When God’s Servants Die, God’s Work Goes On | Deuteronomy 34 | Pastor Matt Nettesheim

All right, take your Bibles, turn with me to

the book of Deuteronomy chapter 34. Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 34 · chapter mention

34, thank you so much for being here. It's a

joy to be in the house of the Lord, and truly

it's one of the joys of life. We are a Bible

-believing church, and that means we open up

the word of God, we read what the Bible says,

we understand it's God's holy precious word,

then we try our best. to have a ladder set up

right there. That's gonna be interesting right

there. But it's a joy to be around Bible believers.

We know God's words quick and powerful and sharper

than any two -edged sword. We've been in the

book of Deuteronomy. The book of what? Deuteronomy,

okay? The second giving of the law. You know,

Moses led God's children out of the bondage of

Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea of Destruction.

They were meant to go into the Promised Land.

They disobeyed God. And when you disobey God,

there's consequences. They ended up having to

wander in the wilderness for 40 long years. It's

the end of the 40 years. Moses is about to die.

He gathers the congregation of the children of

Israel together. He gives them the word of God,

instructions. He guides them, He directs them.

When you get to the promised land, when you get

to that land flowing with milk and honey, remember

these things, remember what God says, and wow.

And we get here, Deuteronomy chapter 34, this

Deuteronomy 34 · chapter mention

is the last chapter. This is, you might say,

the servant of God, His final assignment. It's

Moses, the end of his life, and really, We're

gonna learn some things. You're gonna see some

things. We're gonna see that God's servant, Moses,

dies. God's servant, Moses, what? Dies. We're

gonna find that Moses dies. And the title of

the message, before I pray and we get into it,

it starts with when God's servant dies. Now I'm

not gonna give you the full title of the sermon.

But I'll tell you what, there's a lot in this

message in this chapter that I need. And by the

way, I believe you're gonna need in a tremendous

way and it's gonna help you. Before we go any

further, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear

Father in heaven, thank you Lord for your goodness

and your mercy. And Lord, we're changing things

up slightly this morning. The order of the sermon

Lord, but I pray that you help us to all focus

in on what your word says. help us all to decrease

in our hearts and our minds, and you to increase

in a great way. We do need you, Lord. We sure

do love you. We ask you to bless in a great way.

In Jesus' name, amen. Now stand with me, if you

will. We're gonna read the first five verses

together, all together in unison, Deuteronomy

chapter number 34, starting in verse number one.

Are you ready? And Moses went up from the plains

of Moab, under the mountain of Nebo to the top

of Pisgah that is over against Jericho and the

Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan

and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and

Manasseh and all the land of Judah unto the utmost

sea and the south and the plain of the valleys

of Jericho the city of palm trees unto Zohar

And the Lord said unto him, this is the land

which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto

Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed.

I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes,

but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses

the servant of the Lord died there in the land

of Moab according to the word of the Lord. And

wow, verse five. So Moses, the servant of the

Lord, what? Died. And the title of the message,

when God's servants die. If you will be seated

right there. I'm gonna take and try to describe

the picture of what's going on. Look at verse

number one, if you will. It says in Moses, and

who? Okay, some of you are here. I'm gonna come

back over and make sure we're all here together.

If we're not here, then we is in big trouble

this morning. It says, and Moses, and who? Okay,

Moses at the end of life went up from the plains

of Moab. If you could sort of picture where we're

at, we're gonna pretend that this right here

is the Jordan River. I will be here in Moab pretending

slightly to be Moab and Moses in the plains of

Moab and it says he went up from the plains of

Moab unto the mountain of what? Nebo. So Moses

went up the mountain of Nebo and began to climb

up the mountain of Nebo. It says to the top of

Pisgah and we begin to think of Pisgah. There's

this mountain called Nebo but at the top of the

mountain is a place called Pisgah, that's right

here. That's where I'm going to stand eventually.

