makes His choice of leadership and direction very clear. 

In chapter 17 God reasserts His choice of Aaron and the tribe of Levi when they place their walking sticks in the Tabernacle and Aaron’s budded. 

There is a time jump of 38 years as we get to Chapter 20, glossing over the wilderne4ss 

Chapter 20 opens with the death of Miriam, who God had to strike with leprosy in chapter 12 for speaking out against her brother Moses. 

Once again, Israel is camped in a place where there was no water. 

This is a different place than we saw in Exodus 17 – somewhere around Kadesh-Barnea I think but it is not very clear. 

The people react differently than they did before. 

Now, many of those present the last time have passed on by this point. 

They do not open with a demand – they open with despair! 

Num 20:2  And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.  

Num 20:3  And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!  

Num 20:4  And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?  

Num 20:5  And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.  

I wonder if they sang that classic song some of you will remember: 

Gloom, despair, and agony on me 
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery 
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all 
Gloom, despair, and agony on me 

They have no heart and no hope! 

They do not expect God or Moses to do anything! 

Have you ever been there? 

Have you lost heart and hope? 

Maybe you are more spiritual than they were, and sung out like David instead of HeeHaw: 

Psa 13:1  How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?  

Psa 13:2  How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?  

Psa 13:3  Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;  

Psa 13:4  Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.  

Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that that hard times do not mean that God has forsaken us. 

That is what David did: 

Psa 13:5  But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.  

Psa 13:6  I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.  

There is no need for a child of God to ever give in to despair. 

But isn’t our God good in that when we lose faith He does not forsake us? 

It is not about how we feel or how we perceive things that matter. 

God is good, He cannot be anything but good, and He will always be good. 

In spite of the despair of the people, God still moved to meet their need. 

He told Moses to go to the rock and SPEAK to the rock. 

Why speak? 

It is again a picture of Christ. 

Christ had only to smitten once for our sins. 

He does not need to be crucified anew. 

We need only reach out in prayer because Christ has already won. 

Moses and Aaron go up, and Moses is mad. 

Psalm 106 is another historical Psalm that shed light on past events: 

Psa 106:32  They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:  

Psa 106:33  Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.  

Moses smites the rock instead of speaking to it. 

For that failure, God did nor allow Him to enter the Promised Land. 

But I am glad to say that God’s anger did not stop the water from flowing. 

He still met the people’s need. 

We come now to the third and final event we will look at, it is in Numbers 21. 

III. The Digging for Water 

This one is easy to miss as it is crammed into a section that lists the places Israel camped as they neared the Promised Land. 

Num 21:16  And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.  

Wait a minute. 

They needed water, right? 

I mean, why else would God need to provide it. 

But where is the demand for it? 

Where is the despair over it? 

It is not there at all! 

God simply sees the need and meets. 

The event is recorded in a song: 

Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:  

The princes digged the well,  

the nobles of the people digged it,  

by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. 

Moses must have directed the leaders of the tribes to come together. 

The gathered and Moses said, “Alright, we are going to dig a well with our walking sticks” 

That is what is says! 

If you think that is crazy, need I remind you of the other times God does things that make no logical sense? 

Moses tossed a tree into bitter water to make it sweet. 

Naaman dipped seven times in Jordan to be cured of leprosy. 

Jesus put mud in a blind man’s eyes and told him to go wash it out to be healed. 

Can you see them lined up and looking at each other. 

“Ok, Moses, whatever you say.” 

They all scrape the ground with their staffs. 

I would like to think as soon as they made contact the ground parted and water came rushing out. 

God provided once again. 

It is likely a picture of the multitude of blessings that flow to us through Christ. 

Perhaps it is even specific to the outpouring of the Spirit. 

CONCLUSION 

In these three object lessons, God provided the necessary water each time. 

Which is the way we would want it to be handled?  The last one. 

Which is the way it ought to be handled?  The last one. 

Which is the way that reflects how we interact with God? 

Too often, it is the first two. 

My challenge for you is to strive to trust God and His provision. 

Even when times are lean and the skies are gloomy, He can and will provide. 

If you are here and do not know you are saved, you do not know for sure that your sins are forgiven and washed in the Blood of Christ – I refer you to what Christ told the Samaritan woman at the well: 

Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.  

You can find peace and forgiveness, filling that emptiness and brokenness within us, if you will but run to the Savior. 

Blessed Are They That Mourn 

Matthew 5:1-12 

I want to preach a pastoral message to you this morning. 

I really struggled coming to a decision on what to preach. 

The past few weeks I have found a text from the daily Bible reading that arrested my attention. 

If you have just finished Leviticus with us, you can probably understand that I have not had such a direction this week. 

I almost wanted to find one of the most difficult passages and preach from it just because I can. 

Maybe something about leprosy or the year of Jubilee. 

But what would that benefit us this morning, besides me just showing off? 

I do not want you to leave thinking, “My, what a clever preacher.” 

I want you to leave saying, “The Lord knew I needed that this morning!” 

I want to speak from the common human experience this morning. 

Job said this about life while trying to reckon with all that had befallen him: 

Job 14:1  Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.  

Anyone have “days full of trouble” lately? 

I don’t need a show of hands to know the answer. 

I have talked with many of you, and I know the hardships and heartaches you are going through. 

I talked a few days ago with a friend of mine, a preacher that God is really using right now. 

He pulled back the curtain a little – I saw the physical pain and the burdens he had been carrying for himself, his staff, and his people. 

I spoke with someone else that was watching a tragedy unfold. 

They asked, “How could God let this happen?” 

I really don’t have a good answer for that. 

I have twice in the past few weeks prayed at a hospital bedside, where I wanted to feel hope and confidence that God would heal, but inside my heart was fearful at what may have come. 

I have spoken with people that are having trouble with their jobs. 

I am saying all this because it is obvious that life just is not fair sometimes. 

Sometimes it is full of trouble. 

Sometimes, even when all may be calm around us, our hearts are full of trouble. 

Does that mean that God is displeased with us? 

Does that mean that we lack faith? 

I cannot speak for every situation of life, but I honestly feel that in most cases neither of those is true. 

Life is just hard sometimes. 

It stinks sometimes. 

When Adam and Eve sinned, sin entered this world and corrupted and infected it. 

Ever since it has been a struggle to survive. 

Ever since it is either tears or sweat dropping down our faces as we make our way through this life. 

Now, it would be easy to give in to hopelessness. 

It would be easy to despair 

I was doing some research last night into the philosophy of nihilism. 

Nihilism says that life has no purpose. 

It says that there is no good or evil, no morality, no truth. 

