Failure At The Finish Line Part 2

One reason for us to Jesus phone number for blizzard disappointment. Moses leads Israel for 40 years. One mistake God says you can't enter the land.

How would you handle such despair today, Moses faced his own personal failure at the finish line from the Moody Church in Chicago.

This is with certain whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line elixir, you'll take us again to Psalm 90 as you conclude your series on getting closer to God and love so 90, and one of the reasons is because it is a very plaintive song Moses is reminiscing he's remembering his failure. He wanted to get into the land, but God said no because Moses had been disobedient. He tried to talk God into changing his mind until God says Moses don't talk to me about this again.

So he accepted God's discipline. Now here's the interesting thing Moses teaches us. The fact that we can all fail at the finish line. You know, this series of messages I believe has been a blessing to thousands upon thousands of people would you like to have it permanently so that you can listen to it again and again were making that available to you. This resource. Here's what you do go to RT W offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 ask for the series of messages getting closer to God.

And now let us listen to God's holy word. I want you to notice three contrast in Psalm 90, first of all, there is a contrast between the frailty of man and the detour analogy of God. He begins by saying, thou has been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were born without its birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. But notice the contrast thou sayest tell us tell us turn back into the dust return. No children of men, Moses says for a thousand years in thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or is a watch in the night. He says in verse five we are like grass that is here today and is gone tomorrow. We are planted and then we disappear and another generation comes first of all I want you to understand the terminology of God, from everlasting to everlasting God endures throughout all generations. We come and go, but God is always there to realize that statement that God is from everlasting. Not only into eternity but also from eternity past this past week I was having lunch with Earl Bowers and we were discussing the fact that the age of the earth may not be a whole lot more than 15,000 years.

The evolutionary theory is based on an idea of uniformity Arianism, which may or may not be true, but then I said to Earl.

I said if the earth is only 15,000 years in the world. I guess there was no world at that time, but what was God doing with themselves throughout all those ages of eternity and are looked at me and said you know I'm surprised to hear that from you was a very good mild loving rebuke that was stupid for me to say that even if the earth is 4 billion years old or for a trillion years. We still have a problem of what God was doing with himself in the eternity before that even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God is for man. His days there is grass. He's here today gone tomorrow and a thousand years are in thy sight are like yesterday when we play pray to God and say, oh God, give me 10 more years, or give me 20 more years gone from his perspective, it's sounds to him as if were saying God give me one more second to live two more seconds to live in. Please, Lord, at the most three more seconds to live in all that I want because to God is but a moment of time, and we think it's a thousand year the frailty of man and the tonality of God, then here is the problem God has put eternity in our hearts, and there is something within us that wants us to be as eternal as God is, and we look around ourselves change and decay all around we see in one generation goes in one generation comes in and we think that we're going to live a long time and suddenly it is cut short. No wonder we struggle so much. We are beings that want eternity in all that we see is the decay of time first contrast is the frailty of man. The tonality of God second contrast is the sinfulness of man and the holiness and mercy of God. Verse seven for we have been consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath. We have been dismayed that was placed our iniquities before the our secret sins in the light of thy presence. Five times he uses the word wrath and anger in these verses, and he says we live our lives as a high, no matter how good it is. It always goes bad in sour and in the end we recognize that we are in the presence of a holy and awesome God and we begin to see our sins and even the secrets sins old daughter totally open and the light of thy countenance and we ask ourselves how can we possibly live. And then there is a final contrast and that is between our side gang and our desires and God's fulfillment of them. He says in verse 13 do return old Lord, how long will it be and be sorry for thy servants satisfy us in the morning, with thy lovingkindness that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. What is the answer to Moses plight the answer is to recognize that in this fleeting life and it is fleeting, especially to God in this fleeting life even though we wander in the desert and remember that Moses was in the desert for 38 years, not because of his own unbelief, but because of the unbelief of others. There's some of you here who are going through trials not of your own making. It's just that somebody else put you into that desert you are in a ship that is going somewhere and you are going in that ship but you are not the captain but you must go with it because of your family because of your circumstances and you feel as if you are in that mass not because of anything you did, but because of those around you. Moses lived that way, as did Caleb and Joshua, but he saying, oh God in the desert of our failure in the desert of our discipline satisfy us early with thy mercy. Help us to understand that when we get plugged into you. We then become as eternal as you are and will live forever in this great desire that we have to be eternal beings will be available understand now why there are so many suicides can understand why it is of the world is so frustrated is that God made us for himself. He made us, that we might be satisfied only by him, and people are pouring into their lives every conceivable pleasure every conceivable relationship they are trying to plug up their lives with everything that cannot cannot ever ever satisfy for we been created by God satisfies early with thy mercy yesterday. My wife and I drove to Michigan to be with some friends who were celebrating their 50th anniversary, but a great time. Great talk in the car. Good communication, but I came home and I needed to get alone with God to be satisfied with the Lord you had that experience to work matter how good the human relationships are there something within that says I need to be with God. So the soma says our desire is for eternity and we can come to God and we can be satisfied with him and then he says as established the work of our hands.