No, that's a little bit too high. But Pisgah,

I went up to Pisgah. It's OK. You're OK. You're

OK. I'm OK. You're OK. OK. Look at this, if you

will. He went to the top of Pisgah. Pisgah is

that place at the top of Mount Nebo. And he begins

to look over into the promised land. And the

Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan.

I don't mean to give you a little bit of a geography

lesson, but on the other side of Jordan, up to

the north over there is the region of Dan. Around

Dan, there's a mount called Mount Hermon. And

Mount Hermon, if you're in Israel, you look up

to Mount Hermon, has snow on there. In the spring,

the waters of Hermon begin to melt. They go to

the region of Dan. They eventually travel into

the Jor. Dan River, the Jordan River, the waters

from Dan, and begin to flow down into the Sea

of Galilee, into the Dead Sea right there. Continue

on, if you will, and look it with me in verse

number two. and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh

and all the land of Judah under the utmost sea.

He looks out into the promised land. He sees

Judah down there where brother Andy is over there.

He sees where Jerusalem. He looks to the back

of the room over there. If you see the white

wall right there, that's the end of the land

of Israel. That's where the Mediterranean or

the utmost sea. And God gives him the ability

not to go into the promised land, but to see.

the promised land. And wow, in verse three, and

the south and the plain of the valley of Jericho,

oh, look at Jericho right there where Miss Rhonda

is. And Jericho, remember, eventually Joshua's

gonna get there and Joshua fought the battle

of Jericho, the city of palm trees under Zohar.

And the Lord said unto him, this is the land.

Look at verse four, everybody look at this. And

the Lord said to him, this is the land which

I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob,

saying, I will give it unto thy seed. And it's

referring back to God promising Abraham, promising

Isaac, promising Jacob. This land, that land

over here, we call it the promised land. It's

a land flowing with milk and honey. And this

gets to the first part of the sermon. It's very

important for us to understand. And I'm gonna

read from my notes to make sure I don't, the

promised land. God makes promises, and God's

promises are true. Okay, Moses goes up. And he

shows them the land right there, and he all of

a sudden begins reading, hey, though I don't

get to go over to the promised land, boy, when

I see the promised land, praise God, the promises

of God are true. Okay. I shouldn't treat the

Bible maybe like that, Brother Alec Gray, but

the Bible, it's God's holy precious word. God's

word's a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my

path. God's word is quick and powerful and sharper

than any two -edged sword. And that from a child,

thou has known the holy scriptures which are

able to make thee wise into salvation, which

is by faith through Christ Jesus. God's promises

are true. I'll give you a story. We had many

people in our church graduating. Miss Grace graduated,

and just many of the young people, 10 graduates.

There was a graduation on Thursday. It's a busy

day. Danny and Emi Solano and I wanted to go

is at seven o 'clock, but we have a men's outreach,

a men's soul winning time. And I didn't want

to miss that. So I prayed, I said, God, I got

a very little time, but I'm going to go to the

men's soul winning. God, open a door where I

can tell somebody about you. And so I went there,

we got on the bus, we drove over to the shopping

center. I got out of the bus. Brother Joel is

with me. And almost immediately, there's a car

in the parking lot, there's a man sitting there

in the car, and he's got a disgruntled look on

his face, and I went up and I said, hey, I'm

Pastor Matt. I'd like to invite you to Grace,

to Chesapeake, it used to be Grace Baptist, to

Chesapeake Baptist Church right there, and he

just reached out his hand, didn't say much, he

said, and he took it. And I said, what are you

doing right here? And it's interesting, he was

on his way, His car overheated, and he didn't

want to be in that parking lot at all, but he

was waiting for his car to cool down. He just

pulled in there, and I said, you got some time

where I can talk to you. He said, I have some

time. Now, he wasn't too happy about it, but

he had some time. So I began to give him the

good news about Jesus Christ that you can know

for sure that when you die, you go to heaven.

