# The death of Moses

Key Passage: Deuteronomy 34
Date: June 7, 2024

Chapter number 34, Deuteronomy, chapter number 34 in God’s Word tonight. And we are about a year and a half. Oh, I have to look. We started in 2022. So towards the end of 2022, maybe a year and a half or so, we’ve been into the life of Moses. And we just, last week we covered really the last words of Moses.

And we’re just going to touch briefly tonight on the death of Moses. And next week I will be out of town. And Brother Mike Barber, we just took them on for support, starting a church in Nashville, who’ll be preaching for us next Wednesday night. And you’d be praying about what God would have us cover next after the life of Moses. But tonight just briefly, the death of Moses.

Right at the end of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 34. Let me just say this. There’s a little discussion we can say about who penned this. We know Moses very clear. He penned the first five books of the Bible. This very last part, chapter 34, a little discussion about it. It is not beyond just comprehending that Moses penned it. Of course, God’s leading him what to write. So even though he penned it, of course, he wasn’t dead yet, God could, of course, lead him to do that.

And then also, there’s been a fair amount of people over the years that kind of write out what they want in the funeral. And they’ve had it planned out sometime in writing. Sometimes they let you know ahead of time. I try when someone tells me. I like this one day. I try to put it in my computer, be honest with you, because you can hear that so often you forget.

But anyways, it’s not beyond comprehending that he penned this, Moses. A lot of people think Joshua did. And even the scrolls they would have, it could be kind of almost a continuation of Deuteronomy that Joshua penned. And, of course, the next book, the book of Joshua, maybe I had intermingled a little bit there. Some will even go to Ezra penned it. Some will say that.

And even some will even say one of the 70 elders penned it. But just thought we kind of throw that in there. Since we have a Bible college student here tonight, we’ve got to be up to par on these things. I’m teasing a little bit. Good to have Liam with us. We’re in Tennessee, Liam, amen. So we’re good, amen.

But Deuteronomy 34, we’re just going to really study these verses and touch real quickly here. And then we’ll try to draw a conclusion at the end. We’ll just try to grasp truth out of these verses real quickly tonight. And 34, verse number five. Would you please stand tonight? Deuteronomy 34 and verse number five in God’s word. “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord.”

Look at that verse there, verse number five. So Moses, the—what’s the next word? Servant of the Lord.

Forty times, the best I can tell, I counted for the most part, I may be off by one, but the best I can tell, 40 times the Bible calls Moses the servant of the Lord. Now there’s a few of them Moses is talking about himself. There’s one or two Joshua’s talking about him, but the vast majority of those are the Lord talking about Moses and the Lord calling Moses, the servant of the Lord.

Now, wouldn’t it be awesome if God, maybe we stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ, and we stand before Him, wouldn’t it be wonderful for the Lord to say, “Mike Patterson, the servant of the Lord”? Wouldn’t you like that? The Lord said, you know, Brother Chip McCoy, the servant of—Miss Temple? No, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some of these wives like that, Brother Chip, but I don’t know about that there, you know. But it would be wonderful for the Lord to say, “Hey, Paul Chisgar, Brother Johnny, whoever may be, the servant of the Lord.” God said that about Moses. The vast majority of those 40 times, it’s God talking over and over. I would venture to say over 35 of those times God speaking.

God kept saying, “Moses, the servant,” “Moses, my servant,” sometimes He said. Wow, wouldn’t it be awesome for the Lord to say, “Sarah” or “Steve” or “Robert, my servant”? Wow, what a testimony. Moses said, over and over again, “Moses, my servant.” I just wouldn’t acknowledge that. Forty times scripture says, “Moses, the servant of the Lord.”

Now let’s keep going. We’re just going to try to pull the truth out as we go. Look at verse number six, would you please? Verse number six.

“And he”—I’ve got that underlined in red—“and he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” Now some will say this about Moses’ death. I really don’t see how they get it, but they’ll say Moses was translated. They’ll try to use Jude 9 when they’re disputed about his body. And I always say when there’s dispute about his body, he’s dead, you know. But they’ll try to use that. And they’ll say the amount of transfiguration, you know, that Moses and Elijah was there. And so he was translated. But clearly, clearly scripture here says, he died. He’s dead.

In fact, they buried him. Friend, don’t change the word of God. The Bible says he died and he was buried. That’s what the Bible says. And say that about Elijah. And so clearly that is a false. You’ll hear that from time to time. No, that’s not a biblical thing.