That idea is infecting our culture today. 

People are giving into hopelessness and despair. 

Thet get online to find support and community. 

Instead they link up with others in despair and they all sink lower together. 

Our nation needs a revival of hope today. 

The world is not ending. 

The economy is not collapsing. 

The government will keep right on. 

Wait, that doesn’t sound hopeful! 

The hope that our nation needs is rooted in truth. 

That truth is mocked and shunned by the multitudes and the media. 

You won’t hear it on the six o’clock news. 

That is where churches come in. 

That is where Christians come in. 

We have truth. 

We have hope. 

We have the answer. 

We know that there is one true God. 

We know that He loves and cares for us. 

We know that Christ came to save us, dying on the cross, rising from the dead.\ 

We know that God has control over all that happens. 

We know that nothing happens without His approval. 

We know that He is working all things for His glory and for ultimate good. 

We know that He will transform the broken sinner into a new creature. 

We know that He gives victory where all hope seems lost. 

We know that He will not refuse any that come to Him in humility and faith. 

I want us to focus on just one verse this morning. 

I did a series through the Beatitudes a few years ago, and highlighted how they model what a mature Christian should be. 

For today, it is just verse 4 

Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.  

What a glorious promise this is! 

Those that mourn will be comforted! 

Yes, life stinks. 

Yes, heartaches come. 

Yes, hopelessness may creep into our heart. 

We may mourn – but there is comfort to be found. 

It is a promise woven into the fabric of truth in the Bible. 

Let me give a few examples: 

Psa_34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 

Psa 40:1 . I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  

Psa 40:2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.  

Psa 40:3  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.  

Psa 40:4  Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  

Psa 126:5  They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  

Psa 126:6  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 

Isa 12:1  And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.  

Isa 12:2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.  

Isa 12:3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.  

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.  

2Co 1:5  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.  

2Co 1:6  And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it isfor your consolation and salvation.  

2Co 1:7  And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.  

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  

Psa 30:1 I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.  

Psa 30:2  O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.  

Psa 30:3  O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.  

Psa 30:4  Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.  

Psa 30:5  For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.  

Isn’t that good stuff? 

If you sow in tears you will reap in joy. 

If you weep in the night, you will find joy in the morning. 

We find rest and comfort in the arms of Christ. 

There will come a day when all heartaches are passed away. 

I have just two points to make quickly for you. 

First – We all will mourn. 

Solomon said it this way: 

Ecc 3:4  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  

I have played around in my head for years with an idea for a poem. 

It is my heart as a parent to my children. 

It just never has come together for me, but the idea starts something like this: 

If I could take away the heartaches, 

If I could take away the hurt, 

If I could take away the pain, 

If I could, I would. 

Like I said, it needs a lot of work. 

But it captures my heart for my children, my wife, my family, my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ. 

I wish I could say that life will always be fair and all will be happiness ahead. 

I wish I could tear those burdens away from you and carry them myself to save you the struggle. 

But I cannot. 

Life stinks. 

It is not fair. 

But this is not the end of the story: 

Second – We Will Be Comforted 

The second part to the little poem I want it say something like: 

If I could, I would. 

But I can’t. 

But I know the One that will carry you through. 

I know the One that says He will forgive our sins and give us eternal life. 

I know the One that says He will never forsake us. 

I know the One that will never fail. 

I know the One whose love has no limit and who strength has no bounds. 

I know the One that notes every tear. 

I know the One that gives grace and strength to take each step we must take. 

I know the One that promises that He will return and gather us to a land of no more tears, no more sorrow, and no more crying. 

This is why the mourner is blessed. 

He is blessed because he witnesses first-hand the love and power of God. 

He is blessed because God walks alongside him, holding him up. 

He is blessed because one day his mourning shall end. 

He SHALL be comforted. 

CONCLUSION 

• I hope this has been a comfort to you this morning. 

• Whatever the heartache, whatever the burden, take them to Christ. 

• Never fear that He will turn you away. 

• These promises are limited to those who come to Christ for salvation. 

• Do not delay! 

God’s Workmen 

Exodus 31:1-11 

If you have been keeping up with your daily Bible reading, you should have read this passage just a few days ago. 

It is easily overlooked by the details of the Tabernacle design before it and the incident with the golden calf after it. 

To get the context, I think you need to go back to at least chapter 19. 

In chapter 19, the children of Israel arrive at Mt. Sinai. 

There they commit to follow whatever the Lord tells them to do. 

God begins revealing His law in chapter 20, starting with the ten commandments. 

Miscellaneous commands and regulation follow until chapter 24. 

In that chapter the nation of Israel enters into a blood covenant – swearing by their very lives – that they will follow the Lord. 

Moses goes back up to Sinai, and from chapter 25 to 31 the focus is on preparing for the Tabernacle.  

Instructions are given to build the Ark of the Covenant, the Table of Shewbread, the Golden Candlestick, the Altar of Incense, the Brazen Altar, the Brazen Laver, the Tabernacle structure, and the fence surrounding its courtyard. 

Instructions are also given on the garments for the priests and the proper rituals to perform for their consecration to God’s service. 

All of these are extremely detailed. 

I believe there is even further instruction not recorded, and that basically Moses saw the blueprints of what was to be built. 

This was not the kind of project I get myself into. 

Anything I try to work on looks like I worked on it. 

I was not blessed with any sort of carpentry skills whatsoever. 

When you read about the various things that must be done to build the Tabernacle, it is daunting. 

You needed someone who could work with animal hides for the other covering. 

You needed someone to work with fabrics and embroidery for the curtains and the fence. 

You needed someone who knew woodworking to build the frames that would be overlaid with metals. 

Speaking of metals, you need someone who could work with gold, silver, brass – that is a copper alloy. 

Those metals would be worked into sheets to plate over wood. 

They would need to be molded and shaped and forged and beaten. 

You needed someone who could work with jewels and precious stones. 

We all know too there is a great difference between people who can do the work and those that are master craftsmen. 

Anyone can wipe a brush of paint across a canvas, but not everyone is a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt.   

Anyone can chisel stone into a shape, but not everyone is a Michelangelo. 

The Tabernacle project did not just need someone who could do – No, it demanded craftsmen who could create a work of art worthy of God’s honor. 

I kind of wonder if that was on Moses’s mind as he received all these instructions. 

He was a genius himself I am convinced. 

Maybe as a young man in Egypt he was trained in some of these things. 

But even if he possessed them, he had no need to use such talents for over 40 years as a shepherd in Midian. 