Now make a long story short, I showed him how

we're sinners, and I showed him how we need a

savior, and how Jesus loves him and died on the

cross for his sins, and I showed him that. And

at sort of the end, I gave him my testimony,

but I said, do you believe the promises of God?

Do you believe what the Bible says? And that

moment he stopped, he says, well, I don't know

if I really believe that. I don't know whether

I believe the promises of God. Now, this is very

important for the sermon this morning, because

this is very important. These are the promises

of God. There is a God. God created us. God gave

us life. God gave us breath. But God also gave

us an instruction book, a guide book, a command

book, a book filled with exceeding, great and

precious promises. That decision for that fella,

by the way, he said, I don't know if I believe

that. I'm having a hard time believing that.

And that's OK. I understand that. But I said,

can I pray with you? And I prayed with him. I

bowed my head. I got on my knees. And I said,

God. Show this young man that your promises are

true. Show him that, and I begged with him, by

the way, afterwards to read the Bible, but I

prayed and said, God, show him clearly, soon,

that these promises are your word and that he

needs to live by them and that the Bible shows

him the way to heaven. And I remember praying

that right there, but here's the truth. I can't

force anybody to believe the promises of God.

They are true. The promises of God are true,

but you have to make a decision for yourself.

And that man right there at that moment, if he

chooses not to believe the promises of God, it

takes him on a certain path. By the way, that

path, according to the Bible, is a path of destruction.

But if all of a sudden he chooses to believe

the promises of God, live by the promise of God,

it takes him in a path of blessing. It takes

him in a path of where God helps and guides him

right there. I want to say again, God's promises

are true. God's promises are true. God's promises

are true. God's promises are true. You believe

the Bible, trust the Bible. It's an amazing book.

Get you a copy of the Bible, read the Bible,

believe the Bible, live by the Bible. Amen. Okay,

now we skip forward just a little bit if you

will, and I want you to notice point number two.

Go to verse number five. Verse number five. So

Moses, remember he's up there, Mount Nebo. and

he'd been up there to Pisgah, sees the promised

land, the promises of God. So Moses, the servant

of the Lord, what? Died. There in the land of

Moab, according to the word of the Lord. But

before we go into Moses dying, I want you to

notice the way it words it. So Moses, the servant

of the Lord, the servant of the Lord. Say that,

Moses the. Servant of the Lord. Okay. An illustration

I think will help you. I was sitting there, I

don't know if you've ever liked that, but sometimes

I have a hard time going to sleep, and you're

sitting there in your bed, and you're trying

to go to sleep, but your mind is like going a

million miles an hour, and you're thinking about

things. Anybody else ever like that? Anybody

else like that? Okay. We're thinking about things,

and I was thinking about how good God has been

to me. I was thinking about, man, God, you know,

I've... I've had the privilege of preaching really

all over the world. And I thought about it, you

know, when I was in the Navy, I got to have a

Bible study, and I'd preach all over the Mediterranean,

the Persian Gulf, and we'd stop in Bahrain or

different places right there. And I got to preach

the Word of God. What about I got to preach for

a missionary in the Philippines and in Italy.

I got to preach all over America in so many different

ways. And then I thought about, and as I was

sitting there, I was thinking about it. There's

sometimes awkwardness when I'm invited to preach

at a church and the pastor will get up and say,

today we are blessed to have the man of God,

Matt Nettishime, or the segundo would say, Dr.

Matt Nettishime. And all of a sudden I begin

to roll my eyes. The man of God, Matt Nettishime,

Dr. Matt Nettishime, the illustrious Matt Nettishime.

In reality, none of that is true. None of that

is true. I know some of you are nodding very

quickly at that point. None of that is true.

But here's what we all, all should be striving

for. Here's what we strive, not to be the great

illustrious so -and -so or the wonderful so -and

-so, but Moses, the servant of the Lord. That

could be the greatest title you could ever have.

Servant of the Lord is one who belongs to God

and lives to do his will. God's servant belongs

to God and obeys God. Servant of the Lord, Moses'

greatness was not in that he parted, by the way,

Moses parted the Red Sea. Well, actually, no,

he didn't, God did. Well, Moses confronted Pharaoh.

