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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats this evening. Find the seats and find a hymnal close to you and turn to page number 288. Song number 288 and we will open the service with I Am Resolved, song number 288. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. I am resolved no longer to linger, drawn by the world's delight. Things that are higher, things that are over, these I've learned my side. I will listen to Him, listen so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest I am. Song number 288 on the second. I am resolved to go to the Savior, truly by sin and strife. He is the true one, He is the just one. He had the words alive. I will listen to Him, listen so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest I will come to listen out on the last. I am resolved to follow the Savior, faithful and true. Be what He's saying, do what He is, He is the living way. I will listen to Him, listen so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest I will come to be. Amen. Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church here on our Sunday evening service. We are glad to see everyone here this evening. Let's open the service with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we love you. We thank you again just for the opportunity to be in your house, Lord. In the new year, Lord, the first service of the year, or the second service of the year, Lord, we thank you for a great day that we had, Lord. We pray that you bless the service. We pray for the singing, the preaching, and the fellowship, Lord. And we ask, Lord, that everything that be said and done this evening would bring glory and honor to you in the name of love you. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, it's now time for favorites where if you're selected, we will sing a stanza from the song that you picked. Start over here, brother Jay. Go ahead. 136. Master, the Tempest is Raging, song number 136. Start with an epic one. Song number one, three, six. Sing it out on the first. Master, the tempest is raging. The bellows are tossing high. The sky is our shadowed mint blackness. No shelter or help is nigh. Here is thou not that we perish. How can thou not see? When each moment so madly is deadly, What will it make me believe? The winds and the waves shall obey my will and ease me still. Whether the wrath or the storms are sea, Or demons or men or whatever they be, No one can stop them. The master of both heaven and earth and skies. May all shall sweetly obey my will and ease me still. May all shall sweetly obey my will and ease me still. Go ahead, brother Moses. 369. Song number 369. I know the Bible is true. Song number 369. Sing it out on the first. I know the Bible is true. I know, I know, I know the Bible is true. I know the Bible is true. I know the Bible is true. Alright, we're gonna need some practice for that one. Go ahead, Noah. 188 on the last. Song number 188. The love of God. Song number 188. We're gonna sing it out on the last. Sing it out on the last. Could be within the ocean pale and blue the skies. Apartments made where every star, on earth a flail, And every man a scribe by trade to write the love of God above. Drain the ocean dry with a crystal, Contain the whole world from sky to sky. Oh, love God, I want to know how measureless and strong Shall evermore endure the same day. Song number CC. Song number 24. And Can It Be That I Should Gain? Song number 24. Song number 24. Sing it out on the first. Amazing love, how can it be that I should cry for me? Amazing love, how can it be that I should die for me? Let's chase it, guys. Yeah. Song number 210. Wonderful grace of Jesus. Song number 210. Sing it out on the first. Jesus. Sing it out. Wonderful grace of Jesus. Deeper than the mighty rolling sea, Higher than the mountain, Sparking like a mountain, All sufficient grace for thee and me. Other than the slope of my just grass, I'm singing greater than all my demons sing. Oh, magnified, precious, Praise His name. Sing one more song. Go ahead. Song number 27. This will be the last song for favorites. Song number 27. We're gonna end it with the old rugged cross. Song number 27. Sing it out on the first. On a hill far away, Stood an old rugged cross. We hail the mountains of free and straight. And I love that old cross, Where our dreams are so blessed. Oh, how sweet the sound, Searching for children in the dark. Till my troubles at last I lay down. I will reach the old rugged cross, And exchange it someday for the crown. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, let's take our bulletins to length. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, you can just raise your hand, and one of our ushers will get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up, and we'll get one for you. The verse this week, Proverbs 6 23, For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. And that's a good verse there. Of course, if you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. Then we have our Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. We're glad you made it out to the evening service and the Wednesday evening Bible study. Of course, I want to encourage you to continue to keep our church family in prayer. We've got several families with young children that are not feeling well, so just be praying that all the kids will get healed up and back in church. Of course, the family's back in church soon. If you look at our sowing times, our main sowing times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m., then we have additional sowing time on Sunday at 2 p.m. And we are, of course, a family-integrated church. What that means is that children and infantiles walk in the service. However, we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service or if you need some privacy, we encourage you to use those rooms as needed. And if you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we have the workdays, but the information on the bulletin there is incorrect. We do want you to know that for the workdays for this week, there's only one workday, and it's tomorrow. So there will be no workdays Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, but we could use the help tomorrow with getting things ready. We have painters coming in on Tuesday. They'll probably be painting through the week, so we're not going to have workdays on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. But if you can help with drywall, mudding, masking, painting prep, then we would really appreciate your help. There's a clipboard in the main foyer, so make sure you go by there and sign up for that. Then, of course, we have our sermon series there, the Wilderness Wandering's Bible study. We're going to continue that tonight, the second part of Numbers, chapter 20, and then the book of Hebrews on Wednesday nights. We're going to continue that as well. And, of course, we hit that really controversial Hebrew 6 passage this last Wednesday night. We're past that now, so we'll be finishing up Hebrews, chapter 6. But I've talked to several of my pastor friends, and it seems like the sermon was received well, so I didn't split the new IP, all right? So good on that. And that's always a good day when you don't split something like that. Nine chapters a day is still going on, so make sure you stick with it, stay at it, and don't quit. And there's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, Birthdays and Anniversaries, this week, there's one birthday, Brother Keith Rosenberg, January 9th. Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin. And we're going to sing holy, holy, holy. And let's go ahead and sing this out on the first. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful Almighty, God in great persons, blessed Trinity. Good, sing it out on the second. Holy, holy, holy, Lord of saints, our Lord, Thee, who has become the golden crown of our God, we sing. Lord of our God, we sing. And now before Thee, which word and art evermore so good? Just like we did this morning, let's slow it down on the third, pick it back up on the fourth, sing it out on the third. Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness hide thee, though the eyes of sinful man thy glory may not see. Holy, Lord, holy, there is none beside Thee, perfect and pure in love and grace. Good, sing it out on the last. Holy, holy, holy, God Almighty, all thy works shall praise thy name in earth and shine and see. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in great first sight, bless us, heavenly God. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gifts, and the giver. We thank you for everyone that's assembled here tonight. We do pray for all the families that aren't feeling well. Lord, we pray that the kids would all get better and that they can be back to church soon. And Lord, we pray that you would just bless this evening the preaching, the fellowship afterwards. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people of Boden, Kadesh, and Miriam died there and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses and spake saying, would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord. And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or vines, or of pomegranates. Neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And they fell upon their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes. And it shall give forth his water, and thou shall bring forth to them water out of the rock. So thou shall give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Here now, you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice. And the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, because he believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel. Therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them. And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom. Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us. How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers. And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel. And at the end brought us forth out of Egypt. And behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border. Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country. We will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards. Neither will we drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway. We will not turn to the right hand, nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. And Edom said unto him, Thou shall not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the highway, and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. And he said, Thou shall not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Wherefore Israel turned away from him. And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came unto Mount Hor. And Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because he rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor, and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded, and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there in the top of the mount. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word. And for everyone that's here, I ask you please give us all the tender hearts of the message tonight. I ask you to be their pastor, and please strengthen him, and I feel in the spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we're there in Numbers chapter 20, and of course this morning we dealt with the first part of Numbers chapter 20. We looked at verses 1 through 13. Tonight we're going to look at the second part of the book of Numbers chapter 20. We're going to start here in verse number 14, and we're going to go through the end of the chapter. And what we're going to see tonight in this portion of Scripture is two things. The first is that the children of Israel are turned away from Edom when they request permission to go by the king's highway to go through their land to journey. And the second thing we'll see is the death of Aaron. And I'll do my best to teach this to you and give you some thoughts and applications as we go through. And the first thing, if you're taking notes, and I do encourage you to take notes, of course, I'll kind of give this to you in two different sections or two different headings, two different points if you'd like. And the first point that I see from this passage that I'd like to point out to you is this, that the children of Israel, you know, they're going to, here in Numbers chapter 20, we talked about it this morning. We fast-forwarded in the book about 38 years, and we're now in the last year of the wilderness wanderings. They're going to have some ups and downs in this last year, but they're going, they're walking towards success. They're going to bury Aaron like we will see tonight. They've already buried Miriam. We saw that this morning. Eventually they will bury Moses, and a new generation of leadership will rise up, and they will be victorious. They will cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and they will begin to conquer the land and to take over the land. They are really on the verge of success, and what I want you to notice is just a couple of things here that we can learn regarding that. And the first, I've just worded it this way, and if you'd like you can write it down, and it is this, that there is no success without struggle, that there is no success without struggle. And I want you to notice here that the children of Israel have been dealing with difficulty, and I would just say this, in your life and in my life, in ministry and in business, in family, in whatever it is, anything that you and I endeavor to do, we must expect difficulty. Look at verse number 14, Numbers chapter 20, verse 14. The Bible says this, and Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, thus saith thy brother Israel. And if you remember, the children of Israel are the descendants of Jacob, Jacob whose name gets changed to Israel, and he had 12 sons, the 12 sons of Israel, that ended up becoming the 12 tribes of Israel, which make up this nation of Israel. And if you remember from the book of Genesis, Jacob had a brother named Esau, and the descendants of Esau were known as the Edomites, the nation of Edom, and this is who Moses is sending a message to, to the king of Edom, and this is why he says, thus saith thy brother Israel, because these are two nations that descended from two brothers, and they're saying, we're the nation of Israel, we're the nation that descended from Jacob, and you're the nation that descended from Esau, which was Jacob's brother. So he says, thus saith thy brother Israel, thou knowest all the travail that has befallen us. He's saying, this is Moses, this is one leader of a nation speaking to another, he's saying, you know all the travail, you know all the difficulty, you know all the hardship that hath befallen us, and then he begins to talk about that difficulty. Verse 15, he says, how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dealt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers. He says, look, you know the difficulty that we've gone through, you know the difficulty that we have dealt with, and he makes a request, verse 16, and when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt, and behold we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border. Verse 17, let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country, we will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, neither will we drink up the water of the wells, we will go by the king's highway. And what he's saying is, look, you don't have to worry about us, we're gonna stay on this road. There's this road apparently called the king's highway that would allow them to be able to travel through their land. They said, we're gonna stay on that road, we're not gonna go off into the vineyards, we're not gonna go off into the fields, we're not gonna go off into the villages. He says, neither will we drink of the water of the wells, we will go by the king's highway, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left until we have passed thy borders. And of course, the king of Edom responds in a very negative way, verse 18, and Edom said unto him, thou shalt not pass by, lest I come out against thee with the sword. And the first point that I'd like us to see here, the first application is this, that you and I should expect difficulty. If you're going to try to accomplish anything for God, if you're gonna try to do anything for God, you should just get this in your mind and in your head that there are going to be those who are going to try to stop you. There are going to be those who are going to try to to hinder you. There will be those who are going to make your life difficult. You're there in Numbers chapter 20, I'd like you to keep your place there. Go with me if you would to the book of Psalms. Psalm 27, if you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. Psalm 27 and look at verse number 1. Psalm 27 and verse number 1. This is, the Bible says here, just my Bible at least, says this as a note before Psalm 27, it says a psalm of David. This is a psalm written by David, of course. I want you just to