He knew he had a lot of brick makers in the nation and a lot of shepherds. 

Artisans, though? 

He had to be wondering how in the world he would find the people to do this great work. 

Friends, rest assured that whatever God calls or commands you to do that He will supply what you need to do it. 

The great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, said it this way: 

“God work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” 

Maybe as I was talking about the great need for craftsmen to build the Tabernacle you were wondering where they would even get the gold and silver and so on. 

The Egyptians had willingly given to them! 

Exo 12:35  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:  

Exo 12:36  And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.  

You read in history of conquering armies spoiling their defeated foes and taking all their wealth and goods. 

That is exactly what happened for Israel – God conquered the Egyptians and they just handed over their wealth to the Israelites. 

By the way, where did they get all that wealth? 

Rewind a few hundred years when Joseph warned them about the seven years famine that was coming. 

All the wealth of the region was brough to Egypt to buy food. 

God had been working at this for centuries preparing for the day when they would need. 

I saw one estimate that it was around 7 and a half TONS of metals – over 1 ton of gold and almost 4 tons of silver. 

I did some math on it, and I think it was over $180 million dollars in gold and silver. 

That is not something that slaves would have access to! 

But God brought all that wealth into Egypt to get it to His people to build His Tabernacle. 

If He did all that, don’t you think He knew they needed someone to work with it all? 

That finally brings me to the text. 

We meet two men specially prepared by God to oversee the work. 

First there is Bezaleel. 

Second there is Aholiab. 

Who were these men? 

We can piece something together about them here. 

I believe they were godly men – note that it says the Bezaleel was “filled with the Spirit of God” in vs. 3. 

They were gifted men – God had given them extraordinary abilities that He could work through. 

They were experienced men – this type of work must have been their employment. 

These are not things you pick up as a hobby if you are slave. 

Like Esther, God had prepared them “for such a time as this”. 

Now, I want to make a few observations and applications using their example. 

I. God Knows Our Person. 

Moses did not have to have tryouts or request resumes. 

No, God had the right men for the job ready to go. 

He tells Moses exactly who they are. 

Bezaleel was the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 

Aholiab was the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 

God had a need and He knew exactly who to use to fill it. 

It is a humbling thought to realize that God knows us – the individual, unique us. 

He knows us better than we know ourselves! 

In Jeremiah 1:5 he told the young prophet: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;” 

Matthew 10:30 says He knows how many hairs are on your head. 

He knows our personalities, our strengths, our weaknesses. 

He knows our possibilities and our potential. 

Here’s the amazing part – He has a purpose for each of us. 

Let me illustrate: 

Someone once said they didn’t know if they enjoyed crafting or enjoyed stockpiling crafting supplies. 

This is true with paint brushes. 

When I get a canvas out on my easel, I have dozens of brushes that I have collected so far. 

Which I use depends on a lot of things. 

Am I painting with acrylics, oil paints, or watercolors? – Some types work better in certain mediums. 

Am I painting a large area or a small area? – That determines the size. 

Am I painting over a still wet layer or blending? – I need a softer brush. 

Which brush do I use?  The best one for the job at hand! 

So it is with us – each of us are created for a purpose to be used for the glory of God. 

II.  God Knows Our Past 

Sometimes we ask ourselves what we would change if we had to live our lives again. 

My problem with this is that 

one, we cannot do it so why waste time on it 

two, if I change things, it also changes me. 

Yes, there are heartaches I would love to have avoided, there are valleys I wish I could have not walked through. 

But all of the experiences of life mold and shape us into who we are. 

Not just the good, but the bad also. 

I think about Bezaleel and Aholiab. 

I am pretty sure they would rather not have grown up as slaves. 

I bet they wish some of the horrible things they endured or witnessed had not taken place. 

But God had worked through their experiences to prepare them for this moment. 

All the hours working their craft as slaves gave them the skill and experience, they needed to oversee the Tabernacle project. 

You know, God could have just spontaneously given some random purpose the talent to do what was needed, but He did not. 

He did what He usually does – carefully cultivating a life and person to be an instrument He can use for His glory. 

Think about Joseph. 

God could have just transported him to Egypt and put a crown of authority on his head. 

But God instead cultivated the man, his faith, his character, and his abilities through his service to Potiphar and his time as trustee in prison. 

By the time he was elevated by Pharaoh to be second in command, he knew how to manage people and put a plan into action. 

He could not have done what he did in the palace without Potiphar or the Prison. 

So it is with us – God has carefully molded us through experience for our appointed tasks. 

III.  God knows our Potential. 

God would not have called Bezaleel and Aholiab to do the work if He knew they would fail. 

I doubt they had ever taken on a task such as this. 

There are not many parallels in history you can find to working with so much gold and silver. 

He knew who they were. 

He knew how He had prepared them. 

He also knew they would follow through. 

There are so many mysteries in this world, and chief among them is why God uses people. 

We constantly disappoint Him and fail to faithfully follow His call. 

Yet He still sees a need, then He finds the right person, and He places a burden on their heart. 

I’ll confess sometimes that burden is overwhelming – you cannot bear it in your own power. 

But we do not have to. 

God provides the strength we need. 

If God calls you to a work or to meet a need, I guarantee He can use you to do it. 

Whether that is a call to the ministry, a call to serve others, a call to just encourage some downtrodden soul – I do not care what it is – If God called you to do, He can do it through you. 

Think about David the shepherd boy. 

Samuel would have picked any one of the other brothers that day, but God knew the person, the preparation, and the potential of the one the dad did not even think to call. 

1Sa 16:7  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.  

Take courage in this! 

If God wants to use you He can and will use you to amazing things for His glory. 

CONCLUSION 

1. Be ready when God’s needs you. 

1. Be listening for His call. 

2. Be surrendered His burden. 

3. Be quick to act when the moment arises. 

2. Remember that is about God and not us. 

1. He is to be glorified, not us. 

3. God has is calling the sinner today. 

1. He has prepared your heart for this time and this place to hear this message. 

2. Do not put off responding! 

He Was Gathered To His People 

Genesis 25:7-10 

I find it interesting what people put into obituaries. 

You can tell not just a lot about the deceased but also about the family they leave behind. 

Sometimes there are family feuds going on and parts of the family are not even mentioned. 

Sometimes someone will go way overboard making someone out to be a saint that was far from it. 

I think the saddest are the ones that list so many hobbies and activities and achievements but have no mention of God or their family. 

Some are also just funny. 

In 2014, the obituary for Johanna Scarpitti went viral on the internet. 

It opened with these words: “Ding dong the witch is dead, but the memory of our mother lives on.” 