He was actually pretty scared and God protected

him and put a hedge around him. And he was just

doing the will of God. And it was actually God

who did all the miracles. God did that. Well,

he's the one that had water come from a rock.

Well, actually, no, he trusted God and God gave

him from the rock. And so we're all equals, in

other words, we're all just servants of the Lord.

And one of the greatest things you could ever

seek to be is a servant of the Almighty God.

A servant belongs to God, a servant obeys God.

Jesus, when he came, the Bible says, for the

Son of Man came not to be ministered unto. but

to minister, that's being a servant, and to give

his life a ransom for many. You know, the apostles,

we think of Paul or Timothy, it'll say like this,

Romans chapter one, verse one, Paul, a servant

of Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter one, verse

one, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus

Christ. Wow, we oughta seek to be what? Okay,

whoa, that's two people. You guys don't like

that. You wanna be the illustrious. No, no, no,

that's not gonna help you. Don't worry about

that. Be servants. Miss Marty, Cave, I like you,

I like you. And I'm excited that this Saturday,

she wants to serve the Lord by leading a group

to write little letters. And that is absolutely

phenomenally great and wonderful because doing

that, you are serving the King of Kings and Lord

of Lords. Could you imagine if Miss Marty said,

Pastor, I would like to do this ministry, but

make sure you put doctor of divinity, of illustrious,

Miss Marty Cabe is gonna lead this. Gloria, I

would look at her and I'd say, whoa, no, no,

no, no, no. That's not what you want. You wanna

be, hey, Miss Marty, the servant of the Lord.

Miss Marty, the servant of the Lord. There's

nothing better than that. Somebody say amen.

Servant of the Lord, servant of the Lord. Now,

if I could add in some things, church is a great

place if it's filled with servants. And we need

to, as a church, remind ourselves to be like

Christ is to be a servant of the Most High. And

the last shall be first and the first shall be

last. We gotta try our best to serve the Lord.

Go back to this, if you will, in verse number

five. So Moses, the servant of the Lord. This

was verse five. So Moses, the servant of the

Lord. What happened to him? Okay, and this is

where we're getting to the message. And I think

it's a very important part of the message. And

really, I think it's gonna help some of you.

Remember the sermon's title, Win God's Servant.

Win God's Servant. dies, okay? When God's servant

dies, okay? So we get to the servant of the Lord,

Moses. He died there in the land of Moses. And

this is an important part of us. You and I, the

fact of life is we are going to one day die.

And you could describe that in a lot of different

ways. You could say one day you're gonna croak.

One day you're gonna die. One day you're going

to, Bible description, fall asleep. One day,

you can describe it any way, but the fact of

the matter is appointed unto us once to die,

and after that, the judgment. There's that song

about only one life, so soon it will pass. Only

what's done for Christ will last. Only one chance

to do his will. So give to Jesus all your days.

It's the only life that pays when you recall

you have but one life. Now think with me, just

a second, go back to the verse five. Look at

verse five again. Look at this. Oh, how do I,

I look at this without seeing this. You really

need to see this. So Moses, the servant of the

Lord died there in the land of Moses, according

to the word of the Lord. And he buried him. By

the way, he buried him. God buried Moses. Him

in the valley. in the land of Moab over against

Bethpior, but no man knoweth of his sepulcher

unto this day." Okay, so God buried Moses in

the valley there in Moab, verse seven, and Moses

was 120 years old when he died. His eye was not

dim nor his natural force abated. At that point

in his life, he had good eyesight. He was actually

strong. But the point is, it was God's timing

for his death. God allowed him to die. It was

his point to die. And the point being, he died.

OK, got that. Boy, that's really brilliant there,

Pastor. I know. Pastor, I'm talking to God. God,

that's really brilliant the way it's worded.

But God knows what we're trying to get here.