And you can’t get it out of Jude, verse number nine, guarantee you for that. But sometimes it does. Look at this little interesting thing. Look in verse number one. Deuteronomy 34, look at verse number one.

“And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mount of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah.” I like “went up to the mount.” I think it’s spiritual; he said when God’s people, when they’re about to die, they’re always going up. They’re ascending up. I kind of hold that as an interesting thought. But Moab went up to the Mount of Nebo to the top of Pisgah. Notice at the top of Pisgah, that was over against Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan and all.

Now, down to verse number six. “And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab.” Now, just a little detail, but it’s an interesting little thing here. Moses dies on the top of Pisgah, Mount Range Nebo, but the top of Mount Pisgah. And then God takes his body over here to a valley. Some people who died right there, God buried him. No, actually God took him to a valley. He died on the top of the mount, but God took him over the valley of Moab. That’s where he buried him. There’s a little fault there about where Moses—now, we don’t know. Scripture there tells us, and of course it’s been true, not last part of that verse, but “no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.”

Most will say this, and I agree with it, that the reason why God didn’t want anyone to know where he was buried at is because the children of Israel, they were just very good at making shrines and idolatry and worshipping the wrong thing, bowing down the wrong thing. So most would think—and I don’t think that really argues with that—that God kept that information from them. They don’t know where he’s buried at because there’s a real good chance they’d be tempted to idolatry or make a shrine of it and worship that place and whatnot. So God said, “No, no, no. Nobody knows where Moses is buried at besides what scripture tells us right there.”

Now, one last thought, we’re going to move on. We’re just hitting verse by verse here all right tonight. Let me just add this here, and I want to try to be wise about how I word this. God—God is the one that buried him. And when God dealt with someone that died, the body, if you will, he buried it. Now, I’m not saying it’s a sin to cremate. And I understand financially it’s much easier to cremate in our day and time. And I’ll just kind of leave it at that. And I’m not saying it’s a sin to do other than, but I will say that God, when he took care of a body, he buried it. I just kind of leave it at that. All right.

Let’s keep going. Let’s keep going here. Look at verse number seven, verse number seven here.

And verse number seven, “Moses was 120 years old when he died.” And as his eye was not dim, I covered a little bit. I’ve got to have these readers everywhere I go. You know what I’m talking about? If anybody could create something that would keep readers in your shirt pocket when you bend over, that’d be a billionaire, I’d tell you for sure now. You know, that’s the truth. The man’s 120 years old, as his eye was not dim, nor as his natural force abated." And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

And let me just say a note here. Like I said, we’re just going verse by verse very quickly tonight. We do have a short business meeting later on, so we’re just kind of moving along tonight. But…

What was it going to say? Now, I’m trying to remember what I was going to say. You don’t know, amen. Let me look at these notes. Praise the Lord for readers right there, amen, you know. Look, here’s the thing. I looked at it. I peeked. You see that, you know? You’ll never find in Scripture God rebuking someone for mourning when someone dies. Have you ever been to a funeral and you find a—sometimes a zealous Christian? Sometimes we’ve got a lot of zeal, no knowledge, but they’re kind of guilt-tripping someone for crying at a funeral. God doesn’t do that. Well, yeah, rejoice, you backslid Christian, for crying. You’ve ever been around that somewhat? You know, actually Jesus said with Matthew 5, the beatitude, He said, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

And over there, He says, look, He said, “We don’t sorrow as others that have no hope.” Now, we don’t sorrow like those that just got no hope. We don’t sorrow like that, but the Bible never tells us not to sorrow once someone dies. And I always say it’s just a little bit of a bad testimony for a Christian to guilt someone. “Well, if you’re a matter of Christian, they might not say it. If you’re a better Christian, you wouldn’t be crying; you’re rejoicing because they’re in heaven right now.” Well, let me hit you in the nose and see how much you rejoice, you know. It’s all right to mourn.

It’s very healthy. When he got a little boy in our school, and I got to be wise about what I say, but his dad passed about two years ago now, and his son was there, whatnot. And it’s just a sad thing. And praise the Lord, the boy’s done good over the last—he’s been in our school, down two years, whatnot—and he’s opening up. But their dog died the other day.