Her daughter said it was a joke because she loved The Wizard of Oz so much, and was even buried in ruby slippers. 

I think they could have found a better quote to use, personally. 

You might say that our text is part of Abraham’s obituary. 

He was 175 years old. 

This chapter records much of his family records surrounding our text. 

It tells of his wife Hagar’s son Ishmael and his family. 

It tells of his wife Sarah’s sons Isaac and his family. 

It tells of a later wife named Keturah and their children together. 

We find the details of his funeral, that Isaac and Ishmael were pallbearers. 

We see the place of interment, in the family plot at Machpelah where he would be laid beside Sarah. 

If you have been trying to keep up with your daily Bible reading this year, it is this kind of chapter that can discourage you. 

So many names, so many details that just don’t seem to matter. 

But even the genealogies are mines with rich veins if you take time to look. 

As I was going through this passage, I was struck by the words of vs. 8: 

Gen 25:8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.  

It is an amazing testimony for a man greatly used by God. 

Abraham did not fear death nor did he fight it. 

When his time came, he peacefully let his soul slip from his body. 

He had a lived a long and good life. 

He was content in all that he had seen and accomplished. 

It is such a beautiful picture of the ideal death. 

Someone has lived a long and happy life and they move on to Heaven. 

Too often for me God in His wisdom takes folks home in other ways. 

I can only trust that His way is best, and I can only be somewhat jealous of those that get to Heaven ahead of me. 

I want to pause for moment here. 

Death has two parts – a departure and an arrival. 

I want to talk about the departure for just a few moments before we look at the arrival. 

One of the themes I see in Genesis is the progression of death. 

We begin in chapter 1 with a brand new, perfect world unmarred by sin’s touch. 

In chapter 2 is the first mention of death -: 

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.  

In chapter 3, the serpent lied to Eve and said “ Ye shall not surely die” 

She was tricked and broke the divine law of God. 

Adam was not tricked, but willingly and soberly chose to do the same. 

Part of the curse of sin that God pronounced is this: 

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.  

The world that knew no sin and death was not broken by sin and death. 

In chapter 4 there is the first human death, as Cain killed his brother Abel. 

In chapter 5 there is the genealogy from Adam to Noah. 

There is a pattern there: “So-and-so was so old when they had a son and then lived for so many more years, and he died.” 

Methusaleh held that fate off for 969 years but in the end he died too. 

We read in chapter 6 how the world grew so corrupt that God destroyed human civilization, killed them all in a global flood, but saved Noah and his family alive to being anew. 

All those men and women and animals perished in the flood, but death was not satisfied. 

We get to chapter 11 and there is another genealogical section, linking Noah’s son Shem to Abraham. 

It is a similar formula to chapter 5, saying they had a son at such an age and live so much longer after that. 

You can even trace here the shrinking life spans. 

Death was coming for all and it was coming quicker and quicker! 

We could continue on and see how Abraham’s line through Isaac and Jacob all lived their lives before dying and being buried. 

I think one of the most startling verses in Genesis is the very last. 

Remember how it all stated: 

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  

Then look at how it ends: 

Gen 50:26  So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.  

From Creation in Eternity Past to a Coffin in Egypt. 

That is the hold of sin and death. 

That is the testimony of their destructive power. 

But I am also glad to tell you that those two are nor the only things on the rise in Genesis. 

There is also a seed of hope that is planted. 

I think you first see it back in 3:15 – in the middle of Sin’s Curse the promise of the Savior’s Coming: 

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  

We can trace the lineage from Adam to Seth to Methuselah to Noah to Shem to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Judah. 

Remember what Jacob said when he blessed his son Judah: 

Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.  

Shiloh means “man of peace” 

That is talking about the Prince of Peace there, the Messiah. 

We see the picture of the salvation of Christ bearing us safely the floods of God’s wrath in Noah’s Ark. 

We see the picture of Christ’s substitution – dying in our place – in the ram provided when Abraham was sent to offer Isaac. 

I think we see Him pictured in Joseph, the son that “dead” but returned to bring salvation to his family. 

We could go on and on. 

Just know this – Yes sin and death entered this world through Adam’s sin: 

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” – Romans 5:1 

Know that the natural consequence of sin is death, both physical and spiritual: 

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” – James 1:15 

But also know that God has provided hope for us: 

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23 

You know how Abraham found salvation? 

He trusted in the work that Christ would do. 

How are we saved 

We trust in the word that Christ has done. 

There is no other means of salvation but through faith in Christ! 

Now, that is all about the departure that death brings. 

Let’s look now at the arrival it also brings. 

God has made it so that there are two destinations for the departed souls of men. 

Which destination you arrive at is determined by if you found forgiveness through faith in Christ on this earth before your final breath. 

There is a place of wondrous peace and blessing ahead for the child of God. 

There is a place of horrible torment ahead for those that reject Christ. 

That is the Gospel truth. 

If it is not so Christ came and died in vain. 

If it is not so we might as well pack up and go home, all the missionaries quit their labors, and all the churches shut down. 

But it is true. 

There is hope beyond death’s embrace. 

Look back with me at our text in vs. 8 

Gen 25:8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.  

That is such a beautiful phrase. 

We find the same or similar wording used for the deaths of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Aaron – I’ll let you track down those references. 

It is also used in Judges 2:10 – the final time this phrase appears – to talk about the passing of the generation that conquered the Promised Land under Joshua. 

All these “were gathered to their people” 

That is not about the departure of death, it is describing the arrival in the Blessed Hope that awaits the child of God. 

Yes, I know it is a little different before the Cross and Resurrection, and that the Old Testament saints had to wait for Christ’s victory to enter Heaven. 

But they still had a wonderful place to be. 

David said in II Samuel 12:23 about his infant son that died –“But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” 

Christ gives us a glimpse into this in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. 

I do not think this is a parable, I think that his Lazarus was a real person, and not the same one that He raised from the dead later. 

Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom… 

You know what these Old Testaments saints did after they died – “They where gathered to their people” 

The same can be said about Christians. 

For example, Paul wrote: 

1Th 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  

1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  

We too will be “gathered to our people” 

Now quickly, I want to note a few things about this phrase before we draw to a close. 

First, this proves that we, our persons and personalities, continue beyond death. 

Matthew Gage will not cease when his heart stops. 

No, I will only move on through death’s door into live everlasting. 

I like to use the word “graduate” – I just graduate from this life to the next. 

I will be gathered to my people, and so will you if you know Christ. 

Second, we will not be alone. 

