Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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People saying that God brings before us much truth in his precious word and the the the doctrines of the Christianity are so beautifully brought before us and developed in the New Testament. But in the Old Testament God gives us pictures that are illustrations, and perhaps some of us find it more simple to understand the truth from an illustration. And so in looking at this passage tonight here I believe we have God's provision for the children of Israel.
Through what pictures the priesthood and the advocacy of Christ in our pathway here through this world.
We know the children of Israel were once slaves in the land of Egypt. There were slaves under Pharaoh. But God found a way of deliverance for those people, and he brought them out from under that awful slavery. And we remember how the lamb was slain and the blood was sprinkled. And God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. What a wonderful thing that they were delivered from that awful judgment that fell upon the land of Egypt, because the blood was.
Sprinkled on the Lindeland, the two side posts of their home. God didn't speak about their feelings. He didn't even mention the amount of their faith. He just simply said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And our faith may be weak, but oh how wonderful it is when we have taken shelter under the precious blood of Christ. There might be two homes in Egypt. Perhaps one was very, very happy on that night and perhaps another.
Doubt. But as long as the blood was sprinkled, the home was safe. Isn't that lovely? And there might be a Christian here tonight and just say, while I have doubts, can I be secure? God says not when I see your feelings, but when I see the blood. The enemy often tries to attack the children of God with doubts, but it doesn't change the value of the blood. And God looks upon the blood. And if you tonight are trusting in the precious blood of Christ for salvation.
Why God sees you as sheltered from the judgment.
But he not only sheltered them from the judgment, he took them out of that position altogether and brought them through the Red Sea and out into the wilderness. And not only are we sheltered from judgment, but oh, how wonderful. We're no longer looked at as being under Satan's power. It tells us in Colossians, One who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear son. And so you've not only been sheltered from judgment, but I have a wonderful message for every believer.
Here, tonight, now, God sees you in Christ. And when it speaks about justification in the book of Romans, it's justification of life. And that is to be before God in a new life and a new standing. And so you are in Christ before God, so perfectly accepted, and that God looks upon his blessed Son and sees you.
Accepted in him. Oh, what a place.
We have been brought into, so I say, the children of Israel were not only sheltered from the judgment, but when they passed through the Red Sea, they were brought into a new position.
But in those years in the wilderness on their way to the promised land, there were two great lessons for them to learn, lessons that were all very slow in learning. And the first one is the all sufficiency of the one who had brought them out and had promised to bring them in. He was sufficient for every circumstance that arose in all those 40 years of wilderness travel. There was no situation that he was unable to meet.
But the second.
And it's a very humbling thing. It tells us in Deuteronomy to humbly and to prove thee, and to show thee what was in my heart. And after we are saved, our security depends only upon Christ. Our assurance just is because we trust in his precious words. But you know, we have to learn those two lessons. And we're slow learners and we meet situations and we look at.
Situation and think it's almost greater than the Lord can bring us through, but he is above every situation. And then we look at ourselves and what do we discover? Will you say, I think I can handle quite a few situations. Oh, those are the ones where we break down. Those are the ones where most likely we'll prove our absolute insufficiency because it says when I am weak as an am I strong? That is when we recognize our own helplessness.
That then we're cast upon an arm of strength.
And that that one who is the arm of strength is the Lord himself. It says, trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. And so this is the thing that we have to learn in the wilderness. And oh, it's a very humbling thing for us that we learn ourselves. That's why the manna was provided for the wilderness, because the Lord Jesus has been through the past before.
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He's the one. He's the true bread that came down from heaven.
And he has been through the past, and having been through the past, he's now gone up on high, as we'll see in this chapter. And he's a merciful and faithful high priest. And so there isn't anything that we have to meet that he hasn't already met in a park in his blessed pathway through this world. And so this chapter brings us to an experience where the children of Israel learned themselves and also learned that the Lord had made and was making full provisions.
For them all along the way, notice how it begins. It says that they came to this place called Rephidim. And it says it was according to the commandment of the Lord that they came to this place and there was no water for the people to drink. Now you might come to a situation in your life where everything seems to go wrong, refreshment seems to fail. You feel discouraged and cast down, and perhaps you say, well.
