Turn, if you would, to Psalm
60. Psalm 60. Today we'll be looking at Christ
is our banner. Christ is our banner. Psalm 60. Psalm 60, verses 1 to 5, we'll
read. O God, thou hast cast us off. Thou has scattered us, Thou has
displaced, O turn Thyself to us again. Thou has made the earth
to tremble, Thou has broken it, heal the breaches thereof, for
it shaketh. Thou has showed Thy people hard
things, Thou has made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Thou
has given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed
because of the truth, see, La, that they, beloved, that thy
beloved may be delivered, save with thy right hand and hear
me." Our text there is, thou hast given a banner to them that
fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. Now a banner is also known in
scripture as an ensign or a standard. An ensign, a standard, a banner. And an ensign is defined as an
ensign, a banner set up as a trophy of victory for a declaration
of war. An ensign is also a banner to
fight under. An ensign is also something that
they used to put on a hill or if the troops were being morally beaten, the general would
grab a banner and come amidst the troops and stand there with
the banner and the troops would rally around them. It often happened
in old battles where that would happen where the general or the
standard bearer would rally the troops, and off they go with
fresh courage into the battle. So an ensign is a banner to fight
under, and Christ, beloved, is our banner. And He's not only
our banner, but He's the standard holder. He's the standard holder
of the banner too. And He's the banner who we rally
around. He goes forth before us. He's
Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. The Lord our banner. An ensign
is a guide for armies on the march. When armies are marching,
usually the ensign or the standard or the banner is in the front.
And the troops follow that. Follow that banner. And beloved, Christ is our banner
as we march through this world. on the way to heaven. He's our
banner. We're following Him. We're following
Him. He's the captain of our salvation,
Scripture declares, right? And He's leading us and guiding
us through this world, this world of woe, to our heavenly home. And it's Him who we follow. Now
the word ensign, standard, and banner are frequently mentioned
in Scripture. And sometimes it was understood
to be a signal which was exhibited on top of a pole, or a signal
from the top of a mountain, or sometimes it was a flag or an
ensign. Turn if you would to Isaiah chapter
13. Isaiah chapter 13. And then we're looking at Isaiah
49. Here we see in Isaiah 13, to
lift up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto
them, shake the hand that they may go into the gates of the
noble. So here's scripture speaks of
a of an ensign, a banner on top of a high mountain for all to
see, for all to see. And then look at Isaiah 49, 22.
It was used. for people to gather around,
and whether the purpose of a meeting or whether it was for when an
enemy was coming, it was a token of rescue. It was a public proclamation,
or sometimes it was simply a gathering point. Look at Isaiah 49.22.
Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will lift up mine hand to the
Gentiles and set my standard to the people. That's a banner
too. A standard is a banner, an ensign.
And they shall bring thy sons in their arms Thy daughters shall
be carried upon their shoulders. This speaks of Christ. He's the
gathering point of his people. He's the gathering point of his
people. He's the one we gather around. And a banner is generally,
again, a standard raised in battle as a rallying point for armies.
And God is described as the banner of his people in recognition
of his powerful defense of his people. He's the one who defends
us. Turn if you would to Numbers chapter 2 and then put your finger
in Exodus chapter 17. Numbers chapter 2 in Exodus chapter
17. Do you know that the Messiah
is a banner raised by God? That Christ the Messiah is a
banner raised by God? Raised by God himself. to rally the scattered exiles
of Israel, His elect people who are scattered amongst the nations.
And over here in Numbers 2, we see four great standards or ensigns
which are distinguished by their colors or figures. And they were
particular ensigns belonging to each of their fathers' houses
or families. Look at this here in Numbers
2, verse 2. Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch
by his own standard with the ensign of his father's house. Far off about the tabernacle
of the congregation shall they pitch. Now here, if you want
to write down these scriptures for later reference, you can.