And I was asked the mom, and Sarah was asked the mom, “Did he cry?” And I was asking that, wondering how healthy he is, this boy. Is he able to grieve a little bit? Boy, don’t ever cry about that. Sometimes it’s healthy. I don’t say you have to cry about everything, but sometimes, you know, a man can cry or a lady can’t cry. But so they mourn and grieve, and you won’t find—you’ll find often in Scripture people mourning over the death of someone, and you don’t find God hitting them over the head, “Well, what the world’s wrong with you? Crying about somebody died.” I’m not saying you’ve got to cry. It’s all right if you don’t. But just don’t guilt-trip someone for mourning, if you will.

And you just don’t find that in Scripture, God doing that. Moses dies here, and they mourn for him, and you don’t find God guilt-tripping them over that, if you would. Let’s keep going. Y’all still with me tonight? We’re just moving right along, trying to pull some truths out as we go.

Look in verse number nine, verse number nine, 34 and verse number nine. “And Joshua the son of Nun”—now that’s not the Catholic Church, Nun, all right? Now, you know, that’s just dad—“the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him.” And the children of Israel hearkened unto him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Look, if you will, over Numbers 27. It gives a little bit of details about this. Look over Numbers 27, and we’re just kind of—it’s a little bit like a smorgasbord tonight. We’re just covering a lot of different subjects as we cover these verses here. We’re going to try to hit a couple different things, and then we may just for a little bit focus on one thing here in the Bible. Deuteronomy—did I say Numbers? Numbers, excuse me. I have a problem with Romans and First Corinthians and Numbers and Deuteronomy here lately. By the way, praise the Lord, good to have my wife back with me tonight. And she had been out sick. Glad she is feeling better, and glad to have her back tonight.

Numbers 27. And look in verse number 18, verse number 18. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and put thy hand upon him: Set him before Eleazar the priest, before all the congregation; And give him a charge in their sight. Thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, he shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: At his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”

And Moses did as the Lord commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.

Now, just a little fault here. Typically, when passing from one leader to another leader, a handoff, it’s better than a fumble is the way I always word it. You understand? And that’s not always possible. It doesn’t always happen like that. But more often than not, you’ll find more peaceful and more successful transitions when it’s a handoff instead of a fumble. You understand what I’m saying? And Moses here is, if you will, handing off to Joshua.

David did that with his son Solomon. And God very clearly had led, and David—he, in fact, David—he prepared much material for the temple. And at the end, of course, someone was trying to get in the way, and David said, “No, no,” and he anointed Solomon. And it was a handoff, of course. That transition was fairly smooth, fairly successful.

Paul did that somewhat in some churches with Timothy. And just a thought, we’re just trying to pull thoughts out here. Typically, in leadership, whether it be the workplace or the church place or the Sunday school place or wherever, if you can—it’s not always possible. Sometimes very sad situations, the next leader has to come in and take control and whatnot, and that’s… Sometimes necessity dictates that, but if you can, a handoff typically is much better than a fumble, all right?

That’s what’s going on right here, and it was fairly successful and peaceful, and Joshua was able to take the next generation into the promised land. Then I want to just look at this on this verse here. We’re just—just look at this. Very interesting what he says. Look at verse number nine again. We’re just staying in chapter 34.

And look at this saying, “Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for,” it’s interesting how God’s words, “for Moses had laid his hands upon him.” Now that doesn’t mean that Moses got Joshua by the throat and choked him for a little bit, you know. That’s not the type of laying on of hands he’s talking about. There is a sacred, holy laying on of hands in Scripture. It’s not necessarily the Benny Hinn stuff you see on TV and, you know, somebody didn’t brush their teeth, they blow in the crowd, they all pass out—that type. It’s not that type of thing. There’s a sacred thing in the Bible where often a man of God, or I would say even a lady of God to another lady, but they put their hands. There’s something sacred about that. It’s almost God says he’s got the spirit of wisdom because of—for Moses had laid his hands on.

Let me read for you a couple of things from Scripture, most of these from the New Testament, this course, Old Testament. But Paul to Timothy, let me just read him to you. Try to focus on these verses. First Timothy 4:14: “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.” Paul talking to Timothy, which was given thee by the prophecy with the laying on of hands of the presbytery.

And Paul said, “Don’t let that gift—remember, you got that gift when the presbyters, the preachers, the church leaders, the elders have put their hands on you.” Later on, Paul talking to Timothy, Second Timothy 1:6: “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.”

The first deacons in the Bible, by the way, we’re about to have a deacon election. If the deacon coming on has already been ordained, we will not go through the ordination process, but if they have not, we will. At that time, those that are ordained will put their hands and pray over all that deacon. It’s a biblical thing. Very sacred thing. Let me read for you by the first deacons. Acts 6:6: “Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.”