Should I make the mistake that I got into this situation? But the children of Israel hadn't made any mistake in getting into this position. The Lord brought them there. It says it was according to the commandment of the Lord that they came to Rephidim. And does the Lord sometimes bring us into a place where we feel that everything that we might lean on has failed when water or refreshment for us seems to have gone?
Do we realize that the Lord might bring us to that?
Place. Why did he bring Israel to this place? All he wanted them to realize that all their resources in the wilderness journey were in him. All that they needed must come from him. They had no resources for themselves. Hadn't they already found this out? They couldn't have caused the waters to roll back to get through that Red Sea.
When they came to that place where the waters were bitter, they couldn't make the water sweet, but when the tree was cast in, the waters were made sweet. And so there are situations that come in our lives, as I say. Now the Lord brings us to these things in order that we might learn to lean upon Him. And so I think it's very important to see that this place repeat them. They came there not through some mistake in their travels.
But according.
To the commandment of the Lord and if there should be someone who has come to that place and it's a very interesting thing that sometimes you have a little time you'll find that a a good many maps at least show the word refitam on the on the map and it has a question mark after it That to me is very interesting Why is it there are many other places and there's no question mark she won't answer them, but this particular place is a question mark after it. Well, perhaps the reason for.
Is this they don't just exactly know where this spot was. And it doesn't come the same in every person's life. It may come in a different spot in your life than it comes in mind. It may come in one place in your life, and it might come perhaps many years later in another person's life. But we all have to come to Raphidom. We all have to sometime or other, come to the end of our resources and find out a little bit at least of what is in our hearts. And this was what?
And lies to the children of Israel. And that's what it is for us in a spiritual sense where we come to the place where there's no water to drink. Well, what did they do when they came to this place? Well, they were perfectly natural. They were just like ourselves. They turned to Moses and began to chide with him and said, give us water that we may drink. Isn't this always the way when we get into a spot where resources have.
Failed. We like to find somebody to blame. We like to single out somebody and we say, well, why can't that person help us out in this difficulty? He's the one that's made this problem for us. And so they turn and they started to blame Moses and they said they were almost ready to soon Moses and they placed the blame on him. Perhaps this made them, as it sometimes makes us feel a little better inside that it wasn't our fault.
But isn't it sad that we should try to find somebody that we can blame, or somebody that can help us out of the difficulty? As they said, Moses, give us water, give us water. And so when we come to this place, we turn often, and usually first to an arm of flesh, and we say, as it were, can't you help us out of this difficulty? Can't you undertake for us? And so Moses said.
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Why charge you with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord? Moses realized that this was by the commandment of the Lord that they're in this place and there are situations arise in our lives, as I say, whenever we are in the flesh fails. Perhaps mother fails, father fails, our best friend lets us down and we blame them. But the Lord is the one who has allowed it. Now when we don't see his hand in.
Circumstance we are actually doing what they did. We are tempting the Lord. We are really placing the blame upon him. We're just noticing last night in first Peter chapter 5 that it tells us casting all your care upon him or he cares for you and the next verse says be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil is a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
And I believe it means just this, that when we don't cast our cares upon the Lord, we leave ourselves open to Satan, and he is very likely to get us discouraged. If we had cherished the care upon the Lord, then we would have found that He was able to help us. But if we don't cast it upon Him, then the enemy comes in, we get discouraged, the enemy gets the victory, the shield of faith gets down, and those fiery darts come in.
And so here we find that they charted with Moses, and he said, Why? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?
And the people first stood there for water. They still didn't turn to the Lord at this point. They still thirsted and continued, and they murmured against Moses. And now we see something very sad here. They said, Wherefore is this, that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And there's no more dangerous time in our Christian life than when we get discouraged here, we find.
Now they start to talk about Egypt. Yes, they were in danger at this point of going back into Egypt because they were so discouraged. And, you know, when we get into some situation where resources seem to fail and where we think we can blame someone else, now the enemy then I say, comes in and he's very likely to say, well, it's better in Egypt. You might as well try the world. You need more of the world.
Pleasure because Christ hasn't really satisfied your heart, but He's willing to. He's able to satisfy our hearts, but He must.
Teach us what the flesh is. He must let us learn that the flesh profiteth nothing. Someone said to Mr. Darby one time, Mr. Darby, you have a good knowledge of the Word of God. Would you help me so that I would know how to study the Word? I'd like to get some knowledge of the Scripture. And his reply was, study well for words. The flesh prophetess, nothing.