This is in the last part of verse 17. Confirm for us the work of our hands. Yes, confirm the work of our hands is either something within us that says I want to make sure that I last forever and that what I do have some repercussions forever. Yet our experience is totally contrary to that you work hard and people forget about it. I've written some things in they may have been published once and never republished or gone. Nobody reads them there gone and you had the experience of doing something and it is like building a sand castle along the sea.

The water comes and it is gone. Flood of 1993 along the Mississippi River.

People say I lost everything I ever had. It's gone. How then do we live eternally. How then can there possibly be meaning for life knowing that eventually everything that we have will be gone in that set the answer is there in the text establish thou confirm the value of the work all our and and if it is done for God the teaching of Scripture is that it isn't gone. It is lasting forever deal Moody is been gone since 1899 but look at his impacted continues and how come it has continued, it is because his life's verse is it on his tombstone. There in Northfield he do with the will of God abide with forever. That's the answer to the human dilemma. What is the answer to our desire for eternity. Jesus Christ said, and believe on me, and you will live forever. What is the answer to our problem of our sinfulness. Christ became DOS for us.

He United dust and divinity. He united God and man and died for us so that we could be accepted by a holy God and what is the answer to the desire that we have within our soul but to come to him to drink to be refreshed, to be strengthened even if we are experiencing a desert that is not of our own making. I think a key verse in this Psalm is verse 12 so teach us to number our days. Now I don't number my days. If you came to me and said how old are you if I'm in a good mood and I usually am. I might tell you how old I am in years but I have no idea as to how many days I've lived but you see Moses numbered not only his days. He could actually number the length of the days he was still the live, and so could the people in the desert when God says you're gonna wander in the desert for 40 years as a man was 20 years old. He says to his wife. You know I'm 20 or 21 you were 20. You got to go into the land you are considered the younger generation at the age of 21 he says I know that I'm to be dead by age 61 at the best of circumstances, because God says all of us are going to die and we are going to see the land when Moses had this experience. There, in which he disobeyed God and God says you're not entering into the land that was the beginning of the 40th year, he knew that they had to be in the land by the end of the year and that meant. At best he had 12 months so he could begin to number his days, but the lesson of this text is that all of us must number our days, that we might apply our hearts unto wisdom. We must live and single day as if it might be our last. Recognizing that God has numbered our days and we must do all that we possibly can to live however many days he gives this for him and for his glory. And when we do that we will be satisfied within and God will establish the work. All our hand. Yes I know people in the media are saying in the Mississippi flood. We lost everything, but I want you to know today that the Christians have lost nothing that will be of any kind of eternal significance. Every deed done. Every good act done in the name of Christ, the prayer that was offered every crop that was plowed for the glory of Christ will remain eternally no matter what the floods do and so we come to the end of the life of Moses, God takes them to the top of Nebo says look this way look that way. See the land and then the Bible says that God personally buried him. It's almost as if the Lord says I don't want to leave this responsibility to anybody else. I want to delegate any of the responsibility I want to do it myself and then you member it says in the book of Jude that there was a dispute about the body of Moses.

Satan wanted at an and Michael the Archangel was getting into the act and rebuked the devil, and so Moses was buried somewhere and then you know that eventually he did get into the land on the Mount of Transfiguration is recorded in the New Testament, but for us at this point in history. The curtain closes and what do you have all that you have is Moses left with his God saw once he was gone. It didn't matter how much criticism the people had given him.

It didn't matter how many years they grumbled it didn't matter what names they had called him. It didn't matter how much they failed his very motives and his integrity. Nothing matter because there was a new generation but Moses was now left alone with his God. When you remember that God is with us in our failures.

God was with Moses.

After Moses was told that his days had been severely numbered and God was with him to say Moses. I have an answer for your frailty is my turn now mate. I have an answer for your sinfulness is my mercy and your forgiveness. I have an answer for the deep desire of your soul. I will satisfy you. I have an answer for that desire to do something to last forever.