The Christians at Samaria, Acts chapter 8, verse number 17: “Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.” Wow. Young Christians and didn’t know much, they came and they taught, and they laid their hands. Pastors laid hands and prayed, laid their hands, and boy, the Holy Spirit came on them.

When they were sending out Barnabas and Saul as missionaries—it would be a wonderful thing for our church to have a missionary sent out of our church—and that’s what’s going on there in Acts 13:3: “And when they had fasted, and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” It’s a biblical practice. There’s something so sacred about this thing of laying on of hands in a biblical fashion that the Bible gives us some warnings around that. First Timothy 5:22: “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partakers of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”

I have, at this point, been a part of an ordination ceremony where the preacher that we ordained has changed his doctrine and went astray. And boy, I’ll be honest, since then, I take it a little more serious. I never forget, I went to an ordination ceremony, a pastor invited me to participate in that. And it came—and we’re, you know how a lot of times, especially the country churches, you know, they’ll take the candidate back and the questioning of the candidate—and I was back there for that with these other preachers. And the host preacher, he said, “Is anyone in here in the room here ever been part of an ordination ceremony?” And I said, “Yes, I have,” you know. And he said, “All right, Paul, you’re in charge.”

I said, “No, no, no. When we go out, you’re going to be in charge.” Now, I thought the guy was joking, you know, this first ever heard of it. And we were about to leave the room, and we went out in the auditorium, and I thought, “Is this guy serious? Am I really supposed to lead this thing or what?” I mean, I just heard about this like five minutes ago, and I’m sitting out in the congregation, and the host preacher says, “Paul, come on, he’s going to lead this ordination ceremony.” That’s the first I knew about that gracious thing. And so, praise the Lord, we just went with it. Did the best we could.

I never forget years ago, Brother Anthony did the right thing either. I’d not say he did the right thing for sure. I did the same thing, but we went down when Brother Lloyd Warren got ordained years ago. Brother Anthony just came to our church and just out about—he wasn’t even ordained himself before. And we had went back for the questioning of all that stuff, and then the service, and it was all over. And all the people that are part of the ordination, you know, committee, whatever, signed their names, you know. And there was, I don’t know, seven or eight slots for people to sign their names. And one of the preachers must have slipped out, you know, because there’s more lines than there were names.

And Brother Anthony was standing over there, dressed well, had a suit on, looked good and everything, you know. Jimmy Tedder—how many know Jimmy Tedder? He pastored in that church for over 50 years. God put his hand on him, but great work is going on greatly today. He’d been there. And Brother Jimmy Tedder, now he was old at this point, and his eyes were bad towards the end, really bad at the end. And he just saw a man standing over there. He didn’t know—I don’t know if he knew who he was. It was Brother Anthony. Well, Brother Anthony wasn’t part of the ordination. He had never been ordained himself. But Brother Jimmy Tedder says, “Hey, you sign that right there.” I did the same exact thing. Brother Anthony said, “Yes, sir.” He went over there and signed that thing. So I did the same thing.

But there’s something just sacred about the laying on of hands. And it’s a special thing. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a grandson or someone, and maybe there’s an older saint, and maybe that grandson’s going to take a Sunday school class. And he said, “Hey, Grandpa, would you pray over me?” I think there’s nothing wrong with that. Or maybe a dear old saint’s about to go home to heaven, and you don’t know, maybe six months, it may be a month. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a dear saint saying, “I believe God’s put his hand on you a little bit. Would you mind putting your hands on me and praying over me?” I don’t think of things wrong with that. When we do it in church, if we were to ordain another deacon and we’re praying, I think that’s a very sacred thing. Don’t take that thing lightly.

And he said, “Hey, Joshua’s got this spirit of wisdom for Moses laid his hands on him.” That’s a special sacred thing. Yeah, just a concluding thought on this verse right here. Hey, when you touch people, how do you touch them? You know? I’m always amazed when I study the life of Jesus and you look for—it’s just over and over. Everywhere Jesus went, He’s touching people. Lepers, nobody touched them. Jesus did. I mean, that little lady, only son in the bier and the coffin, He reached out and He touched. It brings life. Just everywhere you go, it’s amazing how many times Jesus just did not heal the multitudes; He touched. Look it up and healed. Not every time, almost every time. It’s amazing. You’ll find Jesus going through His life touching people. Little children, “How far the little children are coming to me.” What? He touched them. You check it out. He touched them. Old—never get into the Bible. What’s it mean when you put your hands on someone just to fall?