Yes, we must learn what the flesh is.
We must see how that it is of no avail and that it is that when we come to this point, the enemy whispers in our ears. Why? You better go back to the world. You better return to its pleasures.
You know, it's lovely to see that they never did get back into Egypt, although they in heart sometimes turned back. God saw to it that they never went back to Egypt, and one of his own is never going to return again to the position of condemnation. Oh, this is lovely. We may be poor failing believers, and many of us are at best poor failing things, unprofitable servants, but thank God, we're never going to return to the position of judgment again.
The Lord, having saved his own, has saved us.
Eternity. But He does have to let us learn these lessons, and He has to let us see what is in our hearts.
And notice how they speak of it. Kill us.
And then our children and I sometimes heard Christians say, well, I think I could take it, but my children can't. My children can't. This is exactly the way they felt. They said, you're going to kill us and our children.
Oh, how wonderful it is that the Lord is sufficient and one is enjoyed in this connection in 3rd John where there's this order in the assembly, as there was, there was a man named Ultra Fees who was exalting himself and he was acting.
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With a sort of a high hand. And what does the apostle John do? He writes a special letter to encourage Gaius to go on with his family and live for the Lord. And this is a very nice word for us all because sometimes when these things come in among the people of God, notice we first get discouraged ourselves, but then our children and then our cattle. This was their business. They said, well we have to have a living and so.
They were going to return in heart to Egypt because of this discouragement. And they murmured, They charted with Moses. But what did Moses do? It says. And Moses cried unto the Lord. Moses knew to whom to turn. And may I just say a little word to those who seek to be leaders among the people of God. These situations do arise from time to time.
And sometimes it is our privilege.
To be a help in such times. And what did Moses do? You know, he could have been very, very bitter at this time. He tells us here, what shall I do unto this people, lady almost ready to stone me. He could have said, I, I give up. They don't appreciate what I've done for them. They don't think that I'm any use here. And I might as well just give up because there's nothing more for me to do.
And and so in turning to the Lord, he laid his whole case.
Before the Lord, and to know if there's anyone here who is thought to be a help among the people of God and perhaps been blamed for something, turn to the Lord, turn to him, tell him all about it. He knows the whole situation. He knows everything that has been said and done. He knows our hearts and our desires. And so here Moses just poured out his whole case before the people. He said, what shall I do unto this people?
And perhaps he expected the Lord.
To tell him to bring judgment upon them. At this point I don't know. But what did the Lord say, Isn't this lovely? And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people. Isn't this a touching reply from the heart of the Lord? In other words, he said, Moses, don't give up. Go on before the people. And there I say to each one here.
Praying those two words in your mind when difficulties come, those two little words.
Go on, go on and not just go on by yourself. You say, well I would go on, but I retire from being any help. No, the Lord said go on before the people. Yes, those very people who had spoken of soon him, those people who had chided with him, those people who hadn't appreciated what He had done for them. The Lord still said go on before the people. And more than this he said.
And take with thee of the elders of Israel. Yes, he said, Take with thee of the elders of Israel. That is, don't separate from them, but be held to them, and take them with you. But now here is the whole secret. And I rod, wherewith thou smoothest the river, take in thine hand and go. What is the ground on which God can bless his people? Does He bless his present? Because.
Faithful Christian because we're such fine believers. Oh no. The ground on which he blesses us is that the rod was lifted up upon Christ in our place. That's the ground on which he blesses us. God brought the people out of Egypt not because they were any better than the Israel, than the Egyptians. They weren't all better. The Scripture tells us that they were going along with the Egyptians and worshiping their God.
But what was it that laid the righteous basis whereby?
Why, God could bring them out. They were sheltered by the blood. And so when they came to the Red Sea, the rod was lifted up. And instead of coming down upon the people in their discouragement, even at that point, it came down upon the water and opened the way for them. And we love to sing that little hymn, that Jehovah lifted up his rod. O Christ, it fell on thee. Now thou was forsaken of thy God.
In no distance now for me.
Yes, the precious Savior bore the wrath of God so that we might be blessed. And we must always remember, if we ever try to be a help to the people of God, that God's ground for blessing his people is redemption. It's the cross. It's what Christ has done. There's no underground on which he can bless them, because surely we're no better than Israel in ourselves.