notice, I just want to highlight to you how many times David brings up a certain type of people. Psalm 27 verse 1, the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? That's a great question. The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Those are all comforting, encouraging verses. And he says this in verse 2, when the wicked, even mine enemies, and my foes come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. I want you to notice that he talks about the fact that the wicked, even mine enemies, and my foes. Now he says a good thing, he says they rose up against me and they stumbled and fell. But he brings up the fact that the wicked and his enemies and his foes rose up against him. Look at verse 3, though in host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, and this will I be confident, one thing have I desired of the Lord, and this will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. And I'm not necessarily preaching on this, but I love that verse there in verse 4. He says one thing have I desired of the Lord, he says to seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. That should be the one thing we all desire from God, to spend time in the house of God, to spend time in the Word of God, to spend time with the people of God. Notice verse 5 though, he says for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, and the secrets of his tabernacle shall he hide me, he shall set me upon a rock. Look at verse 10, when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me thy ways, O Lord, and lead me in the plain path, notice what he says, because of mine enemies. I'm trying to just show you this theme that is coming up in this psalm where he says the wicked mine enemies my foes, in verse 2. In verse 3 he says though in host shall encamp against me, he says the war should rise against me. In verse 5 he says for in the time of trouble, in verse 10 he says my father and my mother forsake me, in verse 11 he says because of mine enemies, in verse 12 he says deliver me deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. And he brings up these individuals over and over and over, his enemies, false witnesses, people rising against him. And I just want you to notice that the psalmist here had an understanding that in life there were going to be those who were going to rise up against him. There were going to be those who were going to make things difficult. There were going to be those who were going to make things hard. And in your life and in my life, look, whatever God has given you to do, and what God has given you to do is probably going to be different than what God has given me to do. God has given me, of course, my wife and my children and the ministry of pastoring Verity Baptist Church. You're not going to pass the Verity Baptist Church probably, I would imagine, I don't know. But I know this, that God has given you something to do. There's a will for your life, a plan for your life, a purpose for your life. If you're married, then God's will is for you to be married and to enjoy that marriage and to build a house for the glory of God, to raise children for the glory of God, to help raise grandchildren for the glory of God. And here's all I'm saying, you should expect difficulty. Expect difficulty. If you're married, expect difficulty in your marriage. If you're raising children, expect difficulty in raising your children. If you're trying to start a business, expect difficulty in getting that thing running and off the ground. If you go into ministry one day, expect difficulty. If you're doing it right, people are going to hate you. People are going to rise up against you. It's just something that we should expect because there is no success without struggle. If someone is ever going to succeed at anything, to accomplish anything, realize that it's not going to be easy because if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Everyone would be accomplishing it. And don't get discouraged when things get hard. Look, every single person, and this is why I recently actually heard somebody say this, and I thought, you know, this was very wise, but this is why we should be very careful in the Christian life to criticize the children of other Christians. Be careful about criticizing the children of other families here within the church. It's so easy when, especially, I always think it's funny, when your kids are little, when your kids are three months old and six months old, you know, it's always interesting to me, the parents with the little toddler children, they're the experts on how to raise teenagers. They've never had teenagers. They were really bad teenagers themselves, but, you know, they're the experts. And look, just be careful about looking over at other people and being critical and being cynical and looking at their children or looking at their marriage or looking at different things in their lives, especially when it comes to children, because please understand this, everyone is going to have trouble with their children at some point. Everyone. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're the pastor of the church. I don't care if you're a brand-new Christian. Everyone will have trouble in marriage at some point. Everyone will have trouble with their children at some point. Everyone will have trouble in their career at some point, with their finances at some point, maybe with their health at some point, and you just have to get it in your head and expect things to be difficult. If it's worth doing it, it's worth doing it even if it's hard. If it's worth doing it, it's worth doing it even if you're tired. If it's worth doing it, it's worth doing it even if you're discouraged. If it's worth doing it, it's worth doing it even if you'd rather do something else. Hey, if it's worth doing it, do it for God and expect difficulty in life. We should expect difficulty to expect things to be hard. We're learning that with this stinking building over there. It's been difficult at times. It's been difficult and there's been things that come up and whatever. And look, it's just the way life goes we ought to expect difficulty. I want you to notice something else under this idea of there is no success without struggle. If we're going to succeed in life, we must first expect difficulty. Then I want you to notice secondly, and there's something here that we see that Moses says that I really like. Let's just back up a little bit and start at verse 16 just to get the context again. Remember he's talking to the king of Edom and he says, well look at verse 17. He says, let us pass I pray thee through thy country. They're trying to get to the Promised Land, but they could get there more quickly and more conveniently through the land of the Edomites, through what is called the king's highway, a highway that is there for them to be able to take. Verse 17, let us pass I pray thee through thy country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards. Neither will we drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway. We will not turn to the right hand nor to the left until we have passed thy borders. Verse 18, and Edom said unto him, thou shalt not pass by me lest I come out against thee with the sword. Verse 19, and the children of Israel said unto him, we will go by the highway. He says, and if I and my cattle drink of thy water. I just want you to look at this little phrase here. He says, then I will pay for it. I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. And this is Moses telling the king of Edom. He says, let us pass through your country. Let us go through the king's highway. We're not going to enter into your field. We're not going to enter into your vineyards. And the idea, the reason that he says that is because the concern for the king of Edom would be that these millions of people would begin to travel through their land. And as they're traveling through their land, as they're passing vineyards, as they're passing fields, as they're passing fields with crops, fields with corn, vineyards with grapes, that they would begin to take of those things and eat them. And Moses is assuring him, look, we're not going to take your vineyards. We're not going to take the things that are, we're not going to ravage the land. We're just going to pass through the land. We're not going to take of the waters of the well. He says, and if we do take of the waters of the well, he says, then I will pay for it. Moses is concerned that the king of Edom is saying no, because the king of Edom thinks this is going to cost him something, because the king of Edom said, that