Let’s keep going. Let’s keep going. We’re going to get the concluding—God’s eulogy of Moses here, all right? Y’all still with me tonight? Y’all wake up there? Good deal.

Look at verse number 10, verse number 10 right there. And these are the—God talking about Moses here at the very end. Verse number 10, verse number 10. And the Bible there says, “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” Wow.

Well, that’s pretty holy ground. It was Moses, by the way, the Lord said, “Take your shoes off. You’re standing on holy ground.” He knew the Lord face to face. In all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed."

It’s amazing how many versions will change that until he did. And the Bible says to show in the sight of all Israel. Wouldn’t it be amazing for the Lord to say about just—just what an honor for the Lord to say, “There hasn’t been a prophet like that”? I mean, he knew the Lord face to face. Wow.

Can I just say this? Moses was truly a great man. Be careful. If we’re not careful, we’ll just get so old and kind of sometimes cynical, and we see so many things out there there’s no great men. And I understand all men are sinners. A man at best is just a man. But the Bible does over there in Jeremiah 5:5: “I will get me to the great men. I’ve known the way of the Lord.” And there are some great men. And Moses, truly, if there’s a great man, Moses is one of those great men. Just a great, great man. God bragged on him, but then He says, “Whoa, boy, that Moses, I knew him. Nobody else liked that. I knew him face to face.”

Let’s just think about Moses. I mean, he was born, and we’ve studied it so much in the beginning, but those first 40 years, much of that time brought up in, you know, in Pharaoh’s court and training. And as a young man, he just—Acts 7 says this about him when he was a young man: “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds.” Mighty in words. Maybe he knew several different languages. Maybe he knew how to give a speech like nobody’s business. Maybe he was just gifted, mighty in words and deeds. It wasn’t just some people can talk a real good thing, but he did a good thing. I mean, some people, you know, you want to say, “Hey, if you worked as hard as you talk, you’d be doing all right now,” you know. But Moses is just—he’s mighty in words and deeds. I don’t know. Maybe Moses had already at that point led in some military campaigns. We don’t know. Mighty in words and deeds, as a young man, just—there’s a mighty man.

Someone said, “First 40 years, Moses figured out he was somebody,” if you will. Then what happens? He’s 40 years old. And we know for fact that Moses knew at this point, you know, his calling, if you will, was to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. And he’s out there and he sees that Egyptian beating that Israelite. And Moses, man, he just—he loses it. He goes over. He’s mighty indeed. He’s probably knew martial arts. I don’t know at all. But he kills this Egyptian guard. Just kills him. And he buries him. And then the next day, remember? You know, some other men were striving, arguing with each other, and, you know, the Hebrew guy, he said, “Yeah, you’re going to kill somebody again today,” that type of attitude. And Moses, he took off.

But Acts 7, verse number 25: “For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.” That’s why I say at that point he knew what he was supposed to do, and he thought the Hebrews would understand, but they didn’t understand. And he’s—boy, nobody’s going to back me. And boy, he took off. Remember he took off and ran, backside of the desert for 40 years. Forty years, you know, “I’m somebody.” Forty years, he learned he’s a nobody. I mean, just as he were with a ring rubbed out, you know. And 40 years out there, a bunch of smelly, stinky sheep, you know, all the time just out there. Forty years, 40 years, a long time.

And remember he’s 80 years old. And you remember we’ve stated, you’ve already knew it, the burning bush. And Moses, when he turned aside to see what God was doing, that didn’t burn up, that’s when the Lord began to speak to him. And said, “Moses, I’ve heard the cry of the children of Israel. They’re still in bondage over there 40 years later, and I’ve heard that, and I’m going to use you to deliver them. I’m going to use you to bring them into the land that I promised”—the Canaanites, Moabites, Hittites, Jebusites, all the other eight brothers, you know. “And he’s not going to”—that’s what I’m calling you to do.

