Moses would not have been remembered as doing anything worthwhile in the flesh. But he did not live all of his life after the flesh. He did not live all of his life after the soul. Many millions of Christians still live by their emotions or by their mental programs. They have neglected to "put off the old nature" in favor of the new (Eph. 4:24). You will never be able to be truly militant unless you do.
The most exciting part of Moses' life really occurred toward the end of his life, when he called all of the people together and reviewed the wilderness years for them. The entire book of Deuteronomy is Moses' "deathbed speech."
In it, Moses' walk for God as leader of Israel is made plain.
He came down to the end of his life able to say he had accomplished the Lord's purposes.
I had a dream once in which the Lord spoke to me and said, "I am going to let you live as long as you have a lot of work to do."
That means I may live forever, because I am not going to run out of work! I am going to look for it!
People say, "Aren't you busy?" and I answer, "Not as busy as I'm going to be."
The Apostle Paul wrote that he had fought the good
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fight, [and] finished the race, he had, kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7). To be honest, not many Christians finish their courses or run their races. They fall by the wayside. There are other thousands who backslide. It is more important to finish your course than to begin your course.
Moses said, "Not only have I finished the job of leading this people to where they can see the Promised Land, but I also have kept the faith. I have kept the faith."
I have promised God that, whatever other Christians do, I am going to keep the faith. I am going to keep my faith young and crisp. I am going to keep my faith vibrant and alive.
I am not going to say, "Well, I have preached fifty years. That is all I am going to give God."
No, I am going to give God the last breath I have. I am going to resist the devil to the last hour I live.
I want to die in action somewhere saying, "If you do not come to Jesus, you are going to hell."
That is the only message that is worth preaching on the face of the earth. Jesus is the door. You have only to pass through Him to go to Heaven, and He is not willing that any should perish.
Moses wrote down the history of the Israelites and the story of his own life. He wrote what we know as the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
But the moment came when he called all of the people together and said, "I am ready to go to heaven. I will appoint my successor, and I will lay my hands upon him.
You obey him, and he will lead you a step farther in God."
The Militant Church
Moses told the people, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid. . .; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you" (Deut. 31:6).
Moses laid his hands on Joshua and imparted the holy anointing that God had placed on his own life.
Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
"And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."
Deuteronomy 31:7,8
Then this great giant of God waved farewell to those masses of people and said, "I am going to climb a mountain."
Moses did not die in the flames. He did not die in the wilderness. He climbed a mountain. I have been to that mountain, and I have looked all over, because the Bible says the devil tried to find his burying place. The devil wanted to steal his bones. If the devil would steal bones, no wonder he is after live humans! In the book of Jude, the writer said that Michael the archangel, contended with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses (Jude 9).
No telling what kind of battles angels fight to keep the devil away from our living flesh.
The man of faith climbed that mountain alone. We love our families, and we love other people. We may have great relationships and fellowship with others, but when
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each of us goes to meet God, we will go alone. Moses climbed that mountain at one hundred and twenty years old in his own strength.
Once he got to the top, he looked out to see the whole of the Promised Land from Mount Nebo. I have done the same thing. I have stood right there and looked out over the land.
Then God said, "Well, that's enough now. Lie down, Moses, and come home. I'll take care of your body. Just lie down, and come out of your body."
And it was all finished. God took care of the funeral for him and buried him. Here was a man who lived in three worlds—body, soul, and spirit. But he died a victorious winner for God after living a militant life for forty years.
God wants every one of His children to be like that.
He wants you and me, at the end of our lives, to be like Moses. He wants us to be victorious militant warriors who hand over the treasures He has loaned us into the hands of younger people. Then we can walk with Him to the top of the mountain and go home to heaven winners.
Be a Moses!
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More Than Conquerors
We are to know victory in our Christian walk. We are to be more than conquerors. Satan should be running from us, not after us. We have been delivered from the devil's snare. We are not to be captives of the evil one.
Everyone of those statements is grounded in the Bible.