These four standards or banners are found in Numbers 2, verse
3, that are spoken of in this verse. On the east side, Numbers
2, verse 10, on the south side, Numbers 2.18 on the west side. Numbers 2.25 on the north side. So Numbers 2.25 is the north
side. Numbers 2.18 on the west side. Numbers 2.10 on the south
side. They're spoken of here. And Christ is the standard bearer
of the church, beloved. He's the standard bearer of the
church. And He's also the banner of the
church. And beloved, He has been so since
eternity. It's been so since eternity.
The Lord is the banner of His people. He's the rallying point
for Israel. Turn, if you would, to Exodus
17. And He was the source of the nation's confidence in battle.
He was the source of Israel's confidence when they went to
battle. It was Him. Look at Exodus chapter 17. And just as He is for the Israel
of God, the church, right? He's the source of our confidence,
isn't He? Look at Exodus 17, verses 8 to 16. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose
us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek tomorrow. I shall
stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek.
And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And
it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand,
Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy.
And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon.
And Aaron and Ur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side
and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until
the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomforted Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it
in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar
and called it Jehovah Nissi, which means Jehovah is my banner. Jehovah is my banner. And he
said, or for he said, because the Lord has sworn that the Lord
will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. It
is God alone who won the victory. It is God alone who won the victory.
And may the Holy Ghost lift him up to our souls, to the souls
of his people continually, as we battle the Amaleks of our
day. Because we struggle every day, don't we? All the time. And Jehovah is our banner, isn't
he? He's our strength. He's our defense. Just as he
was for the Israelites. He's our Jehovah on this side.
He's the Lord, our banner. And in the Hebrew, it's Jehovah
is my banner. And again, Christ alone is the
standard bearer. He's the chief among ten thousand. And he's said to be set up as
an ensign to his people, to call all the nations from afar. Turn,
if you would, to Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter 11. He's the
ensign to his people to call the nations from afar, which
speaks of the church, which is made up of both Jews and Gentiles.
He's the one we rally under. He's the one we're called to.
We'll look at that today. He's the one we're called to
by the God of all grace. He calls us to Christ and Him
alone. Look at Isaiah chapter 11, verses
10 to 12. And in that day, there shall
be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people. An ensign for the people. That speaks of Christ. To it shall the Gentiles seek.
Who's the one we seek? Christ. Who's our ensign? Our banner. He's the one we seek. It's Him alone. And His rest
shall be glorious. Oh, ponder that. Ponder the rest,
beloved, that you who are redeemed, ponder the rest that you have
in Christ. And is it not as this scripture
says, glorious. It's glorious. It's absolutely
glorious. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second
time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left
from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Patros, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the
islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign
for the nations. Who's the ensign for the nations,
beloved? It's Christ. Remember, his people
are scattered all through every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. And he's the ensign for his people.
He's the one we're drawn to. He's the one we rally around.
And he's the one we follow. He's leading us right to glory.
It's Christ. It's Christ in him. He's an ensign.
He's an ensign for his people. He shall set up an ensign for
the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel. We're just a bunch of saved sinners,
aren't we? Oh, my beloved. We're the Israel
of God, though. We're His chosen people. And
gathered together to disperse the Judah from the four corners
of the earth. And He's gathering His people. Even today, even now, as the
Gospel goes forth, He's drawn in and saving His people. It's
amazing. It's absolutely stunning. But
He does His work, and He draws His lost sheep from all different
places. Look at us. Look at us. We're
all from different walks of life, different personalities, different
people. And if we trace back our lineage,
we're from different countries, beloved. But God has brought
us together and drawn us by His sovereign power. And who has
He drawn us to? The Lord, our banner. Christ.