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And so it was to take the elders and that rod that had opened the way through the.
See that rod that had come down, so that the people might go through the Red Sea on dry ground? And then he was told to go in the sixth verse. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb. I like that little expression. I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb.
Now that he is, he was to take with him the elders of the people. He was to go on before the people. A body was to have his eye upon the Lord. The Lord said, I'll stand before you as though he were saying, don't look at the people, Moses. You might easily get discouraged if you thought about them and what they've said, but look at me. Just realize my heart toward them.
And we know how in a later occasion in a similar place, Moses did become discouraged, and he called the people rebels, and he brought down his rod upon the rock twice. And it tells us that God brought out the water. But Moses had failed to sanctify the Lord in the midst of his people. Now that is.
Moses On a later occasion it was discouraged because of the mermanings and.
Flames of the people, and for one.
For one, he said he reveled, but God never wants us to lose our patience with his people. I've often thought of that. He just lost his patience once.
And God said, Moses, you didn't represent me the right way because I love the people and I want to bless them. And when you misrepresented me, why I can't use you to bring them into the promised land. That's a serious thing, to represent Christ, to seek to be as we had the other night epistles of Christ, to represent him in this world, whether individually or collectively.
But here at this time, Moses listed up the.
God, I might say that on me this occasion it was right that he should smite the rock, but on the next occasion he was told to speak to the rock. Now I just call attention to this because the rock only had to be smitten once.
And if you have any question about who it was, it tells us in First Corinthians 5. And that rock was Christ, and that rock was Christ. He was only sentenced once. That is, the judgment that he bore on Calvary's cross has been fully exhausted. He'll never have to be smitten again.
One dear Christian who had accepted the Lord as their Savior had great joy, but after a little while she began to wonder, began to have some doubts, and she said to a Christian man who had been preaching in that particular place, She said, I know all my sins were put away when I was saved, but I have sinned since I was saved. And what about those sins?
Well, he said.
I'd like to ask you a question. How many of your sins were future when the Lord Jesus died?
Well, she said, I guess they were all future because I wasn't even born. Well, he said, I'd like to ask you a second question then. Is the Lord Jesus going to die for sin again?
No, she said. I don't think so. And he isn't. The Bible says in that he died, he died under sin once, but in that he liveth, He liveth unto God. Well, he said, if the Lord Jesus didn't settle a question of your sins at Calvary, they'll never be settled.
Oh, thank God he did, and that's why the rock only had to be smitten one. So the next time they came to the rock, the Lord said speak to the rock, speak to it. And tonight we can speak to the rock. The judgment has been born. It's exhausted. And we can speak to the one who did the work, as we'll see in the later part of the chapter, as the one who is our great high priest and our advocate to carry us through the wilderness.
But the work necessary to fit us for eternal glory.
Has already been accomplished. So it tells us here, that the Lord would stand before him upon the rock. And thou shalt smite to the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Isn't it most beautiful? The Lord came in and asked it all their murmuring. But I might just mention here in passing.
That up to the time the law was given, which is brought before us in the 19.
19th and 20th chapters why God met every every difficulty that arose, every murmuring that arose in grace afterwards when they put themselves under law, then God had to deal with them in discipline about previous to the giving of the law. Why he met the situations in grace and so this is our position in spite of all our failures and shortcomings. He's the gone of all grace he's accomplished redemption he's.
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Up on high, Have a work of redemption is now finished and he's seated there.
And so it tells us He called the name of the place Massa and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not? That is, they doubted His goodness and his care, and we should never doubt him. We may and do learn much about ourselves, but oh, how blessed his promise. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Now the children of Israel had no sooner had a drink of this refreshing water that came from the rock, and it tells us that there was an enemy that came out against them. And I just like you to turn with me to John Chapter 7, because I believe there's a little connection here that we could learn something from.
John, Chapter 7.
And verse 37.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man first let him come unto me and drink, he that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
I call it attention.
To this here, because I believe the water here represents the Holy Spirit of God. And it tells us here that when the Lord spoke in the 7th of John, the Holy Spirit was not yet given. But on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came down. He came to earth as a divine person, and he came to indwell the bodies of believers and everyone in this room tonight who is saved, who is sheltered by the blood of Jesus.