Think about Abraham, he left his ancestral home, left his family behind and went to Canaan land. 

He had only Lot, and probably should have left him behind. 

He was a pilgrim and stranger amongst people who were not like him, did not serve the trust God as he did. 

But there came a day when God gathered him to a place filled with family and friends. 

He would never be alone again, and neither will we. 

Third we will be “our people” 

That can be family – I have many I wish to see again or meet for the first time. 

That can also be people like us. 

Heaven is a place filled with the children of God, all will love and serve Him. 

CONCLUSION 

One day if Christ does not return soon, all of use will stand at the departure gate of death. 

I speak here metaphorically, but there will be great sorting that takes place there. 

We can read in the Bible of the sorting out of the wheat and the chaff or the goats and sheep. 

God knows His own and no mistakes will be made. 

There is no space given to change your fate, that time has passed. 

To the child of God this morning whose sins have been washed white as snow in the blood of the lamb, what a happy day that will be to be gathered to our people. 

What a reunion that will be – friends, family, and most importantly our wonderful Savior. 

Do not fear the departure of death because that arrival lies beyond it. 

If you do not know Christ, if you have not fully trusted in Him, if you are still holding out hope that your good deeds, your baptism, your family, or anything other the Christ and Christ alone – get ready now. 

Christ loves you, died for, rose again and conquered death so that we could be with Him forever. 

He alone can forgive our sins – He alone can make us righteous and whole in the sight of God. 

Come to Him today. 

Call on Him – put your faith in Him! 

Be ready for that day when death comes creeping in. 

Don’t be gathered with the lost and doomed by rejecting Christ. 

Be ready to be gathered to your people with Him. 

The Other Woman At The Well 

John 4:1-10 

I hope that our text this morning is a familiar one to you. 

I have preached from it here at least once and taught lessons from it at least twice. 

The ancient Jews despised Samaria and would often travel around it. 

But Christ told His disciples that this time He needed to go that way. 

We see why that is in our text. 

He knew that on this particular day there would be a woman at that well who needed Him. 

He knew all about her past and her shame. 

He knew she was a social outcast. 

He knew she needed someone to care about her. 

So Christ waited by the well in the heat of the day until she came out. 

He knew the disciples would not have the same heart to reach her so he sent them on into town. 

She came out thinking her biggest need was to satisfy her thirst. 

Christ showed her she needed Him – that he was the water that satisfied. 

When she finally realized Who He was that was talking to her, she went running back into town to tell the news. 

The disciples came back and were puzzled as to why Christ would be talking to such a woman. 

I don’t know if it was her sinful background or her bloodline that made them overlook her need. 

But I do know that she was thankful that the Almighty God had compassion on her, and went out of His way to be there that day. 

If you study the book of John you will notice that there is sort of a trilogy of stories in chapters 3, 4 and 5. 

All involve Christ going out of this way to seek and to save that which was lost. 

In chapter 3 there is Nicodemus. 

He is a leader of the Jews, he had to turn from his own self righteousness to see his need to be born again. 

In chapter 4 there is the Samaritan woman at the well. 

She was an outcast and a lost cause, she had to turn get tear down the walls of prejudice and defense she had put up to le the Savior in. 

In chapter 5 there is the lame man by the pool of Bethesda on the sabbath day. 

He was unable to gain the healing desires, but Christ healed him physically and spiritually. 

All three of these stories show that wonderful love of the Savior. 

All three show His mercy extended to the vilest of sinners. 

All three show His mercy pour out immeasurably on underserving man.   

I don’t know about you, but I am glad that way back when I was about four years old that He came looking for me. 

There I was, too timid and shy to go to children’s church on a Sunday morning. 

Bro. Jackson got up and preached the hottest sermon on hell I think he ever preached. 

I sat there knowing I was a sinner and that I was in trouble if I had to stand before the Lord. 

I did not know what to do, but that night Bro. Horton took me back into the pastor’s office. 

We sat on the couch that was right inside the door. 

He took his Bible and he showed me what Christ did for me. 

I already had the first two parts down – I knew I was a sinner and that I was not going to Heaven. 

He showed me the second to parts – that Christ came to this earth to die for lost sinners like me also rose again in victory, and if I would only place my faith in Him that I could be freed from the chains of sin. 

I was only about four, but I can still send my mind back to that night and I can still feel that feeling that was like the weight of the cosmos was lifted from my little shoulders. 

I found that peace that passes all understanding! 

I found that hope that will ever endure! 

I found the joy that comes from knowing you are a child of God. 

Some might say that I found Christ that night. 

In reality, He found me. 

He knew who I was before the foundation of the world was laid. 

He knew on the cross that it was for me. 

That day the Spirit reached out and took hold of my young heart and the Savior took up residence. 

I don’t know everyone’s story that is here today, but I hope you have that same kind of story. 

I pray that you know what it is like for Jesus to come along and take you up in His nail scarred hands. 

That is why He came – “to seek and to save that which was lost” 

He sought out Nicodemus, He sought out the Samaritan woman at the well, He sought out the lame man lying by the pool of Bethesda, He sought me out when I was just a little rascal of a boy, and friend I guarantee is seeking you out if don’t know Him this morning. 

The pages of this Bible are filled with this truth. 

For instance, you can go over to Luke 15 and see three wonderful pictures of it. 

He is like the shepherd that lost one of his sheep, but left the ninety and nine to bring the lost lamb back into the fold. 

He is like the woman who had ten coins, but lost one and did not rest until she found it. 

He is like the prodigal son’s father, patiently waiting for us to repent and come to His open arms. 

Now, I told you up front that the title of this sermon is “The Other Woman At The Well”. 

That is not referring to the woman at the well in our text. 

As I was putting together the daily Bible reading notes this week, it occurred to me that she is not the only lost soul that Christ went out of His way to find sitting near a well. 

Now, you are going to need to follow me closely here if this is going to make any sense at all. 

I am going to go a little deeper into the Word that is just a cursory, surface-level reading. 

If you want to follow along with me, I am going to ask that you turn back to the book of Genesis and find chapter 16. 

While you are doing that let me give you a little background. 

God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, yet his wife Sarah was barren. 

They grew impatient with God and decided to take matters into their own hands. 

Sarah had an Egyptian handmaid named Hagar. 

She decided that Abraham could just marry Hagar and have kids with here. 

Abraham went along with it, and Hagar was with child. 

That plan didn’t seem so good anymore! 

Sarah turned on Hagar, treated her badly – so badly that she fled and ran away into the wilderness. 

There she is, scared, pregnant, and confused. 