He died. OK, he died. What? OK. Verse 8. And

the children of Israel wept. OK, the children

of Israel wept. Okay, for Moses in the plains

of Moab, they've wept for Moses in the plains

of Moab 30 days, so the days of weeping and mourning

for Moses were ended. Okay, where are we going?

How do you react when someone you love dies?

How do you react when a leader in your life dies?

How do you react, it could be even not in death,

But what would happen if maybe Pastor Matt Nettesheim

moved on from being the pastor of Chesapeake

Baptist Church? Now, I do believe the Lord wants

me to stay here till I die, almost. I think that,

and so I'm not planning on leaving or anything.

But understand, what happens when your leaders

pass on? And I'll give you a story to illustrate

this. Not long ago, I was talking to a very seasoned

former pastor, man of God. And if I said his

name, you would know him. He's preached here.

Not long ago, he preached here. And he worked

for a great man of God for 30 years. And I said

to him, I said, why didn't you ever write a book

about this man of God's life? You knew him very

well. You worked with him very well. Why didn't

you write a book about this great man of God's

life? And he said, well, I wanted to. He said,

but his daughter was the one that was going to

write that book. His daughter told me that she

was going to write the story of his life. And

I said, well, why didn't she? And all of a sudden

in the story, he began to tell me, he said, well,

after that man of God died, she couldn't handle

it. She couldn't take it that her dad, that her

man of God, that her leader died. She began to

say, I can't move on from this. My dad, my leader

in my life, he's died. I can't make it without

my dad. I can't live without my dad. I can't

function without my spiritual leader. And she

began to go spiral down into, you might just

spiral down in her mind. And she eventually,

she wouldn't get out of bed. She lived depressed.

And in her mind, she kept saying, why God did

you take him? I can't live without him. I can't

function without him. He was my leader. He was

my God. He was my strength. I can't make it.

I can't live. And she began to maybe get out

of bed for a church service every once in a while.

But he began to spiral down. And she got to the

point where I can't take anymore. And she took

her life. And I heard that. I was like, what?

What do you say? My heart sunk. Now here's where

we're getting at, and this is the sermon, okay?

And this is really, when God's servant dies,

remember we started that? When God's servant

dies, God's work is not done, okay? When God's

servant dies, God's work goes on. How can I move

on? How can I make it? Well, here's how you can.

You have to realize that though the servant of

God is dead, the great God that we have is not

dead. God is still on the throne. He's still

living. He's still able. And our faith was not

in a man. Our faith is in the great God that

we serve. Okay, this is very important. I do

have some amens here, but I tell you what sometimes

people and and this is Bible This is very important

for understand They all of a sudden they have

a dad or a mom or a loved one who was close who

was great who's wonderful But it was their time

to pass on in eternity But God's plan for your

life is not to live a life of depression Yeah,

God's plan for your knife is not to woe in your

misery God's plan for your life is to see his

will and do his will And our trust and our faith,

God's given you a reason to live and a reason

to get up in the morning. He wants you to serve

the Lord God Almighty. And too many people through

the years live lives of depression, they live

lives of misery because how did God allow that

to happen to me? And they look at their circumstances

rather than the great God that they have. And

it's a very important point right there, very

important. How can you move on? How can I make

it? Well, look to God, look to Jesus as the author

and finisher of your faith. He did not say, by

the way, he said, Moses, my servant is dead,

but God did not say, my promises are dead. The

promises of God are not dead. They're from this,

by the way, can I just explain? So it's shocking,

but Moses died. Do you know who replaced him?

Joshua. Do you realize he died too? Do you realize

that those judges that we look toward, like Gideon,

he died? Do you realize like David, he died?