Moses’ first response, you know his first response is, “Who am I? Who am I? Me?” Of all my own words and deeds, the boy, he’s ready to get the job done his own way. After 40 years of failure, if you will, he said, “Well, I don’t know, God. Not me.” And God says, “I’ll be with you.” “Well, they want to know who you are. I don’t know you.” And God says, “I AM WHO I AM.” And what’s that rod you got in your hand and so on and so on? I mean, in the last 40 years, God showed Moses that God uses nobodies, amen. God—just a great God used it. Worked through the ten plagues and the death of the firstborn and then the rod, the Red Sea, and crossing over, and then the rod on the rock and water from the rock and the quail and the manna and the fire and the glow when he came down off the mount. He had to put a veil. He glowed so bright. He’d put a veil on. “Oh, we can’t—where’s my sunglasses out? They’re not polarized,” you know. Moses, what a great, great man Moses was.

But can I say this? Just talking about great people. Look, if you will, take your Bible, look over in Luke chapter number 11. I want you to see this, and we’re going to just draw this thing to a close here. I think this will illustrate the truth that I’m trying to get at fairly well. Luke 11, Jesus is preaching. And there’s—I would imagine—a great crowd here listening to Jesus preach. And all of a sudden, something happens in Jesus. He doesn’t let it pass by without giving a lesson here. Look in verse number 27. Luke 11, verse number 27.

“And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.” And boy, you got a—your mama’s blessed. You got a great mom. She’s blessed. She’s a great lady. She’s a lucky lady, if you will. That’s what’s going on.

Watch what Jesus says. He’s not letting it pass by without a great lesson being taught right here. Look at it, verse number 28. “But he said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” Can I translate a little bit here into Hallelujah? Hey, lady, you’re right. My mom is blessed. But if you’re doing what God’s called you to do, you’re mighty blessed too. If you’re called to do this and you’re fulfilling God’s will for your life, you’re blessed too.

Moses was a great man, but friend, if you’re doing what God’s called you to do, you’re a great individual inside of God too. Moses didn’t even—at the end, those last ones—he was 80 years old. He didn’t even want to do it, but God called him to it. He was simply doing what God called him to do. And if you’re doing—there may be some of the nursing home right now, and they say, “Well, I wish I could do this, that, other.” But if they’re doing what God wants them to do and they’re honoring Christ right there, they’re great because they’re doing what God wants them to do.

God didn’t call you to be a Moses. And you can’t say, “Well, I wish I was like Sister So-and-So. She’s got everything just right, and she’s doing all this.” Friend, God didn’t call you to be a Sister So-and-So. God calls you to be you. You find out God’s will for your life and you say, “This is what I’m going to do it to the best of my ability,” and that’s greatness right there.

Moses might say, “I don’t have as much to give you, God, as Sister So-and-So does, but I can give you as much as me as she gives of her, and you got me, Lord, I’m yours.” That’s greatness. Greatness is finding the will of God for your life and doing that right there. That’s greatness, friend.

I thought about this morning, said to Ms. Shelby. She’s had some health issues, or she’d be here tonight, I’m sure. But Ms. Shelby, she broke her femur not too—oh, years ago. You know, your femur is the largest bone in your body. Well, you’re talking about your femur. I called her several times during that time when she’s healing up. You know what she’d say every time? She said, “Pastor, years and years ago, I got out of church for a while. I was just bad. I’m not going to do it this time. I’m going to get back in church. Every time I told you, I’m going to get back in there. I’m going to get back in there.” You’re just watching. And you know what? Praise the Lord, she’s back in there now. Look, that’s what God’s called Ms. Shelby to do right now. And greatness is you doing it.

I look at Brother Ted. Brother Ted’s driving a school bus right now, public school bus. Probably has to get up at 4 a.m. or something like that, you know, somewhere along there. And, well, those are no good mornings, I’ll tell you for sure now, you know. But if that’s what God’s called Brother Ted to do, he’s doing God’s will for his life, and that’s great. Now, you finding God’s will for your life and you doing it, that’s great.

Moses was a great man, but he was simply doing what God called him to do. God’s not going to judge you by what others have done, but God’s going to judge you by what He’s called you to do and you fulfilling it. If you were to be a preacher when God called you to be a Sunday school teacher, you’re out of the will of God. If you’re a deacon when God wants you just to be a regular church member, if you will, you’re out of the will of God. You finding what God wants you to do, and that’s greatness.

You know, God doesn’t grade you on how much you have. God grades you on what you do with what you have. Remember that little boy—all those rich people. I mean, they—believe it or not, I got some money in my wallet in my pocket. How about that? Boy, those big rich guys, I mean, they’re pulling those big wads out. You know, you know how it is. They just want everybody to know, you know, they’re putting it in there, you know. And that little widow lady, all she had was two pennies, we’ll say, two mites. She had two pennies, and she—you know, sometimes, you ever see somebody that just, they don’t have much to put in, they’re kind of embarrassed about it, you know, they just kind of put it in. They didn’t want it to cling in the offering plate because somebody would be, “Oh, they’re putting in pennies, can you believe that?” you know.