Neither Sarah nor Abraham seems to go looking for her. 

She thought her life was over. 

If ever there was a lost cause, she felt like she was it. 

But God saw her tears and His loving heart was moved at her plight. 

We find in there in Genesis 16:7 – “And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.” 

Now this is not something you are going to pick up just skimming through this chapter, but there is something special about this “angel of Jehovah”. 

An angel is a messenger – that is literally what the word means in Hebrew and Greek – and they act at the command of God. 

That is what we see when, for example, the angel Gabriel doing when he appears and delivers the message to Mary that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. 

The angel shows up and says, “Thus saith the Lord” and then delivers the message. 

Other times angels show up and do the job God had sent them to do – a good example is the angel that was sent to encourage Elijah in I Kings 19 – he made the prophet food, told him to take a nap, then pointed him in the direction of Horeb. 

I say this because this “angel of the Lord” here in Genesis 16 acts differently when he appears. 

Yes, this not an isolated incident. 

I believe we see this same person appearing to: 

Abraham in Genesis 22:11-12 

Moses in Exodus 3:2-6 

Gideon in Judges 6. 

Samon’s parents in Judges 13. 

Let’s look at what happens here between the “angel of the Lord” and Hagar. 

In vs. 8 he asks what she is doing there and she confesses that she ran away from Sarah. 

In vs. 9 he tells her to go back. 

In vs. 10 – this is where it starts getting interesting – he says “I will multiply thy seed” 

That is not delivering a message, it is making a person promise. 

In vs. 11 he tells her to name her unborn son Ishmael, which means “who God hears” 

In vs. 12 he reveals the future character of the boy. 

Now look at vs. 13: 

And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her 

Wait, she doesn’t say an angel spoke to her, she says God did! 

Thou God seest me:  

In Hebrew that is El-Roi. 

Again, she does not say an angel saw here, but that God Himself did. 

for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?  

She says she saw the God who sees her, not the angel that sees her. 

In vs. 14  she names the place Beerlahairoi, meaning “the well of Him that liveth and seeth me”. 

Now, I believe it is clear that this is no mere angel that went into the wilderness to comfort Hagar that day. 

Every indication here is that this was God Himself making an appearance. 

I did not mention it, but I think there is a reason vs. 9, 10, and 11 all start the exact same way – “And the angel of the Lord said unto her” 

Three times – I think this is a hint at the Trinity. 

Now, if that was God Himself that appeared that day to Hagar, and every clue points to it, I want to go a step further in “Gageology” 

My theory is that whenever God makes a physical appearance in the Old Testament it is Christ. 

Colossians  1:15  says of Christ – “Who is the image of the invisible God,” 

I believe that was the preincarnate Son of God that ministered to Hagar that day. 

It is in His character to reach out in love to the hurting and lost. 

That is what we found in doing in our text, over 1900 years after He appeared to Hagar. 

That is what Christ does. 

He seeks and saved. 

He finds the lost and brings them home. 

He heals our wounds and strengthens us in our weakness. 

He meets the needs of the hurting. 

There is no one that comes close to loving us the way Christ does. 

I like the way Paul said it: 

1Ti 1:12  And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;  

1Ti 1:13  Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  

1Ti 1:14  And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.  

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.  

1Ti 1:16  Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.  

I leave you with a few closing thoughts: 

1. There is no one beyond redemption 

1. Most Christians would write off Hagar and the Samaritan woman as lost causes. 

2. That is probably Christ had to step in and handle those cases Himself! 

2. When it comes to the salvation of a human soul, there is no price that is too high. 

1. Christ gave His all for them, should we not be willing to do the same? 

3. If you have never truly known Christ and the salvation He provides, there is not better time than now. 

1. He died and rose again for you! 

2. His arms are wide open waiting for you! 

Faith in Focus 

Joshua 14:6-15 

How many of you ever played with a water hose growing up? 

I don’t know how many times I turned the water hose on that was in front of our house. 

We used that for everything. 

That was our water fountain when we were playing outside. 

We’d turn it on and make mud to play in. 

We washed cars with it. 

We would have water fights with it. 

Now, we rarely had any sort of sprayer attached to it. 

Those usually got misplaced somehow. 

If we needed a little more pressure or a little more distance, we did that age old, tried and true method of sticking your thumb over the end of the hose. 

It still amazes me how water that coming out without a lot of force, the second you make that opening smaller how the force of the water increases. 

I remember some lessons on hydraulics from high school that explained why that happens, but I can sum it up for you. 

You get a lot more power when you focus your energy. 

The same is true with flashlights. 

I have always liked the ones you can twist the end to focus the light. 

I can have a wide beam that isn’t very bright, that a few twists later I have a narrow beam that is pretty bright. 

Essentially that is all a laser is – focused light. 

As I was thinking about a theme for this year, I have kept coming back to the word focus. 

A few months ago I was thinking about foundations or roots, but I they just didn’t seem right. 

I think in some ways the theme is me preaching to me. 

Sometimes it is easy to lose focus or have too many things dividing your focus. 

But there is great power when you can focus your attention, your passion, your energies onto one precise target. 

Now, we know from the Bible that the Just shall live by Faith. 

We know that without faith it is impossible to please God. 

We know that God works through our faith. 

I hope to challenge us to focus our faith and see what God can do. 

Our text this morning is one of the great stories in all the Bible. 

It features one of the many people I cannot wait to get to heaven and learn more about. 

His name is Caleb, which means “capable.” 

We first meet him in Numbers 13 where he is one of the twelve spies sent into the land of Canaan. 

He is the representative of the tribe of Judah. 

He was one of the first to see the goodness of the land God had promised to the children of Israel. 

He saw the fruitful plans, the rolling pastures, and the flowing streams. 

He tasted the grapes of Eschol and the pomegranates and figs. 

He saw the cities and the farms and the garrisons of soldiers. 

His heart burned within him. 

This would be HIS land, and his children’s, and his children’s children’s. 

They would not have to be a slave as he had grown up. 

No, they would live in a land flowing with milk and honey. 

We know the story how the twelve spies returned. 

How ten of them said there was no use – the enemy was too strong. 

How two men – Joshua and Caleb – failed to rally them people to trust in their God and claim the land. 

The nation of Israel rejected God’s promise, and God let them wander in the wilderness for forty years. 

Everyone over the age of twenty died and was buried there. 

All except the two faithful spies – Joshua and Caleb. 

Here is what God said about this amazing man: 

Num 14:24  But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.  

That different spirit I believe is talking about him being filled or led by the Holy Spirit. 

His righteous heart directed his steps so that God could say Caleb followed him fully. 