And fitted for His glory.
Present how blessed we're also indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. But as soon as the Spirit of God comes to indwell the believer, then there's a conflict. And what is the conflict? Well, it tells us in Galatians chapter 5, the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would.
And this may.
Be a help to some who are young here tonight to realize that when we get the joy of salvation, when we drink, as it were, of those refreshing streams that come from the smitten rock, we know that our sins are gone. We know that the Lord Jesus is up on high and the Spirit has come down to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts. What happens?
All we seem to discover as we never had before, what the flesh is within us. We find that inside of us there is that miserable, ugly old thing now that we received by our natural birth, and it hasn't been improved since. We're saved.
The Bible says.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. It says again that the old man is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. The old nature doesn't improve no matter how long we save. And the more we desire to please the Lord, the more we're going to discover what the flesh really is within us. And so here in this John Chapter 7, the Lord speaks of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
And that he would be within us, a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
He would be within us now. That new power out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And so as soon as you desire to please the Lord and to live for Him, then you make a very painful discovery. You find that there's something inside that doesn't want you to please the Lord, that seeks to hinder you at every turn.
And that's what we have here.
As soon as they had had these, this refreshing drink as an amalek came out to fight against them. And oh, how powerful was this foe. And Satan knows just how to tempt us through that fallen nature that's within. And I think I hear some young Christian here tonight saying, well, I do want to please the Lord, but it seems the more I want to please him, the stronger.
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That old nature seems to be within me.
And it just seems to give me problems every time. I want to please the Lord. Well, this is just exactly what happened. Can't you imagine the children of Israel at this point being so happy when they drank of those waters that came from the smitten rock, and then look up and see this great enemy coming against them? And perhaps you feel that way too. Well, did God lead his people at this point without a resort?
We know that Christendom is full, full of all kinds of ideas and ways of how to get deliverance from the flesh. There are some people who say, well, if you give way, they might be lost again. There are other people who tell you.
That you can climb up to a kind of a higher spiritual plane and that if you can climb up to this spiritual plane now, then you won't be tempted by the flesh. Then there are others that say that if we pray and wait.
Long enough, the old nature will be burned out. It's because every Christian comes to this point and instead of following the directions that God has given, we find the Christendom full of all kinds of human ideas as to how to meet the difficulty that arises in the Christian life when the Spirit of God takes his residence in the body of the believer. Now he believes. Typically we have some beautiful things brought before us in the end of this chapter, which.
Show us the provision that God has made. Let me say first of all now that in the death of Christ, not only our sins put away, but God sees that old nature as already dead, and he tells us to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But I believe there are three things that are very lovely that are brought out here. And first of all we find in the ninth verse. And Moses said unto Joshua chooses out man, and go out fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
Now, first of all, we find here that in the plane below where Amalek had attacked them, now they had a leader.
We'll speak in a moment about Moses going up to the top of the hill. But first of all, in this battle on the plains, why there was a leader for the people of God, and that leader was Joshua. I might say that the word Joshua is the very same word as it's translated Jesus in the New Testament. It means Jehovah.
Savior. And it tells us in Hebrews 2 That the Lord Jesus is the captain of our salvation.
Bringing many sons home to glory. And so in our pathway here, we not only have Christ up on high, how about we have Christ in the power of the Spirit leading us in our conflict here now. That is, He is the one who is able to guide us and direct us, and we need to look to Him.
For guidance in every step of our pathway. In other words, we often put ourselves in positions of temptation. If we followed the leader, we wouldn't be there at all.
It says, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path. It says in the 10th chapter of John, he putteth forth his own sheep and goeth before them, and the sheep follow him. So we have a leader. And in the well known Lord's Prayer he taught the disciples lead us not into temptation. And so I'd like to say first of all, in Speaking of this.
How that in the decisions of our.
Life we ought to ask the Lord to guide us because I say again very often through disobedience to the word of God we get in possessions where temptation is exceedingly strong and maybe it's not his will that we should have ever been in that position. If we had asked him to guide us he wouldn't have put us in that position but in our self will we get there and then we turn to the Lord and we ask him to deliver us but.
Shouldn't have been there. So the very first thing was that there was a leader in Joshua who led them in the conflict. And Christ, I say again, is the captain of our salvation.