Do you realize that Solomon, he died? Do you

remember Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

They died. Do you remember Paul, he died, Timothy,

he died, and generation after generation, but

God's promises do not die. The next generation

needs to stand, and we're gonna get ahead of

myself right here, but this is important right

there. Hey, when God's servant dies, God's work

is not done. Hey, God's work's not on, God's

work goes on. So look at verse number nine. Look

at verse nine, and Joshua, Joshua, The Son of

was full of the Spirit of wisdom. Okay, the work

of the Lord, this is the point, I'm gonna try

to elaborate on this because I think this is

gonna be very helpful. But Moses did die, but

the work of the Lord moved on and the work of

the Lord did not die with Moses. God in his infinite

wisdom had the next generation ready to step

up. and get busy for God, get busy for him, get

busy for doing the work of the Lord. And I want

you to notice it, Joshua the son of Nun, it says

was full of the spirit of what? Okay, are you

seeing that? You gotta see this. This is very

important. Young folks, okay, young folks, look

at me over here, this section. Some of you, young

folks, teenagers, children, folks that are in

their 20s, early 30s. Over here, young folks

right there, I'm looking at you, you're in 20s,

30s, couples, young couples. Over here, young

people, you young men back there, you're probably

in your 20s right there, full of life and zeal.

Now look at this over here, young people, young

children, all of this. The servant of God, I'm

in my 50s. If I live to be 80 or 90, that's just

a vapor. It's just a moment in time away, and

the work of the Lord. needs to continue. So,

what was Joshua full of? Full of the spirit of

wisdom. Now, this is part of the sermon, wisdom.

He was not, and this, hard to explain it without

being mean to you, okay? But think about your

life. What are you full of? And I'm not meant

to be funny or derogatory or anything like that.

I'm just, the world may use that in a bad way,

but I'm saying many of you are full of not wisdom,

but you're full of video games. Well, pastor,

there's nothing wrong with video games. And all

of a sudden you're like, I did to the 257th level

of the third game or third season of this game.

Whoa, you're full of it. I don't know if that's

a good way to say it, but I'm not meaning to

say it like that, but you're full of something,

okay? You're full of something. And the reason

Joshua could be used was he was full of wisdom,

okay? By the way, just a side note. Proverbs

chapter three, the book of wisdom says, happy

is the man that gets to the hundredth level of

this video game. No, it says, happy is the man

that findeth wisdom, and findeth wisdom. Proverbs

four, verse seven, wisdom is the principle thing,

therefore get wisdom with all thy get understanding.

Proverbs eight, verse 11, for wisdom, wisdom

is. Wisdom is better. Wisdom is better. Wisdom

is better than rubies. And all the things that

may be desired are not to be compared to it.

All the things that you might desire can't be

compared to getting wisdom. Joshua was full of

wisdom. Now what is wisdom? Okay, I wanna just

talk about that. Wisdom, think with me. Wisdom

is knowing Wisdom is knowing what God says and

doing what God wants. Wisdom is knowing what

God wants, you might say. Wisdom is using what

you know to please God with your life. Wisdom

is truth, the truth found in the word of God,

put into practice in the fear of the Lord. Wisdom

is knowing what is right and doing it God's way.

Wisdom is having knowledge and using your knowledge.

in a way that, in the fear of the Lord, you might

say. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore

get wisdom. Now, I could ask, what are you full

of? Young people, that young section right there,

what are you full of? We need some young people

that are full of the spirit of wisdom, full.

Your plum. filled up to the brim, you understand

what God says, you understand what God wants,

and you're living a life obedient to doing the

will of God. Joshua just didn't need courage,

he needed wisdom. He didn't need to just know

how to lead people. He was gonna face battles,

he was gonna make decisions, but what he desperately

needed was to be full of the spirit of wisdom.

Wisdom is not just being smart. A man can be

smart and still ruin his life. Okay, wisdom is

knowing what's right and then doing right God's

way. Wisdom listens to God. Wisdom fears God.

Wisdom obeys God. Wisdom knows the path God wants

you to take and you choose to take it. That's

what this next generation, that's what we need.