By the way, we finally got our Vacation Bible School pennies to the bank after all, just like a week ago. Praise the Lord, they’re in the bank now. Finally, you know, three different people working that thing. But anyway, I mean, just putting—just two little—and Jesus saw that. He said, “Tell you what, she put in more than all those rich boys out there because they put in of their plenty, of their millions, and she gave all that she had.” See, God doesn’t judge by how much you have. God judges by what you do with what you have.

Moses was a great man. Oh, he was a great man, but if you’re doing the will of God for your life, that’s greatness. Let me say this. God didn’t grade Moses—now think about it—God didn’t grade Moses on the results or the success of the mission. You remember what God called—you check it out. Don’t check it out right now. Remember there in Exodus 3 when God called at the burning bush? “I’m calling you to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt.” Did God use you to do that? Help me out. Did God use him to do that? Yeah. Can you say yes? Thank you. Thank you. I’m glad. I’m trying to get Garrett to wake up is what I’m trying to do there, you know. But yeah.

And then God not only called him to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, but God called him to bring them into the land of the Hittites and Jebusites, Canaanites, Moabites. Did Moses complete that? No. He actually—sorry, Miss Stacy. Thank you for trying to help, Ms. Stacey. I appreciate it. And she’s trying to help, thank you.

Here’s my point. Honestly, he wasn’t successful at doing all God called him to do. Was it Moses’ fault? Yeah. Those people didn’t obey. Moses tried to say, “Let’s go in. We can do it.” Remember over there? Yeah, and the spies and all that. “We can do it.” Well, they didn’t want to listen to Moses. But God doesn’t necessarily grade you on the grounds of your results. What is it so over in 1 Corinthians 3? I think it’s verse number 8, if I remember right. He says, “Hey, He rewards you for your own labor, not results.” Was Moses laboring? You better believe he labored.

And at the end, God didn’t say, “Well, Moses, you didn’t lead them all the way in there.” No, God didn’t say—the Lord is bragging on Moses. The Lord said, “You know, that Moses, there’s not been another prophet like him to now. Nobody. I knew him face to face.” Well, as the world says, he might not have been a real successful—he didn’t actually get to bring them all the way into the promised land. Yes, it’s his fault that he didn’t lead them in because of a sin. We covered that with the children of Israel. It was them. They were rebellious and stiff-necked.

God doesn’t necessarily judge you on your results. He judges your grade, if you will, on your labor for Him and your motive for your labor for Him. It’s very interesting, very interesting. You know, some of the people that God used greatly in the Bible, they died trying. You say, “What do you mean by that?”

You know, Jeremiah is one of the largest books in all the Bible, and old Jeremiah penned also the book of Lamentations. You know, Jeremiah, he preached and preached to the children of Israel. They never listened to him. Poor guy. I mean, you read the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations, like, “Wow, how in the world could the guy put up with it?” I mean, if you will, he didn’t have a real successful ministry. But oh, I believe God says, “I’m going to use that man right there. I’m going to let him pen”—I mean, I mean, he’s going to pen—in some ways, take Psalms out. Some of these one of the largest books in all the Bible, and the Psalms was penned by different men: David about half, Solomon, Moses, and others. Yeah, Jeremiah, Isaiah.

His results weren’t real great. Ezekiel, it got to the point God said, “I tell you what, Ezekiel, those are rebellious people. Ezekiel, I’m going to give you a hard forehead. I’m going to make your head harder than their heads because there’s a bunch of hard-headed Jewish people. They ain’t going to listen over there. But I’m going to make you hard-headed.” Is that a word? It is now, amen. But he’s a great man, great man, Ezekiel. God used Ezekiel to write the book of Ezekiel.

Isaiah, boy, that great prophet, Isaiah. Was he real successful? Well, you know, at the end, we believe that Isaiah was sawn in half. He didn’t have a church of 10, 20, 30, or whatever. He just—in fact, his results weren’t real great, but he stayed faithful to the end. He’s a great man.

