At that time, Moses said to the Israelites, You are about to enter the promised land, and it was obvious many were pleased. Then Moses said, Do you think your faith is satisfactory? Just as we Christians might ask, How is your faith? and someone answers, My faith is alright. Then Moses said, You are far off; your faith is terrible. God was going to destroy you then, and I fasted and prayed for you on the mountain for forty days and nights. (Deuteronomy 9:12-29)
Moses understood God's will very well. If it were me at the time, I might have let God destroy those people, but that's me; Moses wasn't. Moses prayed that God would not destroy them, interceding for them for forty days and nights (Deuteronomy 9:25). This group often complained about Moses. Moses was truly remarkable. You ask me if I could do it; I think it's a bit doubtful, but there's one thing I can do: I should not be like the Israelites who complained to God and angered Him in the wilderness.
So, how many types of Christians are there? One type are those struck down by God; another type are those who barely survive without being struck down; and then there are those who are pleasing to God, like Moses, Joshua, and Caleb.
What Kind of Christian to Be
Reading Hebrews, you will discover that you must strive to be a Christian who perseveres. Someone asked, Pastor, is your church the only good one, and are other churches no good? I would never dare to say that, but I dare to say one thing: what we strive to do is push our brothers and sisters to strive to be people who please God. Do not be like these Israelites, whom Moses warned before entering Canaan: Do not think it is because of your righteousness; it is because of the wickedness of the people of that land.
So today, brothers and sisters, do not rejoice because you have received God's grace. There is now a gospel called the gospel of grace, which is all about grace. You ask me, Are you a gospel of grace? I don't think so. We are a gospel of striving. Today, brothers and sisters, do you want to strive? If you strive, begin to imitate Moses and imitate many who are pleasing to God. Who were those who angered God in the wilderness?
The Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw my works. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' (Hebrews 3:7-11)
What does it mean to not enter God's rest? Are they saved or not? Many say they are saved, so is not entering rest still considered being saved? The interpretation of scripture in this generation is quite interesting. Some Christians like to turn believing in the Lord into a very strange phenomenon. Some time ago, a Christian left me a message: Pastor, if you don't believe in 'once saved, always saved,' then there's nothing for us to talk about. Well, actually, there's nothing for me to talk about with him either. I've never found once saved, always saved anywhere in the Bible from beginning to end; they wrote it themselves.
Before the Israelites entered Canaan, many were killed in the wilderness, including the leaders of the twelve tribes, and ten leaders were struck down by God with a plague. Deaths are all over the Bible; corpses were everywhere on the way out of the wilderness and into Canaan. Those people were all destroyed by God Himself. Were they saved? I don't think they were saved because they were a group that angered God. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must know for sure: You may have received a little bit of God's grace, but don't think you believe well because of that.
Some time ago, a sister also said to me, I'm not wrong. If I were wrong, God would definitely discipline me. In fact, discipline had not yet come at that time. We always use these things to prove that we believe well, but today we need to reject some ideas and begin to enter into striving, striving to become an intercessor.
Becoming People Who Strive
If it weren't for Moses' desperate intercession in that era, the Israelites would have died long ago. God would have destroyed all those people in a fit of anger and then chosen a new Abraham. So brothers and sisters, do not seek false psychological comfort, nor should you get hung up on whether you are saved or not because whether we are saved or not is not the most important thing; the important thing is that we strive to be like Moses. When have you ever heard Moses talk about whether he was saved or not? Never! When have you ever heard Paul talk about whether he was saved or not? Never!
Paul said, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on... (Philippians 3:12). Do you understand? The people described in the Bible did not boast about receiving a little grace for themselves. There are quite a few people I've met who boast about receiving a little grace for themselves. You were healed not because you believe well, but because of the intercession of that person who made you receive grace. Do not think that receiving grace is a sign of spiritual maturity. Becoming an intercessor and blessing this generation, that's what counts.
The Israelites angered God too many times. The first time was when they made two golden calves. How did this happen? The Israelites took advantage of Moses' forty days and nights on the mountain and began to worship idols! God had just told them not to worship idols! They didn't know what dangers Moses would face on the mountain. Actually, nothing happened; they just thought something should have happened, so they made a golden calf and worshiped it there, rejoicing, dancing, and being happy around the golden calf.