Christ in him alone. The end sign is identified in
verse 1 of chapter 11. Look at this. And there shall
come forth a rod of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall
grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the
fear of the Lord. Well, beloved, he is the rod of the stem of Jesse. And
look at that, a branch. That's Christ. That's Christ
in Him alone. God incarnate in the flesh. And
we know that in Him there's neither Jew nor Gentile, but all believers
are one in Him. One in Him. He's the head and
we're the body. Now with this in mind, turn back
over to Numbers chapter 21, and then put your finger in John
chapter 3. Numbers 21 and John chapter 3. And remember that an ensign or
a banner is not necessarily just a flag. It can be something held
up, a standard that's held up. The Romans marched under the
eagle. That was their standard. That was their ensign. And the
legions marched all over under the eagle. Look at this. Over in Numbers. Over in Numbers 21. Verses eight and nine. And we
know what's happening here. And the Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. So make a
serpent and set it upon a pole, right? It's an ensign. It's a standard. Remember, as I said, the Romans
marched under the eagle, right? It's set up. God's telling them,
make it and set it up. Set it up. and set it upon a
pole, and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall what? Shall live. So whoever looked upon that serpent
on the pole, lived. Whoever didn't, perished. Perished. Look at verse 9, And Moses made
a serpent of brass, and put it on a pole, and came past. And
if the serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent
of brass, he lived. He lived. Now we've all been
bitten by sin, haven't we? We come into this world dead
in trespasses and sins. Bitten by the fiery serpent of
sin. And here we have such a clear
picture of Christ in the Old Testament. Right here. Right
here before us. The serpent is an ensign, an
ensign of deliverance to the Israelites. It's an ensign of
deliverance to the Israelites. All who looked to the brazen
serpent were saved. So, beloved, Christ is an ensign
of deliverance for all who look to Him. They shall be saved. Let us now compare John chapter
3 with what we just read in Numbers chapter 21. John 3, verse 14. These are the words of our Master,
beloved. The words of our Master. And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. So we know right away from these
words that that's a picture that we just looked at of Christ. That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. He's our ensign. He's our
standard. He's our banner. Whoever looks
to him, lives. Whoever doesn't look to him,
perishes. And then everybody uses John
3.16. That's a huge verse that people
pull out, but John 3.16 is the result. Or is the the purpose
way back in eternity that God had for his people right for
God so loved the world that he gave it the only the reason that
God gave his son and set him upon the cross for his people
is because he's loved his people from eternity and That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life This
is a verse that that screams eternal security for the believer.
I Not for everyone in the world like false religionists proclaim,
but for the believer. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world. The world is already condemned
by their sin, right? But that the world through Him
might be saved. And He saves His people who are
scattered all throughout the world. He that believeth on him
is not condemned. Whoever looks to the one. Remember the brass serpent? Whoever
looked to the brass serpent lived, didn't they? Whoever looks to
Christ lives. They live. They live. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. But he that believeth on him
not is condemned already. What does God have to do for
a man to go to hell? Just leave him alone. See? Because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is condemnation,
that light has come into the world. And remember, this is
the Master speaking this. This is God incarnated in the
flesh. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the
world. But men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest. that they
are a rod of God. What a picture, beloved. What
a picture. Christ is an exalted ensign for
His people. He's a banner for His people.
And He's lifted high for us to see. Lifted high above all the
heads of man by God Himself. And one commentator brings this
out, how Christ is an exalted ensign in three ways. In the
kind of death which He died, He's death on the cross, which
we just looked at in Numbers and John. The second way that
He's an ensign, one commentator brings out, is that in His resurrection
and exaltation at the right hand of the Father, there He sits.
There He sits. Lifted up high and mighty. Lifted
up high and mighty. head and shoulders over all men,
in excellencies and perfection. He's God incarnated in the flesh.
And who do we look to right now? We look up to Christ, who's raised
up before us in glory, in glory. Colossians, remember in our study,
Colossians? If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection, your heart, your mind, on things
above, not on things on earth. We're to set our hearts and minds
upon Christ, who's above, who's been raised up. And we see Him
raised up in glory. He's our ensign still, beloved.
He's still our banner. And He's in glory now. And where
the head is, the body will soon follow. The body will soon follow. And we just rejoice over this
wonderful truce. And the third way that Christ
is an ensign the commentator brought out is in the preaching
of the gospel. And he brought out that the preaching of the
gospel is the pull. It's the pull. And the work of
ministers is to lift up Christ, right? We just lift up Christ.