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I can't help but use an illustration that I've often used in connection with this. There was a man over in Scotland many years ago and he wanted to hire a coachman and.
He lived in a very place, up in a rocky spot, and the road going up to where he lived was a very narrow road and it sort of boarded A precipice and it was rather dangerous to bring his horses down this road because it was so narrow and so.
When the different applicants came for the job, he asked each one of them this question. He said now you can see that this is a very dangerous Rd. that goes up to my home. And he said I must have an experienced coachman, I must have one who can handle the horse as well. He said how close do you think you could go to the edge there and hold the horses steady? And different ones had different ideas of how much experience they had had, how well they could handle the horses.
But after interviewing several of these men.
He he started to talk to one man and he asked him this question and without any hesitation he said, oh Sir, I'd keep as far away from the edge as I could. And your friend, isn't that a lesson for us? Isn't that the meaning of the Lords Prayer lead us not into temptation? And let me say to each one, especially those who are young and we who are older need it too.
Let's not go close to temptation.
Let's not say, well, I can take care of myself. I heard a young Christian say, I know how far to go. We can't control ourselves when we play ourselves very on the very edge of the precipice. And supposing those horses that jumped suddenly, why, that man with all his experience might have found himself going over the edge. So the captain of our salvation will lead us in a safe path.
And he's able to lead us.
And each one of us, when we get up in the morning and over and over again through the day, say, Lord, guide me in a path that's pleasing to thee. He wants to guide us. You know, when Nehemiah found himself in a difficult spot in the presence of the king, the king asked him a question. And before he answered the question, a Swiss little prayer went up. And it says, so I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said to the king.
Before he answered the question, a little prayer had gone up to the Lord.
Only give us grace and to acknowledge that there's One who can lead us in safe paths for ways or ways of pleasantness. And all her powers are peace.
But now there was more than this.
Tells us that Moses, Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill.
Now I believe this brings to us the fact that the Lord Jesus has gone up on high. Moses, Joshua, I believe, represents to us Christ in the power of the Spirit, leading us here, leading us into the possession of our heavenly portion.
But Moses going up to the top of the hill brings before us what we have in Hebrews. Perhaps he could turn to it. I think it's the fourth chapter.
Verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, that was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may be able, that we may obtain mercy.
And find grace to help in time of need.
And then in the 7th chapter, in the 24th verse.
But this man, because he continueth, ever hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Well, here we find that there was there is one who is passed into the heavens. And just as you watch Moses go up to the top of the hill and hold up his hand.
So it tells us that we have one who has gone up as our.
Great high priest, and as we sang in our little hymn for earth, his hands uplifting in sympathy and love. And so that blessed One is our high priest, and he's gone up there. And it tells us that when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed and that just means this I believe that when we meet these temptations of life, that if we try to meet them in our.
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Own strength, Amalek prevailed. The flesh within us is so weak that Satan knows just the right moment to bring the attack and were not able to meet the situation. And so we failed and we let the flesh act. And in that sense Amalek prevailed. But when we look up and say, Lord Jesus, I'm helpless. I I just can't meet this situation in my own strength. There's one up there and it says.
That he ever liveth to make intercession for us. It says, let us come boldly under the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and so we can come with absolute confidence. A friend of ours might weary of us coming and asking for help, but he never will. He says come boy, and all that's required is that it's a time of need.
Is there a time of need come in your life? Do you feel the pressures almost too strong? You say, oh, I just feel so upset and so discouraged that I just feel like turning aside or going into the world. Well, there's one up on high. He passed through this world. He knows what it is to be forsaken by friends. It tells us in speaking prophetically of the Lord Jesus.
If it had been an enemy, I could have borne it, but mine own familiar friend in.
Whom I trusted hath lifted up his his heel against me. Was he misunderstood? They laughed him to scorn. Was he not appreciated? All the disciples forsook him and fled. Oh, he's been through the whole pathway. But that's just the kind of person that we need. One who has been through the pathway before us.
And when it tells us in the.
7th chapter it says he has an unchangeable priesthood. The thought is that he it isn't a priesthood that passes from one to another.
You know, you might have a person that you have turned to for help, and then that friend dies and you say there's nobody that understood me like him. There's nobody that understood me like she did. And now I don't have that person to turn to. But this is lovely. We have one who has an unchangeable priesthood. And I like to think of it in this way, too.