People corrupt themselves very quickly. When Moses came down with the two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, he saw these things and smashed the two stone tablets. Then Moses began to tear down the golden calf into powder and poured it into the stream. We can see the difference between Moses' actions and Aaron's actions. Aaron followed the will of the people, while Moses followed the will of God. God almost struck down Aaron at the time. Aaron and the Israelites were able to survive because of Moses' intercession (Deuteronomy 9:15-22).
Becoming a Blessing to the Generation
We must, at all costs, seek to be a blessing to this generation. When this generation is about to be destroyed, we can intercede for it, allowing more people in this world to be saved by God. We must strive to evangelize, shepherd, and serve, so that we all become servants. I have a dream: that in our church, no one is merely a consumer. A consumer mentality is not God's will, just as God chose Abraham and said to him, You shall be a blessing to all nations.
Through faith in Jesus, we enter into the blessing of Abraham. After reading this passage, do you desire to be someone who provokes God's wrath, or someone who intercedes for this generation? Do not keep saying that if you receive this grace or that grace, your spiritual life will improve in some way. There is actually no direct correlation! Even if you are healed, it does not prove that your spiritual life has been elevated. Your healing is not because of you, but because of those who intercede for you. When those of us who serve begin to share testimonies of who they have ministered to and who has been delivered, we must remember today that Moses wrote this passage for people of our generation. Do not be complacent because you have received grace, thinking it is your own righteousness; it is actually because of those who serve you.
Knowing God's Will
The first thing they did was make a golden calf. Moses prostrated himself on the mountain for forty days and nights without eating or drinking, interceding for the Israelites with his own life. Those who do not serve ultimately become those who provoke God's wrath. It's either receiving grace or provoking God's wrath. I used to serve some people, never minding whether it was 3 a.m. or early morning, whether I had work the next day. I served with all my heart. Moses knelt on the mountain for forty days and nights to intercede for the Israelites, lest God strike them down. Moses also interceded for Aaron, because God was also going to strike Aaron down.
Moses was remarkable because he deeply knew God's will: God is full of grace, full of compassion, and full of mercy. Moses interceded for this generation according to God's will. Does God really want to destroy this generation? God does not desire that any should perish, but that all should come to salvation (1 Timothy 2:4). Whether you can be a blessing to this generation depends on whom you imitate—Moses or those Israelites who provoked God's wrath. The Israelites were not skilled in serving, but they were skilled in eating. Because their greed for quail meat ran rampant, God killed many of them (Numbers 11:31-35).
Brothers and sisters, we must be vigilant today and set our hearts to serve this generation wholeheartedly. At Kadesh Barnea, they provoked God to anger. These people saw God's works for forty years but did not understand them (Psalm 95:8-11). Brothers and sisters, if you truly understand God's works, living is such a simple thing, isn't it? Why complain? Why live for the belly? Why start fearing the Promised Land? Why fear death and cling to life? Why indulge the flesh?
Do not think that indulging the flesh is a good thing. Fearing death and clinging to life, and indulging the flesh are not good things. Today, brothers and sisters, you must begin to see things clearly, to know the covenant God made with Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, and to know that we should imitate them and also intercessors like Moses. God delivered many people through the hand of Moses, freeing them from the bondage of Egyptian slavery, but few entered the Promised Land. As you and I read this scripture, do we begin to say, I am someone who strives diligently?
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. (Hebrews 3:12-19)
Today, do you believe that our God is a God of great power, who still reigns over the universe? If you believe, then you should have reverence and trust in God alone.
On the path of trusting in God:
Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1-2)
Let us move beyond the elementary teachings and be taken forward to maturity. The gospel we believe is a gospel of diligent pursuit, to strive to be those who intercede for this generation, to pay the price that should be paid to God. That is the key to receiving the greatest grace. So brothers and sisters, when you come among us, do not only thirst to receive grace, but also thirst to become servants. Let us pray together:
Lord Jesus, I thirst to become a servant, I thirst to become an intercessor, I thirst to become someone who heals and delivers, I thirst to become someone who casts out demons. Lord Jesus, I ask that you raise me up among all nations to become a people pleasing to you, that I may imitate Moses, strive diligently, and enter into maturity. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen!