WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:08.880 Hello everyone, this is Pastor Benjamin. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.000 You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City Orlando. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.439 At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.239 For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:25.440 Please join me in praying the prayer of illumination. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:41.920 Holy Spirit, open our hearts to hear your word, and through your word, create in our hearts a home for your presence that we might live for the glory of the Father and the kingdom of his beloved Son. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.079 Through Jesus Christ we pray. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:45.039 Amen. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:52.479 Today's scripture reading is from Numbers 27, beginning in verse 12. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:01:02.159 The Lord said to Moses, Go up into this mountain of Abiram and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:08.319 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:19.519 Because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zinn, when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:24.079 These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zinn. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:45.439 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:55.120 So the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:03.920 Make him stand before Eliezer the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:20.479 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey, and he shall stand before Eliezer the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:30.560 At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.840 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:46.639 He took Joshua and made him stand before Eliezer the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:48.639 This is God's word. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:06.080 And let's go. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.759 Numbers 27, verse 12 says this. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:21.680 This word Abarim means in Hebrew, regions beyond. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:26.240 So I think it is a it's a literal mountain, it also has some metaphorical meaning to it. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:32.479 See, in this moment, the Lord is telling Moses to go up on this mountain and to look out. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:34.719 What's he looking out at? 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.439 The culmination of his life's work. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:48.319 Everything Moses has done, his entire life up to this moment, is this climbing up of the Mount of Abarim to look out at the promised land. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:50.639 And what does he see? 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:52.240 He sees glory. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:04:05.520 He sees the thing he was made for, every sacrifice, every sleepless night, every step in the weary wilderness was for this moment, and he's just now beginning to see it with his own two eyes. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:07.599 And what does the Lord say? 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:10.080 Look at Numbers 27, 13. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:14.159 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:16.319 That's a Hebrew idiom for death. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:19.519 You will die, as your brother Aaron was. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:29.920 Because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zen, when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.000 You see, the Lord's saying, Moses, your journey is done. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.920 It ends here. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.160 Moses at this threshold. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:42.560 He can view the land, but he will not enter the land. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:44.720 Is this cruelty? 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.560 No, it's reality. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:52.000 You see, we have eternity in our hearts, but mortality in our bones. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.879 And that causes us to ache. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:58.000 And the Bible puts a word to that feeling, that ache. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.839 It's called groaning. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:09.600 We have mortality in our bones because, like a branch cut off from a tree, anyone who turns away from the Lord, death is the consequence, the natural result. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:21.439 But we have eternity in our hearts because we know that we are unending spiritual beings who have an endless life or endless death unfolding before us. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:28.879 And so as Moses is glimpsing this, he's taught by the Lord how to handle this groaning. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:32.639 Some of you are in here like, what if I don't really buy into this whole eternity thing? 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:33.360 That's okay. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:37.600 You still want your life to last and to matter beyond your death. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:42.639 You still have a concern to leave the world better for the next generation than how you found it. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.199 That's almost everybody has that desire. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:50.480 And so there's this ache in us for our lives to matter beyond our lives. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.519 That's where we find ourselves in the text. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:59.360 God's giving Moses a vision of a life that lasts. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:05.759 You see, because Miriam, his sister, has died, Aaron has died, Moses will die. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:07.279 What's next? 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:11.680 Well, Israel needs a new generation of leadership. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:17.680 And so as we're grappling with our mortality in light of eternity, what do we do? 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:24.959 The psychologist Eric Erickson says that we have a choice between what he calls generativity or stagnation. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:33.040 You see, generativity is when you find a sense of purpose in your life by living in such a way that you're guiding the next generation. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:37.839 This is through parenting or mentoring or creativity or building institutions. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:46.240 The alternative to generativity is what he calls stagnation, which is when we become self-absorbed and live for our trips and our toys. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:54.959 You see, every adult is gonna, if you live long enough, you're gonna face the question: will my life serve the next generation or only myself? 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.920 That's a question Moses has faced here. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:06:59.759 And so here's my point. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:05.759 If you live for what lasts, you will disciple the next generation. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:09.199 If you live for what lasts, you will disciple the next generation. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:10.160 So I want to talk about this. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:17.759 I want to talk about generational discipleship using one of my favorite frameworks for the stages of life, because it's simple, and I'm a simple man. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:19.199 This is from Ronald Rollheiser. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:21.199 He says, your life is really three stages. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:29.040 The first stage is the struggle to get your life together, then the struggle to give your life away, and then the struggle to give your death away. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:31.600 And we see all three of those things in our text. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:34.879 So, with that, the struggle to get your life together. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:36.399 Look at verse 15 with me. 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:39.120 This actually is in your worship God as well. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:48.639 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:54.639 As Moses is looking over his life and he's facing his death, what does he do? 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:55.920 He prays. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:00.879 That's not surprising to us at this point because Moses, if he's anything, he's a man of prayer. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:03.600 We've seen that throughout the whole book of Numbers thus far. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.680 But he does something in particular here that I want to point out. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:14.399 Moses uses a name for God, Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:16.879 No one else in Scripture calls God that. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:20.800 Moses only uses it one other time in Numbers chapter 16. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:22.720 We actually saw that text together. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:24.000 Why does that matter? 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.680 Well, we nickname our friends, our spouses, our kids. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:33.440 We name things that we have intimacy with, people that we have intimacy with, that we have a close connection with. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:36.639 And Moses does that with the Lord. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:38.159 Do you do that with the Lord? 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:43.440 Do you have ways that you term and name God in the secret place? 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:49.440 Do you have a history in God where you have ways of speaking to and with God that are unique to you? 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:50.799 Moses did. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:54.080 And he names God in light of Moses' own need. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:09:06.399 You see this phrase, the God of the spirits of all flesh, is really heightening this fact that God is over the spirits of people, that inner realm where your thoughts and your desires and your will and your choices, where all of that exists. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:18.159 And so when Moses needs God to appoint a man that can lead the congregation, he needs God, the searcher of hearts, the one who knows the spirits of all flesh, to designate who that man might be. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:23.679 Jesus also had a name for God in prayer, Abba Father. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:30.879 Nobody else before Jesus had ever called God Abba Father in the scriptures. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:36.240 You see, when you're in a moment of need, you need to name God properly in prayer. 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:38.480 That's what Moses and Jesus both teach us. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:40.399 And so what does Moses actually pray for? 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:41.360 Look at verse 16. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:47.759 He says this Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:52.799 Moses is asking God to raise up the next generation of leadership. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:54.799 That's what he's asking for. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:01.440 Because Moses knows that there are things that he will never do because they're not his to do. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:04.080 Things that Moses desires to do. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:09.200 He wants to lead them across the Jordan into the promised land, and the Lord said, No, that's not your job to do. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:14.320 You see, because God has planned obsolescence built into his strategy. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:23.039 He intends for his leaders to, as Nicholas von Dinsendorf once said, preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.960 And that's okay with him. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.200 He's doing that with Moses here. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:32.879 And we actually, in Numbers 8, there's this really obscure little law in there that I particularly like. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:37.919 In Numbers 8, the Levites begin serving in the tabernacle at age 25. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:41.440 And then it says that they are done at age 50. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:43.360 They're to retire at age 50. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:53.679 And really it says, if you read the margins, it says that they're supposed to move to Florida and spend their golden years collecting seashells on the beach. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:55.039 No, it's not what it says. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:07.759 In fact, the text in Numbers 8, 26 explicitly says the 50-year-olds are supposed to retire from serving in the tabernacle in order to serve their brothers and guard them. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.240 What a beautiful picture. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:16.480 God hardwired, designed into his ministry that you start ministry at 25, you labor until you're 50. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:18.080 When you're 50, you're not done. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:19.440 You're not sidelined. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:24.639 You use your best years to pour into the 25-year-olds. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:28.480 You're supposed to serve them and to guard them. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:36.799 Listen, there's young people in this room right now who need nothing more than somebody who's older than them to look at them and say, I see you. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:37.759 You matter. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:38.879 I'm here for you. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:40.559 I want to guard you. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.320 I want to care for you. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.919 I'm concerned about your well-being and your flourishing. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:50.559 And that interaction might set them on a trajectory that they wouldn't have had otherwise. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:57.200 God is brilliant in his design to plan obsolescence into the way that he leads in the world. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:59.600 He doesn't need anybody. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:09.440 Moses, if there was anybody, God would exalt as the highest leader among his people, it's Moses, and Moses is dying. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:14.000 And his time is over, and he better have raised up the next generation. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:29.440 And so I'm convinced that since one of the primary, maybe the primary strategies of the devil is that the devil is always trying to destroy God's design, I think this is one of the reasons for the distrust between generations. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.200 Let me make that plain. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.759 The cynicism in okay, boomer might just be demonic. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:37.440 That's what I'm saying. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:46.399 Because where else is the younger generation going to learn how to go out and to come in, except for from the generation before them? 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:49.120 And that's what we see in Numbers 27, 17. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:49.600 Look at this. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:53.039 This is the kind of man Moses is praying for. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:13:05.200 The man who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.440 Here is what where we get to the heart of what it means to get your life together. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:18.159 Now you might have passed by this, but I'm inviting you from now on, whenever you see that pairing of going out and coming in in your Bible to underline it. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:19.919 It's a theme in Scripture. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:23.919 It's one of those subtleties that Scripture has that if once you know, you know. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:29.679 And so what's happening here is not something incidental, it's not just a mere saying. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:36.000 This is actually integral to life with God, this rhythm of going out and coming in back and forth. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.399 And it's so important, permit me, I'm going to show you a bunch of scripture to prove my point. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:46.240 This is like 30% of the texts that I have on this topic of going out and coming in. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.840 Look with me at Deuteronomy 31. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.039 Should be on the screen behind me. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:52.240 Moses said, I'm 120 years old today. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.679 I am no longer able to go out and come in. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:01.360 Joshua 14, I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:07.360 My strength now is as my strength was then for war and for going out and coming. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:11.200 Verse Samuel 18, but all Israel and Judah loved David. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:12.480 Why do they love David? 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.600 For he went out and came in before them. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.960 Second Chronicles 1, Solomon, the son of David, is trying to figure out how am I going to be king over Israel? 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:30.720 And he asks the Lord, give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and to come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great. 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:48.320 His going out is sure as the dawn. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:52.639 He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:56.000 Now we get to the New Testament, and Jesus Himself says, I am the door. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:01.840 If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:06.320 Acts 1 21, this is how you know who an apostle is. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:14.799 It's so so one of the men who accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.879 Last one, Acts 9 28. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:23.120 So Paul went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:24.240 Wow, that was a lot. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:25.360 I'm done. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:27.360 What's the big deal? 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.720 This pattern of going out and coming in. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.039 What's the significance of it? 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:38.720 Well, in the Garden of Eden, it was to walk with God and to work the garden. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:42.879 For Old Testament kings, it was worship and warfare. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:47.279 For older saints, they used to call it the contemplative life and the active life. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:53.120 For the Benedictine months, they used to call it aura et labora, prayer and work. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:57.120 In theology proper, it's the imminent trinity and the economic trinity. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:58.879 That was for my nerds in here. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:04.720 For us here at New City, we call it communion with God and commission for the world. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:12.720 It's this rhythmic nature, breathing in, breathing out, that sustains our very life. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.279 Some of y'all are like, come on, preacher, make it plain. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:16.879 What are you actually saying here? 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:18.240 Listen, this is what I'm saying. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:26.000 Do you have daily and weekly habits that fill you up so that you can pour your life out? 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:30.399 Does the rhythm of your life sustain your life? 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:32.320 That's what I'm talking about here. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.720 It's why we make such a big deal about the common rhythm. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:45.440 Because we really believe from scripture and from history and from personal experience that scripture, prayer, worship, and rest enable you to feast, fast, listen, and bless. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.960 You see, there's rhythms of life that aren't a checklist. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:55.679 It's a way to abide in Jesus so that you can show up with love, joy, and peace in the rest of life. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:17:07.920 And to properly lead Israel, you needed to be the kind of person who knew how to come in and meet with the true and living God so that you could go out and face the world. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:11.680 It's life with God for the life of the world. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:17.119 It's abiding in Jesus so that you are fully alive for your nine to five. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:22.640 This is what this rhythm is of coming in and going out. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:30.000 It's so integral to what it means to walk before God in the world that it gets repeated so many times in Scripture. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.119 This is the struggle to get your life together. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:35.519 But then we see the struggle to give your life away. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:37.359 Look at verse 18 with me. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:47.440 So the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.440 Why Joshua? 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:53.039 Well, because Moses discipled Joshua. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:59.440 If you've been paying attention from Exodus basically up until now, Joshua's a shoe-in. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:01.839 You're like, oh, we know who this guy needs to be. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:03.680 I love Moses' humility. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.160 Like he's been developing Joshua for 40 years, and he's like, Lord, you do the work here. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:09.680 Appoint a man over the congregation. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:12.880 And the Lord has to go, dude, we both know who it's going to be. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.119 It's Joshua, the son of nun. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.000 Why? 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.319 Well, because Moses knew how to live for what lasts. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:22.400 He knew how to make disciples of the next generation. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:23.839 And so he's been doing that. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:27.119 He took Joshua as a young buck under his wing. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:28.960 Apologize for the mixed metaphor. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.599 The Bible does it too, so I feel permission to do that. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:35.839 You see, Joshua comes under the wing of Moses and he teaches him. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:42.480 He disciples him from the moment they pass through the Red Sea, as far as we know, all the way up until Moses dies. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.440 It's a 40-year discipleship journey for him. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.720 I want to look at a few moments in those 40 years. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:55.519 Right after Israel comes through the Red Sea, they're faced with their first real external threat, the Amalekites. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:57.200 And what does Moses do? 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:02.799 He says, Joshua takes some men and go down there in war against the Amalekites. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:04.400 And what does Moses do? 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:10.960 He stands up on a vantage point where he can see the battlefield and he lifts his hand in prayer for Joshua. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:21.119 And he's got Aaron and Ben Hur, a couple other old dudes on his sides, and they're holding his arms up because he can't do an arm press for very long. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:24.960 And he's praying for the young gun down on the battlefield. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.200 I hope you see where I'm going. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:28.480 We need this. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:40.240 The younger generation needs the older generation to lift their hands in prayer for them as they go out into the world to extend the kingdom of light into the domain of darkness. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:42.319 This is what Joshua had. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:46.079 He had the comfort and the confidence of knowing Moses had his back. 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.799 He could go out and face what was in front of him. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.400 It's a beautiful picture of generational discipleship. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:20:00.960 And there's even this moment when the Lord says to Moses, write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:10.480 You see, younger men and women need to be reminded of victory, especially in the moments of their defeat. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:11.759 The Lord knew that. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:16.880 He knew Moses needed to do that for Joshua, and you need it as well. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:24.400 The second story I want to point out is when Moses invites Joshua into his communion with God. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.519 There's two points in the Exodus story. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:44.160 Exodus 24, there's this powerful moment when the people stay at the foot of the mountain, the elders go partway up, Joshua alone accompanies Moses a little further, but only Moses entered into the glory cloud, into the very presence of God. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.880 But notice who got to go with him? 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:48.559 Joshua. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:53.759 You see, Moses showed Joshua what it looked like to commune with the living God. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.880 Moses would go into the tent of meeting. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.480 Guess who would stand at the door? 00:20:58.480 --> 00:20:59.759 Joshua. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:13.039 Moses, when he was interceding for the people of Israel who failed in their idolatry in Exodus 32 with the golden calf, Moses goes in to plead with the Lord on their behalf. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.799 Guess who's watching and listening? 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:16.000 Joshua. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:25.920 You see, the younger generation needs to learn from the older generation what does it mean to draw on life in God through communion with God? 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:29.839 Moses taught Joshua how to come in and to go out. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:40.160 Third moment I want to draw your attention to is when they needed to raise up spies in Numbers 13 to send into the promised land. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:41.680 Guess who goes? 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.039 Joshua. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:52.720 It's a powerful moment because the reality of this is that Moses must have known that Joshua got to do something he would never get to do. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.920 Moses sent Joshua into the promised land. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.279 Only Joshua and Caleb come back and give the proper report. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:00.640 The Lord's on our side. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:01.200 We can do this. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:02.640 Where did Joshua learn that face? 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:03.599 From Moses. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.319 Because Moses discipled Joshua. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.920 Because Moses got his life together so he could give his life away. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:24.559 But not only that, Moses also got his life together to give his life away in such a way that the Lord could say in verse 18, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:31.119 Make him stand before Eliezer, the priest, and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:38.640 It's such a gift when the younger generation receives public acknowledgement and recognition from the older generation. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.599 Few things more strengthening than that. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:51.440 You want a good return on investment? 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:52.799 You want some ROI? 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.960 Pour into the next generation. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.480 Because you're going to die. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:58.319 That's the point of the text. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:02.960 You're going the way of Moses and me and everybody else in planet Earth. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:05.039 Invest in the next generation. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.640 You get some good ROI. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:08.799 That's what the scriptures are pointing are pointing out to us. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:09.599 Verse 21. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:16.240 And ye shall stand before Eliezer the priest, who shall inquire for him but by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:19.359 At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in. 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:20.000 You notice this. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:25.119 Now he speaks. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:28.160 Because spiritual leadership is about integrity. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.279 Joshua has the integrity, he comes in and goes out. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:34.960 And so therefore he can tell the congregation when to come in and go out. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:40.000 And both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:50.799 You see, by the time we read, reach Numbers 27, Joshua is a man in whom is the Spirit, because Moses had spent decades of his life giving his life away to him. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:54.079 And now Moses has to give his death away. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:55.680 Look at verse 22. 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.720 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:09.119 He took Joshua and made him stand before Eliezer, the priest, and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:14.319 You see, Joshua is the next generation leader, and he has a big task. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:17.680 He's got to lead the people of God into the promised land. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:26.319 And so in Deuteronomy 3.28, it says this but charge Joshua and encourage and strengthen him. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:34.720 He needs to be charged, he needs to be encouraged, he needs to be strengthened in order to do these things from Moses, from the previous generation. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:42.640 For he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:48.000 This is crazy because this is Moses' calling being fulfilled through another man. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.519 This is the great desire of Moses' heart. 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:55.200 Maybe it's number one to for God to show me your glory. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:56.079 That's probably number one. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:58.880 Number two was I want to go to the promised land. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:08.799 120 years of Moses' existence is to get into the promised land and he doesn't get to go, but the young buck gets to go. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:15.440 And we get no hint of jealousy or bitterness or resentment from Moses. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:19.200 Only strength and encouragement. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:20.480 Why? 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:24.319 Because discipling the next generation is like spiritual parenting. 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:29.839 It takes the maturity of a father or a mother, a spiritual father or a mother, in order to do this. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:41.519 One of the, I believe he was a Stoic philosopher named Cicero said it like this only to a son does a man say to another man, I hope you surpass me in every way in all things. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:44.960 Moses believed that about Joshua. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:49.119 The next generation needs you to believe that about them. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:53.359 I hope you surpass me in every way and in all things. 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:57.920 This generational mindset is the only way to live for what lasts. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:11.039 Often looks like helping the next generation go where you couldn't possibly go. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:26.000 That's why in Joshua 4 it says this on that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses all the days of his life. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.680 Mission accomplished. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:34.799 You see, Moses is teaching us what to do when we face the limits of our own lives. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:38.799 It's to raise up those who will stand where we cannot. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:48.720 And so if you live for what lasts, you will make disciples of the next generation by struggling to get your life together, giving your life away, and even giving your death away. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:55.519 And let me close by pointing out how the gospel addresses some of the top objections I hear whenever I preach on this. 00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:57.519 Some of you are like, dude, this is your heart song. 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:58.319 It is. 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:00.000 I really believe in this. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.960 Objection number one, I don't feel qualified to disciple anyone. 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:07.759 Maybe that's true, actually. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:13.519 Someone once said, When you're born, you look like your parents, when you die, you look like your decisions. 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:14.880 I like that. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:23.680 But some of us have made some bad decisions and we live with regret and we think, How could I possibly show anybody else what it looks like to walk with Jesus? 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:30.319 Well, in verses 18 and 23, there's this language of speaking of this laying on of hands. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:33.200 And in the story of Scripture, there's only two times you do that. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:37.119 You lay on hands for blessing or for curse. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:42.319 You see, the patriarchs, when they were blessing their sons in Genesis, they would lay their hands. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:28:01.440 And in the Levitical law, when any worshiper brings an animal for sacrifice, they would lay their hands on its head and confess their sins over that animal, conferring their sins and the due curse that those sins deserve to that animal to die in its place. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:22.720 The heart of the gospel is that Jesus Christ had your sins, your mistakes, your failures, your regrets, those things that keep you up at night, those things that make you disqualified to pour into the next generation, those were transferred to Christ on the cross, and he died in your place for those sins if you belong to Him. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:28.559 That good news means that it's all of grace or it's not at all. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:31.599 It means no one is qualified. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:34.480 That might be the primary qualification. 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:41.039 Maybe actually the number one thing the next generation needs to learn from you is a lifestyle of repentance. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:47.279 Like the older generation looking at the younger generation and saying, hey, listen, I've gone down that path. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:49.119 It doesn't end well. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.079 You still have time to kind of turn back. 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:53.200 And this is how I did it. 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:54.640 This is what it could look like. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:29:02.480 It's why in our premarital counseling, we always tell the mentor couples, share some of your failures with the newlyweds. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:06.640 Because they probably won't remember any of the cool things that they learn in the books and whatnot. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:08.480 They will learn that from your failures. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:10.480 Like, I can't believe you did that. 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:15.039 And then they do it and they go, wow, I can't believe they did that too. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:15.759 I'm so glad. 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:17.279 Feel refreshed. 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:24.160 You see, because one of the primary things people need is not your righteousness, but your repentance. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:27.119 The world doesn't know how to repent. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:30.000 You can't learn that from a podcast or a blog. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:35.119 You gotta learn repentance incarnate from another human being. 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:41.119 And so the number two thing I hear is I don't know who to disciple. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:42.240 This one's easy. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:43.519 Do what Moses did. 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:44.960 Ask the Lord. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:46.400 Just say, Lord. 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:48.720 That's what he did in verses 15 through 17. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:51.839 Three of the verses of our text is Moses just prayed. 00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:54.559 Just ask the Lord, would you give me somebody? 00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:57.279 This is what Jesus prays for in John 17. 00:29:57.279 --> 00:29:59.839 He says, I'm praying not only for them. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:06.240 The disciples that Jesus made, but also through all of those who would believe in them, believe in me through their word. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:09.279 Jesus cares more about this than you do, than I do. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:10.160 Ask him. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:12.559 I don't know who to disciple, ask him. 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:18.799 The third thing I hear the most is no one discipled me, so how am I supposed to know how? 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:19.759 I get it. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:21.039 That's a real thing. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:26.000 Our joy as pastors is to equip you to disciple the next generation. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:27.759 It's our joy, truly. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:29.680 So that's one way I would respond to that. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:33.759 The other thing I'd say is notice the simple framework of coming in and going out. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:37.680 What does your life with God for the life of the world look like? 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:42.079 So, what I'm not saying is they only need to learn how to study the Bible and pray. 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:43.519 They absolutely need that. 00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:49.119 They also need to know how do you balance a budget and how do you show up to work on time? 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:51.519 Because it's coming in and it's going out. 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:52.960 It's all of life. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:59.279 It's not just this weird secular sacred divide where some of life matters to God and the rest is just, you know, whatever. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.359 Discipleship is for all of life. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.160 And so, what does it look like for you to come in and to go out? 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:06.640 That's what you offer to the next generation. 00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:11.680 The fourth, and maybe the most difficult one I hear is my schedule is insane. 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:14.240 Where am I going to find time for this? 00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:23.759 I've said before that the number one discipleship difficulty here for New City, it's not addiction. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:26.640 It's not bitterness and gossip. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:32.400 It's not, I mean, fill in the blanks, but political divisiveness, it's busyness. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.640 It's busyness. 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:40.400