That he knows all about our families. You know, each one of us have certain families.
Great. If you have a good physician who's well acquainted with your family, it's pretty nice to go to him and feel that he understands your family and your whole family situation. Isn't it lovely, this Glee high priest that's up on high? He knew my father's, he knew my mother, he knew my bringing up. He watched me from childhood. He knows all the things that have molded to make my life what it is and my disposition what it is.
He has lived.
Up there on high and watch my footsteps every step of the pathway. Isn't it lovely? He has an unchangeable I believe in another translation. It's it's not a priesthood that passes from one to another. And it says such a high priest became us.
And that is, that was just a kind of a high priest that we needed. And then it says he's able to save to the uttermost. You know, Osama taken that verse to mean that he would save the vilest Sinner. And that's true. But that isn't really what the verse refers to when it says he's able to say to the uttermost. It is this now that you can never be in such a difficult spot that he can't help you.
You might say, oh, but I couldn't.
Expect help. That was an impossible situation. He says. No, I'm able to say to the uttermost, no matter how difficult the situation was, even if nobody else had ever been in it before, he knows all about it, and he's able to say it to the outermost. And so there he is. And what does he want us to do? Well, he just wants us to come and ask for help.
In time of need and he was supplied the help of the help.
And it says such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled. You know, sometimes we ask help of friends.
00:45:03
And we tell them the story of what happened, and we tell them the way we felt. And they say, I don't blame you. I would have felt the same. I would have given him a piece of my mind if anybody talked like that to me. That person didn't help us. That person only hindered us. That person who perhaps tried to enter into our situation actually encouraged us to do something that was wrong.
But when we look up to our great High Priest and we tell him.
The whole situation, he says, I know all about it and I'll help you. You don't need to get upset. You don't need to get angry because I'll supply all the grace that you need to meet that situation because he has been through it perfectly. He is the one who enters into the whole situation and supplies that grace. That's why it says such a high priest became That's the kind of health that we needed.
And he's ever there.
Day and night at all times to supply that to us.
And now we notice here in reading this incident and it's very interesting that it does speak of one of Moses hands going down, but it never says that both his hands went down. That has been very interesting to me. It says here when Moses hand was up, Israel prevailed. When his hand went down Amalek prevailed. But then it says in the end of the 12TH verse and his.
Hands were steady until the going.
Down to the sun. So it's quite evident the other hand never went down well. I like to think of those two hands as representing the two parts of the Lord Jesus work for us. When does Amalek prevail in our lives?
Well, when we don't ask help from the Lord, it's just as if His hand was down. We didn't ask His help. And so we tried to meet the situation in our own strength, and Amalek prevailed. He was too strong for us.
And so that's why I believe it says that when his hand went down, Amalek prevailed. So it tells us that when Moses was there, on one side was Aaron and he held up his hand, and on the other side was her. Aaron was the high priest. And the word her means purity. And so I believe that the Lord Jesus is ever living to make intercession. The thought in his going down, the going down of his hand, is that we didn't ask him for help.
Well then, you say, why didn't the other hand go down? Well, let's turn to 1St John, and perhaps we'll get the answer here, the first Epistle of John.
And the first chapter. And the eighth verse.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in US.
My little children, these things right I am to you that ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Now you notice here that that verse 1, John 2 and verse one doesn't say if any man confess his sin, we have an advocate with the Father, but it says if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. And that I believe is the reason why it doesn't say that the Lord's other hand went down.
Can I put it very simply with this? I didn't ask the Lord's help, so I let the flesh act. I grieved and dishonored my blessed Lord, but before I had ever confessed it, He was there in the presence of God as my advocate, acting on my behalf. For notice I say again, it doesn't say if any man confesses sin, but if any man sin, we have an advocate. The very moment the believer sins. There's one up there.
In the presence of God, who not only died for us, but he's there to maintain our cause before God. And whether even when we have sinned, he maintains our cause. And it says Jesus Christ the righteous. If I were to break one of the laws of the United States and I hire a lawyer to get me off, how can he do it if I'm guilty?
How can he do it? I don't know how he could do it righteously, but I have still.