God doesn’t necessarily grade you. Can I say this about child rearing? I say this often. It’s a biblical thing. Ezekiel 18, you study out over there. God—you know, your children that grow up, they’re going to make their decisions. God doesn’t necessarily judge you and want your children to. God judges you on how you raise your children. And it may be, you might have to go back and say, “Lord, I messed up here. I’m sorry for that. Please forgive me for that.” God, you’re responsible for how you raise your children. Your children are responsible for what they do with it. Yeah?

Isn’t it funny, as best we can tell, some families, you know, children are treated the same, one will go right, one will go wrong. Those children, they’re responsible for what they do with it. That’s over there, Ezekiel 18, where he says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Check it out. Good father, bad child. Bad father, good child. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Check it out. I’m saying, God doesn’t always—well, I witness, man, I don’t see anybody saved. That’s all right. That’s God’s business. He’s the one that brings the increase. Are you faithful doing what God called you to do?

I’ve got to hurry along here. It’s amazing. I understand Jesus, of course, He was triumphing over Satan on the cross. Colossians tells us that. He won the victory first of all over the cross of Calvary. And I’m not trying to take—course, take anything from that. But let’s just think about Jerusalem. You remember Jesus? He wept over Jerusalem. How many times I gather you as a hen would gather her chicks and put them under her wings, and you would not? Jesus, remember His—their pilot—and it was in Jerusalem, if you will, that was saying, “Crucify Him, crucify, crucify, crucify.” Remember that?

If you will, as far as just Jerusalem, Jesus died not having the results that He was praying for at the moment. Now, I think that was a great coalition of—what? Fifty days later, the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people getting saved. A little while later, 5,000 men, and God just revived there in Jerusalem. But that was after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Friend, I’m just saying, well, those great men that had—and praise the Lord, I’m not trying to take anything from, and I thank God we need that, not against that at all—those that have great ministries and great families and what all. I’m forever bit of that. But I’m saying sometimes the results aren’t there like you wanted them to be. God doesn’t grade you for results. He grades you for your labor.

And one story we’re done. A lady, she was praying for her husband to get saved. Oh, she prayed and she tried, and she witnessed to him. He didn’t want to hear. And so First Peter 3, she tried to just live it in front of him, and she did everything she could, and she was a good, godly lady. She was praying for her husband to get saved. At nighttime, she would pray with her kids, and lo and behold, they’d pray, “Let Daddy get saved.”

And boy, everybody just—this lady was faithful to come to church, and she’d bring her kids. Her husband didn’t mind. She’d bring her kids. They’re just faithful to church. Everybody’s praying. She’s praying, “Let my husband get saved.” She got sick. Very, very sick. And so my thought—well, maybe the sickness—God’s going to use the sickness. Her husband will get saved through her sickness. Boy, she just praying, even in her sickness. And the lady died.

Well, you know, that’s going to get—he’s going to get saved. He’s going to get saved. And he gets saved. Everybody’s—well, at the funeral, everybody’s praying. And his wife had been so faithful. And since the sweet God and the daddy been praying. And at the funeral, he gets saved. At the funeral, he got saved. And that night home, that night they went home, the dad alone, the children. And the children kind of missed their mom, of course. He missed his wife, and the children in there. And they just, “Dad, you know, Mom always prayed with us. Dad, would you pray with us? We just miss Mom.” An old dad went in there. He could do a lot for those kids, but he couldn’t pray with them like Mom could. And it broke him. That man got on his knees and got saved that night.

Friend, we don’t know. You don’t know until you get to eternity what all God’s done with your labor. The key is just your laboring. Moses, the Lord said, “That man, not a prophet like him since then, knew the Lord face to face.” Was Moses successful with whatever they—no, no. He was successful doing what God called him to do, and that’s what success is. But the results weren’t always there.

Would you bow your head and close your eyes just for a moment here? And I’m not going to have you raise your hand, but maybe you say, “Hey, Lord, help me to stay faithful to doing what you called me to do. Help me to be faithful to you. I won’t be faithful just doing it. And would you prepare me and show me what you want me to do? Help me stay faithful at it.” Would you let Him know that during the invitation time? Would you please stand? We won’t be long. And maybe feeling the tugging in your heart, would you come down? If God’s tugging your heart, just spend some time. “Lord, show me what you want me to do. Help me stay faithful at it.” Would you tell Him that tonight?

Father, thank you for Moses. Lord, this great man, help us to learn from him. Father, I do pray some of these truths will stick in our hearts and our minds, Father, throughout our lifetime. And bless these few minutes that draw us to You. And Father, we ask for these things in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - The death of Mosses - Wednesday Evening Service 3132024