I will establish the work of your hand and the bottom line is, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Rev. Francis light was a minister in Scotland dying of an incurable disease. He met with his congregation to say goodbye in a very very emotional farewell and a few days later, looking around and back on that experience, he wrote to change and decay all around, I see O thou who changes not by with me. Let us pray our father, we thank you for your faithfulness and for your love and thank you that you are with us in the wilderness. Thank you father that you did not abandon Moses, though he disobeyed you to the end of his day. You are still satisfying him and you are still establishing the work of his hands now encourage us and for those who do not know Christ as Savior. We pray that they may recognize him to be there bridge to God the one who forgives and cleanses and makes right before I close this prayer if you need to talk to God. Would you just talk to him at this moment say, oh God, I come to you in the name of Jesus I want to believe on you and I want to trust you to be my Savior. And for those of you who know him as Savior say I want to trust you in my desert experience come to me satisfy right where I am in my knee.

You talk to them, hear our prayer. Lord, for we are needy. In Jesus name amen my friend today.

I hope that you take time to read Psalm 90 as you listen to Moses, pour out his heart to God as he thinks of the past. He thinks of his failures but he also thinks about the faithfulness and the turn now T of God. Have you been blessed as a result of this series of messages would you like to have these sermons permanently so that you can listen to them again and again. Today is the last day, we are making that resource available to you. Here's what you can do. Go to RTW offer.com ask for this series. Getting closer to God. Or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337 now I'm going to be giving you that contact info again because, as I mentioned, this is the last opportunity. You will have. We are making this resource available to get these sermons so that they can be yours. Go to RTW offer.com RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. As a result of the series of messages that we have just been listening to on running to win. People will be encouraged will be admonished and helped ask for the series of messages getting closer to God because that of course is the desire of all of our hearts is time now for another chance for you to ask your loser a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Today we have a question from a very perceptive listener, a question that goes to the very heart of what being saved really means. Here's what John writes based on the Scriptures.

Can we separate salvation by grace from discipleship. Some say that discipleship is an option that won't influence our eternal destiny because our salvation is eternally secure.

Once we believe in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. But Dietrich Bonhoeffer thinks we cannot separate the two. He talks about cheap grace and costly grace the costly grace calls us to follow Christ, which means discipleship and no one is saved by cheap grace, which in his opinion, is used as a dispensation from following Christ. He says the only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who was left all to follow Christ, pastor, loser. What's your opinion about this dilemma, John. I want to commend you because you've asked a very very important question and you know, believe it or not, it's not one that I can just answer by saying yes or no.

What we need to do is to separate a couple of things and that we need to think clearly and I hope we think biblically about the answer to your question. First of all, I do believe that those were truly saved will be saved. Now you can say will if you believe on Jesus and then don't follow him. That's cheap grace.

Well looked at from another way, it is very expensive. Grace because it has come to us from Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ purchased us and that is never cheap grace when we believe on Christ, we always know that we are believing in grace that really cost God. Plenty. So first of all, let me clarify that. Secondly, it's very important for us to realize that Bonhoeffer in saying what he did and by the way, I am a great admirer of Bonhoeffer. But in saying what he did he came close to teaching that we are saved by grace and by works because what he saying is if I believe in Jesus and then don't follow him. Then my salvation is jeopardized. Somehow my discipleship adds to what Jesus Christ did seems to me that that's what he's saying.

But now, having said that, I don't mean to say that we can believe in Jesus and then live as we please. Because obviously, first of all, we are called to discipleship as an outgrowth of our faith. We are saved unto good works, and if someone has no desire to do good works and to follow Christ after they say they are saved. I have to doubt whether they are truly saved. Furthermore, if we backslide as Christians. God disciplines us and if were not disciplined. The Bible says that then we are not true sons. So I guess I need to summarize by saying yes I believe that those were truly saved will be saved. Yes, we should be involved in discipleship.

That's what we are called to as a result of our salvation, but there are going to be Christians who will be saved so as by fire. They will be in heaven but they'll have no good works to show for it. Pathetic, but saved think about a John and God help all of us to think clearly about these matters. Some wise counsel from Dr. Erwin loser thank you Pastor loser if you'd like to hear your question answered. Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor loser. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us at running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 at the end, all that remains is God. That's why he is the goal of the race of life today.

Erwin loser concluded his message failure at the finish line. This was the last in a series of 12 messages about the life and times of Moses, a man getting closer to God. Next time we begin a series taken from the parables of Jesus join us for. You can't redo life for Dr. Erwin loser this is Dave Hollister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church