All we do is proclaim Christ. I can't save anyone. I can't
even save myself. But Christ can save me. And so
in the preaching of the gospel, Christ is lifted up. Brother
Tim, when you teach, you're lifting up Christ. You're lifting him
up to those who are there. We know we can't save anyone,
but we lift up Christ. We lift up the one who saved
us. We lift him up. There he is. He's set forth,
is the only way of salvation. Because of who he is, he's the
God man. And because of what he's done, he saved poor, bankrupt
sinners such as me. And I know if you're saved such
as you, and he's our Redeemer, he's our surety, he's our substitute,
he's our mediator, he's our prophet, he's our priest, he's our king,
Paul Pendant, he's our all in all. He's everything. He's everything. And he's a uniting ensign too. He's a uniting ensign. We all
who believe have one captain. One captain. Brother, you were
in the military. You have one leader who was above everything. And everything just goes down.
We have one leader. One. That's Christ. This is his
church. We who believe are his people.
We are soldiers in his army. And he is a uniting ensign. We
have one cause that we want to go forth from here, don't we?
Christ and Him crucified. We want the preaching of Christ.
We won't settle for anything else. Nothing else. So He's a uniting ensign. And
we all serve under who? Christ. We all serve under Him. Every one of us here. Everyone
who is a believer serves Christ. That's who we serve. We serve
our Captain. We don't serve ourselves, there
was a time when we did. Now we desire to serve Christ. To have Him go forth. To see
Him raised up. That sinners might look to Him
by His power, if it's His will. So our great center of unity
is who? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's a uniting banner. He's a
uniting end sign. not only as our captain, but
also as our Savior and as our Redeemer. Because we who profess
to believe in Christ, we have one Lord, one Savior, one Father. It's incredible. Turn, if you
would, to Ephesians chapter 4. And think on this, you who are
redeemed by Christ. We all profess to be one in him.
Look what the scripture declares here in Ephesians four verses
four to six. There is one body. There's not
a there's not four or five different bodies, is there? There's one
body. One body. And that body is comprised
of all the elect of all the ages, and there's one head. There's
one body. In one spirit. One spirit, the Holy Spirit of
God, one spirit, even as you are called and one hope of your
calling. We have one hope. Just one. Christ. And then it goes on to
say one Lord. And notice this, we live in a
world where people say, oh, It's okay what you believe. We're
all together. That's not what the scripture
says, is it? What does it say right there? One faith. Who's our faith in? One faith
in Christ and Him alone. One faith. One baptism. One God and Father of all. Just one. Just one, who is above
all and through all and in you all. So our center, our center
is Christ. The unifying banner for us as
believers is Christ. Think of this too. We have one
mediator with God, just one. The Catholic Church, they claim
to have many, right? Their priests are supposed to
be mediators. Mary's supposed to be a mediator. The Bible says
there's only one mediator between God and man. The man, Christ
Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. That's what shook my
whole bullet. That's what destroyed and started
to shake the foundations when I was a Catholic. When somebody
brought that scripture up to me and said, there's only one
mediator, Wayne. And it's not some man you go
to. My goodness. The ground just started to fall
apart. There's only one mediator. That's
the man Christ Jesus. There's only one body of Christ.
There's churches out there who claim to be the only true body
of Christ. There's only one. And it's made
up of God's people. It's made up of God's people.
It's not a denomination. It's made up of all the elect
of all the ages, all those for whom Christ died for upon the
cross. And there's only one spirit,
the Holy Spirit of God sent from Christ to be our comforter, right?
We know that he sent from Christ to be our comforter. And who
will he teach us about? Christ. Christ and him alone. Christ and him alone. He illuminates
the Scripture. And we have one hope. We who
believe have one hope. We who profess to be saved have
one hope. If you have any other hope than
Christ, you're lost. If you have a hope of Christ
in something else, something you do, you're lost. Salvation is in Christ alone.