shall not pass by me, lest I come out again. See? And he's trying to assure him and says there in verse 19, and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. And here's the second application that I'd like to make from this idea that there is no success without struggle. The first application is this. We ought to expect difficulty. If we're going to succeed in life, whatever it is that you're supposed to do in life, if you're going to succeed at it, you better expect some difficulty along the way. It's not going to be easy. They're not going to make it easy for you. They're not going to build a highway called the King's Highway and let you go on it. You got to expect some difficulty. But here's the second thing. If you want to succeed in life under this idea of there is no success without struggle, and it is this. You got to decide to pay your own way. I mean, notice Moses here is not asking for a handout. He's not asking for welfare. He's not asking for government assistance. He's not going to the King of Edom and saying, can you help us out here? And by the way, he could have. He could have said, we've been slaves for 400 years. We don't have much in life. We don't have much going on. We don't have a lot of skills. Could you help us here? But that's not what Moses said. Moses said, look, we're going to, we'd like to pass, we'd like permission to pass through your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards. Neither will we drink of the water of the wells. He says, we're not going to steal your water. If we drink any water, we will pay for it. He says, we will go by the highway. I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. He said, we're not asking for a handout or a help. We are wanting to pay our own way. And look, in life, you got to just decide, I'm going to pay my own way. It's been shocking to me over the last 13 years of ministry, you know, because sometimes in life, you know, the only experiences we have are our own experiences. And sometimes, you know, my wife and I, we've lived our lives in our own flesh, and our lives just seem to be the normal, we think this is normal. We think everybody, you know, just does these things. But it's been shocking to me how many young people get married with the idea that mom and dad are going to pay their way. How many people just go into life, enter into life, with the idea that mom will pay the way, dad will pay the way, Joe Biden will pay the way, the government will pay the way. Hey, you ought to just decide in life that you're going to pay your own way. You ought to just decide in life that you're going to roll up your sleeves, and you're going to work hard, and you're going to save, and you're going to be disciplined, and you're going to do what you need to do to make it in life. And don't be sitting there like the average poor person in poor person mentality, you know, hoping that you win the lottery, or hoping that you can sue somebody for millions of dollars. Why don't you just decide, I'm going to pay my own way? What to God that men all over this country would stand up and say, I'm going to pay my own way, I'm going to provide for my family, I'm going to work hard, and I'm going to make sure, hey, if we drink anything, we're going to pay for it. Go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, in the New Testament we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Look, and obviously, can people help you? Of course they can. And can people be a blessing to you? Of course they can. But you ought to have this mentality that says, I'm not expecting anybody to do anything for me. You know, I thank God for my parents, and my parents have been wonderful examples, and Christian parents, and praise God for them. I can't say enough of just how wonderful they are. They're not here now. They're in Venezuela right now. But you know, one thing that I will say about my parents is that they've never paid my rent. They've never given us any. I mean, they give us birthday presents and Christmas presents just like any other parents. But I'm telling you, if you want to succeed in life, you need to just get to this place in life where you say, I'm paying my own way. I'm going to work hard. I'm going to pay my debt. I'm going to save up money. I'm going to pay my bills. I'm going to do the things. This is called Christian character. Don't expect the government to pay your way. Look, I get, I understand that they're a program. And look, if you're doing this, I'm not mad at you. I don't even know it, all right? But I know that there's programs out there to get people, the government, to help you with the homeschooling, and the government to help you with this, and the government to help you with that. But you know, in life, I don't want help from the government. I just want to know that the food that my children eat, the clothes that they wear, the education that they receive, we paid for it. God has helped us with these hands, with this mind, with this body, to work, and to make the money, and to do the things that we need to do. Look, in life, you ought to just get this idea, I'm going to pay my own way. Moses wasn't looking for a handout. Notice the Apostle Paul. Notice what Paul says in Acts chapter 20 and verse 33. Acts 20 verse 33, I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities. And to them that were with me, I've showed you all things, how that's so laboring, ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And look, don't misunderstand me. If your great, rich uncle dies and leaves you some fortune, I'm not saying that's a terrible thing. If you win the lottery, just tithe, okay? And then we'll be fine. I'm not saying people help you and are blessing to you, but that's a bad thing. What I am saying is to live your life expecting it, that's a bad thing. You ought to just pay your way. You ought to just work hard and decide. I'm thankful that for the last, for the first three or four years of this church, you know, I worked a full-time job while starting this church and trying to get it off the ground. Because there's just something good about just feeling, here's what the Bible says, owe no man anything. And there's just something good about not owing anybody anything, because then there's no sort of, there's not this idea where like, well you know, we've done all this for you. This expectation, hey, you know in life Moses said, we don't want anything. We're just asking to walk through your land. He says, I'll pay for it. And if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. And look, you ought to just decide, I'm gonna make money, I'm gonna go into business, whatever, whatever it is you're gonna do, I'm gonna do what I need to do, like the Apostle Paul said, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities. In life you just need to realize that there is no success without struggle. Go back to Numbers chapter 20. Numbers chapter 20. So let people help you, but just, just have this mentality. I'm gonna pay my own way. I'm not expecting, I'm not expecting anything, not expecting anyone. I'm not expecting for any, if it's gonna get done, we're just gonna do it. We're just gonna work hard at it. Expect difficulty. Pay your own way. Then I want you to notice the third thing here in verse 18. Notice Numbers 20 verse 18. And Edom said unto him, thou shalt not pass by me. He denies the request. Lest I come out against thee with the sword. And the children of Israel said unto him, we will go by the highway, and if I, if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. And he said, thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand, and Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Wherefore Israel turned away from him. Here's the last application just under this section of there is no success without struggle. I said number one, expect difficulty. I said number two, pay your own way. And number three, don't expect any help. Don't expect any help. Now if people help you along the way, praise God for it. But don't expect it. Don't go into life, you know, just thinking well I'm just gonna, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna go through life with with my hand out hoping that people will provide. Look, you ought to just decide if something is worth doing, it's worth struggling for. It's gonna be difficult. We're gonna pay our own way, and we're not gonna expect any help. You know, I'm thankful that the ministry here of Verity Baptist Church, I'm thankful that our ministry, we have a testimony and of our church, and I'm talking about all of us collectively, that anything