One day I'm gonna die. And the work of God is

gonna continue on, but it's gonna continue on

with people that are filled with wisdom. We don't

just need young people that are edumacated or

young people that have talent. We need young

people that have wisdom from on high. We don't

just need young people that have ability. We

need young people that will surrender to the

will of God. We don't need young people that's

filled with confidence. We need young people

that have the fear of the Lord. Oh, it's important.

And I begin to think about this and man, the

next generation. I'm looking at some right here.

Man, God wants you to be, I have no doubt, 100%,

the will of God for your life is to be full of

wisdom. Full of wisdom. God wants you to know

what he wants and then God desires for you to

do what he wants. Young married couples, oh yeah,

you're so smart. You're brilliant. But so many

of you brilliant young people, young couples

have zero wisdom. You're so adjudicated and filled

with knowledge, but you don't understand that

knowledge needs to be have, you need to use that

knowledge of the fear Lord. And let me get irritated

for a second. Okay, I am irritated. You're so

smart, you're so edumacated, you can dot every

chi and cross every T, but you don't submit to

the will of the Lord. You have no wisdom, no

wisdom. And what you need to do is quit showing

your brilliance, showing your edumacation, get

in the Word of God, humble yourself to the Word

of God, study the Word of God, get on your knees

to the God Almighty and say, God, Lord, What

wilt thou have me to do? Can I just tell you,

by the way? He wants you to be a servant. Wants

you to be a servant. Servant. What does a servant

do? A servant knows the will of God and does

the will of God. Well, I won't get a lot of pats

on the back. Is that what you're living your

life for? And man, Pastor, this is not like a

Sunday morning service. This is a... More like

a Sunday night story, and it is. Because we desperately

need wisdom. Desperately need wisdom. Look at

this, if you will. Verse number nine, there's

another side to it. And Joshua the son of Nun

was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had

laid his hands upon him. And by the way, the

children of Israel hearkened unto him and did

as the Lord commanded. It's hard to skip over

this. Moses had laid his hands upon him. laid

hands upon him. And really, Moses passed the

torch to the next generation. It's not a study

for this, but you see it in Acts chapter number

13, where they're sending out Paul and Barnabas.

Paul and Barnabas, it says, separate me, Barnabas

and Saul, for the work whereunto I've called

them. And when they had fasted and prayed and

laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Now let's talk about the other generation, not

the young folks, but the older folks that are

gonna die. Okay, we're sooner to death, okay?

We're working and busy as servants of the Lord,

but we have to realize that we need to lay hands,

pass the torch to the next generation, allow

the next generation to do something for God.

Okay, this may not mean much to you, but sometimes,

okay, in your house, I have no doubt there are

moms in this house. You're very particular. You've

got children. And whoa, you would have the children

help you, but they don't do it quite right. So

you'd rather just do it yourself. Eh, I'll just

do it. Dad, you got a job to do. And if you allowed

your son to do it with you, he might make a little

bit of a mess. He might make a scratch or something

like that. Say, whoa, whoa, I'll just do it.

Just go away. You're in too much trouble. But

listen, the trouble is you're missing an opportunity

to pass the torch. to lay hands on them and give

them an opportunity. Now, let's apply this to

our church. Praise God for the Sunday School

teachers we have. I love our Sunday School teachers.