And yet I have a righteous advocate before the Father. How can he be righteous when I have failed as a believer? Well, he already paid for that sin. He already settled the whole thing long ago. And there he is in the presence of God for me. He's the propitiation for our sins. They're the one who met the question of my sins at Calvary. He says he's failed, but I already met that sin. And so that hand.
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Down that hand never goes down. The believer is always maintained in perfect standing before God. Failure in the believer's life doesn't change your standing before God.
It dishonors the Lord, it gets us out of communion with Him. It's a sad testimony here in this world, but it doesn't change our standing. Oh, how blessed it is then, to see that He's there.
Well, it is supposed that I have a very good lawyer and I have done something that's wrong. And now I go to the lawyer after a couple of weeks and say to him, oh, I did something here in my business. I'm afraid it's going to get some trouble for me.
And I hope you can fix it up. Oh, he said. I I saw what happened just the very day it happened. And I've already acted to protect you. But I'm glad you came and told me.
I'm glad you came and told me about it, and now my mind is relieved. And now isn't it blessed that when a believer sins, what does he do? Well, he comes before the Lord Jesus as the Advocate, the one who has taken up our cause. And it says if we confess our sins. I just like to say a little word about the difference between asking forgiveness and confessing, because I've heard some Christians say.
Way. Well, when I fail as a believer, I ask the Lord to forgive me. Well, you know, it tells us in this same epistle, your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. And as far as the question of our standing before God, now that has been settled once and for all. We have forgiveness through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
But then it tells us if we confess our sins. Well, I'd like to illustrate it like this. Supposing I did something wrong to you and I come to you and say, will you forgive me? Am I not raising the question about whether you're going to say yes or no? If I say will you forgive me, you're at liberty to answer me yes or no. But if you said to me.
Gordon, I've already forgiven you in my heart.
But I would like you to say you're sorry. That's a little different, isn't it? And that's what happens. That's what the believer does. He comes before the Lord. And I think it's a lot more humbling to say you're sorry. Somehow it's a little easier to say that. Will you forgive me? But when you come to Him and truly take your place and say, oh, I know that it cost my precious Savior all that agony on Calvary's cross to put away that.
And the things that he loved me in spite of it all. And to think that he died for that very sin and suffered so much. Oh, I'm sorry that I grieved him in this way. And so the believer in confessing his sin, he acknowledges before the Lord what he has done. And now that verse in first chapter, in the ninth verse, that is first John 1 and verse 9.
I just like to call attention to the two parts of that verse.
Says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. It doesn't stop there. It says, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now that is, there is a danger with us when we come to acknowledge something before the Lord, of doing it in a very light way. But I believe that if when we confessed it before Him, we thought of what it cost Him to put away sin.
Really got to the root of it, and I haven't time tonight to speak of it, but if you read the 19th chapter of Numbers about the water of separation sprinkled on the defiled man, you'll notice that there wasn't only the ashes of the heifer, but there was cedar wood and scarlet and hyssop. Why are those other things brought in? Well, it's true that the Lord Jesus died unto sin, but it's good for us to recognize.
That the root of all our failures is the cedar. Wood represents our importance. And don't we often fail because we're such important beings, or we think we are, that we just go ahead without asking help? We just think we're so strong in our natural character that we can meet the situation. We're just like the great big theaters. We think we're pretty important. But the cedar had to be brought down to ashes. And then there's the scarlet we like to be.
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Popular scarlet is a color that's noticed and we like to be popular. You know, we, we just don't like to do things that hurt our friends and how often we've done something wrong and we hurt the Lord rather than hurt a friend. The scarlet had to be burned too, to ashes. And then what about the hyssop all? Perhaps there's somebody I like to compare it to. Inferiority complex.
You know, there's some Christians and they say, oh, I'm no use.
And find no good. And so they just are so occupied with themselves in their own nothingness that they fail in discouragement. They fail in other ways because they're so occupied with the fact that they're nothing. And so they look at the person who is the feeder and they look at the person who's the scarlet. And they don't realize that itself in them just in another form.
But in the death of Christ, self is put to an end altogether. Big self.
Popular self, little self, everything all had to reduce to ashes. And you know, when we really judge things before the Lord, as we should, we not only judge the sin, but we get to the root of it. What was it that made me do it? What made Peter deny the Lord? Well, he thought he was a little better than the rest of the disciples. And very often, if we trace our sins down, we'll find that there's something of those three things that's at the root of our trouble.