that we've done or anything that we have, we have labored for. We have, we are striving together as a church to accomplish it. You know, no one gave us that 2.6 million dollar building over there. We raised money for it. We, the God's people, the congregation came together. We saved up over years, and we put a down payment. We're gonna make those payments, and by God's grace, we're gonna pay that thing off. And then when we move in, and it's all remodeled, it's not, it's gonna be remodeled because literally the men of this church rose up to help get that thing done. You know, nothing we have has been given to us. Obviously, our church family gives and sacrifices, and we've had people that donate and give, and they're praying for us, and we get that, and I'm not trying to minimize it. I'm just saying, sometimes I often hear about this, and I'm not against this. Look, I'm not against this. When I hear these stories, I think, praise God for it, but I often hear of stories where, like, some millionaire gives a church property, or gives them a building, or gives them this, or gives that, and that's what's never happened here. Now look, if a millionaire is listening online, I'm not, we're not opposed to it. You know, don't, don't rip up that check. Send the check. If you want to pay our 2.6 million dollar loan over there, I'm just telling you, I'm not, I'm not sitting around waiting for that though. You say, what are we gonna do? We're gonna work hard. It's gonna work. We're just gonna expect difficulty. We're gonna pay our own way, and, and, and we're gonna expect no help, and if people help along the way, praise God for it, and if people help along the way, great. Glory to God. To God be the glory, but we're not gonna expect it. We're gonna get on a schedule to try to pay that thing off in 10 years, and look, we may or may not do that. I don't know. Think about what our church could do if 10 years from now we were debt-free. Think about what could be accomplished for the glory of God. Think about what could be accomplished for the work of God. Think about the church, the churches that could be started, and the ministries that we could support if we didn't have that burden, but we're not gonna sit here and just dream about it. We're gonna work towards it. Nothing ever happened from wishing. Anything that happens will happen because we work at it, and look, I believe in prayer, but I, here's what I believe. We ought to pray like it all depends on God, because it does, and we ought to work like it all depends on us. We got to put feet to our prayer, and along the way we ought to expect some difficulty. It's gonna be hard. It's gonna be some long nights. It's gonna be some difficult days. Look, my wife and I, we slept a few hours. I'm tired right now. We just, we're just gonna do it. We're just gonna get it done. Expect difficulty. Pay your own way. Don't have this welfare mentality. Don't have this mentality that says, I just need people to step in. I need people to do things for me. No, decide I'm gonna pay for it. There's just something nice about saying everything. Look, I can say everything we have, everything my wife and I have, we don't have much, we don't have a lot, but whatever we have, we paid for it. Praise God for it. Don't expect any help. We haven't ripped people off either. We haven't, you know, borrowed and not repaid. We haven't, by the way, let me tell you something, that's called stealing. You say, yeah, but the legal code allows us through a bankruptcy. The Bible says, the wicked borrow and payeth not again. I'm just telling you, you gotta get this mentality, especially you men, that puts some hair on your legs and puts a backbone in your back and says, I'm not looking for a handout, I'm gonna pay my own life. I'm gonna pay for this thing. And maybe I don't have much, and maybe we don't have a lot, but whatever I have, we've earned, we've done it, we've accomplished it, and praise God for it. So there is no success without struggle. Then I want you to notice, secondly tonight, there's another point, another observation here in this passage, and it is this, and this one you've heard me say many times, and I'll give it to you, and it is this, that there is no success without succession. We see that there is no success without struggle. We see the children of Israel needed to expect difficulty. They needed to expect to pay their own way. They needed to not expect any help from anybody. And again, when you're working, your heads down, and you're working, and you're not expecting help from anybody, and help comes along, praise God for it, praise the Lord for it. But you'll not live your life expecting it. If it's in your budget, look, let me just tell you young people, because we got a bunch of married couples, and praise God for it. I'm not opposed to your parents helping you and blessing you along the way, but when you're budgeting for it, that's a problem. When it's like, well I made this much, and then my parents give us this much, that's a problem. You got to just pay your own way. Number two, not only is there no success without struggle, and by the way, you parents are a bunch of idiots, why don't you cut the stinking umbilical cord and let them grow up? When I got married, I got married two weeks after I graduated high school, I was 18 years old, and I don't recommend that. That's just what we did. I mean, it worked out for me, but it doesn't work out for a lot of you. That's what I've noticed. But when I got married, I remember my dad took me into the garage, sat me down, he said, you need to understand something. When you get married, you're not coming back here. If you think you're big and bad, I mean, it's pretty much what he said, he didn't say these words, but he said, you think you're big and bad enough to get married, then you're gonna support yourself. That's great. That's a great way to raise your children. There is no success without struggle. Number two, there is no success without succession. We see in this passage that one generation cannot last forever. Look at it, verse 22, and the children of Israel leaving the whole congregation urinated from Kadesh, and by the way, I tell that story, my dad's like, I don't remember that. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I remember it. It's very traumatizing. And came unto Mount Hor, and the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, verse 24, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the water of Meribam. We already talked about that. We talked about the water and the rock. I'm not gonna go into that. I want you to notice that what we see here is that this generation cannot last forever. They're going to have to, they're going to go the way of all the earth. Merim has died. She died earlier in the chapter. We talked about that this morning. Aaron is going to die here. Moses will die not soon, not, not, I mean soon after, not a long time from now in the chronology. And what happens is, because one generation cannot last forever, what happens is that another generation must take over. And what we see in the next few verses here, in my opinion, is a beautiful illustration of one generation passing on the mantle, passing on the baton to the next. Notice it, verse 25. This is God speaking to Moses. He says, take Aaron and Eleazar, his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor. I just want you to see this. Get this picture. Put this in your mind's eye. Put flesh to the Word of God when you read it. The Bible tells us that Aaron was 123 years old when he died. Get a picture of this 123 year old man. He's not just a priest, he's the high priest. He has on the garment of the high priest. He has all the special decorations of the high priest. And the Bible tells us that God tells Moses to take Aaron and Eleazar, which was his oldest living son at this time, the man that will take on the role of high priest. He says, I want you to take Aaron and Eleazar, his son, up to Mount Hor, verse 26, and strip Aaron of his garments. Just imagine this old man, Aaron, 123 years old, have served as the position of the first high priest with the garments on of a high priest. And you have Moses there, who's also an old man. And the servant of the Lord, the Bible tells us. The man of God. And the Bible tells us that in verse 26, and strip Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eleazar, his son. I think it's a beautiful picture. Moses, the man of God, taking the ephod, and taking the breastplate, and taking the hat, and the different articles of clothing that belong to high priest, taking them off. This man, Aaron, who has served faithfully. Yes, Aaron has had his problems. Yes, Aaron has had his issues. Yes, Aaron was a sinner like anybody else. But he served faithfully in this position. I mean, this is a man who's raw-butted. Remember that? This was the man who took the censer and stood between the living and the dead. And he made an atonement for the people during the plague. This is a man who has served God faithfully all these years. And now Moses is removing these garments that represent the spiritual authority of Aaron and placing them upon Eleazar. I think it's a beautiful picture. Verse 26, and strip Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eleazar, his son. And Aaron shall be gathered unto his people and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded. And they went up into Mount Hor on the side of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eleazar, his son. And Aaron died there in the top of the mount. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount of God. There is no success without succession. Let me just quickly give you three thoughts regarding this idea of succession, the next generation. We think highly of the next generation here. We have a whole youth rally called the Next Generation Youth Rally. When I invest in the young people coming behind us, the next generation, let me give you three thoughts just as quickly as I can tonight regarding the next generation. Number one, I'd like you to understand the indispensable of the next generation. We see here in Numbers 20 and verse 28 the succession of Aaron. The garments are taken off of Aaron and placed upon the next generation, Eleazar. This will also happen at the death of Moses. Not specifically this because Moses didn't have high priestly garments, but the idea that someone would take his place. Go to Joshua chapter 1 if you would. There are numbers if you go past Deuteronomy, into the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 1 and look at verse number 1. Joshua chapter 1 and verse 1. Do me a favor when you get to the book of Joshua, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. I'd like you to get to it quickly. Joshua chapter 1 and verse 1, the Bible says this, Now after the death of Moses, the servants of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore, I love this word, arise. Go over this Jordan, thou and all this people unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel, every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. I want you to understand this, when it comes to the next generation, there is an indispensable. They are indispensable. If we do not have another generation to hand over the garments to, we will have failed. There is no success without succession. It doesn't matter how successful we are. It doesn't matter how much we accomplish. It doesn't matter that we build some thriving, healthy church in the state of California with 120 weekly soul winners and all the things we do around here. It does not matter if you and I die and it dies with us. There has to be another generation that we take the garments off and put on them. It's indispensable. It's needed. It's required. If we're going to succeed, it is not success to die off with the first generation. There is no success without succession. And by the way, we see this in the Bible. In fact, we see it with Joshua himself. From Moses to Joshua, there was a good transition. But unfortunately, from Joshua to the next generation, there wasn't. Let me show it to you. Go to Judges chapter 2. Keep your place there in Joshua. We're going to come back to it. Go to Judges chapter 2. Look at verse 8. We saw the death of Moses. After the death of Moses, the son of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of none, Moses, saying, Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore rise and go over this Jordan. Joshua had been trained by Moses, had been prepared by Moses, was ready to step in to the shoes of Moses. But the Bible tells us in Judges chapter 2 and verse 8 at the death of Joshua that somebody dropped the ball. Now maybe it was Joshua. Maybe it was the next generation. I don't know. But here's what we know. There was no success because there was no succession. Look at what it says. Judges 2 verse 8. And Joshua the son of none, the servant Lord died, being in hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of the inheritance of Timnath-haris in the Mount of Ephraim on the north side of the hill Gaiash. Look at verse 10. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers. So Joshua dies and everyone that would be considered his generation also died. Then notice what the Bible says. This is what leads us into the book of Judges. And there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And that's why we go into the book of Judges and the children of Israel depart from the Lord. They get backslid and as a result God has to send captivity. And of course if you know the book of Judges you know that it's just a cycle of them going into captivity and God sending a judge to liberate them and bring them out of captivity. And then they're in freedom but then they get backslidden again and they forsake the Lord again. They go back into captivity. It's just a cycle over and over and over again. And we see that it all started with Joshua's death and no successor. So we see the indispensability of the next generation. Go to 2nd Kings if you would, 2nd Kings chapter 2. You're there in Judges, you have the book of Ruth, then you have 1st, 2nd Samuel, 1st, 2nd Kings, 2nd Kings chapter 2. When it comes to this idea of the next generation, we see the indispensability of the next generation. They are indispensable. We cannot succeed without them. There must be succession. But the reason that I say that maybe it was Joshua's fault, maybe it wasn't, is because it takes two to tango. Obviously Joshua needed to have trained the next man and failed to do that. Maybe it was because Joshua lacked character. I don't think so. I think Joshua is a great man in the Bible. I wonder if Joshua sought for a man among them, but he found none. Because not only do we see the indispensability of the next generation, but we also see this, the availability of the next generation. See, the Eliezers have to be willing and ready to step in when Aaron dies. The Joshua's have to be willing and ready to step in when Moses dies. Here we have another story of succession in the Bible. This is Elijah and Elisha. We'll begin reading at verse 8 just because I want you to see the context. Look at what it says, 2nd Kings chapter 2 and verse 8. And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither so that they too went over on dry ground. This is a miracle that Elijah does where he parts the waters here just like Moses, just like Joshua, except he only does it for himself and Elisha. And he took the mantle and wrapped it together. He smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither so that they went over on dry ground. Great, amazing miracle. I mean, it would have been amazing to see that. Verse 9, and it came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. Elijah says to Elisha, I'm getting ready to go. I'm going to be taken. What can I do for you before I go? And Elisha said, I pray thee, I love this, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. Here we have a young man who was available, willing and ready. He said, Elijah, I don't want you to go but if you're gonna go here's what I want. I want a double portion of your spirit. Verse 10, and he said, I like Elijah's response as well, he said, Thou hast a hard thing nevertheless. If thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee but if not it shall not be so. And it came to pass that they still went on and talked that behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it, he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof and he saw him no more and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them into pieces. Here's what I want you to see in 2 Kings chapter 2, look at verse 13. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him. Elijah gets taken up in this whirlwind and Elijah, as he's being taken up in this whirlwind, he drops his mantle. He drops the mantle, he leaves the mantle and the Bible tells us here in verse 13 that Elijah took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan. I notice what Elisha does. He takes the mantle from Elijah. He saw him in verse 8 that Elijah took the mantle, wrapped it together, smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither. He asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Elijah gets taken up in the whirlwind and drops the mantle and Elisha picks up the mantle. He takes the baton. It's the equivalent of Aaron's garments being taken off of Aaron and put on Eleazar. He takes the mantle from Elijah and then notice what he does in verse 14. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and smote the waters and said, I just love this, he goes to the water, he takes the mantle, he smites it, he's doing what he saw Elijah do, but he's not filled with pride here. He realizes I'm not Elijah. I'm Elisha. I have Elijah's mantle and Elijah is now gone, but he takes the mantle that Elijah used to part the waters and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and he smote the waters and said, here's what he says, he says, where is the Lord God of Elijah? Now what does that mean? I love that phrase. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? It's Elisha's way of saying, I know that the power that Elijah had was not within Elijah's, within the God of Elijah. And it's Elisha's way of saying that I know the same God that was there for Elijah is available for Elisha. So he asked the question, where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, notice what the Bible says, they parted hither and thither and Elijah went over. When the sons of the prophet, which were to view at Jericho, saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. And here's what I'm telling you, there isn't an indispensable of the next generation, but there also needs to be an availability of the next generation. It needs to be someone who's willing to stand up and say, I'll carry the baton. I'll take the mantle. I'll allow the garments of Aaron to be placed upon me. I'll honor the fact that there have been those that have came before me and that God has used them and God is no respecter of persons. And if God, Elisha, would say, if God can use Elijah, then God can use Elisha. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? It's the availability of the next generation. And like you notice thirdly tonight, go to 1 Chronicles chapter 29. You're there in 2 Kings, just flip over to 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles 29. Let me just say this. We see the indispensable of the next generation. We see the availability of the next generation. And lastly tonight, we see the capability of the next generation. I want you to notice that the Bible seems to indicate this, and I'll highlight it for you. And it is this, that the next generation can often do more than the previous generation. Because if it's done right, the next generation can continue the efforts and the labor of the previous generation. Look at it. 1 Chronicles 29. Here's another example of a successful succession. This one is Solomon and David. King David and King Solomon. 1 Chronicles 29 and 22. And they'd eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time. They'd already done it, but here's another celebration of it. And anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief governor and Zadok to be priest. Look at verse 23. And Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father and prospered and all Israel obeyed him. And all the princes and the mighty men and all the sons likewise of King David submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. Why don't you notice this phrase here in verse 25. And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. The Bible says that the Lord magnified Solomon and as a result Solomon ended up accomplishing more than any other king before him and really any other king period. Solomon goes on to do something that David could not do. He builds the temple. Now David prepared to build the temple. David raised the money to build the temple. He prepared all materials to build the temple. He was not allowed of God to build the temple but Solomon is able to build off of what his father built, the foundation that was laid before him and he builds the temple. Of course he brings in a period of prosperity and success to the nation of Israel. He becomes the most successful king of the nation of Israel. The Bible says that God bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. But the only reason for that was that he was building on something that was already handed to him. The capability of the next generation is to go much further than we have, than we can. Go back to Joshua if you would, Joshua chapter 4. I want you to remember there in verse 25 that the Bible says and the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly. The Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly. Let me just explain this to you in a very practical sense. I've already talked about it tonight. Everything we have here at Radio Baptist Church we've worked for. We as a congregation have worked and saved and sacrificed and given. Everything we have we've worked for and again we have friends outside of our church that donate and give and I'm not minimizing that in any way shape or form but at the end of the day anything we have has just been God's people sacrificing and working together to try to accomplish these things. We've been going at this thing for over 13 years now. Last September my wife and I celebrated 13 years of ministry. We started this church in our living room 13 years ago. Now here's what's interesting about that or here's I mean maybe you don't care about this I don't know I think about these things I think they're interesting and I've got the mic so but we're getting ready to move into this four acre 400 seat auditorium property over there and it's taken us 13 years to get to the place where a lot of pastors begin. I don't know if you know that. It is a common theme for a brand new pastor to go into the ministry and just have a and in a better position than ours because usually they have a paid-for building. I mean it's extremely common for pastors all over this country to just become the pastor and they're just given a building mortgage-free given a building with all sorts of seats all sorts of property and you know a lot of times not all the time a lot of times you know what those guys do? Zero. You know why? Because there's something about working for what you have. There's something about struggling and just working and just paying for it. It just builds character. I'm thankful look I talked about our marriage my wife and I when we were first married we spent the first year of our marriage having dinner on the floor we didn't we didn't have a dining room table we couldn't afford a dining room table we spent the first year every dinner that we had together we sat on the floor it took us a whole year to save up $400 this was in June of this year my wife and I will celebrate 20 years of ministry I minister good night 20 years of marriage it's been her ministry it's been my marriage 20 years of marriage this was 20 years ago it took us a year to raise $400 to save $400 to buy our first dining room table but you know we had that dining room table all the way up until we started this church we're having church in our living room and there's just something sweet about eating at the dining room table you paid for driving vehicles you paid for wearing clothes you pay for you say well your cars aren't very nice I know but at least I paid for them and in this church everything we've done we've worked for we've saved for we've raised money for we we've done and and here's the interesting thing is that we're just it takes us 13 years to get to the place where most pastors start they're just given a church building but you know I think we're in a better place I think it's better we did it the way we did it because we've worked for it and we've seen God help us and and yeah maybe they start with a paid for building and we're not it's not even paid for yet but we're gonna go in there with 120 faithful soul owners we're gonna go in there with a 250 member Church of strong faithful members hey praise God for it but here's what I'm telling you think about the next guy I mean I'm 37 years old by God's grace I could pastor this church for the next 30 years I know I just really upset some of you I mean I might be the pastor very Baptist Church for the next 30 years and we're not you know I plan to spend the next 10 years paying that thing off and and I we're gonna work and we're gonna work hard and we're not we're not gonna split we're gonna expect difficulty we're gonna pay our way and we're gonna expect no help if people help us a long way praise God for him we're gonna praise God for him we're just gonna work like it all depends on us and