Six times – you can go and find them – God told them Caleb would not die in the wilderness but would possess the land he had spied out and set his heart on. 

Caleb’s courage and character led to him being named the chief of the tribe of Judah in Numbers 34:19. 

This amazing man fades into the background of the story as Joshua leads the Israelites across Jordan and begins the conquest of the Promised Land. 

Surely Caleb was there when the walls of Jericho fell. 

Surely Caleb was there when the sun stood still in Joshua 10. 

Surely he fought in the southern and northern campaigns. 

While they were not able to completely rid the land of the Canaanite tribes, Israel had a firm enough hold to begin dividing the land among the tribes and families. 

As this is being done, a party from the tribe of Judah approaches Joshua while they are camped at Gilgal – This is our text. 

There is Caleb – 85 years old – and begins starts to tell his story to Joshua. 

Now he and Joshua are bonded by their time as spies, their faithful stand against the doubters, and the fact that they are the two oldest guys around. 

Caleb tells his story about spying out the land. 

He recalls a promise that Moses had made to him personally: 

Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.  

He said he has waited 45 years for this day but it was time. 

There was a place he had seen while spying out the land. 

This place captured his heart and I imagine he made a vow that God allowed him it would be his. 

It was in the hill country of Judah about twenty miles south of Jerusalem. 

It had historic ties to Abraham. 

Abraham dwelt there for some time, and it was there that he purchased a burial ground for his family. 

Abraham and Sarah were buried there. 

Isaac and Rebecca were buried there. 

Jacob and Leah were buried there. 

There is even a Jewish tradition – I highly doubt its true – that Adam and Eve were buried there. 

Hebron was also set aside to be a city for the Levites and city of refuge. 

Caleb could not have known it, but it would be David’s first capital when he first ruled only over Judah for seven and half years. 

Now, the problem with Hebron is that it was still in Canaanite hands. 

And not just any Canaanite people, but the descendants of Anak. 

Anak means “long neck” – they were some of the giants that had startled the fearful spies. 

If you read into chapter 15, beginning in vs. 13, you can read about how Caleb drove them out. 

He defeat three sons of Anak – probably princes or kings. 

There was a town nearby called Kirjathsepher. 

Instead of fighting it he proclaimed a reward for the man who could take the city and promised his daughter Achsah as the prize. 

His nephew Othniel did so and married Achsah. 

We have the added detail that she made her husband request land with springs because it was not as fertile as other areas. 

By the way, this same Othniel would become the first judge over Israel in Judges 3. 

What is Caleb know for? 

As far as the genealogies go, his line is not very important and he and his three sons are only briefly mentioned in I Chronicles 4:15. 

Many remember him as one of the faithful spies. 

Few that he was a great leader among the tribe of Judah. 

Most remember his bold faith – claiming a piece of land in enemy territory and taking it for his own and his family. 

Caleb was a great man, yes, but an even greater man of faith. 

It was not bravado or boasting the moved him. 

No, he trusted in God promises and power. 

He put his finger down on a map and said – “this spot is mine”. 

Through God’s faithfulness it was made so. 

That is the power of faith in focus. 

We live in a world that does not know how to focus. 

Our attention spans are minutes or seconds long. 

This is not just in the secular world but in the spiritual also. 

We have faith, yes. 

We may even have great faith. 

But how few are the men and women who focus their faith like a laser and see God do great things. 

John Knox was one of the most famous leaders of the Reformation. 

His prayer was this: ‘Give me Scotland, or I die.” 

He focused his faith on that goal. 

God used him to turn Scotland from Catholicism to Presbyterianism. 

If only He had kept turning that knob until He hit the Baptist setting, but oh well. 

The Scottish missionary John Keith-Falconer, who turned his back on a promising career as a cyclist and on a professorship at Cambridge said: 

“I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” 

He died at the age of 30, but many have followed his example of faith in focus to respond to the need of Missions work. 

It was faith in focus that led Edward Kimball to visit one of the young men in his Sunday School class and led him to the Lord. 

That young man was D.L. Moody, who shook two continents for Christ in the late 1800’s 

Bob Jones says in his book “Things I Have Learned” that “Every successful person I have ever met had come at some time in his life under the dominating power of some great truth.” 

That is what I am talking about today. 

You can apply that principle in any walk of life, but oh the power of having your faith focused on a target! 

This is the kind of faith that God honors and rewards! 

I have explained the theme and given you a tremendous example from Scripture. 

I have given you a few illustrations of its power. 

Now, let’s get down to business for a few minutes. 

First I ask, how is your faith this morning? 

Faith is a measurable quantity in Scripture. 

You can have no faith, little faith and much faith. 

Christ said in Matthew 17:20 – “…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” 

Now that is focused faith! 

Second I ask, how focused is your faith? 

I don’t know that we have less faith than previous generations, or that we have less faith from those that God greatly uses. 

I think it may just come down to focusing our faith into action. 

Third I ask, what are you focusing your faith on? 

There is no reason why we cannot spend daily time in the Word or in prayer – it is a matter of focusing the faith we have into action. 

There is no reason why we cannot continue to grow our missions program – it is a matter of focusing the faith we have into action. 

Do you want to see God do great things in your life? 

Do you want to see that in our church? 

Well, we need to lock onto the promises of God, focus our faith and our attention and our energies. 

We need to be united in prayer and vision. 

We need to constantly help keep each other on track. 

If you want 2026 to be a better year than 2025, and even the best year yet, we need to get on board with this. 
We need to focus our faith and see what God can do 
It takes little faith to focus on Christ to find salvation. 

A New Start in a New Year 

Proverbs 16:3 

I want to be practical this morning. 

Our text is from the single most practical book of the Bible. 

King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. 

After he became king he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices to the Lord. 

God appeared to him, and did something remarkable. 

1Ki 3:5  …God said, Ask what I shall give thee.  

Can you imagine that? 

We sometimes fantasize about that magical genie granting us three wishes and think about what they would be. 

Here is God, offering to Solomon anything he might request. 

He could have asked for riches, fame, and a long life. 

But the one request he made was for wisdom to be a better ruler: 

1Ki 3:6  And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.  

1Ki 3:7  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.  

1Ki 3:8  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.  

1Ki 3:9  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?  

Now, I do not think that Solomon was a moron by any stretch. 

His father was a genius is warfare, music, and government. 

It is highly possible that he wrote the Song of Solomon a few years before this. 

That is what Reese’s Chronological Bible states. 

It took a genius to write that. 

I think that one of the marks that someone has very high intelligence is not that they know so much but rather that they admit they know so little. 

That was Solomon. 

God answered his prayer and gave even greater wisdom to an already gifted man. 

The practical truths he put together that were collected in the book of Proverbs are without peer. 

Take any of the great philosophers, your Aristotle, Plato – they are all pale imitations of Solomon. 

I think the book of Psalms tunes our hearts, but the book of provides guides our feet. 

I have yet to find any statement within it to be untrue. 

Now that is all introduction that I hope helps you to realize the importance of our text. 

This is truth in action. 

This is the way the wise are supposed to live. 

This is the way a Christian is supposed to live. 

Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.  

As with most Hebrew poetry we have two truths in one. 

By taking both halves of the verse and examining their relationship to each other the truths are magnified. 

The relationship here I believe is called either synthetic or constructive. 

That is the second half supplements and completes the thought of the first half. 

In the first half, we are told to commit our works to the Lord. 

The word commit there is literally “roll”. 

I love that image – here we are with something too heavy for us to carry on our own, and all we can do is roll it over to God who can handle all things. 

What is it that we are rolling over to God so He can handle? 

Our works. 

Now, this has nothing to do with salvation. 

You can in no way work your way into heaven. 

But every Christian is to be busy at work for Christ. 

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  

I think that is the idea here. 

God has given us something to do, but we cannot do it in our own power, so we roll it over to Him. 

That is the first half. 

The second says that the result of our rolling our works over to the Lord is that our thoughts will be established. 

The word thoughts there can also mean devices, cunning, purposes, or imaginations. 

It is just the random ADD impulses of a human mind. 

No, these are the things we desire and plan for and work toward. 

It is not just wanting a new car, it is researching and finding the best deal on the best vehicle that you have calculated you can afford. 

For most of us that leaves only two brands, Matchbox and Hot Wheels. 

That is what is meant by thoughts here. 

What happens to our thoughts. 

Well, they are established – that is prepared, readied, set, or fixed. 

We might say that our plans work out and our desires come true. 

Now what is interesting to me here is that there is something circular in this verse. 

The works in the first half are born out of the thoughts in the second half. 

The works do not create the thoughts, it is the other way around. 

But when we allow God to shoulder the burden of our work, He in turn blesses the thoughts behind it and sees them come to fruition. 

Can I tell you what that makes me want to do? 

It makes me want to keep dreaming bigger and stepping back to see what God will do! 

I want in on this deal! 

By the way, this is not the only time these truths are to be found. 

David says the same in Psalm 37 

Psa 37:3  Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  

Psa 37:4  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  

Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  

Psa 37:6  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.  

Now, what does all this apply to us today? 

Let me boil it down for you – God blesses the heart that wants to do right and hands that let Him do the work. 

We need the right desires and plans in our hearts and minds. 

We need to get busy acting on those desires. 

What better time is there to do this than now? 

You know, there may actually be a better time than that. 

Thursday we turn another page on the calendar and begin a new year. 

I know all of that with the dates and such is arbitrary, but even the sinful world recognizes that a fresh start to a new year just makes sense. 

Besides, this way it gives you a few days to prepare! 

I ask you, do you desire to be a better Christian this coming year? 

Do you have plans to see that happen? 

Are you going to let God in to take control? 

I want to challenge myself and everyone here to set it in your heart, make it your desire to grow in Christ this coming year. 

It is very important that we do so in God’s power – if it is up to us, we will not last a week. 

Let’s get in on what Solomon was talking about. 

Let us get in our hearts a resolve to press forward. 

Let us put those plans into action. 

Let us rely on God to see it through. 

Let us praise Him for the victories He gives. 

Now, I am not going to challenge us with anything earth shattering this morning. 

I am going to keep it simple because I have a feeling that we should start there. 

I now offer these resolutions to you. 

I. Be present more 

There is something special about this church family. 

I have been a part of some churches during some amazing times. 

I am not just saying this, I mean it – I firmly believe we are in that kind of time. 

Too many times people look at going to church as a chore. 

It is no chore to be here today. 

If you enjoy this morning, come back on Wednesday night. 

Come a little earlier for Sunday School – you are seriously missing out if you do not. 

We’ve got monthly meetings for men and women. 

I’ll talk to folks that go to different churches – sometimes I wonder why they even still go there. 

Friends, I don’t know why you would not want to be here every time the doors are open. 

II. Be involved more 

Most churches today frankly run their people into the ground. 

I was told in Bible college that the average members stays active and involves for an average of two years, so get the most out of them while they are here. 

Well, no wonder they are gone so soon! 

You work them to death! 

We do not, and we will not, pressure people like that. 

In fact, I have told at least one person in this church that they had too much going on up here and needed to let a few things go. 

There is always something to be done or someone that could use some help. 

We are a family, but as in every family there are chores and duties and needs. 

I believe the Holy Spirit will lead you to help where you are needed. 

III.  Give more 

Yes, I am meddling now. 

God has been good to us 

There is not a single pastor I know that wouldn’t trade bank accounts with us. 

We are putting a lot of it to work now. 

Can I tell you, I am really not even talking about our regular offerings here. 

It would be nice to have a little more room in the budget but we are doing well. 

If there is anything I would challenge everyone in this room to give more toward it is Missions. 

There is no greater investment you can make than supporting the work of the Gospel. 

IV. Pray More 

I guarantee there is not a single person in this room that could not use improvement in their prayer life. 

Maybe it is to be more organized. 

Maybe it is to be more consistent. 

Maybe it is to be more fervent. 

Of everything I am talking about this morning, this is the greatest need if we are to see God do mighty things – no, let me rephrase that, if we are to see God do ANYTHING we must do our part in prayer. 

V.  Study More 

I want to challenge you specially this year to make it a daily habit to get into God’s Word. 

There are many great books and devotionals out there, but nothing compares to reading straight from the Bible. 

CONCLUSION 

I want to return to our text in closing. 

How can you make a change for the better in the new year? 

First, make it a priority. 

Purpose to go through with it and make plans to do it. 

Second, rely on God. 

Do you honestly think He does not want you to do more for Him? 

Do you honestly think He does not want you to spend more time with Him? 

God earnestly desires these things and will help you to do them. 

Third, press on. 

Miss a day reading your Bible? 

Pick it up the next day! 

Get sick and don’t pray like you should have? 

Pick it up the next day! 

God works through our faithfulness, not our perfection. 

Pro_24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. 

2Co_12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. … 

Let’s just see what God can do through each of us this coming year! 

If you do not know Christ, do not wait until New Years! 

Do it today!