I have one hope. And if you're a believer, you
have one hope. It's Christ. Sink or swim, Spurgeon said,
sink or swim, I'll trust in him. Just in him. Just in him, one
hope, Christ alone, one Lord, that's the Lord Jesus Christ,
one faith. That one faith, who's the object
of that one faith? Again, so you see it just keeps
coming back to Christ, who's our banner. Christ, who's our
inside. Christ is the one who is the object of our faith. Again, if anyone is trusting
in Christ plus something they do, or Christ plus their denomination,
or Christ plus their doctrine, it's Christ alone. It's Christ
alone. Salvation's in Him. One Lord.
One Lord, beloved. One object of our faith, Christ. And one baptism. When we baptize,
we baptize people in the name of Christ, don't we? Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Him in baptism. Raised
in the resurrection. Raised in the newness of life
with Him. But it's in Christ again. He's the focus of that. We baptize in the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Which again, pictures
are being buried with Christ in his death and raised to newness
of life. Beloved Christ is the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. He's the end sign and the banner
set up from the foundation of the world for his people. For
his people. We are chosen in him. He's the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He's the one we
saw in Numbers. That's a picture of him. It's
a clear picture for believers. He's the one who was raised up.
We saw in John 3, 14 to 15, he's the one who says, I must be raised
up. And whosoever looks to him, right,
lives, don't they? Just like that serpent in the
wilderness. Turn if you would to 1 Corinthians
10. Christ, who is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, is sent by the Father, And He
is the One who is above all, above all, raised up, raised
up like a banner. And we are chosen by the Father
in Christ in eternity. And He is the center of our unity. Because He is Christ over all. And He becomes the believers
all in all. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
I'm sorry, chapter 1. I said chapter 10, I'm sorry.
My dyslexia took over there when I looked at the numbers here.
1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 10 to 17. Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the
same thing, same thing, and that there be no divisions among you,
So Paul's writing the Corinthians, and there's been some trouble
in the Corinthian church, right? There's been some trouble in
the Corinthian church. So he's writing here in the first chapter.
Again, he's setting forth Christ. But look what he says here. So his heart's desire is that
there be no divisions among the Corinthian church, but that you
may be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. For it hath been declared unto
me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you." 1 Corinthians 1.12. Now this I
say that every one of you sayeth, I am of Paul. So you've got a
group over here saying, I'm of Paul. And then you have a group over
here saying, I'm of Apollos. And then you've got a group over
here saying, well, I'm a Cephas. And then you've got a group that
has the audacity to bring Christ down to the point of these men
and says, well, I'm of Christ. Bringing God incarnate in the
flesh down to their level. My. See, they probably thought
they were being super spiritual by saying, well, I'm of Christ.
But here they brought the Son of God down to the same level
as Paul and Cephas and Apollos. No, beloved. We should never
follow a man. We follow Christ and Christ alone. Look what he says in verse 13.
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name
of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none
of you, but Cephas and Gaius, lest any should say that I had
baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household
of Stephanas. Besides, I know not whether I
baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize."
Now, here we're going to see the unifying factor of Christ,
right? He's the banner raised high by
the preacher, right? We raise Him up. He's the one. He's the rallying banner for
His people. He's the end sign. He's the standard
for His people. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to what? To preach the gospel. Who's the
gospel all about? Christ and Christ alone. To preach
the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. So Christ
alone is our banner, beloved. Now we're prone to wander. We're
prone to wander. We're prone to wander in this
battle that we're in, this battle with the world, the flesh, and
the devil, and we're tempted every day. But Christ Himself
is the banner. Look to Him. Look to Christ and
Him alone. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank
You for this time that we've had together. O Lord, may we
just continue to look to You who are our banner, raised high
by our Lord, by our God, raised high. You draw all your people
to you, and you will save all who look to thee. And we know
that your people, those given to you by the Father in eternity,
shall be drawn to thee. And we praise your mighty name
for salvation that we have, we who believe, which is in you
and through you, and it's in you alone. Praise your name.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.