I love our choir. I love our orchestra. But we

desperately, desperately need the next generation

to step up, and we as a church need to lay hands

on them. In other words, pass the torch and allow

them to do something for God. One in particular

that I was thinking of, and it applies to many

different angles, but I was thinking about our

Sunday School classes. And after the early birth

service, I had a young teenager come up to me

and he said, pastor, I for a long time, I've

desired to be a Sunday school teacher. I just

wanna let you know, I desire and want, basically

he said to lay hands or you to pass the torch

or give me the opportunity to be a Sunday school

teacher. Wow, but teenager, young couple. There

needs to be some of you that soon come up and

say, Pastor, one day I want wisdom, be filled

with wisdom enough where you allow me or God

allows me to teach a Sunday school class. And

there's something inside of you that has a hunger

and a thirst for God. Vitally important, and

it's not late yet, yet, yet. But young generation,

I pray after this message today that I have teenagers

come up and say, Pastor, one day I'd like to

preach. I would love to have some young people

say, I'd like to teach. I'd like to be a soul

winner. Let me be a soul winner for Jesus. The

next generation, the next generation. Boy, somebody

say, I'd like to drive a bus. Brother, Noah over

there. We're on there Thursday night. You know,

it rejoiced my heart because you have an opportunity

to get a bus license. We desperately need bus

drivers. There's so much of our ministry is picking

up people and helping people. And Noah said the

other day, he said, Pastor, I basically said,

I would like to drive the bus for the church.

He said, I'll do that. I said, glory be to God.

But we need not just one Noah, we need some of

you who maybe have a CDL license and say, hey,

I'll drive a bus for God. Okay, now go back to

verse number one with me. Pastor, before I get

to verse number one, group hug. You will be okay.

You'll be okay. You'll be okay. You okay? Okay,

good. I hope so. I hope so. I hope so. I hope

so. Look at verse one. went up from the plains

of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo to the top

of Pisgah. That is over against Jericho, Pisgah.

And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead.

And this is the last point of the sermon. In

your song book, song 391, it uses that term,

Pisgah. It's the very top. I'm not gonna do it,

I'm not gonna do it. I want to, I really want

to. I really want to. But I'm gonna be on my

almost best behavior. Verse three, sweet hour

of prayer, sweet hour of prayer may I by consolation

share till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height I

view my home and take my flight. It's talking

about the end of somebody's life. He's looking

over into the promised land. which is a generality

or a picture of eternity, heaven. He looks over

there, so I view, from Lafayette, I view my home

and take my flight. This robe of flesh I'll drop

and rise to seize the everlasting prize and shout

while passing through the air, farewell, farewell,

sweet hour of prayer. The end of it, and this

is the end of the sermon. In the book of Deuteronomy,

Moses, Yes, a prophet, God honored him, but in

Deuteronomy chapter number 18 says this, the

Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet

from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like

unto me, unto him shall ye hearken. And the book

of Deuteronomy was pointing to a prophet, his

name is Jesus. We all have a problem. And our

problem is we're sinners in need of a savior.

Jesus came to seek and to save that which is

lost. And if you're here today, and you don't

know for sure that if you were to die today,

you'd go to heaven, the Bible desperately, I

don't wanna use that word, the Bible desires

you to be gloriously saved by the blood of Jesus

Christ. And Jesus will save you. for whosoever

shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be

saved. Your works, your goodness do not get you

to heaven. Jesus will save you. We're at the

end of the sermon. I'm gonna be short with this.

First of all, I desire you to understand the

promises of God. Today, maybe make a commitment

to read the Bible this week, study the Bible,

live by the Bible. Number two, realize death

comes. It's a part of life. And I beg you, some

of you have been maybe here today, You've been

stuck because of death. Listen, death is not

the end, amen. God's promises live on and somehow

become that servant of God. Servant of God that's

full of wisdom, full of wisdom. Next generation,

make sure that we lay hands or we allow the next

generation to live for God. Last if you're here

and you're not saved, please get saved. Let's

pray. Dear Father in heaven. I think I exhausted

the congregation. God, I'm sorry. I just believe

the next generation, we desperately need people

full of wisdom. And this world is so saturated

with so many other things. And I pray that the

Christians that are here today say no to maybe

some things that are not bad, but say yes to

wisdom. They learned the Bible, the promises

of you. They devote their life to be filled with

wisdom. And then, Lord, they take their wisdom

and learn to become not a master or a Lord, but

learn to be a servant of you, Lord. I pray also

that we'll have the older generation be willing,

moms and dads willing to allow their children

to do some things. The older generation of the

church allowing some newer people to do some

things. And I pray that you give us wisdom and

help, Lord. We love you. We need you in Jesus'

name, amen. Stand with me if you will. In a moment.