pray like it all depends on God because it does but think about the next guy I don't know who the next pastor ready Baptist Church is gonna be I don't know I may pastor this church for the next 30 or 40 years to be quite honest with you the next pastor right about the church may not even be alive maybe he is maybe he's five years old right now maybe he's 20 years old I don't know maybe he's here tonight maybe not I don't know but what I'm saying is think about that guy think about those families because by God's grace with God's help by God's mercy 30 years from now if we're still over there I don't know where we'll be in 30 years but that guy is gonna inherit a 400 seat maybe by then a 500 seat maybe by then we'll have a balcony up there 500 seat auditorium paid for taking care for manicured or you know it'll take us 30 years but we'll remodel the whole thing eventually hopefully a strong thriving congregation I'm just saying the ability the capability of the next guy is immense we've worked hard we and by the way let's just remember let's always remember that let's not take these things for granted that's the concern that I honestly have is that one day we're gonna get to the place where we're gonna have children that have been raised in this church that have grown up in this church and they've never had Church in a building next to the methadone clinic they never met in a strip mall they they've never known what it is to not own a parking lot they've never had those things and it's good for us to do what the children of Israel that did and to set up memorials and to remind people about the great things that God has done for us in the past but I'm just saying to you that if we do this right the next generation could accomplish so much as they stand on our shoulders but it takes two to tangle we need to be ready for them and they need to be ready for us now I'm not going anywhere I'm only preaching this because we're number 20 okay some of you think like are you resigning but even now at 37 years old we want to start thinking about the next generation why because there is no success without succession if we cannot hand this thing over if we cannot deliver the mantle that we cannot take the garments off of Aaron and put them onto a liaison we will have failed and by the way I've been applying all of this to ministry go back to numbers chapter 20 if you would we'll finish up I've been applying all this to ministry but let me just say this mom and dad our goal is to the best of our ability to pass down our beliefs to our children our doctrines to our children our standards to our children now we understand that they make their own decisions and they'll stand before God for the choices they made but let it not be said that the reason that the baton was not passed was because we failed to do so Moses made sure Joshua got it Joshua may have fumbled it along the way but Moses made sure Joshua got it maybe it was Joshua's fault maybe it wasn't but we must remember the indispensability of the next generation it's indispensable will have failed without them but also the availability of the next generation look we're gonna need young people to rise up and take the lead and take the charge and become the sole winners and become the leaders of the next generation and then the capability of the next generation think about what Solomon did and what he accomplished the Bible says the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly I didn't show you this first I was gonna show it to you but I'm just out of time I'll just read it for you Joshua 4 14 says this about Joshua and that day the Lord magnified this is the day that they crossed the Jordan River on that day the Lord magnified Joshua on the side of all Israel I think it's interesting that the Bible says in first Chronicles 29 25 and the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly and the Bible says in Joshua 4 14 and that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the side of all Israel there's a great capability that the next generation could accomplish we've got to help them and they've got to step up numbers 20 verse 29 we'll finish up and when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead they mourned for Aaron 30 days even all the house of Israel it's about our heads and I'm going to prayer heavenly father thank you Lord for your word thank you for the Bible and think of this chapter Lord help us to keep these things in mind and to remember these things that there is no success without struggle and if people come alongside us and they help us along the way praise God for him but let us not expect it and let us not depend on it let us expect difficulty and expect to pay our own way let us not expect any handouts I would just expect to work hard and pay for the things we have the things we do the things we accomplish and then Lord help us with this thought that there is no success without succession that we would realize that there is it's an indispensable we need them it's an indispensable we need the next generation we need them to step up availability because there's so much potential for them to accomplish Lord help us to help them and help us to be ready to transition to pass down our faith to the next generation we love you in Jesus name we pray amen we're gonna have brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song tonight just want to remind you a couple of things first of all don't forget men if you can help us with the workdays there are no workdays this week Thursday Friday or Saturday there's one workday and it is tomorrow I realize it's Monday but if you could help us if you could help us at all please go by there and we have one clipboard one day 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 3 shifts and we've got painters coming on Tuesday but we need guys that can do dry wall mudding masking cleanup if you can help with any of that I don't know if you've ever heard me say this but if we're gonna do it we're gonna have to do it yeah we're gonna have to get it done and and some of these things you know require skills that not everybody has and we you know so we appreciate your help if you can help us with it that would be great go by there and sign up and then if you would not mind looking around and just cleaning up your area and looking around putting your hymn books back or clean up the trash that your kids might have made let me just say this to to our cleaners the last two weeks the cleaners because of the holiday schedule they didn't come in on Monday they came in on Tuesday tomorrow we're back to our normal schedule on Monday so if you're a cleaner on Monday morning then make sure you don't forget about that and let me just say this we could use your help cleaners make sure you're here tomorrow because based off how many names they're on that clipboard I'm probably gonna have to send my staff over there and if I can't send my staff over there because you didn't show up for your cleaning day and they have to be here do you understand what I'm saying so if you could you say how can we help with the workday show up for the cleaning so that I can send them over there and that that would be great we would appreciate it I hope all that makes sense I don't know if it does I'm actually pretty tired so anyway why brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song if there's anything we do for you please let us know god bless you and of course we're always praying for you you man let's grab our song books and turn to page number four hundred and forty-eight saw number four for eight and we will end the service with brethren we have met to worship song number four hundred forty-eight sing it out on the first on the second Brethren, see the purple silt you, slumming on the brink of wool. Death is storming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go? See our fathers and our mothers, and all children sinking down. Brethren, in holy manna we'll be showering all around. Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses is who aided him. Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin? All about the Savior, tell them that He will be found. Tisser spray and holy manna we'll be showering all around. Spin strong on the last. Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other too. Let us love and pray for sinners till our God makes all things new. Then He'll call us home to heaven and His sable will sit down. Christ will work Himself and serve us with sweet manna all around. Amen. Great seeing you. Can I have brother Nate, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer?